Jackery 500 vs. Bluetti AC50: Power Comparison

When it comes to small portable power stations, there’s no shortage of options. One comparison that is worth knowing about is the Jackery 500 vs. Bluetti AC50. While similar in some ways, these small but mighty power stations are far from identical.

Both of these compact power stations can keep your gadgets running no matter where you are. But which one truly stands out? Is the Jackery 500 better than the Bluetti AC50? Or is it the other way around?

In this pint-sized power station comparison, we’ll dive into the features, performance, and unique quirks of the Jackery 500 vs. Bluetti AC50 to help you decide which mini marvel suits your needs best.

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Quick Verdict: Bluetti Hurdles Ahead

Bluetti recently revived the AC50 by introducing the new Bluetti AC50B. And by doing so, they’ve brought out some impressive specs that outperform the Jackery 500 in many ways. But not all.

Compared to the Jackery 500, the Bluetti AC50B has:

• Much better battery chemistry with superior longevity
• Faster charging rates on both AC outlets and solar panels
• USB-C ports, Bluetooth connection, and 20ms UPS function

The difference in battery chemistry means that the Bluetti is rated for a much longer lifespan of about 10 years while still holding 80% battery. The Jackery is about 2 years. You can still use both after this time, it’s just that the battery won’t continue to hold as much energy.

You’ll also see this difference in the warranty coverage. The Bluetti has a 5 year warranty. But the most you’ll get on the Jackery 500 is 3 years (and that’s only if you buy it from Jackery directly).

But there’s a catch. The Jackery 500 battery is 518Wh, which is a little bigger than the Bluetti AC50B’s 448Wh. So the Jackery starts off ahead, but will drop below the Bluetti as it ages. For most people, it’s usually more important to get the better battery chemistry of the Bluetti.

Also, the Bluetti AC50B can use the Bluetti B80 Expansion Battery to add another 806Wh of battery capacity! That takes it to over 1.2kWh, well over the Jackery’s 518Wh.

When it comes to recharging, the Bluetti is better than the Jackery all around. While the Jackery takes nearly 8 hours to recharge from a wall outlet and 10 from a solar panel, the Bluetti provides 80% charge in just 45 minutes on a wall outlet. And the Bluetti has more than double the solar input, charging in full in less than 3 hours.

The outlets are different too. Bluetti offers two USB-C ports and one USB-A. Jackery just has three USB-A, once again showing its outdated design. Jackery also cannot connect to an app, while the Bluetti has a Bluetooth connection for its app so you can control and monitor it from the comfort of your seat. 

Overall, the Jackery 500’s bigger battery does provide a reason it’s better than the Bluetti AC50. But in nearly every other feature and spec, the Bluetti AC50 is better than the Jackery 500.

Let’s take a closer look into the details so you can verify that this is the right call for your needs. If you want to see a full product lineup from these two brands, head over to our posts on all Bluetti power stations or all Jackery products.

Top Pick	BLUETTI AC50B Portable Power Station Longer-lasting Better outlets and ports	AC50B on Bluetti AC50B on Amazon
Bigger Battery	Jackery Explorer 500 Portable Power Station Larger battery More USB-A ports	500 on Jackery 500 on Amazon

Battery: Size, Chemistry, and Longevity

The battery size is usually what most people look at right away. And it’s crucial. The size of the battery determines how much power the power station can provide. This is the battery capacity.

For example, recharging many phones takes about 12Wh of power. So if your power station’s battery size or capacity is about 500Wh (the approximate size of these two power stations), you can recharge a phone nearly 40 times. If the battery capacity was smaller at 250Wh, that would be cut in half to about 20 times. In reality, both of these estimates are a little high due to expected power loss from inefficiencies. But you can still expect over 30 charges for this 500Wh battery size.

Here, the Jackery 500 has a slightly larger capacity of 518Wh compared to the Bluetti AC50B’s 448Wh. That’s about 14% bigger. So it can last 14% longer.

If you need more battery, you can add the Bluetti B80 Expansion Battery to the Bluetti AC50B. This throws in an extra 806Wh, more than double the capacity and leaping over the Jackery.

But the battery chemistry is another absolutely critical part of the picture.

The Bluetti AC50B uses LiFePO4 (LFP) battery chemistry. This is one of the most advanced types of batteries and Bluetti rates this specific one at more than 3,000 cycles while still keeping 80% of its capacity.

On the other hand, the Jackery 500 uses NMC lithium ion battery chemistry. And it’s rated at just 500 cycles with 80% capacity.

That’s a very big difference. This does not mean that the Jackery will stop working after 500 cycles. It just won’t hold as much power. But with Bluetti offering 3,000 cycles with nearly full capacity (or at least greater than 80%), you can expect years and years of high-capacity service.

