Head-to-head test
DJI Power 500 vs Goal Zero Yeti 500
Both boxes hold the same energy for the same decade, so the only question left is what you can plug into them: the DJI runs 1,000W continuously for $299, and the Yeti stops at 500W and asks $500.
Full profiles: DJI Power 500 → · Goal Zero Yeti 500 →
Written by Wenny ZhengUpdated
Portable Power Tester, Station Arena Test Desk
$299.00 · direct from DJI
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
Take the DJI Power 500 and keep the $201. These two are the same battery in different clothes: 512Wh against 499Wh, 4,000 cycles each, five-year warranties on both, sixteen pounds each within half a pound, and both hand off to battery within 20ms when the grid blinks. None of the extra money is buying you a better cell.
They separate the moment you plug something hungry in. The DJI holds 1,000W all day. The Yeti runs 500W and reaches 1,000W only as a momentary surge. Same ceiling printed on both spec sheets, meaning two completely different things: anything that draws between 500W and 1,000W is a normal Tuesday on one and a shutdown on the other. Kettles, microwaves and space heaters live in that band.
What the extra $201 does buy is real, just narrow. IPX4 weather sealing, a US company in Salt Lake City, and the Yeti-Ready line of coolers, lights and vehicle kits. If you already own three of those things, the case writes itself. If you own none of them, you're paying an entry fee to a system you're not in.
What the Numbers Reveal
Each conclusion stated first — the numbers behind it on one line, the full analysis below.
continuous output
The Yeti's 2:1 surge-to-continuous ratio is honestly the better-engineered inverter on paper, and it deserves the credit. But headroom above 500W is not capability above 500W. Testing on the Power 500 ran a 905W load and briefly rode out a 1,500W spike past its own ratingA3, which is to say the DJI's everyday number begins exactly where the Yeti's absolute maximum ends.
DJI Power 500: 1,000W continuous output, 1,000W surgeGoal Zero Yeti 500: 500W continuous output, 1,000W surgeBoth units share the identical 1,000W surge ceiling
Why it mattersIf anything on your list has a heating element or a motor bigger than 500W, price stops mattering and the Yeti is out.
Capacity
Fifteen cents a kilowatt-hour against twenty-five. Read that once and the rest of the spec sheet is bookkeeping, because every energy number underneath the price is a tie. The Goal Zero premium is entirely a brand-and-ruggedization premium, and it should be argued on those terms rather than on anything the battery does.
$299 for the DJI Power 500, $500 for the Goal Zero Yeti 500512Wh against 499Wh, both rated 4,000 cycles, both under five-year warrantiesLifetime energy works out to 15 cents per kWh on the DJI and 25 cents on the Yeti
Why it mattersAnyone shopping on price alone can stop reading here; the only reason left to spend $500 is something that lives outside the battery.
For a CPAP the capacity question is settled before it's asked, since both clear 320Wh with a quarter of the tank spare. That leaves the fan as the deciding spec, and only one manufacturer will tell you what the fan does. 25 dBA is a number you can plan around. A blank is a number you collect yourself at 3 a.m.
DJI publishes 25 dBA for the Power 500 and rates its line between 23 and 30 dBGoal Zero publishes no noise rating for the Yeti 500The CPAP overnight profile needs 320Wh and consumes about three quarters of either unit's usable capacity
Why it mattersThe CPAP buyer should take the DJI for the disclosed spec, and get the cheaper price as a bonus.
solar input
Both units refill inside one good afternoon, so solar input decides nothing here. What does matter is the shipping list: the Power 500 arrives with a wall plug and nothing elseA4, so the 300W figure costs extra before it means anything. Budget for the adapter or treat the number as decoration.
DJI Power 500 accepts 300W of solar; Yeti 500 accepts 200W512Wh at 300W refills in under two hours of nominal input; 499Wh at 200W takes about two and a halfThe Power 500 has no built-in solar charge controller and ships with only a wall plugA4
Why it mattersDon't pick the DJI for its solar ceiling and don't pick the Yeti to dodge an adapter. Pick on output and price, then buy the adapter.
