Head-to-head test
BLUETTI AC240P vs DJI Power 500
Per watt-hour these two are five cents apart, so nothing here is a bargain or a markup; the only question is whether one honest day of your loads clears 435Wh.
Full profiles: BLUETTI AC240P → · DJI Power 500 →
Written by Ian SchneiderUpdated
Solar & Off-Grid Tester, Station Arena Test Desk
$1,461.99 · direct from BLUETTI
Last checked 1 day ago. Prices move — check before you buy.
$299.00 · direct from DJI
Last checked 1 day ago. Prices move — check before you buy.
Spec deltas
$1,462 against $299 looks like a mismatch until you divide by capacity. That's 79 cents a watt-hour for the AC240P and, at $299 across 512Wh, 74 cents for the Power 500. Neither one is the value buy. The $1,163 between them is 1,331 more watt-hours at roughly the going rate, which turns this from a price comparison into a sizing question.
Sizing questions have answers. After the 15% inverter derate you're working with 1,567Wh on the AC240P and 435Wh on the Power 500, and the six loads on this page land on both sides of that line. A remote workday takes 910Wh: the AC240P finishes it with 657Wh in hand while the Power 500 gets a bit under halfway. A CPAP night takes 320Wh, and there the Power 500 covers it with 115Wh still left over while the AC240P leaves four-fifths of its battery untouched.
The verdict is the AC240P, for a narrower reason than the spec gap suggests: it's the only one of the two that does anything backup-shaped. It's also 72 lbs, it comes up short of an 8-hour blackout on its own, and its IP65 rating quietly stops applying the moment you run a cable out of itA1. None of that changes the answer. All of it changes what you should expect.
What the Numbers Reveal
Each conclusion stated first — the numbers behind it on one line, the full analysis below.
Capacity
So there is no value pick here, only a size pick, and the line falls between 435Wh and 1,567Wh of usable energy. Below that line the extra $1,163 buys capacity you never discharge. Above it, the Power 500 stops mid-afternoon regardless of how good its price looks.
AC240P: $1,462 for 1,843Wh, which is 79 cents per watt-hourPower 500: $299 for 512Wh, which is 74 cents per watt-hourUsable energy after the 15% inverter derate is 1,567Wh and 435Wh
Why it mattersTotal one real day of your own loads in watt-hours before you look at either price tag. The answer to that sum is the answer to this page.
rated cycles
A four-cent gap that flips depending on which end of a published range you pick isn't a finding, it's noise wearing a decimal point. What doesn't move is scale: the AC240P is rated to move roughly three times as much total energy across its life, for just under four times the money, which says the same thing the per-watt-hour price already said.
The computed lifetime cost is 23 cents per kWh for the AC240P and 19 cents for the Power 500That 19 cents rests on 4,000 cycles, while the cited rating is a 3,000 to 4,000 rangeB1Lifetime throughput is 6,451kWh (1,843Wh x 3,500 cycles) against 2,048kWh (512Wh x 4,000 cycles)
Why it mattersSkip the cost-per-lifetime-kWh row entirely. It's sitting inside its own error bars and can't decide this.
solar input
On night one the AC240P is one appliance short and the Power 500 is three-quarters short. On day two, with the grid still down, the AC240P is pulling up to 1,200W off panels while the Power 500 is 16.1 lbs of dead weight until the power comes back.
An 8-hour blackout needs 1,645Wh; the AC240P holds 1,567Wh usable, a miss of under 5%The AC240P accepts 1,200W of solar input; the Power 500's 300W ceiling requires a separate proprietary adapter, and the unit ships with a wall plug and nothing elseB4The Power 500's 435Wh usable covers about a quarter of that 1,645Wh evening
Why it mattersIf the word backup appears anywhere in your reason for shopping, this is where the comparison ends.
The arithmetic reverses the moment you can't plug in overnight. One night at a time is the Power 500's job and four consecutive nights off-grid is the AC240P's, which means the deciding spec isn't capacity at all. It's whether there's a wall socket in your morning.
