As winter disappears in the rearview mirror, it’s time to get outside again. After hibernating for most of this dismal winter, I can’t wait to get into the great outdoors. But I’m taking my creature comforts with me, so I need portable power to keep them ticking on road trips and camping adventures.
The Anker Solix C1000 is my pick of the best portable power stations for camping, because it has the capacity to keep your phones and tablets charged up, maybe run a small fridge or cooler for a weekend, and boasts a handy light bar for a soft glow at night.
I’ve always loved Anker’s power banks, so I was pleased when the company spun out a Solix line of bigger portable power stations. This category is growing in popularity as folks want to go off-grid, but take power with them, and Anker’s Solix offerings are among the most polished and reliable.
The Anker Solix C1000 has a LiFePO4 battery inside that should last at least a decade of use. The 1,056-watt-hour capacity (which can be doubled with a BP1000 Expansion Battery) is enough to keep your gadgets online for a long weekend. Most power stations are dull, so I appreciate the charcoal-and-gray design with blue highlights and the silver power button. Built-in handles make it comparatively easy to carry, though it weighs just shy of 30 pounds, so I wouldn’t carry it too far. It has tons of ports.
If you’re worried that the limited capacity and maximum output mean this is only suitable for charging small gadgets, you’ll be glad to know I also tested it with a small fridge, TV, and power drill, without any issues. It can comfortably sustain 1,800 watts of output with a surge mode that can handle 2,400 watts.
I’ve used the Solix C1000 pretty frequently, packing it in the car for road trips, taking it camping, and relying on it when I had my house rewired, and the power was out for hours every day. It can fast-charge most phones, juice up your tablet or camera, and power your laptop. If you want to use it for something bigger, consider getting a folding solar panel to top it off. It has an XT60 input for solar panels or charging from a car socket (cables included).
The Solix C1000 can also work as an uninterruptible power supply with a 20-millisecond delay. But perhaps my favorite feature is the fast charging. I forget to charge things up all too often, but you can fill the battery here in under an hour, so it can be ready to go by the time you’ve packed and loaded the car.
The newer C1000 Gen 2 is also on sale for the same price right now, but I’ve tested both, and I prefer the original because of the LED bar on the front. You can cycle through three brightness levels, and it puts out a lovely ambient light that’s perfect for the tent. That said, the Gen 2 model charges up slightly faster and has a higher output (2,000 watts in normal use and 3,000 watts surge).
Both are usually pretty quiet, but the fan will crank up under a heavy load (I measured around 70 decibels at peak usage), but it sits around 20 decibels with a light load (200 watts). You can find other options in my best portable power stations guide if you’re in the market for one, but at this price, the Anker Solix C1000 is hard to pass up.
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