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The best portable power stations aren't exactly always portable, with sizes ranging from 15 pounds to 100 pounds. Still, these relatively compact devices can provide a lot of power. Whether you're going off-grid, need power during an outage, or are simply camping for the weekend, portable power stations are essential for keeping devices and appliances powered and ready to go.
We ran dozens of portable power stations through the gauntlet in our lab in Kentucky, evaluating how much power each station can provide relative to how much it draws to charge, to determine its overall efficiency.
Also: The best portable power stations for camping
The portable power stations that stood out above the rest were the Bluetti AC240 for large-size power stations (devices with 1,100-2,100Wh), and the Oupes Mega 1 for small portable power stations (devices with 600-1,100 Wh). We chose to separate these awards and power stations because batteries of different sizes would yield different outcomes, so comparing devices that are closer in battery capacity provides more accurate results.
Portable power stations were tested for power consumption over time, measured in watt-hours (the total energy used or produced). We chose to compare 10 portable power stations based on our portable power station expert, Adrian Kingsley-Hughe's real-world recommendations, as well as the products we've tested in our lab.
How we tested these portable power stations
Our lab testing process centers on measuring the charge and discharge processes of each portable power station, with emphasis on the number of watt-hours consumed and discharged, respectively, and the time required to complete each process.
Once all data was gathered, we also compared units using a "Round Trip Efficiency" metric that describes how efficiently a unit delivers power relative to how much it draws to charge.
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