A CPAP night is 320Wh; the Power 500 has 435Wh usable and finishes the night with 115Wh unspentThe AC240P spends the same 320Wh out of 1,567Wh usable, roughly a fifth of the boxAcross nights without a recharge, 1,567Wh is four nights and 435Wh is one
Why it mattersCPAP users who sleep at home with working power should stop here and buy the Power 500.
The specific dimensions that decide these two units — everything else is a tie.
Your Life, Your Pick
Selected because: Six real loads, and 1,567Wh usable against 435Wh puts the two units on opposite sides of four of them.
The workday and the tailgate need 910Wh and 670Wh, and the Power 500's 435Wh usable doesn't reach either one. It covers a bit under half the workday and about two-thirds of the tailgate before it's finished. Weekend camping at 2,100Wh and van life at 4,685Wh beat both units outright, and the AC240P getting a third of the way through a van-life day isn't a moral victory.
The blackout is the one worth arguing about. It wants 1,645Wh and the AC240P holds 1,567Wh, a miss of under 5%. That's the whole evening minus one appliance, which on the night is a decision you can actually make. The Power 500 covers about a quarter of it. And the CPAP night runs the other direction entirely: 320Wh is a job the small unit finishes with 115Wh in hand, and the big one finishes while leaving four-fifths of its battery asleep.
Portability & Form Factor
Selected because: 72 lbs against 16.1 decides more here than any row on the spec table, and only one of these is built to sit outdoors.
weight
72 lbs is a two-person lift into a truck bed and a one-person regret on basement stairs. 16.1 lbs is one hand and a car door. That isn't a spec gap so much as a difference in what the object is for: the AC240P gets placed somewhere and stays there, while the Power 500 goes where you go.
The AC240P earns some of that weight back by being the one that can live outside. It's BLUETTI's IP65-rated platform, and in testing it sat through a six-hour rainstorm with the interior bone dry and ran on a sailboat in constant saltwater spray with no moisture intrusion after a wipe-downA2. The catch is specific and worth understanding before you rely on it. The rating only holds with every port cover closed, so the moment you run a cable out to whatever you're powering, you're no longer operating a sealed box and shouldn't leave it in the rain that wayA1. It's rain-survivable buttoned up. It is not rain-operable.
What the Specs Don't Tell You
Selected because: Six cards fire; the one that can change a purchase is the 3,600W surge ceiling against 1,000W.
rated cycles
The Power 500 lists 1,000W continuous and 1,000W surge, the same figure in both rows, which means no published headroom for the half-second a motor takes to spin up. The AC240P lists 3,600W over a 2,400W continuous rating. Ratios aside, the absolute ceilings are 3,600W against 1,000W, and if a fridge, a pump or a circular saw is on your list, that's the row to read.
The warranty card will tell you the Power 500 delivers 13.2 years of coverage per $1,000 against the AC240P's 4.1, a 3.2x edge. That figure is mostly measuring price. In the terms you'd actually file a claim under it's 6 years against 5, and the extra year goes to BLUETTI. The switchover row is the same kind of non-event: 15ms against 20ms, both standby-class, and no decision worth making lives in those 5 milliseconds.
Lifetime Value
Selected because: 23 cents per lifetime kWh against 19 is close enough that how you count cycles decides it.
cost / lifetime kWh
This section will tell you the Power 500 is cheaper to own, at 19 cents per lifetime kWh against 23. Run the same math with the other end of the Power 500's own cited cycle rating and it inverts. The 19 cents assumes 4,000 cycles, the published range starts at 3,000B1, and 512Wh across 3,000 cycles is 1,536kWh, which puts $299 at 25 cents. A four-cent gap that flips on an assumption isn't a tiebreaker.
What doesn't move is the scale. 1,843Wh across 3,500 cycles is 6,451kWh of energy over the unit's life against 2,048kWh for the Power 500. Roughly three times the total throughput for just under four times the price, which is the same answer the per-watt-hour figure already gave: you're buying quantity here, not quality.
