Jackery Explorer 1500 Pro in the test: Enduring power station with 1800 watts

Thanks to the internal battery and numerous connection options including a 230 V socket, power stations allow technical devices to be supplied far away from the mains. Due to the high continuous output, the mobile power storage is not only suitable for leisure, but also for work or for emergency power supply. The devices can be recharged either with a 230 volt power pack, with a 12 V cigarette lighter or with the help of a solar panel. In this way, the small solar power plants enable maximum flexibility and independence from the power grid.

This individual test is part of the Powerstation theme world. The Explorer 1500 Pro now tested is a mid-range power station and costs just under 1600 euros at the time of publication. We show how the powerful solar generator performs in practice.

With dimensions of 28 × 27 × 31 cm and a weight of 17 kg, the Explorer 1500 Pro lies between the sister models 1000 Pro and 2000 Pro. Although the model has a foldable and softly padded handle, you still don’t want to carry the device over very long distances. Thanks to the practical folding function, the handle does not get in the way and it is possible to place other things on the solar generator. The plastic of the case looks stable and is of high quality.

With the Explorer Pro series, connections and display are distributed on the front and back and not arranged centrally. The emergency light, which is protected by a rubber cover, is on the left on the front, together with the light switch and the high-contrast, bright and clearly structured status display, including the on/off switch. To the right of this is the 12 V car output with a maximum of 10 A, which is also protected by a rubber cap. Below this are a total of four USB ports (2x USB-A 18 W, 2x USB-C 100 W), the two 230 V sockets with an output of 1800 W each and the associated power button. In addition to the existing battery capacity in percent, the display shows the expected remaining running time, as well as input and output power and the active outputs. This means that all information relevant to practice is available.

On the back are the inputs for charging with direct current and alternating current. These are also protected against dirt by soft rubber covers, which we like. With most power banks, the connections are unprotected, which is not ideal for tall grass, for example. However, like all other solar generators tested so far, the housing with the ventilation slots on the side is not waterproof or splash-proof. For outdoor use, for example on the campsite, it is worth purchasing the optionally available transport and protective bag. Anyone who buys one size larger (the Explorer 2000 Pro) has enough space for accessories such as an extension cable.

The combination of a rubberized base and the high weight ensures a reliable, firm footing. The choice of gray and bright orange colors means the Explorer series is a good fit for camping sites or in the garden. In order to connect more than two panels, there are appropriate adapters for the solar panels of the Solar Saga series from the manufacturer. An external power pack for charging, as with the Explorer 1000 (test report), is no longer necessary.

For the power storage, Jackery relies on conventional Li-Ion batteries with a nominal capacity of 1512 Wh and up to more than 1000 charging cycles. This makes the device primarily suitable for occasional use. If you want to operate the power station as an island system and use it every day, you should better rely on LiFePO4 batteries with over 3000 charging cycles.

In addition to the power station, instructions and a charging cable for 230 V and 12 V (cigarette lighter) are included in the scope of delivery. In addition to the mobile power generator, Jackery also provided us with photovoltaic panels from the Solar Saga series for the practical test.

Thanks to the clear labeling, the operation of the power station is self-explanatory even without instructions. After switching on or plugging in the power cable or solar panel, the status display turns on and shows input and output power, the current capacity in percent and the estimated remaining running time or remaining charging time. This time indication is now also available on numerous other power stations, but it is still a practical and not self-evident extra. After a few minutes, the display switches off again automatically. If you then want to query the values, briefly press the display button and the display appears. In addition to the symbol in the status display, a small LED in the respective power button also shows whether the outputs are active.

After unpacking and a first visual check, we discharge the batteries completely and use the time for the first performance tests. Supplying the power-hungry Macbook Pro via USB-C PD works just as easily as connected tools and gardening equipment up to 1800 watts. The consumers connected, whether with direct or alternating current, all worked properly.

