Head-to-head test
Anker SOLIX C800 Plus vs Goal Zero Yeti 500
The Yeti 500 is a box for electronics and the SOLIX C800 Plus is a box for appliances, a 700W gap in the inverter that no price difference reaches.
Full profiles: Anker SOLIX C800 Plus → · Goal Zero Yeti 500 →
Written by Wenny ZhengUpdated
Portable Power Tester, Station Arena Test Desk
$649.00 · direct from Anker
Last checked 1 day ago. Prices move — check before you buy.
$499.95 · direct from Goal Zero
Last checked 1 day ago. Prices move — check before you buy.
Spec deltas
Spend the extra $149 on the SOLIX C800 Plus unless your load list genuinely ends at a laptop. It holds 768Wh against the Yeti 500's 499, and it inverts 1,200W against 500W. The second number is the one that decides this.
The Yeti's case is good on paper and worth stating properly. It's $500 against $649, 16.1 lb against 24, and rated for 4,000 cycles against 3,000, which works out to the cheaper unit to own at 25 cents per lifetime kilowatt-hour against 28. Goal Zero did not lose this on value.
It lost it on the inverter. 500W continuous covers a fridge, a router, a CPAP, laptops and lights, and then stops. The C800 Plus has a ceiling too, and reviewers put kettles and some coffee machines beyond itA10, but it draws the line 700W higher. Buy the Yeti knowing where its line sits and you'll be happy with it. Find the line during an outage and you won't.
What the Numbers Reveal
Each conclusion stated first — the numbers behind it on one line, the full analysis below.
continuous output
The C800 Plus has a hard ceiling of its own, and one review desk already put the heaviest kitchen appliances outside itA10. But that line sits 700W higher, which is the band most people are actually shopping for: the microwave you'd reheat in during an outage, the corded tool on a job site, the appliance you didn't think to check. The Yeti's line runs straight through that band.
Yeti 500: 500W continuous output, 1,000W surgeSOLIX C800 Plus: 1,200W continuous output, 1,600W surgeReviewers place kettles and some coffee machines beyond the C800 Plus's rangeA10
Why it mattersIf a single item on your list isn't electronics, the Yeti is out before price enters the conversation.
rated cycles
Nobody cycles a 499Wh box flat every day for eleven years, so most of that $60 is theoretical. The discount that isn't theoretical runs the other way: 85 cents a watt-hour against a dollar means the C800 Plus is the cheaper battery on the day it lands on your porch, in full, with no cycles required.
Yeti 500: 25 cents per lifetime kWh across 4,000 cycles, 1,996 kWh totalSOLIX C800 Plus: 28 cents per lifetime kWh across 3,000 cyclesThe Yeti's 4,000 cycles amount to about 11 years of daily full cyclingPurchase-day cost per watt-hour: 85 cents for the C800 Plus, a dollar for the Yeti 500
Why it mattersAnyone deciding on the lifetime-cost column should treat it as a tiebreaker for a tie that never arrives, and buy on what the box does this year.
weight
There's no engineering advantage hiding in the lighter frame, just less battery, and since neither unit expands you can't buy the missing 269Wh back later. So the weight question collapses into a single honest trade: is 269Wh worth 7.9 lb in your hand, given that 24 lb is still a one-hand carry with a handle rather than a two-person lift.
SOLIX C800 Plus: 768Wh at 24 lbYeti 500: 499Wh at 16.1 lbNeither unit expands; both are fixed at the capacity you buy
Why it mattersIf the unit lives in a closet and comes out twice a year, drop weight from the comparison entirely. If you carry it from a parking lot to a campsite, it's the only line that matters and the Yeti wins it outright.
solar input
The usual penalty for buying more capacity, that it takes longer to fill from the sun, doesn't apply here. Neither unit is a base-camp solar hub, since 300W already rules out a large static arrayA9, but within the 200-300W class both share, the C800 Plus's extra 269Wh costs you nothing in daylight.
SOLIX C800 Plus: 300W maximum solar input, 768Wh capacityYeti 500: 200W maximum solar input, 499Wh capacityThe 300W ceiling isn't designed for large static panelsA9
Why it mattersAnyone planning to live off panels can size up to the larger unit without budgeting an extra sun-hour for it.
