Over the past couple of years I’ve reviewed a number of vanlife and camping related items. Many of those things seemed interesting or useful when I originally receive them and lots of them are now collecting dust. The battery-powered can opener and the USB-rechargeable warming gloves have joined a few other items in the back of something I swore I’d never have in my van… a junk drawer.
I say that to say this — I can’t remember an item that got rotated into my list of “must haves” so quickly. That item is AsperX’s AXP-200 Power Station.
Like I said in my video review, I’m a bit puzzled as to how AsperX was able to get such a powerful battery inside such a small package. Inside the AXP-200 is a LiFePO4 battery that holds 192Wh or 60,000mAh of power… and yet this thing only weighs about three pounds. While it’s not an exact apples-to-apples comparison, Jackery’s Explorer 300 (which provides 293Wh) weighs over seven pounds and I’d estimate is roughly 4-5 times larger than the AXP-200. You can think of the AXP-200 as either a super small Power Station, or a super large USB Charging Bank.
The AXP-200 can be charged in one of two ways. The most convenient way is to charge it through one of the two in/out USB-C ports. The AXP-200 can handle up to 100w incoming, so the more juice you can give it, the faster it’ll charge. From my USB charging block I was able to fully charge the AXP-200 in just over two hours. Using a 20w phone charger, it’ll take closer to five or six. Believe it or not, if you’re off grid, you can also charge the AXP-200 via solar. There’s a DC barrel input port (DC7909) that also accepts 100w (20v-60v) for charging. That’s pretty cool.
For outputs you get two USB-A ports, two USB-C ports, and one DC port. The 12v DC port is the universal small barrel size; with an adapter, you can run any 12v device intended for a vehicle. The two USB-A ports provide up to 18w of power — great for charging phones and other devices quickly. The real star of the show are the two USB-C ports. Each port can provide up to 140w; together, they have a limit of 200w. Sure, you can charge flashlights and other USB gadgets with these ports, but with 140w you can also charge laptops and tablets.
The AXP-200 has a few other features worth mentioning. First is its screen, which is bright and useful. The screen shows the remaining charge, remaining run time to 0% at current use level, watts coming in and watts going out. The screen is 10x brighter than the screen on my “fakery” knock-off Chinese power station, and laid out more logically than the one on my AllPowers. Built into the unit is a carrying strap that makes the unit easy to carry around or hang from a hook. Hidden inside the top of the unit is a pop-out light that has two settings (medium and bright) along with two flashing patterns. The light is wrapped in a silicone cube which diffuses it. For some reason, the light up and down is oddly satisfying.
The danger in creating a product that falls in between two established categories (like USB charging bank and a full-sized power station) is that it can’t compete with either. The AXP-200 is one of those rare cases that combines the best of both worlds. Like I said, this is either the biggest charging bank or the smallest power station I now own. With a 192Wh/60,000mAh LiFePO4 battery and a maximum output of 200w, the AXP-200 blows away all my other USB charging banks. Unless I need to carry one in my pocket, this has just become my go to charger on the road for my GoPro, microphones, lights, tablet, and even laptop. Without any 120v outputs it’s not going to replace a full-sized power station, but it’ll charge everything I bring with me and with 192Wh, it would run my refrigerator (in a pinch) for six(ish) hours, and would definitely run my MaxxAir fan all day and all night. When I hit the road I typically take a 10,000mAh charger for my phone, a 20,000mAh charger for random devices, and a 30,000mAh charger for my GoPro and microphone. The AXP-200 just replaced them all.