Moderate consumers such as chargers, coolers, ice cube machines, PC workstations, rotary hammers or lawn trimmers, as well as various lamps and spotlights, do not pose a problem for the solar generator. We were also able to supply more powerful consumers such as saber saws, lawn trimmers or toasters in the test without any problems. Even our kettle with an alleged 1800 watts works properly. According to the display, only 1600 watts are actually used here. If there is a higher power requirement, for example with our miter saw, which has a starting current of almost 3500 watts, the power station immediately switches off the 230 V outputs and shows a small warning on the display. This worked reliably in the tests.

What is also positively noticeable about the Explorer 1500 is the low noise level of the internal ventilation during the performance tests. The ventilation of the solar generator starts at around 100 W output power and remains just as low and tolerable as with the sister models. Overall, the Explorer Pro series is one of the quietest solar generators in the previous test field. The volume does not depend on the performance – the ventilation remains quiet even with high performance. An important point if the generator is to work in the tent at night.

When recharging another power station, more than 620 watts were constantly output, and yet the Explorer 1500 Pro remained tolerably quiet. Yes, the small internal fans can be heard, but they are much quieter than our electronic cool box or even the charged Ecoflow River 2 Max (test report).

After checking the maximum output, the battery is charged. Connected to the socket, the Explorer 1500 Pro immediately picks up speed. The internal ventilation is now a bit louder than with the power output, but the overall volume is still lower than with most other power stations and is comparable to a refrigerator. In addition, the ventilation switches itself off completely from time to time.

The charging performance is extremely impressive despite the moderate background noise. After just two hours, the Explorer 1500 Pro is already fully charged again. An excellent value if you need something fast. Charging with one or more solar panels worked reliably in the test, even if we didn’t even come close to reaching the theoretical charging times due to heavy cloud cover. The maximum solar charging power is a whopping 1400 watts. With the six 200-watt panels Solarsaga, the Explorer 1500 is theoretically fully charged after two hours, which seems realistic to us after testing with the Explorer 2000 Pro. Charging via the car power supply works, but we only try it as a test, since the charging process would take a good 16.5 hours.

In the following capacity tests, we check how much electricity in Wh we can actually draw from the power station. In practice, there are sometimes significant differences to the nominal capacity due to conversion losses. However, it also depends on the type of connected consumers. We achieve the greatest yield when using a garden tool with a power consumption of almost 1400 W. A full 1400 Wh flowed here, which corresponds to a yield of around 93 percent in terms of the nominal capacity. An above-average value. When connecting a PC workstation and a few smaller consumers (180 to 220 W in total), the yield is already lower. The extracted 1270 Wh still correspond to 84 percent of the nominal capacity. The losses were highest when using the 230 V socket and a weak consumer with less than 20 W, here we could only draw 1195 Wh, which only corresponds to a usable capacity of 79 percent. The Explorer 1500 Pro supplies our PC workstation with Macbook Pro, two 24-inch monitors, printer and telephone (about 120 W) for one and a half working days. The measured values ​​correspond to the experiences from previous tests. Important for campers, for example, who want to operate the cool box during the day and charge at the same time via photovoltaics: Simultaneous charging and discharging works without any problems with the Explorer 1500 Pro. This is usually the case, but unfortunately not with all power stations.

Now we come to the only real downside to this powerhouse – the price. The Explorer 1500 Pro is too expensive at 1600 euros, even if a high investment would be justified because of the good performance.

The price is particularly problematic when compared to the stronger Explorer 2000 Pro, which has more capacity (test report) – at the time the test was published, this costs around 99 euros less than the Explorer 1500 Pro from a supplier. In other shops, the larger power station is comparably expensive or only slightly more expensive than the Explorer 1500 Pro. As long as this is the case, we would go for the Explorer 2000 Pro.

We like the Jackery Explorer 1500 Pro and, with its performance and capacity of around 1.5 kWh, it is ideal for everyday use or during power outages. The up to 1800 watts per socket are also sufficient for more powerful consumers such as grass trimmers, saws or toasters and thus enable even more flexible use than with the smaller Explorer 1000 Pro (test report).

The successful overall package with simple operation, clear status display and tolerable operating volume would immediately receive a purchase recommendation at this point if it weren’t for the even stronger and at the time of the test even cheaper Jackery Explorer 2000 Pro (test report), which we would prefer.