Growth Path
Selected because: The AC240P falls under 5% short of a 1,645Wh blackout, and expansion batteries are the only path that closes the gap.
solar input
The blackout miss has a fix, and it's the only structural advantage on this page. The AC240P takes BLUETTI expansion batteries, so the 1,567Wh usable that came up short of a 1,645Wh evening isn't a permanent ceiling. The Power 500 is sealed at 512Wh with no path at all.
That's a real difference, and it's also one to be careful not to overvalue. Nobody buys a 16.1-lb, $299 box planning to grow it into home backup, so sealed isn't a flaw on the Power 500, it's the product description. Expandability only earns its keep here if you already suspect 1,843Wh won't be enough. And if you genuinely suspect that, the honest move is to price a bigger base unit against a base unit plus a battery before you commit to either.
Strengths & trade-offs
BLUETTI AC240P
Strengths
- +Larger battery capacity
- +Higher AC output
- +Longer warranty
- +Faster solar charging
Trade-offs
- –Substantially more expensive (+$1,163) than the Power 500.
- –Significantly heavier (+55.9 lbs), making it harder to move.
DJI Power 500
Strengths
- +Costs $1,163 less
- +Lighter by 55.9 lb
Trade-offs
- –Weaker inverter (-1,400W) limits appliance compatibility.
- –Sealed capacity — the AC240P can add batteries to grow past 512Wh; this one can't.
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
2,100Wh over a weekend is past both of these. The AC240P gets about three-quarters of the way there and the Power 500 about a fifth, so neither one is a single-charge weekend. The split between them shows up on Saturday afternoon rather than in the capacity column: 1,200W of solar input on one side, and on the other a unit with no built-in solar charge controller at all. If you're genuinely running a weekend off one box, shop a size up.
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 one finishes 1,645Wh. The AC240P stops under 5% short, which in practice is the evening minus one appliance, and it can be topped back up from 1,200W of solar before day two arrives. The Power 500 covers about a quarter of the night and has no onboard charge controller to recover with. Neither is a clean yes here, but only one of them is in the conversation.
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
Power 500
320Wh a night, and the Power 500 does it with about a quarter of its 435Wh usable still in the tank. The AC240P does it too, spending a fifth of its battery, at $1,163 more and 72 lbs instead of 16.1. The thing that flips this is nights between recharges: one night is the Power 500's job, and four consecutive nights off-grid is the AC240P's.
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
AC240P
910Wh is more than the Power 500 has. It holds 435Wh usable, so it covers a bit under half your day and then you're looking for an outlet mid-afternoon. The AC240P closes the same day with 657Wh spare, which means the question never comes up.
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
AC240P
670Wh over an afternoon. The Power 500's 435Wh usable covers about two-thirds of it and quits before the crowd does. The AC240P walks away with 897Wh unused, and its 3,600W ceiling is the part that matters when somebody plugs in a second appliance without asking.
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 AC240P comes up 3,118Wh short (about 33% covered), the Power 500 4,250Wh (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: AC240P runs 7.6h vs 2.1h.
$1,461.99 list · direct from BLUETTI
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 0–104.4hComfort & Convenience
Makes off-grid life actually enjoyablescale 0–20.9hHigh-Draw Appliances
These reveal the real limitsscale 0–1.6h¹ 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 9, 2026
Verdict: the AC240P, on Power Score margin
Take the AC240P if you're buying for a house, a jobsite or a boat. Its 1,567Wh usable covers a 910Wh remote workday with 657Wh still in reserve, comes within 5% of a full 1,645Wh blackout evening, and it accepts 1,200W of solar so day two of an outage is a recharge rather than a countdown. The 3,600W ceiling over a 2,400W continuous rating also means a fridge or a pump isn't an experiment. The reasons this isn't a 9: it weighs 72 lbs, it still doesn't quite finish that blackout unaided, and if your honest daily draw is a CPAP, a laptop and some camera batteries, the Power 500 does that job for $1,163 less and the AC240P would spend every night keeping four-fifths of a battery asleep. Add up one real day in watt-hours before you spend. That number picks the unit, not the price gap.
Editor-assigned confidence, based on cited owner research and spec analysis.
List prices as of August 9, 2026. The links below open BLUETTI's and DJI's current prices.
