Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

*** I downgraded this since my first review, as reliability became an issue. These are nice products while they last, but I would now avoid the bigger size that I initially suggest below. It is too much of a gamble for the pricier models. *** We first bought a Jackery 240 and liked it, and later bought a Jackery 500. We bought the 160 as gifts for people, but never saw one in action until recently. Once we operated it I think the vast majority of people will want to forego the 160 and pony up more to get the 240. Here is why: While all versions look relatively the same, you need to keep some key difference in mind beyond just their max Wattage. The 240 for example has what is called "intelligent cooling" when using the AC plug, meaning the fan only turns on when the battery is hot, while the 160 has the fan turn on whenever the AC plug is being used. In fact, the fan turns on even when you don't have a load on the AC, but you have simply turned the AC port on. This uses about 4w. Now, this may be necessary, but if you are looking to squeeze every watt out of your unit the 240 has an advantage here in my mind. When I charge my phone off of the AC it is at about 20W output, so 1/5 of the wattage is going to the fan. When I charge the phone off of a USB port it charges much slower at 4W, but at least the fan is not being used (note, the fan does not auto-on when using the USB ports). I also found the input/output wattage on the 160's display to be less reliably accurate than on my 240 or 500 for whatever reason. Also keep in mind, the AC on the 160 is not "pure sine wave" like it is for the 240/500. So, how much it can power is less, and the quality of that power is less. I would still feel comfortable using the 160 with a laptop, but would not for a desktop or a TV. I wince when I read fake (paid) reviews online saying you can reliably use the 160 for CPAP machines. I don't own one and am not an expert, but if you want to get through the whole night based on how quickly my 160 uses power I just don't see it. Especially because with all these units they ideally don't want you to go below a 10-20% charge so you don't risk completely depleting it. The 240 gives you a much better margin of error over the 160. The main advantage the 160 has is portability, but it is not really that much of an advantage vs. the 240 because the 240 is super portable as well. There is about a 2.5lb difference between them, and while the 240 IS bigger, it is not by much. Both are super portable. The remaining pro's for the 160 is that it does have a USB-C port (the 240 does not), and it does have a built in flashlight (the 240 does not, while the 500 does). The 240 definitely does cost more, so if you are really only looking to keep a cell phone or a tablet charged I think the 160 might still meet a niche for some. But the only reason I can tolerate the 160 is because I have the others, and I wish I had just bought another 240. I bought a cigarette lighter adapter with a USB-C port for cheap, as well as some USB-A LED lights (flush) for cheap for the 240 model. That gives me a dim but still servicable 4LED dim flashlight. Those steps takes away most of the advantages I think the 160 has, which for me at least occupies a niche that might be good for some but was disappointing to us. If you want something small to keep in the car it might be a good choice, but if you really want to reliably power some things for any decent length of time the 240 is probably a much better choice.