Jackery’s new Explorer 100 Plus power station may be tiny, but it can still refuel with solar panels

$129

Jackery today is launching a new portable power station. Its new Explorer 100 Plus is launching as the company’s most compact and portable solution yet, bringing much of its usual feature set to an even more affordable package.

The Jackery Explorer 100 Plus is far from the company’s most capable power station, and that’s okay. That’s what the rest of the lineup is for. After all, there’s tons of flagship offerings for powering even the most demanding campsites and off-grid setups in the company’s expansive arsenal. By comparison, the new release is breaking free from those more niche use cases in order to power your gear every day.

Branching out from some of those more hobbyist uses, Jackery’s latest opens the door to a far wider reach than just bringing on your next outdoor trip. The power station has a very mobile-first approach that ditches the usual AC outlets we see on the other models in favor of a simpler 3-port design. The Jackery Explorer 100 Plus has two USB-C ports, which can both send out power and accept it for refueling the internal battery. There’s also a USB-A slot, which joins the others to offer a total of 128W of power output.

That juice comes from the internal 99Wh battery on the inside of the handheld build. Don’t let the casing fool you, this is small enough to fit in a backpack or bag, even if it looks the same as the company’s far larger releases. All of the usual hallmarks are there, like the bright orange accenting and even a built-in display for monitoring charging stats. Jackery’s latest LiFePO4 battery tech is making the cut to deliver 2,000 charging cycles, all while delivering the maximum carry-on capacity for flights.

Easily the coolest thing about the new power station is that despite lacking the usual array of ports as its bigger brethren, it can still be refueled via a solar panel. On top of juicing it up with a power outlet over USB-C like you would with any other portable battery, the Jackery Explorer 100 Plus can also be refueled in just 2 hours with one of the brand’s SolarSaga 100W panels.

You can now buy the new Jackery Explorer 100 Plus. It launches at Amazon with a $149 MSRP, although you can currently save on the new release. There’s an on-page coupon that takes $20 off the usual price tag, letting early adopters score this one for $129 instead for a limited time.

Electronicsforward’ Take

Everything else aside, the design of the Jackery Explorer 100 Plus is adorable. I love that the company just went for it and scaled down its usual signature design to something even more portable, even if it isn’t necessarily the most practical form-factor. Still, the power station at least backs that up with some pretty solid charging tech.

All said and done though, this release is still going to be a bit more niche than your average power bank out there. We’ve been seeing the likes of Anker and other brands step up to deliver more and more capable batteries, and now Jackery is making the opposite choice by meeting smartphone accessory makers in the middle. People who already own a Jackery for powering their off-grid gear are likely one of the main markets here, but I’ll hopefully be taking a hands-on look to see if it has wider appeal than that. And at first glance, the Explorer 100 Plus certainly seems to.

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