The specific dimensions that decide these two units — everything else is a tie.
Runtime: Will It Power Your Gear?
Selected because: The 700W gap between the inverters, 1,200W against 500W, decides more here than the 269Wh gap between the batteries.
continuous output
Below 500W: a fridge, a router, a laptop, lights, a CPAP, a TV. Above it: anything with a heating element. That's the Yeti's whole world, and it's a perfectly good world if it happens to be yours. The C800 Plus doesn't clear every appliance either, with kettles and heavier coffee machines already called out as beyond itA10, but it draws its boundary 700W further out.
Rated capacity isn't what comes out of the socket. At the 85% an inverter typically leaves you, the C800 Plus is a 653Wh unit and the Yeti a 424Wh one. The 229Wh between them is roughly 70% of the 320Wh a CPAP wants overnight, which is the difference between waking up with half a battery and waking up with a quarter.
Lifetime Value
Selected because: The Yeti 500 is cheaper twice over, $500 up front and 25 cents per lifetime kWh against 28, so the case for spending more has to survive this section.
cost / lifetime kWh
Three cents a kilowatt-hour, 25 against 28, and it's a real edge. It's also worth about $60 across the Yeti's entire 1,996 kWh of rated service life, arriving in slivers over the eleven years of daily cycling that figure assumes. The C800 Plus reaches the end of its own 3,000 cycles in 8.2 years on the same daily schedule. Both numbers are longer than anyone keeps a 500Wh-class power station.
The discount that actually lands is the one on the sticker: 85 cents a watt-hour against a dollar. Goal Zero prices as the premium brand and this unit is priced accordingly, which is fine if the premium buys you something. Here it buys 1,000 extra cycles you won't reach and 7.9 lb you might genuinely want.
Portability & Form Factor
Selected because: 7.9 lb separates them, and it's the one number that favors the Yeti every time you pick it up.
weight
Neither of these is a basement-stairs problem. 24 lb is a full carry-on lifted out of a trunk; 16.1 lb is a carry-on you'd forget you were holding. Both go one-handed, so the honest framing isn't heavy versus light, it's whether the last 7.9 lb registers on the specific walk you're going to make with it.
It registers on a trail and it vanishes in a closet. If this is emergency kit that sits by the router and comes out during outages, weight is noise in the decision. If you're hauling it to a site every other weekend, take the Yeti and accept the smaller battery honestly, because that's exactly what the lighter number is.
What the Specs Don't Tell You
Selected because: One unit publishes a 45dB figure and the other publishes none, and the surge ratings flatter the wrong unit.
rated cycles
The Yeti doubles itself on surge, 500W to 1,000W, while the C800 Plus adds only a third on top of 1,200W. Read as a ratio the smaller unit looks like the tougher one. Compressors don't read ratios. They read ceilings, and 1,600W is 600W more ceiling than the Yeti has to offer a fridge at startup.
Anker publishes 45dB under load and reviewers have mapped where that number stops holding: past 80F with a 1,030W average draw, the fan is unavoidable in a quiet houseA1, though at roughly arm's length during a fast charge they call it manageableA11. Goal Zero publishes no figure at all. Note the shape of that first complaint, though, because a 1,030W sustained draw is a load the Yeti's 500W inverter cannot attempt in the first place.
Strengths & trade-offs
Anker SOLIX C800 Plus
Strengths
- +Larger battery capacity
- +Higher AC output
- +Faster solar charging
Trade-offs
- –Shorter-lived battery — rated for 3,000 charge cycles vs the Yeti 500's 4,000, so it wears out sooner.
Goal Zero Yeti 500
Strengths
- +Costs $149.1 less
- +Lighter by 7.9 lb
- +Rated for 4,000 charge cycles — much longer battery lifespan
Trade-offs
- –Weaker inverter (-700W) limits appliance compatibility.
Will It Power Your Gear?
Scenario math and per-appliance runtimes, modeled from the spec record.
Scenario verdicts
We ran the math on six real-world scenarios. Here's which unit survives your actual life.