$1,461.99 · direct from BLUETTI
Last checked 1 day ago. Prices move — check before you buy.
or check the Power 500 price$299.00 list
Written by Ian Schneider, Solar & Off-Grid Tester · Station Arena Test Desk · Updated August 9, 2026
Measured Data
Benchmark scores and the full spec record, side by side.
Benchmark scores
Not rated for both units (minimum threshold unmet): RV Living, Home Backup, CPAP, Food Truck, Apartment Balcony, Camping.
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, AC240P rates 3.9/5 (35th percentile of 27 Everyday-class units), and Power 500 rates 4.6/5 (74th percentile of 20 Compact-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.
AC240P: 72 lbs Is a Commitment
At 72 lbs, this is manageable but not fun to move. That's heavier than a large checked suitcase. How much it costs you depends on whether it rolls — wheels and a telescoping handle change the job completely at this weight, and our spec record doesn't track them, so look at the product photos before you plan on carrying it from the car.
45dB vs 25dB, With an Asterisk
The AC240P is the louder of the two and the DJI is genuinely quiet, but these are category-level published figures rather than measurements taken at the load you'll actually run. Read them as 'you'll hear the fan' against 'you probably won't', and don't let 20 decibels on a spec sheet outvote the capacity gap.
Sealed at 512Wh, and That's Fine
512Wh is the Power 500's ceiling with no expansion path, a real limit worth knowing before you buy. It's also not much of a criticism of a $299, 16.1-lb unit that nobody purchases as the foundation of a backup system. The limit bites in exactly one situation: you bought it expecting your needs to stay small, and they didn't.
1,000W Continuous, 1,000W Surge
The Power 500's sheet lists the same figure in both rows, so there's no published headroom for the half-second a compressor takes to spin up. The AC240P lists 3,600W over a 2,400W continuous rating. Set the ratios aside and read the absolute ceilings, 3,600W against 1,000W, then check that against the startup draw of whatever you actually plan to run.
15ms vs 20ms: Same Tier
Both units are standby-class transfer rather than true online UPS, and they sit 5 milliseconds apart inside that same tier. A desktop, a router or a modem won't notice either one. Anything that genuinely cannot tolerate a transfer gap needs a double-conversion UPS, not a choice between these two.
Six Years Against Five
In the terms you'd actually file a claim under, the AC240P covers you a year longer. The per-dollar version of that number, 13.2 warranty-years per $1,000 against 4.1, is mostly measuring the price difference, because the cheaper unit always wins a ratio with price in the denominator. Judge the coverage on the years and on how easy the brand makes a claim.
Full record above — the Test Desk pick is the AC240P.
Check AC240P price →or check the Power 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
The Power 500 wins on both sticker price and long-term value. At $0.15/kWh over its lifetime, it's meaningfully cheaper to own. Clear value winner. One caution on the lifespan row: the Power 500 takes longer to reach its cycle rating, but a cycle moves a different amount of energy on each unit — the AC240P still delivers more over its shorter horizon (6,451 vs 2,048 kWh). Years measure wear, not usefulness.
Brand trust
BLUETTI
Ecosystem
One of the broadest lineups — 15-20+ models from budget (AC2A) to flagship portable (Apex 300, 2764.8Wh). Includes specialized products: vehicle solar hubs, sodium-ion cold-weather units, and balcony storage systems.
Support
Support is the weak point at this price. It's email-first with China-timezone delays, and outcomes swing hard: some buyers get a problem sorted quickly, others describe weeks of runaround and an offer of a discount on a new unit in place of a repair. Buying direct from BLUETTI rather than through a marketplace tends to produce better outcomes.
Community
Active and growing — Reddit r/bluetti has a dedicated community. Second-largest after EcoFlow in engagement.
App experience
Rated 4.5/5 iOS and Android — tied for best app experience in the category. V3.0 UI redesign was well-received.
Unique strength
The widest lineup in the category, among the best capacity-per-dollar in it, and a 4.5/5 app that's tied for the best in the space.
