What is a portable power station?

Portable power stations are generally designed to power smaller electronic devices and appliances, from phones and table fans to heavy-duty work lights and CPAP machines. Pay attention to the estimated watt-hours each brand provides in its specs to determine which model makes the most sense for what you'd like to power.

Should you buy a portable power station?

Portable power stations have enough bells and whistles to justify adding one to your everyday life as a backup in emergencies. They can also be an inexpensive stand-in for generators when you need to keep your necessities up and running during an emergency like a tornado or general outage.

What is the best portable power station?

Anker Solix F2000 (2,048Wh): Previously known as the Anker PowerHouse 767 and previous winner of "best large portable power station" here on CNET. This model has lots to offer by way of features and options -- pretty much anything other than wireless charging. It also performed well on our usable capacity and charge time tests.

What is the most expensive portable power station?

There are also battery expansions for the Mango Power E. The one downside is the price tag, as this unit also comes through as the most expensive portable power station with a list price of $4,250. Milwaukee M18 Carry-On Power Supply: This is a different unit to include on this list, but it does meet all the requirements, so here we are.

How much does a portable power station cost?

When choosing portable power stations for this list, I wanted to offer a variety of choices that will fit both your needs and your budget. Small, basic power stations start around $500, but larger models can cost $3,500 or more. I included options at both ends of this range, as well as a few middle-of-the-line choices.

What is the difference between a generator and a portable power station?

A portable power station is essentially a big rechargeable battery that you carry around. Deplete it, and it's useless until you can recharge. A generator, by definition, is a device that actually converts some type of energy to usable electricity in whatever circuitry you have it connected to.