The specific dimensions that decide these two units — everything else is a tie.
Lifetime Value
Selected because: The two batteries sit within 13Wh of each other at the same 4,000 cycles and the same five-year warranty, which makes the $201 price gap the entire decision.
cost / lifetime kWh
Two batteries of the same size, the same chemistry and the same rated life leave exactly one variable in the ownership math: what you handed over at the door. Fifteen cents per lifetime kilowatt-hour on the DJI, twenty-five on the Yeti. Same energy, delivered the same 4,000 times, at two thirds the price.
Neither of these is a bad long-term buy, and that's the point. Both are rated for roughly eleven years of daily cycling, which is longer than most people stay interested in a 500Wh box. When two units will outlast the buyer's enthusiasm equally, longevity stops being a tiebreaker and price becomes the whole conversation.
What the Specs Don't Tell You
Selected because: The Yeti's inverter headroom is its one genuine win and its missing noise figure is its one genuine gap, and both land in this section.
The two flags on this pair point in opposite directions, which is why neither settles it alone. The Yeti earns its surge flag honestly: an inverter rated 500W continuous with 1,000W on tap has twice the headroom over its working load, and that's how conservative inverters are built. Then it loses the noise flag just as honestly, because Goal Zero doesn't publish a decibel figure at all while DJI prints 25 dBA on the sheet.
Weigh them by where they bite. Headroom matters when you're operating near the rated limit, and on the Yeti you reach the rated limit at 500W, which is where a lot of ordinary appliances start. The noise number matters every single night the thing is in the room with you.
Your Life, Your Pick
Selected because: Five of the six load profiles are too big for either 500Wh unit, so the useful question is which one to take for the profile that isn't.
Five of the six load profiles come back "neither," and that's the most useful thing this section says. A weekend of camping asks for 2,100Wh. An eight-hour blackout with the fridge in it asks for 1,645Wh. These are 500Wh boxes. Both will start every one of those loads, since both surge to 1,000W, and neither will finish any of them.
The CPAP night is the exception and the honest use case for both: 320Wh, comfortably inside either battery, with roughly a quarter of the tank left in the morning. Size your purchase to that reality. If your actual list is the blackout, no amount of arguing about $201 helps, because you're shopping in the wrong weight class.
Brand Trust
Selected because: With the hardware this close, Goal Zero's $500 is mostly buying a support and ecosystem promise, so it's worth checking how that promise is holding up.
Goal Zero's price has always come with an implied promise: buy from the American company, get the premium support. That promise is thinner than it was. Response times have stretched, tickets sit unanswered, and the official community forums were shut down, which is a strange thing to do to the most loyal part of your customer base. The heritage is genuine, since Goal Zero more or less invented this category. Heritage isn't a warranty.
DJI's problem is the mirror image. It arrived in power stations in 2024 with four models and no dedicated community, so there's less field history here than for anything else you'd shortlist. What it brings instead is a deep hardware track record from drones, 700-plus battery patents behind the cells, and the quietest published noise figures in the category. Its app scores 3.5 out of 5, and that rating covers DJI's entire product line rather than this box. On a unit this simple you'll barely open it.
Strengths & trade-offs
DJI Power 500
Strengths
- +Costs $201 less
- +Larger battery capacity
- +Higher AC output
- +Faster solar charging
Trade-offs
- –No major technical downsides compared to rival.
Goal Zero Yeti 500
Strengths
- Solid all-rounder with standard specs.
Trade-offs
- –Substantially more expensive (+$201) than the Power 500.
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
A weekend asks for 2,100Wh and neither of these holds a fifth of that, so both are honestly a one-night unit rather than a weekend unit. If your camping looks like a lantern, a couple of phone charges and a laptop, either one works and the DJI costs $201 less. If it looks like a 12V fridge humming from Friday to Sunday, you need roughly five times the battery, not a different brand.
