The Jackery Explorer 3000 Pro is a large and wheeled portable power station that was designed for RVing, camping, and home backup. It’s surprisingly lightweight for its battery capacity and it performed really well in our tests.
It’s a pretty typical Jackery power station, both in terms of design and features; however, it still uses older lithium-ion battery chemistry. With the newer Jackery HomePower 3000 having a similar price tag and shipping with LiFePO4 cells, we wanted to know if there was still a place for the Explorer 3000 Pro.
To find out which one you should buy in 2025, we ran the Explorer 3000 Pro through the ringer. So, let’s find out if this power station is still worth buying, or if you're better off with a newer model.
Before diving into our tests and major takeaways, here's what the specifications the Explorer 3000 Pro offers:
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Jackery now offers multiple 3,000Wh power stations (including the newer Jackery HomePower 3000). While it’s great to see variety of options from a single brand, the Explorer 3000 Pro still uses a battery that contains older lithium-ion cells.
So, we wanted to confirm that the Explorer 3000 Pro actually delivers the real-world performance Jackery advertises. More generally, we wanted to decide whether a power station that uses older battery chemistry still makes sense when newer LiFePO4 battery alternatives are available at similar prices.
Here’s what we found:
We pushed the unit through a variety of sustained and mixed loads. The Explorer 3000 Pro easily ran at its rated 3,000W continuous output rating for extended periods without any sort of overheating issues or hiccups. That makes it a solid backup power option for running multiple mid-sized loads—think a fridge, lights, and charging portable devices simultaneously.
Jackery claims a 6,000W surge capacity with this unit, which we were immediately a little skeptical about. In practice, we were only able to get the unit to surge to about 4,500W reliably. While it could sustain slightly higher surges for a second or two, anything beyond that 4,500W limit seemed to trip it.
So, you get good short-term surge headroom for appliances with start-up requirements beyond the unit's continuous rating, but we’re not really sure where Jackery got that 6,000W rating from. Basically, don't expect it to be able to handle double the continuous rating, but it still has decent surge capabilities.
With two 700W solar inputs (1,400W total), we were able to top the Explorer 3000 Pro’s battery up with solar panels in about two hours. This makes it a very practical solar generator, especially given the battery capacity is relatively high.
The AC charging also worked perfectly, easily hitting the 1,800W rate Jackery advertises. This means in normal conditions you can expect the battery to charge from 0% to 100% in around 1.2 to 1.5 hours from a standard wall outlet.
For a power station this big, those charge speeds are pretty respectable. It also means you could quickly charge the battery if you were expecting a storm that could result in a power outage.
We measured right around 80% for the inverter efficiency, as well as an impressively low 7W idle draw.
That low idle consumption is a major advantage for home backup applications where devices cycle on and off, like running a sump pump or a full-sized refrigerator. In other words, if you leave the Explorer 3000 sitting there with the inverter on, you’re not going to have to worry about draining the battery just by keeping the power station itself running.
We actually really like the design and build of the Explorer 3000 Pro Portable Power Station. Despite its relatively large size, it actually delivers on the “portable” part of its name.
Not only is it pretty light, the suitcase handle and wheels are really practical when it comes to portability. The thick rubber bumpers they have underneath the unit also add protection and keep it stable on any surface.
They even included protective covers for most of the ports, which are rugged, even if they are a bit stiff when you first open them. The display screen is well-made, and it features a simple, user-friendly layout. Jackery also made this unit compatible with their app, which we found worked really well for remote monitoring and adjusting the settings.
Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s get into all of the things we liked and disliked about this mid-sized power station. We'll start with the pros:
It may sound like vague praise, but the main thing we liked about the Jackery 3000 Pro was just the fact that it actually delivers solid performance in pretty much every department. The advertised specifications are accurate, and it’s just an all-around solid power station.
It can sustain 3,000W continuous outputs and it also handled most of the surges we threw at it. Okay, it didn’t quite hit the 6,000W surges Jackery hints at, but everything else worked perfectly. From our perspective, it’s a dependable power station for RVing, emergency backup at home, and any sort of off-grid locations, like remote jobsites and cabins.
Speaking of accurate specifications, another thing that’s worth mentioning is how accurate the performance calculators are on Jackery's website. Most brands exaggerate how long their power stations will be able to run, while Jackery actually takes factors like efficiency and idle draw into consideration. This type of honesty is really rare, so we felt it was worth pointing out.
With just a 7-Watt idle draw, this unit would be excellent for standby backup power scenarios. If you leave it running, you’ll still have plenty of available battery capacity when a cyclical load (like a sump pump) kicks in. For perspective, we’ve seen similarly sized power stations have idle draws of around 80W!
