REASONS TO BUY
Small and lightweight
Great for phones and laptops
Solar panel compatible
REASONS TO AVOID
Only works with low-wattage appliances
Limited run-time
Jackery Explorer 300 Review
An ultra-portable power station that is well suited to recharging phones and laptop devices
Credit: Kenji Mowrey
By Kenji Mowrey ⋅ Review Editor ⋅ May 18, 2025
Contributions From: Sentry Kelly
RELATED: The Best Power Stations of 2025
Our Verdict
The Jackery 300 is a compact portable power station, ideal for charging multiple small electronic devices. Its 293Wh battery can effectively recharge your laptop and phone when camping, during a blackout, or away from AC power. It's not a great choice for many other common things people want to power, such as a coffee maker, a hot plate, a heater, or a projector. But its small form makes it the perfect companion when working on a laptop for an extended period outside, camping, or during a blackout.
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Jackery 300 offers decent power performance in an enticingly compact package. Its lightweight design makes it the perfect choice to toss in your backpack before heading out.
Simple and functional, the Jackery 300 excels at supplementing device charging and low-draw appliance use.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
Power Output
The Explorer 300 delivered 247 Watt-hours (Wh), which makes it one of the smaller batteries in our tests and one of the lower performers in this metric. That is not surprising considering its smaller size. It is ideal for small camping applications, not for when the power goes out at home. For example, it can recharge a typical laptop about three times or a phone nearly 80 times, but it won't be able to run the average refrigerator if the power goes out. We were only able to run our Starlink off this for about five hours.
Testing the 300 with common household appliances like a coffee grinder gave us a good idea on its power capacity and limitations.
Credit: Kenji Mowrey
Portability
Above all else, the Jackery 300 is extremely portable. Weighing only 7.1 pounds, this compact power station can be easily stashed in your backpack and carried around with its built-in handle. It was our first choice when heading outside the house with our laptop. The handle is large and comfortable to hold.
Extremely light and easy to carry, the 300 was our first choice when looking to stash a power station in our bag.
Credit: Kenji Mowrey
Charge Time
The Jackery 300 falters here. For such a relatively small battery, it took four hours to charge from a wall outlet. By comparison, many batteries that are eight times larger will charge two to three times faster.
The charging speed is nothing to brag about on the 300, but its various charging options are appreciated.
Credit: Kenji Mowrey
One positive aspect of this unit is its ability to charge with a USB-C cord, which is great if you can't find the AC wall outlet cord. The 300 also supports up to 100 watts of solar input. With a 100-watt panel, the Jackery takes about 4-5 hours to charge under ideal conditions. It can also be charged with an included carport cable.
Charging the 300 with the included carport cable.
Credit: Kenji Mowrey
Features
A simple power station, the Jackery 300 won't wow you with features. Its small form means limited usability is to be expected, such as the absence of expansion capabilities and emergency power supply capabilities.
We would have liked to see a built-in light on the Jackery 300, a common feature equipped on many smaller power stations. The display is also quite limited, providing only basic information, such as power input/output wattage and remaining battery, displayed as a percentage. Most notably, when drawing power, its display is missing the remaining discharge time, which is information that can be handy when determining how long a device can be run.
Despite its limitations, the Jackery 300 provides dependable power and gets the job done.
Credit: Kenji Mowrey
Should You Buy the Jackery 300?
The Jackery 300 won't blow you away with features or ultra-fast charging speeds, but its value lies in its highly compact design and extremely effective and efficient battery. Whether it's your first introduction to portable power or you're looking to expand your power station collection to charge smaller devices, this power station deserves consideration.
This simple little power station is a great addition to your power needs.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
What Other Portable Power Station Should You Consider?
More demanding power needs? Check out the Bluetti AC200 Max for high power output and a no-frills design. The Anker 521 is a similar-sized small-form power station with a built-in light offered at a budget-friendly price. Another favorite of ours from Jackery, the Jackery Explorer 2000 Plus, is the ultimate large-form power station for running larger appliances, with a battery capacity big enough for multiple days of off-grid use.
Side-by-Side Comparison
Compare Jackery Explorer 300 versus top competing products:
—Kenji Mowrey and Sentry Kelly
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