The DJI 1000 Portable Power Station Offers Super-Fast Charging, Just Not Right Out of the Box
Portable power stations are constantly becoming larger, more powerful and cheaper. You might expect a company like Anker (known for making small backup solutions for mobile devices) to enter this arena, but you might not have expected such a leap from DJI, which has been making drones and cameras for the last 10 years. years.
However, both drones and cameras have to pack high-capacity batteries into small cases, so DJI is really just bringing that knowledge and experience to consumer power stations – and while you can use these new devices to charge your devices on the road, they also work as backup systems for your home.
The DJI Power 1000 portable power station, which retails for just under $1,000 on Amazon , has a 1,024 Wh battery and charges fully in an hour and 10 minutes. While I personally would go for a more powerful powerhouse, there is a lot to like about the DJI.
Fewer outlets, more performance
Over the past month, I’ve been testing several power stations ranging from 1000 to 3000 Wh because that’s the minimum amount of juice you’ll need to keep some basic consumer electronics running during a power outage, such as your laptop, phone, and microwave, as well as your heater, air conditioner or a ventilator or medical equipment such as a CPAP machine. They are also light enough to actually be carried to camp.
The DJI 1000 is at the lower end of this power range, but has some features that higher power banks don’t have. I like the design: a slightly wider but bottom body with two handles protruding from the sides. I found it easier to carry, which is a significant benefit considering it weighs 32 pounds. The front panel of the device features two AC outputs (2200 W continuous AC output), as well as two USB-A ports and two USB-C ports (140 W AC output). Both AC outputs can be used as a UPS in case of power outages. These USB-C ports are no joke either: 140W is much more power than most USB-C power supplies, and they can support USB PD 3.1 to power your MacBook.
Other stations offer at least as many ports, if not more, but lack the DJI SDC and SDC lite ports. These smart DC ports are specifically designed to quickly charge DJI drones or DJI’s mini ecosystem of dongles that provide input and output for other devices. You’ll use these ports to connect the device to solar panels or a car charger, but again, you’ll have to buy special dongles to do this. Currently, the only solar panel DJI offers is the Zignes 100W Solar Panel , available only on their website for $299; This is the recommended brand, but there is no language that says other brands are not compatible.
Most power stations offer car charging and solar panel connectivity right out of the box, and while I like the idea of faster charging (and perhaps better performance in the future, as DJI hints), having to buy and track proprietary cables isn’t appealing. for me – if one of them went out (or went missing) during a crash, you were out of luck.
No application to control the power plant
Many new power plants offer apps to manage power on and off and help you control what you have in reserve. DJI doesn’t offer it, which is curious considering the battery is designed to control your DJI devices, and DJI already has an app for controlling devices.
However, as a powerhouse, the DJI 1000 does everything it should: it comes with a three-year warranty that can be extended to five years, and has a life expectancy of 4,000 cycles or 10 years. The maximum power consumption from solar charging is 800W, which is the same power. DJI’s marketing talks a lot about how quiet the device is (maximum noise level is 25 dB), but none of the powerhouses I tried had any noticeable audio issues, including the DJI.
Best choice for existing DJI customers
At a basic level, a Power Bank is a Power Bank. As long as it puts out power, it gets the job done, and at $999 DJI isn’t a bad price. However, at this price you can find a number of other power stations in the 1000W range that don’t require the additional dongles required and often come with additional output options – I like the Jackery Explorer 1000 ($999) or the Anker SOLIX C1000 ($999) .
In my testing of these units, I found that 2000W was a comfortable sweet spot, providing enough power to power the entire family’s devices during a power outage, running a heat source or air conditioner, or running the microwave occasionally. use and use of necessary medical equipment. For now, DJI only comes in 500W or 1000W versions. If you can afford a 2,000-watt unit and add one or two solar panels for charging in case of a multi-day outage, consider a more expensive solution such as the EcoFlow DELTA Max 2000 ($1,499) or Anker SOLIX F2000 ($1,999).