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 gets you there, and it isn't close. The profile wants 1,645Wh from a 500Wh box, so you're about a quarter of the way through the night when the lights go back out. Both will start the fridge, since both surge to 1,000W, which is the cruel part: starting it was never the problem. If a full outage is why you're shopping, this whole page is the wrong size.
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 clear this one, and it's the only profile on the page they're genuinely sized for. A CPAP night is 320Wh, about three quarters of either battery, so you wake up with a quarter of the tank and no drama either way. Break the tie on the thing that spends the night eighteen inches from your head: the Power 500 publishes a 25 dBA fan floor and the Yeti 500 publishes no noise figure at all. Same night's sleep on paper, and only one of them told you what it sounds like.
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 Power 500 comes up 475Wh short (about 48% 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 unit covers this scenario's 670Wh: the Power 500 comes up 235Wh short (about 65% covered), the Yeti 500 246Wh (63%). Either gets you most of the way, so this is a scenario you plan around rather than one you should rule them out for.
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 Power 500 comes up 4,250Wh short (about 9% 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
Dead heat — both run this 205W load for roughly 2.1h. Pick on price, weight, or ports.
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 0–29hComfort & Convenience
Makes off-grid life actually enjoyablescale 0–5.8hHigh-Draw Appliances
These reveal the real limitsscale 0–0.4h¹ 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 2, 2026
Verdict: the Power 500
Buy the DJI Power 500. You get 512Wh against the Yeti's 499Wh, the same 4,000-cycle LFP chemistry, the same five-year warranty, the same 100W USB-C, the same 20ms handoff to battery, and the same weight inside half a pound. On top of that the DJI doubles the continuous output to 1,000W, takes 300W of solar instead of 200W, publishes a 25 dBA fan floor where Goal Zero publishes nothing, and does all of it for $201 less. The Yeti's real advantage is inverter headroom, since 500W continuous under a 1,000W surge ceiling is conservative engineering, plus IPX4 weather sealing and the Yeti-Ready accessory line. If you already own that ecosystem, pay the $201 with a clear conscience. If you don't, it's a badge.
Editor-assigned confidence, based on cited owner research and spec analysis.
List prices as of August 2, 2026. The links below open DJI's and Goal Zero's current prices.
$299.00 · direct from DJI
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 2, 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, Power 500 rates 4.6/5 (74th 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.
The Yeti has the headroom. The DJI has the rating.
Credit where it's due: 500W continuous under a 1,000W surge ceiling is 2:1 headroom, and that's what a conservatively specified inverter looks like. The Power 500 rates 1,000W continuous and 1,000W surge, so on paper it has none. The catch is that both ceilings are the same number. The DJI's 1,000W is a load it holds; the Yeti's 1,000W is a moment it survives. Headroom is worth having. It isn't worth half your output.
Five years each, at two different prices
Identical coverage on both sides makes the warranty a pure cost line rather than a differentiator. Spread across the five years, the Power 500 works out to $60 a year of covered ownership and the Yeti 500 to $100. Same promise, priced differently.
Goal Zero doesn't publish a noise figure
DJI puts 25 dBA on the Power 500's spec sheet and rates its line between 23 and 30 dB. Goal Zero lists no decibel rating for the Yeti 500. That's not evidence it's loud, and on its own it's not a reason to reject the unit. It is a reason to care if this box is going to spend nights in a bedroom or a tent, because the one number you'd want before buying doesn't exist, and you'll be collecting it yourself at 3 a.m.
Full record above — the Test Desk pick is the Power 500.
Check Power 500 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
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 thing to know reading the table: both carry the same 4,000-cycle rating, so the lifetime rows are sticker price and capacity in disguise — the wear horizon is identical and decides nothing here.
Delivers each lifetime kWh for $0.10 less — check the Power 500 price →
Brand trust
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
Leveraging DJI's established global support and repair center network from the drone business. Generally positive reputation inherited from drone operations, but limited power-station-specific track record.
