How long will the C300X actually power my devices?
Runtime depends entirely on what you're running. In the efficiency test, the unit powered a 300W load for 50 minutes before depletion.
At a glance
Length
9 min
Channel
The Solar Lab
Video from
Oct 2024
Rating
⭐⭐ Great video · 2/2
Best for
Van dwellers and campers seeking affordable, lightweight backup power for small appliances and device charging
What this video answers
How long will the C300X actually power my devices?
Can I charge this with solar panels, and how fast?
Is it quiet enough for sleeping in a tent or van?
What's the difference between the C300X and the DC version?
Is 300 watts enough for my van or camping setup?
Reads the guide aloud in your browser — free, no account.
What the Anker C300X Portable Power Station Offers
This video is a detailed hands-on review of the Anker C300X, a compact 288Wh portable power station priced around $199–$249. The Solar Lab walks through the unit's real-world performance, testing its inverter efficiency, charge times, solar compatibility, and noise levels in a lab setting. It's designed for people who need reliable backup power on a budget—whether for camping, van travel, emergency home backup, or powering small devices on the road.
The review focuses on practical questions any buyer would have: How long does it actually run a device? How fast does it charge? What can you realistically power with 300 watts? The hosts bring honest skepticism to the marketing claims and deliver a straightforward verdict on whether this unit is worth the money for different use cases.
Key Moments
Key Features and Test Results from This Review
Efficiency test showing 87% real-world performance when running near its 300W rated capacity, lasting 50 minutes instead of the theoretical 57
Full charge from 0–100% via standard 120V wall outlet achieved in 1 hour 8 minutes, nearly matching the advertised 1-hour claim
Eight total ports including three AC outlets, three USB-C ports (one with 140W reverse charging), one USB-A, and a 12V car socket for flexibility
Exceptionally quiet operation with barely audible fans—suitable for tent camping or powering a CPAP machine without disturbance
Pass-through charging capability on both AC and solar inputs, letting you continue powering devices while the station recharges
Lightweight 9-pound design with a handle and carrying strap, plus a built-in pop-up light on top for navigation in darkness
What You Should Know Before Buying the Anker C300X
Solar input is limited to 100W maximum, meaning 3 hours of sunlight needed for a full charge—slower than wall charging but functional on sunny camping days
The unit has a slight delay recognizing solar panel input, so give it a minute after plugging in panels before expecting charging to begin
300W continuous output is sufficient for small appliances, camping fridges, Wi-Fi routers, speakers, and device charging—but insufficient for high-draw items like coffee makers or kettles
Two versions available: the C300X reviewed here with three AC outlets, and a cheaper DC-only version without wall plugs if you only need USB and 12V outputs
Integrates with Anker's mobile app for remote monitoring and settings adjustments when not physically beside the unit
Battery rated for 3,000 cycles; currently on launch sale with potential coupon codes available to reduce the $249 standard price
Common Questions About the Anker C300X Power Station
How long will the C300X actually power my devices?
Runtime depends entirely on what you're running. In the efficiency test, the unit powered a 300W load for 50 minutes before depletion. For lighter loads like charging phones, running LED lights, or a small camping fridge, you'll get significantly longer—possibly several hours—but the video doesn't provide specific examples for typical van or camping appliances.
Can I charge this with solar panels, and how fast?
Yes, but slowly. The 100W solar input limit means a full charge takes about 3 hours under optimal sun conditions—much longer than the 1-hour wall charge. The video notes this is a drawback for camping trips where daylight is limited, especially in cloudy or overcast weather.
Is it quiet enough for sleeping in a tent or van?
Yes. The sound test revealed barely audible fan noise. The hosts specifically mention it's suitable for sleeping scenarios, CPAP machines, and tent camping without disturbance—a significant advantage over noisier power stations.
What's the difference between the C300X and the DC version?
The C300X (reviewed here) includes three AC wall outlets plus USB and 12V ports. The DC-only version removes the AC outlets, saving about $50, and suits people who only need to charge electronics and power USB devices. Choose based on whether you need standard wall-plug capability.
Is 300 watts enough for my van or camping setup?
It depends on your needs. The video confirms it handles camping fridges, routers, lights, projectors, and device charging effectively. However, it cannot power high-draw appliances like coffee makers, kettles, or microwave ovens. For van dwellers, this is a light-duty backup or secondary power source, not a primary power system.
This review is genuinely useful because it tests the real-world claims rather than just repeating marketing specs. The lab measurements—efficiency percentages, actual charge times, noise levels, and surge behavior—give you the data you need to decide if $199 is actually a good deal for your situation.