SCN-01 · 2 nights · needs 2,100Wh
Weekend Camping
Two nights off-grid with essential comfort
Neither unit
Neither unit covers this scenario's 2,100Wh: the SOLIX C800 Plus comes up 1,447Wh short (about 31% covered), the Yeti 500 1,676Wh (20%). This is well outside what either unit is for; the right answer here is a larger station, not a choice between these two.
Battery budget usedlower = more headroom
LOAD Phone Charger 15W×6h · LED Lights 40W×8h · Box Fan 75W×14h · CPAP Machine 40W×16h
SCN-02 · 8 hours · needs 1,645Wh
8-Hour Blackout
Keep the essentials running through a night without power
Neither unit
Neither carries eight hours of a house. The scenario asks for 1,645Wh and the larger of these two delivers about 653Wh usable, so the real job here is a short list rather than a breaker panel: fridge, router, phones, one lamp. Both clear the peak draw of what you plug in. Neither carries the whole evening.
Battery budget usedlower = more headroom
LOAD Fridge 150W×8h · Router + Modem 20W×8h · LED Lights (4 bulbs) 40W×6h · Phone Charger 15W×3h
SCN-03 · 8 hours · needs 320Wh
CPAP Overnight
Sleep therapy without interruption — the #1 medical use case
Either unit
Both run the machine through the night, so this one is decided by the morning after. A 320Wh night leaves the C800 Plus at roughly half its usable pack and the Yeti at about a quarter of its own. For one night they tie. On night two of an outage they stop tying.
Battery budget usedlower = more headroom
LOAD CPAP Machine 40W×8h
SCN-04 · 8 hours · needs 910Wh
Remote Workday
Full work day off-grid without power anxiety
Neither unit
Neither unit covers this scenario's 910Wh: the SOLIX C800 Plus comes up 257Wh short (about 72% covered), the Yeti 500 486Wh (47%). Treat this as partial cover — enough for the essentials in it, not the whole list.
Battery budget usedlower = more headroom
LOAD Laptop 60W×8h · External Monitor 30W×8h · Router + Modem 20W×8h · Phone Charger 15W×2h
SCN-05 · 4 hours · needs 670Wh
Tailgate Party
Game day power for the crew
Neither unit
Neither finishes the afternoon, though one misses by a rounding error. A 670Wh tailgate is about 17Wh past everything the C800 Plus can actually deliver, which is the kind of gap you close by switching one thing off. The Yeti is short by more than half. If you'd rather not do arithmetic in a parking lot, this is a size class up.
Battery budget usedlower = more headroom
LOAD Blender 400W×0.5h · LED TV (55") 80W×4h · Bluetooth Speaker 15W×4h · Phone Charger (×3) 45W×2h
SCN-06 · 24 hours · needs 4,685Wh
Van Life Daily
A full day of mobile living — the ultimate endurance test
Neither unit
Neither unit covers this scenario's 4,685Wh: the SOLIX C800 Plus comes up 4,032Wh short (about 14% covered), the Yeti 500 4,261Wh (9%). This is well outside what either unit is for; the right answer here is a larger station, not a choice between these two.
Battery budget usedlower = more headroom
LOAD Mini-Fridge 150W×24h · Laptop 60W×4h · Phone Charger 15W×3h · LED Lights 40W×5h · Fan 75W×8h
The Load Test
RUNTIME = (Wh × 0.85) ÷ LOAD
None of the scenarios above exactly yours? Build it. Toggle what you'd plug in; both units are tested against the combined draw.
Essentials
Comfort & Convenience
High-Draw Appliances
Test duration
8h
Continuous draw
205W
Projected runtime
For this load: SOLIX C800 Plus runs 3.2h vs 2.1h.
$649 list · direct from Anker
Modeled from the spec record — same math as the tables below. Methodology
Runtime by appliance
Real-world runtime estimates for common appliances, modeled at 85% inverter efficiency.¹
Essentials
The basics you need runningscale 0–43.5hComfort & Convenience
Makes off-grid life actually enjoyablescale 0–8.7hHigh-Draw Appliances
These reveal the real limitsscale 0–0.7h¹ Runtime = (capacity × 0.85) ÷ appliance watts. Within each group, all bars share one time scale (the group's longest runtime), so lengths are comparable across appliances; identical runtimes collapse into a single blue/orange bar. Actual runtime varies with battery age, temperature, and simultaneous loads — see methodology.
