CTOLITY Portable Power Station with 2X200W Solar Panel 2048Wh LiFePO4 Battery 2400W AC Outlets 3400W Surge Solar Generator

First - I'd like to point out that the item I was given for review seems to no longer be shown under this listing (at least at the time of writing)... I want to make very clear that the item I'm reviewing is a 192 Wh CTOLITY Portable Power Station, as shown in my photos (the variant is model AP200L - interestingly, it doesn't say this on the actual device, but this is the only model in the instruction booklet that exactly matches the device I have). If you're ordering anything other than the 192 Wh CTOLITY Portable Power Station, I'd ask that you disregard this review. I received this product 8 days ago, and charged it to full capacity using USB-C. Since then, I have charged my Samsung A16 cellphone every night using the device, without having to recharge the power station - it currently sits at 14%, and I'm sure I could get another days charge out of it. This outstanding capacity alone almost makes it worth the $99.99 it was listed at when I ordered, in my opinion - but there several other very helpful features included on the device that make it a great value and useful tool at this price point. A lantern pulls from the top, and offers a similar amount of light as a propane or kerosene lantern, while only consuming an impressively low 2 watts of power at its maximum brightness. Multiple ports are available for use - including two USB-A (18 Watts max, but my phone tends to charge at 7 watts, according to the device) ports for charging standard USB devices, two USB-C ports (a USB C1 capable of 140 Watts in or out and a USB C2 capable of outputting 22.5 Watts), a 12V 120 Watt DC barrel output, and a DC7909 input capable of accepting 150 watts of power in a range of 20-60 V (for solar input). The device also includes an LCD screen that very helpfully shows the amount of power left in the device, the rate of charge and discharge, and the amount of time the device is capable of lasting at the current discharge rate - during my testing it has seemed to fairly accurately reflect the current state of the battery. The product has a bit of weight to it, but it isn't dissimilar from a fully filled kerosene or propane lantern - and adds a significantly higher amount of functionality to your camp gear. The design is attractive and easy to use, I feel the dark green color will fit in well with all camping and outdoor gear. LiFePO4 battery chemistry is ideal for solar applications - and should support a long life of power cycles. In my 8 days of testing, there is only one con I've found with the product - and it could be argued that it's a pro... I wanted to use this with a USB powered esp32 robotics project, which it reads as drawing 0 watts - because the power draw is so low, the device will auto shutoff to conserve battery life after 15 minutes or so. It's not particularly useful in power applications requiring less than 1 watt - but that's such a niche use case I don't think it really detracts from the product in any significant way. This is going to sound like an overly positive review - but this really is one of the best items I've ever had the privilege to test and review and I'd definitely consider CTOLITY a strong contender when considering purchasing similar products in the future. With that said - it's kind of a shame the exact product I received doesn't seem to be listed on this product page just 8 days after receiving the product... Hopefully it will return, in the future. Read more

This is a great unit that I've been enjoying, although I think the price could be cheaper, and it's more limited in its capability than you might think based on the list of features. For example, the charging input is compatible with common power station solar panel connectors, the DC7909 plug, most commonly used by Jackery, but is used by others. The problem is, it needs 20+ volts in through that plug, so any car charging systems or smaller 12v panels won't work. You need a 20v panel minimum, and, again, your 12v car charger won't work. This means you'll likely be charging it through USB. Now that's not necessarily bad, but the included USB charging cable topped out at 55 watts. In many ways that's totally fine, but it will take 3-4 hours to charge this unit with that cable, at least on my chargers, when theoretically you could do it in under 2 hours using the maximum throughput. I did test that, see photos, but the most power I could output using my power stations was 100 watts, and sure enough it took the 100 watts! Very nice. It also output at 100 watts (see the photo with the Jackery). I couldn't test much more than that. Something I was interested in testing is the DC out barrel plug - these are almost always DC5521, but not on this unit. I looked around in the manual but I didn't find what type of barrel plug it was, so beware of that. I think at this price, the unit COULD have an inverter, but this doesn't have one which is...mostly fine. I would have liked a 12v plug at least. But I get it - the idea behind this thing is to charge your cell phones and stuff like that on a long term camping trip or something (hence the lantern function, which is nice), not so much power your shed or anything. So with that in mind, the size is good. I have no doubt not including the inverter or the DC12v cigarette lighter socket saved a lot of space, and helped with the ease of use. There are just two buttons. Power and light. For everything else to work, you just plug it in. The charging speed is, of course, first rate, and it probably is the fastest charging device I have, which makes the price tag fairly good. There are occasionally better deals out there, but only occasionally. I think this is a great buy if you're out camping for a week and want to charge your cell phones. And it can do 4 at once, so that's pretty good. Read more