What impressed me most was how thoroughly the video covered the quietness of this unit and the inclusion of pass-through charging, both practical features that matter when you're living in a small space. The hosts are refreshingly honest about its limitations too, especially the slow solar charging. If you're considering a compact power station for van or camping use, this breakdown will save you from buyer's remorse.
I started Helicopterstour.com because I genuinely believe there’s no better way to see the world than from the sky.
I used to work on the Pride of America cruise ship in Hawaii, helping guests book shore excursions all over the islands.
Two Vacation Hero Awards
2,000+ Guests/Week
Pride of America · NCL
Hawaii Shore Excursions
1000+ Tours Reviewed
0:00 - Intro
1:17 - 60 Second Teardown
2:38 - Testing
5:24 - What We Like
7:10 - What We Don't Like
8:12 - Should You Buy It?
The Anker C300X... This thing is honestly pretty awesome. It's hands down our favorite little unit and would be a perfect gift this holiday season, especially considering the price. It's quick to charge, super quiet and quite capable for a ton of smaller scale applications like camping, power on the go and light home back up!
We maintain an affiliate relationship with some of the products reviewed, which means we get a small percentage of a sale if you click our links, at no cost to our viewers.
Video transcript for “Anker C300X - Too Good to be True for $199?” Accessibility
A full written transcript of this video, provided for accessibility. Select any timestamp to jump the video to that moment.
whenever we talk about anchor we almost always mention R&D they seem to be one of the only companies that's out there actually innovating new products and not just replicating new versions of their older stuff and so when we saw the initial ads of this brand new C300 X slung over some guys
shoulder ready to go on an adventure it came as no [Music] surprise so welcome back to the lab where our opinions cannot be bought today we're taking a look at this brand new C300 X this is the bigger version of the two brand new C300 power stations that Anker just launched this is the
version with the AC plug like the wall outlets on the front there is a DC version as well that just doesn't have these plugs it's strictly the USBs and the 12volt car socket and stuff like that's it's got like a little popup light on the top it's about 50 bucks less and this is actually
pretty much a direct replacement to the older whatever 525 or whatever they call that little thing and that one just felt like a miniature power station and this one kind of feels more like it's built with a purpose and as always we will leave some links down below to this unit
and any other discount codes that we can get for you guys to save you guys a little bit of money but before we jump into our experience with the C300 X we're going to hit you guys with a super quick 60-second spect tear down because you're probably not all familiar with this brand new
low power station first up this thing obviously passed the tiny baby lift test it weighs a total of 9 lb you could shot put this thing across the Atlantic Ocean this has a 288w hour battery Bank rated for 3,000 Cycles it's got a 300 W inverter you can charge this guy up with just a regular 120
volt wall outlet you can charge it with solar you can actually charge it with a USBC as well which is kind of a cool feature and in terms of ports on this thing you have three 120 volt regular house outlets on the front here you have three USB C's although one of them is rated for 140 WTS and is
a reverse charging socket so you could basically charge a device from there but you could also plug a cord into that and actually charge it with that same USB C slot which is kind of cool there's also a usba and just a regular 12vt car socket it's got the anchor classic unibrow light G on the
top I actually really love these lights they're super bright very convenient to have and of course this unit integrates perfectly with Anchor's app it allows you get on there and change a couple settings that you wouldn't otherwise be able to access and basically just control this thing from
afar so in case you're not directly beside it you can still change what's happening with it and the price of this guy right now is $249 although it's already on the a launch sale hopefully we can get you guys a discount before this video goes live as well to make it even cheaper for
you but regardless that's not actually a terrible price for what you're getting now $200 may not be a ton of money but when you're spending 200 bucks on a power station you still want to make sure it works so the first thing that we did with this little guy was run an efficiency test on it to see
just how much power the inverter and the fans and everything on this actually consume this inverter is rated for 300 W so we hit it with a load just under 300 and this power station should have been able to run that load for about 57 minutes it actually lasted for about 50 minutes which is
87% efficient which on a small power station is actually pretty good this unit also advertises that it can charge itself up within 1 hour so we went ahead when it was completely drained and plugged it into a regular wall outlet inside of our house and we were able to charge the thing
from 0 to 100 in an hour and 8 minutes so pretty close to being on par with what it advertises the solar input works it's a limit of 100 Watts with this guy though so it's only going to charge in about 3 hours if you use a solar panel I will say too when you plug a solar panel directly into this
it takes a little bit longer than a normal Power Station to kind of recognize the panels been plugged in so if you get one and you're messing around with it just give it a minute it's not as quick to respond to solar input as we're used to seeing and you can also charge it with this 140