Conclusion
August 4, 2026
Verdict: the SOLIX C800 Plus, on Power Score margin
Take the SOLIX C800 Plus at $649, understanding that the extra $149 buys inverter headroom more than it buys battery. The capacity margin is useful, 768Wh against 499, which is about 653Wh usable against 424 once you allow the 15% the inverter takes. The output difference is a difference in kind: 1,200W continuous against 500W. Everything the Yeti 500 wins is real and small. It's lighter by 7.9 lb, cheaper by $149, and rated for 1,000 more cycles, which the lifetime math turns into three cents per kilowatt-hour, 25 against 28, collected over eleven years of daily cycling. If you're certain your load list never crosses 500W, the Yeti is the smarter $500. If you're not certain, that uncertainty is precisely what the extra $149 settles.
Editor-assigned confidence, based on cited owner research and spec analysis.
List prices as of August 4, 2026. The links below open Anker's and Goal Zero's current prices.
$649.00 · direct from Anker
Last checked 1 day ago. Prices move — check before you buy.
or check the Yeti 500 price$499.95 list
Written by Wenny Zheng, Portable Power Tester · Station Arena Test Desk · Updated August 4, 2026
Measured Data
Benchmark scores and the full spec record, side by side.
Benchmark scores
Full specifications
ᵈ Derived: price ÷ rated capacity. See the data behind our comparisons →
Comparison ToolAdd more power stations, side by sideOpen Tool →How these numbers are produced
Numeric verification
Every figure on this page traces to our spec database or arithmetic on it — no estimated numbers.
Owner claims
Statements about owner experience are cited to published reviews — see Sources & Research Notes below.
Runtime model
Runtime = (rated capacity × 0.85 inverter efficiency) ÷ device wattage. Solar recharge estimates assume panels deliver 70% of rated output. Cold weather, battery age, and stacked loads reduce real-world results.
Power Score
Computed from 14 published spec dimensions, weighted per use-case bench. Higher is better; a unit must meet a bench's minimum threshold to be rated.
See the full weight table and data sourcing on our methodology page →Class ranking (the star rating)
Each unit's star score is a category ranking, not customer reviews — no buyer opinions feed it. We score every station on size-independent quality (value, output, portability, endurance, ports, warranty, and more), then percentile-rank it against the other units in its capacity class, so a class-leading compact unit and a class-leading whole-home unit can both earn 5★. Here, SOLIX C800 Plus rates 3.8/5 (32nd percentile of 20 Compact-class units), and Yeti 500 rates 4.5/5 (71st percentile of 22 Personal-class units).
How the class ranking is computed →Test Notes & Caveats
Hidden gotchas and advantages we spotted that you won't find on the product page.
45dB Is a Best Case, Not a Promise
45dB is the rated figure and it holds at modest load. Fans track heat and draw, so the number climbs as you work toward the 1,200W ceiling on a warm day. Worth knowing that the loudest condition this unit has is a sustained draw the Yeti 500's 500W inverter can't produce at all.
The Ratio Flatters the Smaller Unit
The Yeti 500 doubles its own rating on surge, 500W to 1,000W. The C800 Plus adds a third, 1,200W to 1,600W. Read as a ratio, the Yeti looks like the tougher unit. Compressors don't start on ratios. They start on ceilings, and 1,600W is 600W more of one.
Warranty: No Difference
Both units carry the same 5-year warranty, so coverage isn't a tiebreaker here. Worth saying because the per-dollar framing can suggest otherwise: the Yeti 500 works out at 10 years of cover per $1,000 spent against the SOLIX C800 Plus's 7.7, but that spread is the price gap, not the terms.
Battery Lifespan in Real Years
The Yeti 500 is rated for 4,000 cycles vs 3,000. In real life: at daily use, that's 11 vs 8.2 years. At weekend use (twice a week), it's 38 vs 29 years. One caution reading years across different sizes: a cycle is 499Wh on the Yeti 500 and 768Wh on the SOLIX C800 Plus, so count lifetime energy — roughly 1,996 kWh against 2,304 kWh over the rated life. After hitting the cycle limit, the battery doesn't die — it drops to ~80% of original capacity, which is still very usable.
