Review: Jackery Explorer 500 Portable Power Station

I have been testing the Jackery Explorer 500 Portable Power Station and SolarSaga 100W over many months. I use it as a way to charge my laptop, phone, music speaker etc when in the garden. It would also be useful for car-to-campsite style camping and for van ownerd who do not have a leisure battery fitted.

The Jackery Explorer 500 is a 518Wh lithium portable power station.

Features include:

The Jackery Explorer 500 has a 518 watt-hour (24Ah, 21.6V) lithium-ion battery pack
1 AC outlet (230V, 500W) with pure sine wave inverter
3 x USB-A ports
2 x DC ports
1 car port to run low to high power appliances, including a mini-fridge, air pump and TV.
Built-in LED flashlight
LCD display that tells you exactly how full the battery is
Designed for portability
Different recharge options: A plug for at-home electricity, car battery (plug into cigarette lighter) and solar when paired with the Jackery SolarSaga 100W solar panel (sold separately).
Price: £556.99 for power station and £272.99 for portable solar panel.
See Jackery generator and the solar panel
There is also a carry case at £42 to £50.
Note: I receive a small commission for sales through Amazon.

Charging the Jackery Explorer 500 power station

Suggested times:

Household wall charger: 7 to 8 hours for the battery to reach 100% power.
Car charger: A car’s cigarette lighter takes some 11 to 12 hours for a full charge
Portable solar panel: Using the SolarSaga 100W takes more than 16 hours (so they say).

My thoughts: Jackery Explorer 500 Portable Power Station

As the name suggests, the Jackery Explorer 500 Portable Power Station provides 500 watts of power. There are larger versions if you think you’ll need more power, but that means the power station is bigger and heavier.

The Explorer 500 will automatically shut off if you try to plug in a device that draws more than 500W, for example a hairdryer or an electric kettle.

The 500 version weighs about 6kg. It’s easy enough to carry around, with a large plastic handle, but I don’t think you would want to take it to far.

At first, I wasn’t sure I’d make much use of the Jackery Explorer 500 Portable Power Station. I own a campervan with a leisure battery, plus I have a handy inverter that plugs into my van lighter port and can be used to run items such as my laptop.

But then the summer came and I fancied moving my “office” to the garden. I would usually make use of an extension cable from the house to my work station in the garden for power but I realised the Jackery made an excellent alternative option.

Wherever I am in the garden – we have quite a large garden – I can have power with me. So I can plug in my laptop, phone and speaker for music, for example, in any location.

This would also be a great gadget for car-to-camping trips. The Jackery power station is not so small and light that you would want to carry it too far but if you are simply transporting items from a car to a camping spot, or a location for a picnic, it’s easy enough to take with you.

The station itself is chunky and made of durable materials. It has a large handle that makes it very easy and comfortable to carry about.

This can be plugged into the portable solar panel for a boost of charge. The solar panel folds in half and also has an easy-to-use handle for portability.

I would say that the solar panel is better for a boost than for a full recharge. I have found that even when left in full sunlight for a full day, the charge boost is slow and limited. I think the panel is best for helping to boost the charge of the power station, rather than as a total recharge.

The best way to recharge the power station is by plugging it in at home, or using your car cigarette lighter port (I suggest that you do this while driving).

When fully charged, the power station offered many hours of charge for my laptop. I can plug in the laptop and use a USB port to charge my phone.

Note that the USB ports are standard A and not the more modern USB-C, which I have for some appliances. It would be better if one or two of the USB ports were the more modern C. (I guess it is possible to buy convertors so that would solve the issue if you don’t want to use a plug.)

Also note, there is only one standard plug port, which could be limiting if you want to charge more than one item that has a plug, such as a laptop and to charge a bluetooth speaker.

There are other useful ports, including DC ports and a car port for running power appliances, such as a mini-fridge, air pump or even a TV.

One thing that is a bit annoying, although you do get used to it, is that every so often the power station makes a noise, like a fan revving up. This is apparently the low-power cooling fans that kick in when the station gets heated and it’s most noticeable when using the AC plug output.

For this reason, you would not want to use the Jackery in a place where you require silence. I am not sure that powering a TV with the Jackery is a great idea since the noise of the fan would disturb your enjoyment of the TV viewing.

Also, note that the power station is not waterproof so you need to take it indoors or into a tent or campervan when it rains.

Conclusion: I have found I’ve used the Jackery Explorer 500 Portable Power Station a lot more than I thought I would. It’s great for spending time outdoors, whether in the garden or camping. It’s what I would call “fairly portable”, if you don’t go too far on foot.

If you have a semi converted van, you could make good use of this portable power station for electronic devices.

A full overnight charge is the best way to recharge the power station, while the solar panel can be used to supplement the charge when outdoors and using the power station.

It’s great to have multiple ports for electronic devices although I’d like to see a USB-C port and not just the A ports.

The power station can be noisy when the fan kicks in but I don’t mind that sort of noise. Other people might find it really irritating, especially if trying to listen to music of watch a TV.

The Jackery is not cheap but it looks and feels robust and durable. It’s a shame the power station is not waterproof.

Overall, I’ve been really impressed with the Jackery Explorer 500 Portable Power Station.