Stay Charged with the Jackery Explorer 240

This post is sponsored by Jackery. All opinions are my own.

I’m the person who always manages to kill someone’s car battery, especially bouldering in Bishop in the winter. Now that I have my own car (Opal!), I’m trying to take extra good care of her. My day job as a software engineer allows me to be remote. More often than not, I am (trying to be) on the road. Toss in my side gig as a blogger and photographer, and I need to power my electronics at all times. Jackery sent over the Explorer 240 for me to play with while on the road. Here’s how it fared.

The Explorer 240 has 2 USB-A ports (both are 5V 2.4A), DC output (car charging port), and an AC outlrt (wall outlet). The wall outlet is a pure sine wave inverter. It won’t damage your sensitive and expensive electronics like laptops and cameras. The Explorer 240 turns off automatically after 6 hours when under 10W of power is being drawn to save battery life.

The Jackery Explorer 240 measures 9.0 x 7.8 x 5.2 in. This fits perfectly behind my glove compartment, on the floor, for easy access when needed. It also tucks away nicely on the floor of the passenger side so I can charge it easily.

The Explorer 240 weighs 6.6 pounds. It’s absolutely not for backpacking, but complements car camping and life on the road extremely well. If you’re off the grid for several days at basecamp, the power station ensures that your electronics won’t die on you. You don’t even need to turn your car on!

An LCD display with a backlight button shows you how much power you are consuming at any given time. It also shows you your battery life.

Per Jackery, it will charge the following:

• smartphones – 17 times
• tablets – 14 times
• cameras – 30 times
• laptops – 4 times
• drones – 4 times

Items that have gotten the most rotation with my Explorer 240 are:

• iPhone XS
• Apple Watch
• iPhone 7
• Sony A7R III
• Kindle
• MacBook Pro

How to Charge the Jackery Explorer 240

You can charge the Explorer 240 three different ways: wall charger, car charger, or via solar. The Explorer 240 comes with the wall charger and car charger. Solar panels are sold separately. Charge time for the Explorer 240 via the wall or 12V car adapter takes approximately 8 hours. With solar panels, charge time bumps up to 10 hours.

The Jackery Explorer 240 supports pass-through charging. You can charge the Explorer 240, in addition to any other electronics that might need juice as well. This comes in super handy if you only have one outlet or car plug and too many devices that need power.

I haven’t fully tested the number of charges with any given device, but that’s because all of my devices generally need to be replenished. I primarily charge it via my car since I’m always on the go. It will occasionally come into my house for some juice, but by occasionally, I mean the one time, when I first got it.

Living out of a Subaru Outback means space is at a premium. With my work, I need to stay connected. The Jackery Explorer 240 fits perfectly into my small(er) car, on-the-road lifestyle. It keeps my Apple Watch, iPhone, Sony A7RIII and MacBook Pro powered so I can keep movin’ and groovin’.

Buy the Jackery Explorer 240 for $249.99 from Amazon or directly from Jackery.

This post contains affiliate links.

Last updated on July 19, 2019.