No Published dB for the Yeti 500
Goal Zero doesn't publish a noise figure for this unit, so there's nothing to hold against Anker's 45dB. An undisclosed number isn't a quiet one. If the box is going to sleep two feet from your head, the unit that published a figure is the one you can hold to it.
Full record above — the Test Desk pick is the SOLIX C800 Plus.
Check SOLIX C800 Plus price →or check the Yeti 500 priceOwnership Analysis
What happens after you buy — true cost of ownership, brand trust, and growth potential.
Lifetime value
Service lifeyears at one full cycle per day
Lifetime energy delivered
Cost per delivered kWh
│ warranty ends · Reaching the cycle rating means ~80% capacity remains — degraded, not dead.
Analyst note
Both units have similar long-term ownership costs ($0.28/kWh vs $0.25/kWh). The price difference is what you see on the sticker — neither is a hidden bargain or rip-off. One caution on the lifespan row: the Yeti 500 takes longer to reach its cycle rating, but a cycle moves a different amount of energy on each unit — the SOLIX C800 Plus still delivers more over its shorter horizon (2,304 vs 1,996 kWh). Years measure wear, not usefulness.
Brand trust
Anker
Ecosystem
7-8 SOLIX portable power stations across C-series (compact) and F-series (flagship), plus the X1 home energy system
Support
US-based, and historically the no-hassle-replacement outfit. Recent reports point the other way: AI-driven first-line agents returning generic answers, and return logistics complicated by hazmat shipping rules on heavy units. The Anker name still carries weight. SOLIX support specifically is trending down.
Community
Moderate — active Reddit (r/Anker, r/AnkerSOLIXCommunity) and growing. Benefits from Anker's massive consumer electronics brand awareness.
App experience
Rated 4.5/5 iOS (~1,100 ratings) · 4.3/5 Android
Unique strength
Parent brand trust from Anker's consumer electronics dominance. InfiniPower technology for long cycle life. Strong $/Wh value in the mid-size and larger units — the S2000, F2600 and C1000 are among the better buys per watt-hour in the catalog.
Worth knowing
Firmware arrives over the app, and Anker has removed features in an update without warning before. The same channel is why fixes and improvements reach the unit at all, so it cuts both ways.
Goal Zero
Ecosystem
Focused — a compact current line (6th-gen Yeti and Yeti Pro series), the previous-gen X series now out of stock across every model on Goal Zero's own store (checked 2026-09-13: 200X, 500X, 1000X, 1500X, 3000X, 6000X, some listed only as open-box), so buying one new means finding retailer stock, Sherpa power banks for the under-100Wh tier, plus Alta coolers, Nomad/Ranger solar panels, and vehicle integration kits
Support
Salt Lake City, owned by NRG Energy, and the premium-support reputation is doing less work than it used to. Reports through 2025 and 2026 describe long waits, unanswered email, and tickets sitting for weeks. The official community forums were shuttered, which took the informal help channel with them.
Community
Small but loyal — strong following in overlanding and preparedness communities. Official community forums were recently shuttered, frustrating long-time users.
App experience
Rated 4.4/5 iOS (~1,200 ratings) but recent reviews skew negative — recurring connectivity issues, crashes, and stability problems.
Unique strength
Pioneer of the portable power market — strongest brand heritage. US-based company with ruggedized, weather-resistant designs (IP ratings vary by model). Integrated "Yeti-Ready" ecosystem with coolers, lights, and vehicle kits.
Worth knowing
Goal Zero pioneered this category and still builds the most weather-resistant boxes in it, IPX4 rated, with a real ecosystem of coolers, lights and vehicle kits around them. It's also the most expensive brand per watt-hour on the market, which the dollar-a-watt-hour price here reflects.
Analyst note
Two support organizations moving in the same direction, and the direction is down. Anker's is sliding from a high base; Goal Zero's is sliding while still charging premium prices. Neither app should decide this: Anker's rates 4.5 on iOS across roughly 1,100 ratings, Goal Zero's 4.4 across roughly 1,200 with recent reviews flagging connectivity drops and crashes. Buy the hardware, not the account.