Worth knowing
A 6-year warranty is real coverage, but it's only worth the claim process behind it, and older or discontinued BLUETTI units have run into no-spare-parts situations.
DJI
Ecosystem
New entrant (2024) — five power station models to date: Power 500, Power 1000 (since superseded by the V2 but still sold), Power 1000 V2, Power 1000 Mini, Power 2000. Buying a "Power 1000" listing? Check which revision it actually ships.
Support
The service network is inherited from the drone business and it's a genuine one, with global repair centers and a real RMA process. The caveat is that almost none of it has power-station mileage yet.
Community
There's no power-station community to search when something behaves oddly. Questions land in r/dji among roughly a quarter-million members, most of whom have never owned one of these.
App experience
Rated 3.5/5 iOS and Android (DJI Home app ratings reflect entire DJI ecosystem including drones/cameras, not power-station-specific). Users report the on-device screen is more reliable than the app.
Unique strength
Quiet across the whole line at 23-30dB published, premium build, and 700+ battery patents carried over from drone R&D.
Worth knowing
No built-in solar charge controller, so solar charging needs a separate proprietary adapter, and the SDC fast-charge ports only pay off if you already own DJI gear. Battery expansion exists on the Power 2000 and Power 1000 V2, but not on the Power 500.
Analyst note
One of these brands has been building power stations for years and can't reliably answer an email. The other answers emails well and has been building power stations since 2024. At $299 the DJI's short track record is a small bet. At $1,462 BLUETTI's support lottery is the largest non-spec risk on this page, and it's the one argument for buying the AC240P direct rather than wherever it's five dollars cheaper.
Growth path
AC240P
EXPANDABLESupports BLUETTI expansion batteries, so you can add capacity later without replacing the base unit — useful if your needs may climb past 1,843Wh.
Accepts up to 1,200W of solar. Enough for a serious multi-panel array.
Adequate ports for most setups, but heavy users may want a power strip.
Expansion batteries are BLUETTI-specific. You're investing in the BLUETTI ecosystem.
Power 500
FIXED CAPACITYFixed at 512Wh, 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.
Realistic full solar rechargeat 70% of rated panel output — see methodology
Analyst note
The Power 500 is sealed at 512Wh, which is fine if that covers you. The AC240P starts at 1,843Wh and can grow beyond it with BLUETTI expansion batteries — though at this size expansion means longer runtimes on the same loads, not a path to home backup. More hours, not more house.
What Owners Report
Patterns from published owner reports and long-term reviews — every claim cited to its source below.
BLUETTI AC240P
Field evidence on the AC240P is reviewer-sourced rather than long-term-owner-sourced, and almost all of it circles the ruggednessA1A2A3A4. The weatherproofing is the real thing: one test left it outside through a six-hour rainstorm and found the interior bone dry, another ran it on a sailboat through constant saltwater spray with no moisture intrusion after wiping it downA2. The 1,843Wh model is described as the higher-capacity version of the same platform as the 1,536Wh AC240, adding 307Wh along with more visible orange IP65 brandingA3, and the platform sits at the premium end of BLUETTI's range with a fast charge and a large expansion ceilingA4.
The one qualification is the important one. IP65 here is a covers-closed rating, so with cables run out of it the protection no longer applies and it shouldn't be used in the rain in that stateA1. That's a usage rule, not a defect, but it's the difference between a box that survives weather and a box that works in weather.
“IP65 water- and dust-resistant, but the protection applies only when all port covers are closed; using it with cables plugged in compromises the rating, and it shouldn't be used in the rain that way.”
Sources
storagereview.com · backuppowerhub.com · makeuseof.com · techradar.com · fstoppers.com · bluettipower.com
DJI Power 500
The Power 500's record is short, because DJI arrived in this category in 2024, so what exists is bench review data rather than years of ownersB1B2B3B4. It's good data. One test ran it at 905W and saw it briefly ride out a 1,500W spike above its 1,000W rating, and rated its efficiency above DJI's own larger Power 1000B3. The cells are described as automotive-grade LFP rated to 3,000 to 4,000 cycles for roughly a ten-year lifeB1, and at about 7.3kg it's an easy one-hand carryB2.