Community
No dedicated power station community yet. Discussions happen within r/dji (~250K members, mostly drone users). Very small power-specific presence on Facebook and forums.
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 is the DJI line's actual signature: 23 to 30 dB published across the range, with the Power 500 at 25 dBA. Behind that sits a drone R&D program carrying 700-plus battery patents, which is an unusual pedigree for a power station and a reassuring one.
Worth knowing
DJI showed up in power stations in 2024 with four models and no dedicated community of its own, so the long-term field record here is short. Two specifics matter more than the general newness. There's no built-in solar charge controller, so solar requires a separate proprietary adapter, and the SDC fast-charge ports only pay off if you already own DJI gear. Check the model before assuming expansion too: the Power 2000 and Power 1000 V2 expand, the Power 500 does not.
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
Goal Zero is a Salt Lake City company owned by NRG Energy, and US-based support has long been part of what the premium buys. That case has weakened. Response times have stretched, tickets go unaddressed for weeks, and the official community forums have been shut down. Still American, still reachable, just no longer the reason to pay more.
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 prices at the top of the category and delivers the fewest watt-hours per dollar of the major brands. That's defensible when the hardware is the ruggedized, weather-resistant, Yeti-Ready kind you actually plan to use alongside the coolers and vehicle kits. It's much harder to defend when the unit is going to sit under a desk.
Analyst note
Two opposite risks. Goal Zero has the category's deepest heritage and a support story that's slipping. DJI has an enormous hardware track record in a different product category and barely two years in this one. Neither is a red flag on a 500Wh box carrying a five-year warranty. If you want an American company to call, that's Goal Zero and it costs $201. If you want the better hardware per dollar, that's the newcomer.
Growth path
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.
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 Power 500 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.
DJI Power 500
The record on the Power 500 comes from review desks rather than long-term owners, which is what you'd expect from a unit this newA1A3A4. What exists is consistent. A 512Wh automotive-grade LFP pack rated to 3,000-4,000 cycles and roughly a ten-year lifeA1, about 7.3 kg in the hand and genuinely easy to carryA2, and a test that ran a 905W load and briefly absorbed a 1,500W spike past its own 1,000W rating, with the same testing finding it more efficient than DJI's larger Power 1000A3.
The one recurring complaint is the box it comes in. It ships with a wall plug and nothing else, no solar adapter and no car-charging cableA4. If solar is part of your plan, that's a second purchase before the 300W input on the spec sheet means anything at all.
“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
Goal Zero Yeti 500
The Yeti 500's headline numbers come mostly from Goal Zero itself: 4,000-plus cycles, which works out to daily use for more than ten years before it drops to 80% capacity at 75FB1, and a backup pitch that puts a full-size refrigerator on it for up to six hours when the grid dropsB2. The move from the older NMC Yeti 500X to LiFePO4 is the substantive upgrade here, at roughly the same 16 lbsB3. If you're comparison shopping, check that the listing is the LiFePO4 Yeti 500 and not the older 500X, because the two get mixed up and their cycle ratings are nothing alikeB3.
Independent long-run data is thinner than a 4,000-cycle rating suggests. The deepest look on record is a 2026 reviewer 180-plus cycles in with minimal observed degradationB4, which is encouraging and about 4.5% of the way to the rated number. The same caveat applies to the DJI's ratingA1. Nobody has yet run either of these boxes to the end of the number printed on it.
“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
- Light, efficient LFP unit with strong real-world output and drone-pilot appeal; the caveat is minimal included accessories. [Power 500 · 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
“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]
- A2
“Weighs only about 7.3 kg, making it easy to transport.”
dji.com / techradar.com — Power 500 review · 2026 · [positive]
- A3
“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]
- A4
“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]
- 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 2, 2026.
Who Should Buy Which
Buy the Power 500 if you…
- →You occasionally pull more than 500W. A 905W load ran on the Power 500 in testingA3, and that's double what the Yeti will hold continuously. Kettles, microwaves and heat guns live in that band.