The 1,800W AC and 1,400W solar inputs allow you to top the battery up quickly. Again, being able to charge that 3,024Wh battery quickly would be really useful for RVing, backup power at home, and off-grid trips.
Jackery also just launched SolarSaga 500 Bifacial Solar Panels, which, given they're bifacial panels, are a huge improvement on their previous solar panels. For those wanting to build out a full Jackery ecosystem, these panels would allow you to keep your 3000 Pro charged up on the go.
The wheels work really well and the sturdy suitcase-style handle makes it easy to drag this power station behind you. The strong rubber feet and solid undercarriage also make us feel like this unit was designed with durability in mind.
We recently tested the Goal Zero Yeti 4000, which also had built-in wheels, but they were much smaller than what you get on the Jackery Explorer 3000 Pro. Not only do the smaller wheels make it more difficult to pull the unit behind you on uneven terrain, they’re so low to the ground that it’s easy to scuff the unit and damage your floors. That wasn’t the case with the Jackery power station at all.
While there was a lot to like about this solar generator, we also ran into a few issues, including one glaring problem:
For whatever reason, the Explorer 3000 Pro uses traditional Li-ion battery cells, which typically have lower cycle life than newer LiFePO4 batteries. That matters if you plan to use the unit frequently or as a daily home backup.
If you want to learn why, we actually put together an entire article explaining why it’s deceptive for Jackery to persist with these older batteries in some of their power stations: Avoid the Jackery Scam.
This power station seems really practical for a huge variety of applications, and it actually did really well during our testing, but that older battery chemistry makes us wonder how long it would actually last.
Given that Jackery recently launched the HomePower 3000, which has a similar price and about the same specifications, it just seems like a weird decision to not update the battery in the Explorer 3000 Pro.
With that said, the Explorer Pro does have wheels and that sturdy handle, so it offers a few advantages over the HomePower 3000. For some people, the older battery might not be a deal-breaker. For example, if you do not plan on using your power station daily, battery longevity isn't going to be a huge issue.
We love 30-amp plugs on power stations; however, the RV-style 30 A plug on this unit is limited by the 3,000W inverter. While you can plug 30A appliances into it, it’s effectively a 25A port due to the inverter limitations.
That might not be a big deal for everyone, but it could be misleading for those expecting a true full-rated 30 A port for an RV or camper van.
Another weird design decision from Jackery is the lack of expandability for this unit. It doesn’t support any sort of expansion batteries, which could be a serious issue for buyers who are looking for a modular way to upgrade their power station.
On the other hand, all of the power stations in Jackery’s HomePower lineup are expandable, so they can evolve with your growing power needs and budget.
This is a small gripe, and we appreciate Jackery adding rubber covers over the ports to help protect them, but they’re really stiff. We found it a bit annoying, and they actually pinched our fingers a few times during testing. They’ll probably loosen up with time, but they were pretty annoying from the moment we took this thing out of the box.
Again, a small issue, but we wish there was a built-in light. Along with Anker, Jackery is actually one of the better brands for including lights on their power stations, but they decided not to for this unit. During power outages and off-grid camping trips, a light would be a practical addition.
Given their similarities, this is a key conversation. The HomePower 3000 is Jackery’s newer model and it uses LiFePO4 chemistry, offering more long-term cycling durability. It also offers a slightly larger inverter, as well as a true 30 A output.
To sum the Jackery Explorer 3000 Pro up, it's lighter (thanks to the Li-ion battery), and offers great portability due to the wheels and extendable handle. It also offers a very low idle draw and rapid charging, but it’s not expandable.
On the other hand, the newer Jackery HomePower 3000 comes equipped with a LiFePO4 battery, which means you get a much higher cycle life. It’s heavier and lacks the suitcase handle and wheels, but that’s probably a worthwhile trade-off for better long-term use, especially if you plan on using your power station heavily.
Basically, it comes down to personal preference. More specifically, you're going to be choosing between longevity vs portability.
If you need more power, and you don’t feel like building up the HomePower 3000’s battery capacity over time with expansion batteries, the Jackery 5000 Plus is also a really impressive high-capacity power station.
Despite the older battery chemistry, we think the Jackery Explorer 3000 Pro remains a very capable power station in 2025. You get excellent efficiency, a very low idle draw, fast charging via AC or solar, and user-friendly portability.
However, given the pricing similarity and the fact the HomePower 3000 has those newer LiFePO4 cells, we’d probably recommend it to anyone planning to regularly use their power station for home backup or any other type of daily cycling.
Still, the Explorer 3000 Pro is far from a bad power station. It still works great, and those with portability in mind will appreciate the design a lot. If you’re just someone who only uses their power station a few times a year for emergencies and occasional off-grid trips, we think you’ll be really happy with it.
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