W Port the problem that we keep running into is that we actually don't have a cable thick enough to get 140 WS into this we noticed that most of our cables limit around the 70 watt Mark you'd need a pretty decently thick USBC to actually get 140 wats into this power station we also wanted
to see how much this little guy could surge it's rated for 300 WTS but if you accidentally try to ask it to do a little bit more can it keep up and it like it can but it really doesn't want to usually these little power stations they're not really meant to Surge very much but the good news on that is when we did the efficiency test we basically did
it at 300 watts so it's a very capable 300 watt inverter it's not like some of these other ones that you run them at 300 WTS and it dies in half an hour something really impressive with this guy too was the sound test it makes basically no noise if you look through here you can see the two little fans going so this is really good if
you're using it for like a CPAP machine or if you're sleeping with it in a tent when you're camping or something like that it really really won't make much noise at all and the last thing we test with a little guy like this is pass through if you are charging something off of one of these
outlets and you notice the power station's getting low can you plug it into to either like the wall or a solar panel and then continue to power what you're powering and use the rest of the power to charge up the battery and you can pass through works on this guy with both AC and with
solar which is just good news there's actually quite a few things that we like about the C300 X but the first one is going to be its size if you actually compare it to this older 5 it's actually a 522 Power Station it's actually kind of obvious why I like this design a bit more it's really not
much taller at all but it's significantly narrower and everything is just kind of laid out in a much easier to use format and this also just feels a little bit more natural the way everything is kind of laid out it has a really nice little handle right here for you to grab it weighs
absolutely nothing so your grandma can pick this up and move it around for you and it also comes with that little strap the strap to me seems like a bit of a pain in the ass you throw it over your shoulder and slamming into your arm it's like a hard plastic unit I'm sure that there's some
people out there that will find it useful we also like that this basically there's two versions of this power station this is the AC version it has the AC ports along the bottom if you don't need those if you're just like a creative you're trying to charge your drones or computers phones
equipment like if you don't need these plugs you can actually save a little bit of money and get the DC version with just without that and that's a really cool feature that normally we don't see normally it's like it's all or nothing you guys also know I'm a big light guys so I absolutely
love when anchor puts these little unibrow lights on their power stations they're actually pretty bright they only run about 3 Watts it's also useful just in your tent if you're camping or doing stuff like that you can kind of use this thing as like a little bit of a navigational tool
there's also eight ports on this unit you're able to take this and use it for like a 12vt camping fridge maybe not for a whole weekend but you can use it to power that fridge you can use it to power your Wi-Fi router and some light so the power goes out speakers projectors all that
kind of like small small little stuff 300 W is not enough to power like a coffee maker or a kettle so if you're going like glamping and you're going to bring your coffee maker this is not going to work for that thing that I just wish was a little different is the solar input I get that it's
a tiny power station but if we could get just like 200 WTS of solar into this you'd be able to charge it in just over an hour I think that 3 hours to charge this little guy that you could deplete even faster than that I don't know I just I feel like it'd be cool if we you could see a little bit
of a higher solar input on a power station like this especially if it's kind of geared towards camping and that kind of stuff you don't always have the best Sun you don't get to choose the weather on your camping trips uh so if you only have an hour or two of daylight it'd be cool to
be able to fully charge this thing during that time and speaking of the solar panels uh anchors panels we've talked about this before in other videos anchor panels are kind of just expensive they're a little bit more than like the industry average right now they actually of course have a
on their 100 W solar panel their panels tend to be a little bit more than other brands so you might be better off just finding the the specs of what the solar input is for this and buying a panel from a different brand honestly at the end of the day for just over 200 bucks
this thing is a pretty good deal and get we're actually kind of starting to get a little close to Christmas I think this will make a really good gift you can almost put this thing in a stocking at the time we're posting this video at least shop solar is supposed to have a a
wicked bundle on this with a solar panel on their websit so make sure you guys check that out check the description for any coupon codes or anything else otherwise hanker good job on doing something new and different again and not just being a follower that is all we got for you
guys I catch you guys next time thank you so much for watching peace out and stay charged [Music]
Every video on Helicopterstour.com is hand-picked and reviewed by Justin — nothing is added automatically. Each one gets an original written guide and an honest rating: ⭐ 1 out of 2 means a good video worth your time, and ⭐⭐ 2 out of 2 means a great one we would recommend to anyone. The videos belong to their creators — every page links back to the original channel so you can subscribe and support them.