The consistent complaint is what's in the box: it ships with a wall plug and nothing else, no solar adapter and no car-charging cableB4. Worth flagging that the 1,500W figure sits above the 1,000W surge our spec table records, so treat it as a single measurement rather than a rating to plan a compressor aroundB3.
“A 512Wh LFP battery with up to 1,000W output; the automotive-grade LFP cells are rated up to 3,000-4,000 cycles for roughly a 10-year lifespan.”
Sources
dji.com · thesolarlab.com · techradar.com · views-sounds.com · t3.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
- IP65 ruggedness proven in rain and saltwater, big expandability, and fast charging are the praise; the caveat is that water resistance only holds with port covers closed. [AC240P · 3 entries]
- Light, efficient LFP unit with strong real-world output and drone-pilot appeal; the caveat is minimal included accessories. [Power 500 · 3 entries]
- A1
“IP65 water- and dust-resistant, but the protection applies only when all port covers are closed; using it with cables plugged in compromises the rating, and it shouldn't be used in the rain that way.”
storagereview.com / backuppowerhub.com — BLUETTI AC240/AC240P review · 2026 · [mixed]
- A2
“Real-world weatherproofing held up — left outside in a 6-hour rainstorm, water beaded off and the interior stayed bone dry; used on a sailboat with constant saltwater spray, no moisture intrusion after wiping down the exterior.”
makeuseof.com / techradar.com — AC240/AC240P review · 2026 · [positive]
- A3
“The 1,843Wh AC240P is the higher-capacity option, adding 307Wh over the standard AC240, with distinctive orange IP65 branding; a solid choice if you need the extra capacity and prefer the more visible design.”
techradar.com / fstoppers.com — AC240P review · 2026 · [positive]
- A4
“Premium end of BLUETTI's lineup; LFP battery, a fast charge reaching most of full quickly, and expandable to a very large multi-kWh bank.”
bluettipower.com / techradar.com — AC240P specifications · 2026 · [positive]
- B1
“A 512Wh LFP battery with up to 1,000W output; the automotive-grade LFP cells are rated up to 3,000-4,000 cycles for roughly a 10-year lifespan.”
dji.com / thesolarlab.com — Power 500 review · 2026 · [positive]
- B2
“Weighs only about 7.3 kg, making it easy to transport.”
dji.com / techradar.com — Power 500 review · 2026 · [positive]
- B3
“In testing it ran a 905W load and briefly handled a 1,500W surge above its 1,000W rating; reviewers found it outperformed the larger DJI Power 1000 in efficiency testing.”
thesolarlab.com / views-sounds.com — Power 500 review · 2026 · [positive]
- B4
“Reviews are positive overall, though one noted it ships with only a wall plug — no solar adapters or car-charging cables included.”
t3.com / techradar.com — Power 500 review · 2026 · [mixed]
Research compiled August 9, 2026.
Who Should Buy Which
Buy the AC240P if you…
- →You need a box that can live on a jobsite deck or a boat. The IP65 build came through a six-hour rainstorm and steady saltwater spray in testingA2, provided you keep the port covers shut whenever it isn't workingA1.
- →Your real day clears 900Wh. A 910Wh remote workday leaves the AC240P 657Wh in reserve and leaves the Power 500 hunting for a wall socket about halfway through.
- →Something you plug in has a motor. A 3,600W ceiling over a 2,400W continuous rating gives a fridge, a well pump or a saw room to start.
- →You own solar panels or plan to. 1,200W of input turns a multi-day outage into a recharge cycle instead of a countdown.
Buy the Power 500 if you…
- →The load is a CPAP and a phone. 320Wh a night against 435Wh usable does that with room left, and you'll never miss the 1,331Wh you didn't pay for.
- →You fly DJI drones. The SDC ports fast-charge DJI batteries, which is the one advantage on this side that never shows up in a capacity number.
- →It has to be carried, often. 16.1 lbs goes up an apartment stairwell one-handed and into a car and back out without planning for it.