Growth path
SOLIX C800 Plus
FIXED CAPACITYFixed at 768Wh, with no expansion — so size it for your needs up front rather than planning to add capacity later.
Accepts up to 300W of solar. Limited to a single portable panel.
Adequate ports for most setups, but heavy users may want a power strip.
Yeti 500
FIXED CAPACITYFixed at 499Wh, with no expansion — so size it for your needs up front rather than planning to add capacity later.
Accepts up to 200W of solar. Limited to a single portable panel.
Adequate ports for most setups, but heavy users may want a power strip.
Realistic full solar rechargeat 70% of rated panel output — see methodology
Analyst note
Neither expands, and that's no knock on either — each is a complete unit at a fixed size. Buy the capacity that covers your needs now (the SOLIX C800 Plus gives you the larger ceiling); you can't add to either later.
What Owners Report
Patterns from published owner reports and long-term reviews — every claim cited to its source below.
Anker SOLIX C800 Plus
The field record on the C800 Plus is review-desk rather than long-term ownership, with hands-on testers reporting weeks rather than owners reporting yearsA13. What they converge on is the fan. It's unavoidable in a quiet house once the room passes 80F with a 1,030W average drawA1, and unremarkable at roughly arm's length during a fast chargeA11. One tester also found the unit rode out a simulated outage without so much as a monitor flicker when the wall power was pulledA4.
Capacity is the recurring reservation. One reviewer's standing worry was simply whether 768Wh is enoughA5, another put kettles and heavier coffee machines outside its rangeA10, and a third noted the same $649 buys 1,024Wh elsewhereA12. Set against that, a fridge and freezer drew 10% of the pack across eight hours in one testA6, which is closer to the load these actually get bought for. The camping-light pole splits opinion: one write-up from a multi-trip test says they stopped packing lanternsA14, while another reviewer calls the feature unnecessary and notes it costs the plain C800's cable cubbyA2A3.
“The pole light felt is a little over the top and unnecessary.”
Sources
dustinabbott.net
Goal Zero Yeti 500
The Yeti 500's record is thinner, and much of what exists is Goal Zero's own material rather than field reportingB1B3. The manufacturer's listing puts a full-size refrigerator at up to six hours during an outageB2, which is a brand figure and should be read as one. The substantive change on this unit is the move to LiFePO4 from the older NMC-based 500XB3, and that's where the 4,000-cycle rating comes from.
The one independent data point of any length is a 2026 long-term test that logged 180-plus charge and discharge cycles with minimal observed degradationB4. That's encouraging and it's also under 5% of the 4,000 cycles on the label, so the headline longevity claimB1 remains unverified by anyone outside the company. Treat the cycle number as a reasonable expectation rather than a demonstrated result.
“The Yeti 500's LiFePO4 battery is rated for 4,000+ cycles, meaning daily use for over 10 years (to 80% capacity at 75F).”
Sources
goalzero.com · rei.com · propaneva.com · portablepowernerd.com
Sources & Research Notes
Every owner claim in this report is traceable to a published source. The bracketed references above resolve here.
Recurring owner themes
- Fan noise is consistently reported as noticeable during fast AC charging or high sustained wattage, though most reviewers call it 'manageable' rather than a dealbreaker. [SOLIX C800 Plus · 2 entries]
- The companion app is repeatedly praised for remote monitoring/control and firmware delivery, with no reviewers reporting connectivity or crash complaints. [SOLIX C800 Plus · 3 entries]
- 768Wh capacity is flagged by multiple reviewers as the unit's main limitation for heavy appliances and against same-price competitors, even though real-world light loads (fridge, gadgets) performed well. [SOLIX C800 Plus · 4 entries]
- The signature 'Plus' camping-light pole/torches are polarizing: some reviewers call the feature genuinely useful and a lantern-replacement, others call it an unnecessary gimmick that sacrifices the C800's cable-storage cubby. [SOLIX C800 Plus · 3 entries]
- High 4,000+ cycle LFP rating and outage-backup capability (including running a fridge for hours) are the standout points. [Yeti 500 · 2 entries]
- A1
“Once the temperature rose above 80F with a 1,030 average wattage, the fan noise was unavoidable and quite present in a quiet house.”
