Reference · Updated July 2026

Power stations by the numbers

We pulled the specs and prices of 43 portable power stations sold in the US in 2026, from Jackery, EcoFlow, Anker, Bluetti, Goal Zero, DJI, and the value brands, and did the math the spec sheets bury. Why a bigger watt-hour number does not mean it runs your gear, why the one non-LiFePO4 unit in a size class is the worst buy, and the real price-per-watt-hour sweet spot.

What a watt-hour actually costs

Across 43 popular portable power stations in 2026, the median price works out to about $0.78 per watt-hour.

That is the number to benchmark any deal against. Below roughly $0.50 per watt-hour is genuinely good value, and above $1.00 you are paying for the brand, the form factor, or a sale that is not really a sale.

Source: Sorted Gear analysis of 43 current US models, 2026. See the best-value picks →

Small power stations cost about 2.1 times more per watt-hour than large ones: roughly $0.93 per Wh under 500 Wh versus $0.44 per Wh above 1,500 Wh.

Watt-hours get cheaper in bulk because the inverter, screen, and case are fixed costs spread over more battery. If you are choosing between two sizes, the bigger one is almost always the better value per watt-hour, as long as you can carry it.

Source: Sorted Gear analysis, 2026. Size your real daily need →

The budget challenger brands undercut the majors by roughly 60 percent per watt-hour, about $0.31 versus $0.80.

Brands like Oukitel, Pecron, and VTOMAN sell watt-hours cheaply, but the trade-off is that their long cycle-life claims are vendor-stated and rarely tested independently, and their headline list prices are often permanently inflated to make a sale look bigger. The capacity is real; the longevity is a bet.

Source: Sorted Gear analysis, 2026. How we would choose →

Chemistry is the whole value decision

Forty of the 43 units use LiFePO4 batteries; only three still use older NMC lithium, and all three are the weakest buys in their size class.

The NMC holdouts in 2026 are the Jackery Explorer 3000 Pro, the Goal Zero Yeti 1000 Core, and the Growatt Infinity 1500. NMC is not defective, but for a power station that gets cycled daily it is the wrong chemistry, and the market has almost entirely moved on.

Source: Sorted Gear analysis, 2026.

The LiFePO4 units are rated for a median of 3,500 charge cycles and up to 6,000; the three NMC units for just 500 to 2,000.

At one cycle a day that is the difference between a battery that lasts about 10 years and one worn out in 1.5 to 5. Cycle-life ratings are manufacturer claims rather than independent tests, but the chemistry gap is real and consistent across every brand.

Source: Manufacturer spec pages; Sorted Gear analysis, 2026.

Over its rated life an NMC power station costs about $0.66 per usable kilowatt-hour delivered; a LiFePO4 one costs about $0.25, roughly 2.7 times less.

Spread the purchase price across every watt-hour the battery will ever deliver, which is capacity times rated cycles times usable depth, and LiFePO4 wins decisively even when it costs more up front. The cheapest sticker price and the cheapest power are rarely the same unit.

Source: Sorted Gear analysis, 2026. See the LiFePO4 picks →

The spec-sheet traps

A bigger watt-hour number does not mean it can run more: nine power stations all storing about 1,024 Wh range from 1,200 to 2,600 watts of continuous output.

Watt-hours are your fuel tank; continuous watts are your engine. Same one kilowatt-hour of storage, but the Goal Zero Yeti 1000 Core tops out at 1,200 watts while the DJI Power 1000 V2 delivers 2,600. Check the continuous watts against your biggest appliance, or a hair dryer will trip a battery that looks plenty big on paper.

Source: Sorted Gear analysis, 2026. Check your surge load →

Surge ratings are not standardized: the same continuous wattage carries a claimed surge of anywhere from 1.3 to 2.2 times, depending on the brand.

Jackery and EcoFlow tend to quote a 2x surge; Anker and Bluetti often quote 1.3 to 1.5x on the same class of unit. A 2,400-watt surge on one brand and a 3,600-watt surge on another can hide near-identical real inverters, so surge headroom is not comparable across brands without reading the continuous number too.

Source: Sorted Gear analysis, 2026. Size for the startup surge →

X-Boost and Power Lifting are software tricks, not real inverter capacity: they run resistive gear above the rated watts by lowering voltage.

EcoFlow's X-Boost and Bluetti's Power Lifting let an 1,800-watt unit run a 2,600-watt heater, but only for heating elements, not motors or electronics. It is a genuine feature, not a bigger inverter, and it will not start an air conditioner or run a microwave at the boosted number.

Source: EcoFlow and Bluetti documentation; Sorted Gear analysis, 2026.

Weight and portability

A portable power station weighs about 1 pound for every 35 watt-hours: the median across 43 units is 34.7 Wh per pound.