- →You want the essentials covered in a short outage and you have a wall socket most days. An evening of phones, lights and a laptop sits comfortably inside 435Wh.
If neither fits
Anyone running a van or an RV as a home should skip both. Van life daily works out to 4,685Wh, three times the AC240P's 1,567Wh usable and nearly eleven times the Power 500's 435Wh; that calls for a dedicated house battery bank with alternator charging, not a portable station. Same answer if you're trying to cover a full 2,100Wh camping weekend on a single charge with no panels along. And if what you actually want is whole-home backup through a transfer switch, this is the wrong category rather than the wrong unit.
The Bottom Line
Take the AC240P. Not because it's the better-built unit, since per watt-hour they're five cents apart and neither is the value play, but because 1,567Wh usable is the smallest amount of energy that does anything backup-shaped. A 910Wh workday with 657Wh left over, a 1,645Wh blackout evening missed by under 5%, and 1,200W of solar to get it back before day two. The Power 500's 435Wh doesn't reach any of that.
Hold onto the catches, though. It's 72 lbs, its IP65 rating is a covers-closed rating that stops applying the moment a cable leaves the caseA1, and the lifetime-cost row that appears to favor the DJI is a coin flip on which end of a cycle range you believe. If your honest daily draw is a CPAP, a laptop and a camera bag, close this page and buy the Power 500 with a clear conscience. Everyone else, add up one real day in watt-hours. That number decides this, not the $1,163.
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers drawn from the spec record and cited owner research.
Is the BLUETTI AC240P worth nearly four times the price of the DJI Power 500?
It's worth it if your loads need it and not otherwise, because per watt-hour the two cost almost the same. $1,462 across 1,843Wh is 79 cents a watt-hour, and $299 across 512Wh is 74 cents. The extra money buys 1,331 more watt-hours at roughly the going rate, not a better-built box. Work out one honest day of your own loads in watt-hours and see which side of 435Wh it lands on.
Can the DJI Power 500 run a refrigerator?
Treat that as a no until you've tested your specific fridge. Its continuous rating is 1,000W and its spec sheet lists 1,000W for surge as well, so there's no published headroom for the startup spike a compressor pulls, which runs well above its steady draw. One bench test did see it briefly ride out 1,500W, but that's a single measurement rather than a rating to build a plan on. The AC240P's 3,600W ceiling over a 2,400W continuous rating removes the question.
Is the BLUETTI AC240P actually waterproof?
It's IP65-rated and the rating holds up in practice: one review left it outdoors through a six-hour rainstorm with the interior bone dry, and another ran it on a sailboat in constant saltwater spray with no moisture intrusion. The catch is that IP65 applies with every port cover closed. Plug a cable in and you've opened the seal, so it's rated to survive weather buttoned up rather than to be operated in it. Plan on an awning or a cover if it's going to work outside in the rain.
Which one is cheaper to own over its lifetime?
Call it a wash and decide on something else. The computed figures are 23 cents per lifetime kWh for the AC240P and 19 cents for the Power 500, but that 19 cents assumes 4,000 cycles and the cited rating is a 3,000 to 4,000 range. At 3,000 cycles the Power 500 stores 1,536kWh over its life, and $299 across that is 25 cents, which puts it behind. A four-cent spread that flips depending on which end of a range you pick can't settle a purchase.
Can you charge the DJI Power 500 with solar panels?
Yes, up to 300W, but not with what comes in the box. The Power 500 has no built-in solar charge controller, so it needs a separate proprietary DJI adapter, and reviewers noted the unit ships with only a wall plug, no solar adapter and no car-charging cable. Budget for that accessory before you compare charging speeds, because the AC240P accepts up to 1,200W of solar directly.
Brand matchup
BLUETTI vs DJI: measured across every matchup →Where to buy
BLUETTI AC240PPick
$1,461.99
$1,461.99 · direct from BLUETTI
Last checked 1 day ago. Prices move — check before you buy.
DJI Power 500
$299.00
$299.00 · direct from DJI
Last checked 1 day ago. Prices move — check before you buy.
Prices may vary by retailer and are subject to change.