Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 Review: The Portable Power Station I Take Camping, to the Beach and Through Storm Season
Power is the one thing that keeps everything here running. I'm on the Gold Coast, beach behind the apartment, and like most Aussies I spend half my life outside — filming for the channel, editing late at night, camping with the family, running around in the RV. When the power drops, all of it stops. And out here between the Gold Coast and Brisbane, storms, outages and travel are just part of life. So for the last little while I've been living with the Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2, and it's quietly become my don't-worry-about-it box.
Today we're testing the Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 portable power station — 1,024Wh of capacity, 2,000W of output, and a wall charge that goes from empty to full in about 49 minutes. Unboxing and ports first, then real-world testing: the RV on a free camp, the drive between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, storm-season backup at the house, the kitchen with real appliances, and a beach shoot charging all my gear. We've reviewed a stack of solar panels and batteries on this channel, and the full Anker SOLIX X1 home battery install is coming — think of the C1000 Gen 2 as the grab-and-go bit of that same ecosystem.
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01What Is the Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2?
The Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 is a 1,024Wh portable power station with 2,000W of continuous AC output — a battery you carry in one hand that runs real appliances. Not a phone bank, not a hardwired home system. It sits in the middle: charge it at home off the wall or off solar, then physically pick that stored energy up and take it to the camper, the campsite, the park or the beach.
That's exactly how I've been using it. The big Anker SOLIX X1 home battery is the permanent, hardwired end of the ecosystem — we've got that install and a full solar deep dive coming. The C1000 Gen 2 is the part you throw in the car.
02Unboxing: Size, Weight & Ports
The first surprise out of the box is the size. For a 1,024Wh, 2,000W unit it isn't massive — about the footprint of a chunky desktop PC or a small microwave, just squarer and more rugged. It weighs around 11.3kg, which isn't featherlight, but it's roughly 11% lighter than a lot of other 1kW units. Grab it by the handle, hop in and out of the camper, chuck it in the boot for a beach trip. It's a one-hand carry, not a two-person lift.
Out the front you've got four AC outlets — up to 2,000W continuous and 3,000W peak, so kettles, portable induction cooktops and fridges are all fair game — plus a bank of USB including 140W USB-C. That one alone fast-charges laptops, tablets, phones and cameras without touching the AC side. The screen shows input, output and remaining time, and it's actually readable in daylight, which sounds like a minor thing until you're squinting at one on a campsite.
Round the back is the AC input from the wall and the solar input. And if you add Anker's alternator charger, you can feed up to 600W off your car while you drive. This isn't just a battery in a box — it's built to refill fast.
03The Headline Trick: 0–100% in 49 Minutes
This is the spec that changes how you use the thing. The C1000 Gen 2 goes from 0 to 100% in about 49 minutes off a single wall outlet. Get a text about a planned outage or see a storm rolling in, come home, plug it in — and you're topped up in under an hour.
It sounds small. It isn't. It turns charging from a "plan the whole day around it" job into a "plug it in while you make lunch" job. Every other power station I've tested has made me think hours ahead. This one doesn't.
04The RV Test: Kettle, Toaster & Free Camping
Out with the camper is probably my favourite use case. My parents have an RV and we do a lot of short trips up and down the coast, and normally you're juggling power between the van battery, a noisy old generator and solar. With this, you literally drop the Anker in the doorway and plug things into it.
The problem with free camping — no powered sites — is that appliances are basically off the table. So I took it into the RV and ran the actual stuff we'd use: the TV, the air conditioning, the fridge. Press the button, it comes on, plug in. I had toast being made and the kettle boiling at the same time, with the screen telling me exactly what was being drawn.
Another morning it ran a coffee machine, charged my phone, my laptop and a camera battery all at once. Decent chunk of wattage on the display, and it handled it fine — no tripping, no weird screaming noises.
How loud is it, really?
Under lighter loads — below about 200W — it sits around the 20dB mark, which is basically "is it even on?" Even up near 1,000W it stays under 30dB and is still miles quieter than a petrol generator. You can have it under the awning at night without feeling like you're camping next to a lawnmower. And there's no petrol smell.