For this reason, even though the Jackery 500’s battery is about 14% bigger, the Bluetti’s battery is superior. Most people do not want to replace a power station after a couple years. It’s much better to get a smaller one that will last ten years.

Battery verdict: Even though Jackery’s battery is a little bigger, the Bluetti’s more advanced chemistry allows it to be significantly longer lasting. And Bluetti wins this category because of that critical difference. You can also expand the Bluetti’s capacity with an external battery pack if you want.

Top Pick	BLUETTI AC50B Portable Power Station Impressive small power station Long warranty	AC50B on Bluetti AC50B on Amazon
Extra Battery	BLUETTI B80 Expansion Battery 806Wh of extra storage Three outputs with 2 USB Direct charging ability	Buy on Bluetti Buy on Amazon

Charging Rates: AC Outlets and Solar Charging

The ability to put energy inside of your power station is one of the most important features. If you can’t properly recharge the device, it becomes a worthless paperweight.

The recharging rates are different depending on the power source you use. Both of these power stations have multiple ways to recharge, including:

• Regular 110V AC outlets, like those found at home and businesses everywhere (in the US)
• Solar panels and other DC sources
• Car charging outlets and cigarette lighters

For most power stations, the wall outlet is always the fastest. And for the Bluetti AC50B, that’s very true. It has one of the fastest charging rates you could ever want for a power station this small, with 580W charging rate. It will go from 0% to 80% in just 45 minutes, or to 100% in just over an hour. You can quickly recharge before a trip, even if you plug it in just before you leave. Or bring it into a coffee shop as you relax for a bit and it’ll have a lot of power inside before you leave.

But the Jackery 500’s AC outlet recharge rate is abysmal. It takes about 7.5 hours to recharge on a standard wall outlet. If you forget to plug it in the night before you go anywhere, you’ll be left with a dead power station. 

The solar charging rate is a similar situation. While it takes the Bluetti longer on solar than the AC outlet (normal situation), it’s still 200W. And for the 448Wh battery, that’s able to recharge in less than 3 hours. You can get a full charge of the Bluetti in one day of sun without a problem.

Once again, the Jackery 500’s solar input is just too small and slow. Jackery puts the solar charging estimate at 9.5 hours. This means peak sunlight for 9.5 hours. That’s likely 2 or 3 days of full sunshine, just to charge this relatively-small battery. To put it mildly, this is far from ideal and makes solar charging useful only for low-powered devices. Even if you did a dual fuel and solar generator setup, it wouldn’t be reliable.

The car charging rates are going to be closer because the cigarette lighter outlets on most cars are the same. They’re generally all pretty low-powered outlets, usually offering up to 120W at most (12V at 10A). But Bluetti AC50 still beats the Jackery 500. The Bluetti AC50B will recharge in about 5 hours on the 12V (or half that if you have a 24V outlet) while the Jackery 500 will take about 7.5 hours (since it’s limited to less than the 120W of the outlet).

If you see the full EcoFlow Specs vs. Bluetti Specs, you’ll notice that the Jackery numbers just aren’t even in the same ballpark, no matter what the power station is.

Charging Rate Verdict: The Bluetti AC50B is vastly better than the Jackery 500 when it comes to recharge rates. The Bluetti has very fast charging rates all around, while the Jackery is a pain to keep charged up, usually needing overnight charging even when an outlet is available.

Top Pick	BLUETTI AC50B Portable Power Station Impressive small power station Long warranty	AC50B on Bluetti AC50B on Amazon
Runner Up	Jackery Explorer 500 Portable Power Station Larger Battery Shorter life	500 on Jackery 500 on Amazon

Outlets and Ports: Using the Power Station

After the battery capacity and recharge rates, the available outlets are one of the top things to look for. You need the appropriate way to plug your devices into the power station. 

The Jackery Explorer 500 is a model that’s been out for some time. And because of that, its ports are a little outdated. The world has turned toward USB-C since it’s faster and more convenient. But the Jackery 500 only has three USB-A ports and no USB-C outlets.

Bluetti has a combination of the two, with one USB-A and two higher-speed USB-C outlets. The type C USB outlets on the Bluetti are rated at 60W, which isn’t the full 100W found on other items, but it is enough to power many higher-draw devices, including some laptops.

Want to see the EcoFlow vs. Bluetti overall comparison? Our article has the quick rundown you need.

Even if your devices don’t use USB-C, it’s still better to have these USB-C ports because they’re higher powered. You can also get USB-C to USB-A adapters to use for devices without USB-C. This is the better conversion to need. If you only have USB-A ports, your power is always more limited as they are lower wattage outlets (Jackery’s are only 12W).