How-To Geek — 'Anker Solix C800 Plus Review: A Power Station Prepared to Illuminate Nighttime' · 2024-03 · [negative]
- A2
“The pole light felt is a little over the top and unnecessary.”
How-To Geek — 'Anker Solix C800 Plus Review: A Power Station Prepared to Illuminate Nighttime' · 2024-03 · [mixed]
- A3
“As it is, there's nowhere to keep the cords when not using them.”
How-To Geek — 'Anker Solix C800 Plus Review: A Power Station Prepared to Illuminate Nighttime' · 2024-03 · [negative]
- A4
“Unplugged the power supply to the C800 Plus to simulate a power outage. No reaction on the monitor, no flicker, just continued operating.”
DustinAbbott.net — 'Anker Solix C800 Plus Power Station Review' · 2024-03 · [positive]
- A5
“My lone concern on this front is whether or not the battery capacity is sufficient.”
DustinAbbott.net — 'Anker Solix C800 Plus Power Station Review' · 2024-03 · [mixed]
- A6
“I connected the Anker and in 8 hours, my frig/freezer used 10% of the power.”
The Gadgeteer — 'Anker SOLIX C800 Plus power station review' · 2024-04 · [positive]
- A9
“With a maximum solar input of 300W at 11-60V, it's not designed to be used with large static panels.”
MakeUseOf — 'Anker Solix C800 Plus Review: The Ultimate Emergency and Camping Companion' · 2024-05 · [mixed]
- A10
“it doesn't have the outright storage or power to tackle more heavy duty appliances like kettles or some coffee machines.”
Trusted Reviews — 'Anker SOLIX C800 Plus Review: A great camping companion' · 2024-04 · [negative]
- A11
“The fan does ramp up during fast charging, but the noise is manageable at roughly arm's length.”
The Power Pick — 'Anker SOLIX C800 Plus Review: Camping Lights Meet Serious Power' · 2026-02 · [mixed]
- A12
“The 768Wh capacity sits in an awkward middle ground. It is significantly less than the 1,024Wh offered by the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus at the same $649 price.”
The Power Pick — 'Anker SOLIX C800 Plus Review: Camping Lights Meet Serious Power' · 2026-02 · [negative]
- A13
“I've come away from my time with the Anker SOLIX C800 Plus extremely impressed.”
AndroidGuys — 'Anker SOLIX C800 Plus Power Station Review' · 2024-05 · [positive]
- A14
“We stopped packing separate lanterns after the first week, streamlining our camping setup noticeably.”
BackupPowerHub — 'Anker SOLIX C800 Plus Review: Best Mid-Range with Camping Lights' (45-day, 8-trip field test) · 2026 (article ~1 week old at time of research) · [positive]
- B1
“The Yeti 500's LiFePO4 battery is rated for 4,000+ cycles, meaning daily use for over 10 years (to 80% capacity at 75F).”
goalzero.com / rei.com — Yeti 500 LFP · 2026 · [positive]
- B2
“Acts as a backup power supply when the grid drops — you can plug a full-size refrigerator directly in for up to six hours of runtime to prevent food waste.”
goalzero.com — Yeti 500 backup · 2026 · [positive]
- B3
“Weighs about 16 lbs, upgraded to LiFePO4 battery technology from the older NMC-based Yeti 500X.”
goalzero.com / propaneva.com — Yeti 500 review · 2026 · [mixed]
- B4
“One 2026 reviewer completed 180+ charge/discharge cycles with minimal observed degradation.”
portablepowernerd.com — Yeti 500 long-term review · 2026 · [positive]
Research compiled August 4, 2026.
Who Should Buy Which
Buy the SOLIX C800 Plus if you…
- →You're packing one box for a long weekend with a fridge, lights, a laptop and phones, and you'd rather come home with charge left than start rationing on Sunday morning. 653Wh usable against 424 is that margin.