The cells are LiFePO4, rated for about 4,000 cycles to 80% capacity and roughly a 10-year lifespan, with a 5-year warranty. In normal language: you don't have to baby it. Use it every weekend and you won't feel like you're chewing through its life.
05On the Road: Alternator Charging
On the drive between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, the alternator side gets interesting. Pair it with Anker's alternator charger and you can pull about 600W into it while you're driving. Do that run, or head a few hours up the coast, and you arrive with a full tank of battery without ever touching a wall outlet.
That's huge for camping. It's arguably bigger for tradies and anyone working on site who just wants a solid power box that's ready the moment they pull up.
06Storm Season at Home: The UPS Trick
Back at the house, this has become my little storm buddy. We get proper storms here — lightning, wind, power flickers — and nothing stresses me out more than a half-finished video render when the lights go out.
The C1000 Gen 2 can act as a UPS, switching over in about 10 milliseconds. Plug your PC, NAS or modem and router into it, and when the grid drops it's so fast your computer doesn't even reboot. Your fridge doesn't warm up, your network stays on, you hear a little click and carry on. For someone who works from home, that's basically workflow insurance.
Last year a cyclone came through the Gold Coast — never happened before — and the whole suburb was out for days. We had nothing in place at the time. Having this charged up at the house would have kept us functioning, and it's the main reason I'd tell anyone in a storm-prone area to keep one in the cupboard.
07The Kitchen Test: Real Appliances, Real Wattage
Into the kitchen with a bench full of appliances, because this is where people want to know whether the numbers hold up. Turn it on, plug in — toaster, kettle, the Ninja air fryer, the NutriBullet. All of it ran, and the display climbed to 1,932W at one point. That's right up near the 2,000W ceiling and it kept going.
Because it's 1,024Wh you're not powering the whole house all night — but you get to make choices. During shorter outages I've had it running the modem and router, a couple of lights, my main PC and occasionally the fridge. Run essentials only and you can stretch that battery a long way. And with a 49-minute wall charge, you can top it back up while dinner cooks.
08The Beach Test: Keeping the Shoot Alive
The thing I hate most when I'm out shooting is running flat. Camping somewhere with friends, no charge means no lighting and no devices. So I took it down to the beach, pressed the bottom button, and plugged in three things at once — a Bluetooth speaker, my tablet, and the microphone I film with. All three charging, out on the sand, no drama.
That's really the pitch. Charge it off the wall or off solar at home, then physically carry that stored energy to wherever you actually are.
09The App: Time-of-Use, Storm Guard & Ultra-Fast Charging
The SOLIX app connects over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi and it's genuinely handy rather than decorative. You get live input and output, remaining charge time, and settings you'll actually use. Mine showed 18 minutes to go from 72% to 100%, and tapping ultra-fast charging pushed it faster again — you can watch the rate jump straight away.
It breaks the draw down by port, too. With two things plugged in it showed 16W on USB and 70W on AC. You can set time-of-use charging, so if your tariff is cheaper overnight it charges and discharges automatically; there's Storm Guard, AC recharging power, smart AC output, screen saver, display control, and a temperature readout so you can see it isn't cooking itself. It's nerdy, but if you're already thinking about the SOLIX X1 and home energy, it's the same mindset.
10How It Compares to EcoFlow & Bluetti
A lot of you are cross-shopping this against EcoFlow, Bluetti and Jackery, so here's where it lands from my testing. On weight and size, the C1000 Gen 2 is lighter than EcoFlow's Delta 3 Plus and a little lighter than Bluetti's Elite 100 V2 in the same class. If you actually move your power station around — house to RV, RV to campsite, campsite to beach — that matters more than it sounds like it should.
On charging, that sub-50-minute 0–100% is one of the fastest I've seen on a 1kW unit, especially at this price. And on ports, the 140W and 100W USB-C outputs mean fewer bricks and adapters hanging off it — you plug your gear in and it works.