That is your fast planning rule. A 1,000 Wh unit lands near 28 to 30 pounds, and a 2,000 Wh unit near 55 to 65. The lightest designs reach about 47 Wh per pound, and the big wheeled units, carrying heavier inverters and casters, drop toward 22.

Source: Sorted Gear analysis, 2026. Match capacity to your loads →

Past about 2,000 watt-hours a power station stops being carryable: every unit above that line weighs 50 to 135 pounds.

A 100 Wh unit fits a jacket pocket, a 1,000 Wh unit is a two-handed carry, and a 4,000 Wh unit needs wheels or two people. If it lives in a van or truck bed and rarely moves, weight barely matters; if you carry it to a campsite, it caps the capacity you will actually tolerate.

Source: Sorted Gear analysis, 2026. See our size-by-use picks →

How we got these numbers

We compiled the capacity, price, weight, continuous and surge output, battery chemistry, and rated cycle life of 43 portable power stations that are currently sold in the US, across eight brands: Jackery, EcoFlow, Anker SOLIX, Bluetti, Goal Zero, DJI, and the value brands Oukitel, Pecron, VTOMAN, Allpowers, and Growatt. Specs come from official manufacturer pages, cross-checked against major retailers, in July 2026.

Price per watt-hour is price divided by rated capacity. Cost per delivered kilowatt-hour is the price divided by capacity times rated cycles times 0.8 usable depth, a rough proxy for lifetime value. Cycle-life figures are manufacturer ratings, not independent tests, and we treat the value brands' longer claims with extra caution.

Prices are the single softest number here. This category discounts constantly, so we used typical mid-2026 selling prices and you should treat every per-watt-hour figure as directional, not a live quote. Where a brand sells multiple generations, we used the current model. The three NMC units are called out by name so no one mistakes them for the LiFePO4 majority.

Turn the numbers into a pick

Read the best portable power stations guide, which ranks the specific units we would buy by real run-time and price, then size your own setup with the free calculators: the battery runtime calculator for how long a unit lasts under your loads, the wattage and surge calculator for whether it can start your gear, and the solar and battery calculator for recharging off-grid. All are free, with no signup.

How we are paid: the gear guide contains affiliate links, and if you buy through them we earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It does not change what we recommend, and the calculators and this analysis stay free either way.

Cite this study or use the data

The full dataset is free to reuse under a CC BY 4.0 license: quote a figure, chart the numbers, or download the raw data. All we ask is a credit link back to this page.

Download JSON ↓ Download CSV ↓

Cite it

Sorted Gear. (2026). Power Stations by the Numbers: 43 Portable Units, Analyzed (2026). Retrieved from https://sortedgear.com/power-stations-by-the-numbers/

Link to it

<a href="https://sortedgear.com/power-stations-by-the-numbers/">Power Stations by the Numbers: 43 Portable Units, Analyzed (2026)</a>, a data study by Sorted Gear

Common questions

How much should a portable power station cost per watt-hour?

Across 43 current models the median is about $0.78 per watt-hour. Below roughly $0.50 is genuinely good value and above $1.00 you are paying for brand, form factor, or an inflated sale. Larger units are cheaper per watt-hour than small ones, about $0.44 per Wh above 1,500 Wh versus $0.93 under 500 Wh, so buying one size up is usually the better value if you can carry it.

Is LiFePO4 worth it over a cheaper NMC lithium power station?

Almost always. LiFePO4 units are rated for a median of about 3,500 charge cycles and up to 6,000, while the few remaining NMC units are rated for only 500 to 2,000. Spread over the battery's rated life that works out to about $0.25 per usable kilowatt-hour delivered for LiFePO4 versus about $0.66 for NMC, roughly 2.7 times cheaper. In 2026, 40 of the 43 units we analyzed are already LiFePO4.

Does a bigger watt-hour number mean it can power more appliances?

No. Watt-hours tell you how long it runs; continuous watts tell you what you can plug in, and the two do not track together. Nine units all storing about 1,024 Wh range from 1,200 to 2,600 watts of continuous output. Always check the continuous-watt rating against your most demanding appliance, because a high-capacity battery with a small inverter will still trip on a hair dryer or a microwave.

How much does a portable power station weigh?

About 1 pound for every 35 watt-hours, so a 1,000 Wh unit is near 28 to 30 pounds and a 2,000 Wh unit near 55 to 65. The lightest designs reach about 47 Wh per pound. Above roughly 2,000 Wh they run 50 to 135 pounds and usually add wheels, at which point they are a fixed installation rather than something you carry to a campsite.

Which portable power station is the best value?

It depends on the size you need, but the pattern is clear: a mid-size LiFePO4 unit from a major brand bought under about $0.60 per watt-hour is the value sweet spot, since it avoids the small-unit price premium and the short life of the NMC holdouts. Our companion guide ranks the specific units we would buy by real run-time and price.