- →Your outage list has exactly one item on it that isn't electronics. The 1,200W inverter is the entire reason to spend the extra $149, and it's reason enough.
- →You charge from portable panels. 300W of input on a 768Wh pack fills in the same two and a half hours of nameplate sun that 200W needs for 499Wh, so the bigger battery costs you no daylight.
Buy the Yeti 500 if you…
- →Your load list is a CPAP, a phone, a laptop and a lamp, and it always will be. The Yeti covers that night using 75% of its usable pack and hands you $149 back.
- →You carry it. 16.1 lb walks from the trailhead lot to the site without a rest stop, and 24 lb is a different errand with the same gear inside it.
- →It lives on a shelf beside the router for the short outages your street actually gets, and you'd rather own the 4,000-cycle pack than the 3,000-cycle one even knowing you'll never spend them.
If neither fits
If the number in your head is the whole house, close both tabs cheerfully. An eight-hour blackout scores out at 1,645Wh of demand and a van-life day at 4,685Wh, while the larger of these two delivers about 653Wh usable, so you're shopping a 2,000Wh class rather than this one. Same answer if anything you plan to run has a heating element in it, because 1,200W doesn't reliably clear that bar either.
The Bottom Line
Take the SOLIX C800 Plus at $649, and not because of the capacity. 269Wh more is pleasant. 700W more inverter is the difference between planning around the box and simply plugging into it, and it's the one gap on this page that a price cut couldn't close.
The Yeti 500 is the right buy for the person who already knows their whole list is electronics, and it's honest about being exactly that: lighter by 7.9 lb, cheaper by $149, rated for more cycles than anyone will spend. If that's your list, take it and enjoy the money. If you had to stop and think about whether it was, the hesitation is the answer, and $149 is what it costs to stop thinking about it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers drawn from the spec record and cited owner research.
Can the Goal Zero Yeti 500 run a microwave or a kettle?
No. It's rated for 500W of continuous output, and anything with a heating element draws well past that for minutes at a time. The 1,000W surge rating covers a momentary startup spike, not a sustained load. The SOLIX C800 Plus at 1,200W handles considerably more, though reviewers put kettles and some coffee machines beyond its reach too.
Is the Anker SOLIX C800 Plus worth $149 more than the Yeti 500?
Yes, if your loads ever cross 500W, because that's what the money is really buying. Per watt-hour the C800 Plus is the cheaper battery at 85 cents against a dollar, so you're paying more in absolute terms for 269Wh more capacity and 700W more continuous output. If your list genuinely stops at electronics, the $149 buys headroom you'll never use and the Yeti is the better spend.
Which one is quieter?
Anker rates the C800 Plus at 45dB under load and Goal Zero publishes no noise figure at all for the Yeti 500, so there's nothing to compare it against. Reviewers describe the C800 Plus's fan as unavoidable in a quiet house past 80F at a 1,030W average draw, and manageable at arm's length during fast charging. An undisclosed number isn't a quiet one, and neither unit has a verified low-load figure for anyone sleeping beside it.
How long will each battery last before it wears out?
The Yeti 500 is rated for 4,000 cycles and the C800 Plus for 3,000, which the lifetime math turns into 11 years and 8.2 years respectively at one full cycle every day. Both carry 5-year warranties. One 2026 long-term test logged 180-plus cycles on the Yeti with minimal observed degradation, which is well under 5% of the rating, so treat the full number as an expectation rather than a measured result.
Can either one keep a refrigerator running during a power cut?
Both clear the startup peak, so either will start a fridge and run it. Goal Zero's own listing puts the Yeti 500 at up to six hours with a full-size refrigerator plugged in, and one review of the C800 Plus recorded a fridge and freezer drawing 10% of the pack across eight hours. Neither covers a full eight-hour outage of a whole house, which scores at 1,645Wh against the C800 Plus's 653Wh usable.
Where to buy
Anker SOLIX C800 PlusPick
$649.00
$649.00 · direct from Anker
Last checked 1 day ago. Prices move — check before you buy.
Goal Zero Yeti 500
$499.95
$499.95 · direct from Goal Zero
Last checked 1 day ago. Prices move — check before you buy.
Prices may vary by retailer and are subject to change.