⚙Full Specs
The chemistry is the bit worth dwelling on. LiFePO4 cells rated for roughly 4,000 cycles to 80% capacity and about a 10-year life, backed by a 5-year warranty, mean this is something you can buy now and realistically still be using years from now — especially if you fold it into a bigger solar setup over time.
The Verdict & Who It's For
What I like most is the fast charging. Empty to full in under an hour off one wall outlet turns this from a device you plan around into one you top up while you have lunch. The balance of power and size is right too — 1,024Wh with 2,000W continuous and 3,000W peak covers everything I realistically want to run on a trip, in a box I can carry with one hand. The noise figures match my experience: under 20dB below 200W, under 30dB below 1,000W, night and day versus an old petrol generator. And the LFP chemistry with a 5-year warranty means it's a buy-now-use-for-years bit of kit.
The catches, honestly: it's still a solid chunk of gear. Portable means car-to-campsite or living-room-to-study, not backpack-and-hike. Because of the capacity, it works best running a mix of devices — laptops, fridge, lighting, charging gear, short bursts from cooking appliances — rather than one huge appliance flat out for hours. And the best charging extras are optional buys: out of the box you get super-fast AC charging and normal solar input, but the 600W alternator charging while you drive needs a separate Anker accessory. Not a deal breaker, just factor it in if you're building a whole setup.
Who's it for? Campers and RV travellers, tradies who want power ready when they pull up, anyone in a storm-prone area who's been caught out by an outage, and creators who need to keep gear alive away from a wall. If you only ever need to top up a phone, this is far more than you need. But if you've ever stood in a dark house with a render half-finished, or skipped a free camp because you couldn't run the fridge, it fits.
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?Frequently Asked Questions
How long does the Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 take to charge?+
About 49 minutes from 0 to 100% off a single wall outlet, and the app has an ultra-fast charging toggle that pushes it harder again. In my testing it showed 18 minutes to go from 72% to full. You can also charge it from solar, or from your car at up to 600W with Anker's alternator charger, which is a separate accessory.
What can the Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 run?+
With 2,000W continuous and 3,000W peak across four AC outlets, it runs kettles, toasters, air fryers, coffee machines, portable induction cooktops, fridges, TVs and RV air conditioning, plus laptops and camera gear over USB-C. In my kitchen test it was drawing 1,932W with several appliances going at once. At 1,024Wh you won't power a whole house all night, but you can run essentials for a good while.
Can the Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 be used as a UPS?+
Yes. It switches over in about 10 milliseconds, which is fast enough that a PC plugged into it doesn't reboot when the grid drops. Plug in your computer, NAS, modem and router and your network and workflow keep going straight through a flicker or an outage. That's the main reason it lives at my house through storm season.
Is the Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 good for camping and RV use?+
It's what I use it for most. It weighs around 11.3kg — a one-hand carry from the car to the campsite — and at free camps it runs the fridge, TV, air conditioning, kettle and toaster that you normally can't use without a powered site. Under 200W it's around 20dB, quiet enough to sit under the awning at night, unlike a petrol generator.
How long does the battery last before it wears out?+
It uses LiFePO4 (LFP) cells rated for around 4,000 cycles to 80% capacity, which works out to roughly a 10-year lifespan, and it's backed by a 5-year warranty. Practically, that means you can use it every weekend without worrying about burning through its life.
How does it compare to EcoFlow, Bluetti and Jackery?+
In the same 1kW class it's lighter than EcoFlow's Delta 3 Plus and slightly lighter than Bluetti's Elite 100 V2, which matters if you actually move it between the house, the RV and the beach. The sub-50-minute full charge is one of the fastest I've tested at this capacity and price, and the 140W and 100W USB-C ports mean fewer adapters to carry.
Can you charge the Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 with solar?+
Yes — there's a solar input round the back alongside the wall input, so you can charge it from panels at home or on a trip. For me that's the whole point: charge it off the wall or off solar at the house, then carry that stored energy to the camper or the beach. It's the portable extension of a bigger solar setup rather than a replacement for one.
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