GEAR | Incredible Value Powerness Hiker U500 Power Station & Solar Panel Are The Perfect Camping Companions – Review

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We’ve tested all manner of different power banks and power stations on camping trips over the years, but we think the Powerness Hiker U500 power station and SolarX 120 solar panel offers the best combination of value and performance yet. Read on for our full review…

Powerness Portable Power Station & Solar Panel
Powerness Hiker U500 Portable Power Station & SolarX S120 Solar Panel

What is it?

  • Powerness Hiker U500 Power Station, £249 -£399
  • Powerness SolarX S120 200 watt Solar Panel, £149 – £199

Overall Rating 5 out of 5 stars (5 / 5)

Stockists

Features

  • 515Wh capacity
  • Built-in 500W inverter
  • Wireless charging top
  • Folding carry handle
  • Battery management system with surge control, short circuit protection, temperature control and low voltage protection
  • Smart fan and temperature detector
  • A grade lithium battery
  • Multiple outlets including USB A x 3, USB C x 1, AC x 1 and 12 V x 1
Recharging my Stoov heated pillow

What we thought

The first thing I noticed was the small size and light weight of the Powerness Hiker U500, which together with the built-in fold-down handle, make this super easy to transport and move around.

Powerness Hiker U500 review
The Powerness Hiker U500 Inside my tent on a recent weekend away

The smaller size means even with car fully packed with camping gear and people, it’s easy to find the space to pop the power station in and once at the campsite, it’s light enough to carry wherever you need to take it.

Powerness Hiker U500 review
Close up of power inputs and outputs

Ports wise there are 3 USB A ports which meant we cand charge both of our smartphones at the same time as well as my Kindle. To really test its ability though on one particularly cold solo spring camping trip, I took an electric blanket with me.

What can it charge?

Camping Trip Practicality & Performance

After a heavy day of camera and video use, my phone needed recharging on the first evening after being out all day. The low temperatures also meant that before getting into bed at around 9.30pm to snuggle up and read, I plugged my electric blanket in which has standard UK mains plug.

The bright and clear readout is super useful and tells you not only how much power all of your plugged in appliances are drawing at any given time, but also exactly how long you have left based on the remaining battery capacity.

Powerness Hiker U500 review
78% battery / 11.8 hours life usage time my phone and electric blanket plugged in

This meant on the first night, I knew if I wanted to, I could have my electric blanket on setting 2 for a full 11 hours, whilst my phone charged. I left it on for the first part of the night and when I woke up at 6:30am the following morning, I was down to 62% battery.

Not bad given I’d had my phone plugged in and a standard electric blanket on most of the night!

Using The SolarX S120 Solar Panel

The sun gods were on my side and I woke up to a beautiful, albeit cloudy, sunny spring day and the forecast was set to stay dry, so before leaving the campsite and going out on my bike, I hooked the Powerness Hiker U500 up to the solar panel to top it up and ensure I’d have enough charge left to power my electric blanket again that night.

This was the first time I’d tried out the solar panel so I had no idea how it would perform, also bearing in mind that although sunny, it was early April in the UK and still very cloudy (as you can see from the photo below), so the solar panel wasn’t in full-strength, constant summer sunshine.

When I returned, the unit was back up to 74% which I found super impressive and by the time I unplugged the solar panel and folded it back up, the Hiker U500 was up to 80% battery, which was more than enough to recharge my phone, power my electric blanket and wirelessly charge my Kindle.

Pros

  • Light and easy to transport and carry
  • The solar panel performs brilliantly even in the changeable UK spring weather
  • There are loads of USB inputs so it’s perfect for larger families needing to power
  • The perfect combination of portability and power
  • Items like mobile phones can be plugged directly into the solar panel
  • Solar panel can be used with countless other power stations, not just the Powerness Hiker U500

Cons

  • Solar panel is not fully waterproof and needs protecting (putting back inside your tent or van) during heavy rain

The verdict

Our Rating

Practicality 5/5

Looks 4.5/5

Performance 5/5

Value 5/5

Overall Rating 5 out of 5 stars (5 / 5)

Powerness Hiker U500 Power Station
Powerness Hiker U500 Power Station wirelessly charging my Kindle

Although we’ve tried a fair few different portable power stations for camping over the last few years, this is by far one of my favourite. In terms of portability and power, it offers a really great combination of the two and is far easier to move around

The first power station that we’ve rated a full 5/5, the Powerness Hiker U500 & SolarX S120 Solar Panel provide the perfect blend of value and performance.

We’ve given this a 5 star rating, and it’s the first power station we’ve tested that we’ve ranked so highly. We understand that not everyone has nearly £1,000 available to drop on a larger capacity portable power station, so in terms of affordability compared to features and usability, we think the Powerness Hiker U500 plus solar panel make an excellent choice and offer everything you need for family camping and vanlife.

Find out more about the Powerness Hiker U500 Power Station (expect to pay £249 – £399) or take a look at the Powerness Solaris S120 (expect to pay £149 – £199).

DISCLOSURE | Thank you to Powerness who supplied the featured products to us to test in return for our honest opinions. We were not paid to write this review.

Where to next?

Shell Robshaw-Bryan
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