Another way the Bluetti AC50 is better than the Jackery Explorer 500 is the AC outlets. Not only does Bluetti offer a 700W AC power inverter, it also has two AC 110V outlets to plug into.

The Jackery 500 sticks with a slightly lower 500W from the AC outlet, and only has one to connect to.

The AC outlets of the Bluetti also come with a uninterruptible power supply (UPS) function. When enabled, it allows you to keep the Bluetti plugged into the wall and while powering your essential devices. If the power from the wall outlet stops (like during an outage or blackout), the Bluetti automatically switches over to battery power. Its switchover time is less than 20ms, which is fast enough for many devices to not restart. Some sensitive electronics, like desktop computers and televisions, still might restart though. In an ideal world, the best UPS devices have immediate switchovers (0ms) or 10ms or less.

The Jackery’s very slow AC recharging rate makes this impossible to rely on as a UPS, unless you use very little power. It’s also not designed to work like this. In fact, Jackery’s user manual says that any pass-through charging is likely to damage the battery life. This means you really don’t want to use it like that. The NMC battery life is already subpar, so using it as a pass-through for UPS purposes would make it degrade even faster.

Finally, the Bluetti also has a Bluetooth connection for its app, which this Jackery does not have. So you can connect your phone to the Bluetti, see what the battery level is at, check the solar recharge rates, and control/monitor it without getting up. But the Jackery is only controlled by the power station itself. 

In sum, the Bluetti AC50B’s outlets are better because it has:

• Two USB-C ports (Jackery has zero)
• Larger 700W AC inverter with 2 outlets (Jackery has one outlet with 500W)
• True UPS function with 20ms switchover (Jackery pass-through will damage battery)
• Bluetooth and app connection (Jackery has none)

Outlet Verdict: Bluetti steamrolls the Jackery with its USB-C ports, AC outlets, and UPS function. The Bluetooth connection is the cherry on top.

Weight & Dimensions: Portability First

For these two small power stations, this section is splitting hairs. They’re both lightweight and compact power stations made for adventure. The differences are small.

Generally, the Jackery is a little wider and taller. Its handle also sticks out a little more. The Bluetti AC50B is very cube-shaped, without a protruding handle.

So you can likely pack the Bluetti a little easier. But it’s not a major difference.

The weight is very similar too. Although the Jackery does weigh a little less than the Bluetti, it’s less than 2 lbs (1 kg) difference. Once again, not a dealbreaker either way.

Weight Verdict: The Bluetti is easier to pack thanks to its lack of protruding handle, but they’re both very similar in weight and size.

The Final Verdict: Jackery 500 vs. Bluetti AC50

Now that we’ve looked through the fine details and specifications, the winner is pretty clear. The Bluetti AC50 is a better power station than the Jackery 500.

There are two reasons you might choose the Jackery instead:

• You want the bigger battery, don’t care that it will degrade much faster, and do not want an external battery pack with more capacity
• You need multiple USB-A ports because your devices don’t have USB-C connections and you don’t want to get an adapter

Besides that, the Bluetti AC50 is the better power station because it:

• Features LiFePO4 battery chemistry with 10-year lifespan at 80% or more, backed with 5 year warranty, with an optional external battery
• Is able to recharge much faster on wall outlets and with solar panels
• Has multiple USB-C outlets and two AC outlets with a better inverter

Final Verdict: We strongly recommend the Bluetti AC50B over the Jackery Explorer 500. It is a more modern device with a longer-lasting battery, better recharging, and all-around more usable design than the Jackery. 

Jackery has been hitting the market with new products recently that often correct the battery issue and charging rates. The Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 is a great product, and we hope to see a 500 v2 hit the market soon.

Top Pick	BLUETTI AC50B Portable Power Station Impressive small power station Long warranty	AC50B on Bluetti AC50B on Amazon
Extra Battery	BLUETTI B80 Expansion Battery 806Wh of extra storage Three outputs with 2 USB Direct charging ability	Buy on Bluetti Buy on Amazon
With Solar Panel	BLUETTI AC50B + 1*120W Solar Generator Kit One click adventure ready Includes solar panel	Buy on Bluetti Buy on Amazon

Runner Up	Jackery Explorer 500 Portable Power Station Larger Battery Shorter life	500 on Jackery 500 on Amazon
With Solar Panel	Jackery Solar Generator 500 + 1*100W Solar Panel Includes solar panel	Buy on Jackery Buy on Amazon

Wrap Up: Pint-Size Power Stations

This Bluetti AC50B is a great power station ready for adventure. The Jackery 500 has a bigger battery, but needs some improvements to keep up with others in the market.

Want to see our full breakdown of power stations for camping? You might be surprised what’s on the top of our list.