- →You're the one sleeping next to it. The CPAP profile needs 320Wh, so capacity was never the question. 25 dBA is published, plannable, and eighteen inches from your head.
- →You already fly DJI. The SDC ports fast-charge DJI batteries, which is a real convenience if you own the drone and pure decoration if you don't.
- →You want the cheapest honest 500Wh LFP box with a five-year warranty behind it, and you don't intend to think about it again.
Buy the Yeti 500 if you…
- →You're already inside the Yeti-Ready system, with the coolers, the Nomad panels and the vehicle kit. Buying deeper into an ecosystem you own is a legitimate reason to pay more.
- →Your loads are all small and permanent, and you'd rather run an inverter at half its surge ceiling than at its ceiling. That's a defensible preference, and 500W continuous under a 1,000W surge is what it looks like.
- →The box lives outside or in a truck bed. IPX4 weather resistance and a ruggedized build are what Goal Zero has always sold, and that's a spec, not a story.
- →You want an American company on the other end of the phone. Go in knowing the support experience isn't what it was.
If neither fits
If your list includes an eight-hour blackout with the fridge running, or a full weekend of camping, close this tab and save the $299. Those profiles want 1,645Wh and 2,100Wh, and these are 500Wh boxes; brand loyalty doesn't change arithmetic. Shop units sized to the 2,100Wh a camping weekend actually asks for, and come back to a 500Wh unit only if you want a second, portable one for phones, lights and a laptop.
The Bottom Line
Buy the DJI Power 500. Same size battery, same chemistry, same rated life, same 20ms handoff, so the $201 is buying you an inverter that quits at half the load, plus IPX4 sealing and a coolers-and-panels ecosystem you're either in or you're not. If you're in it, that's a fine trade and nobody should talk you out of it. If you're not, you're paying for a badge that runs 500W.
The one thing worth pausing over is the accessory box. The DJI arrives with a wall plug and nothing moreA4, so any solar plan costs extra on top of the $299. That's a shipping-list problem, and you solve it once. The Yeti's 500W ceiling is one you live with every time you plug something in.
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers drawn from the spec record and cited owner research.
Is the Goal Zero Yeti 500 worth the extra money over the DJI Power 500?
Only if you're buying the ecosystem or the weather sealing. On energy the two are a wash: 512Wh against 499Wh, 4,000 cycles each, five-year warranties on both. The DJI adds double the continuous output and a published noise figure for $201 less. Everything the extra money buys sits outside the battery.
Can the Yeti 500 run a refrigerator?
It can start one, and Goal Zero's own backup framing puts a full-size fridge on it for up to six hours. What it can't do is cover a real outage, because the eight-hour blackout profile needs 1,645Wh and the Yeti holds 499Wh. Both units on this page will start a fridge, since both surge to 1,000W. Neither keeps one cold through the night.
Do either of these work as a UPS for a computer or router?
Both do, and identically. Each switches to battery within 20ms, fast enough that a desktop, a modem and a router never notice the grid left. The difference is what you can hang off it: the DJI carries 1,000W continuously, so a tower plus monitors is fine, while the Yeti's 500W ceiling becomes the constraint long before its battery does.
How long does the DJI Power 500 take to charge from solar?
It accepts 300W, so 512Wh refills in under two hours of strong input. The catch is that it ships with a wall plug and nothing else and has no built-in solar charge controller, so you're buying DJI's proprietary adapter before any of that happens. The Yeti takes 200W, putting 499Wh at about two and a half hours. On batteries this small, both are one good afternoon.
Which one is quieter?
The DJI, as far as anyone can prove. It publishes 25 dBA, and DJI rates its whole line between 23 and 30 dB, at the quiet end of the category. Goal Zero publishes no decibel figure for the Yeti 500. That doesn't make the Yeti loud, but it does mean you find out after you own it.
Brand matchup
DJI vs Goal Zero: measured across every matchup →Where to buy
DJI Power 500Pick
$299.00
$299.00 · direct from DJI
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.