Anker SOLIX C800 Plus Review: Camping Lights Meet Serious Power

The portable power station market is crowded, but every so often a product arrives with a feature that makes you do a double-take. The Anker SOLIX C800 Plus is that product. While its 768Wh capacity and 1200W output put it squarely in the mid-range class, the integrated retractable LED camping lights set it apart from everything else on the market. The question is whether a clever lighting trick is enough to justify the $649 price tag when the competition is fierce.

Key Specs at a Glance

• Capacity: 768Wh
• Output: 1,200W continuous (1,600W surge)
• Weight: 20.3 lbs
• Charge Time: ~58 minutes (wall outlet)
• Battery Type: LiFePO4 (3,000 cycles)
• Ports: 5 AC, 2 USB-C, 2 USB-A, 1 car outlet

Who Is It For?

The C800 Plus is built for campers, tailgaters, and outdoor enthusiasts who want a single device that replaces both a power station and a camp light. It also works well as a home emergency backup, though the 768Wh capacity means it is better suited for essential devices than whole-home coverage. If you regularly set up camp and need reliable lighting alongside power delivery, this station was designed with you in mind.

Retractable LED Camping Lights: A Genuine Innovation

This is the headline feature, and it delivers. The C800 Plus has an integrated retractable LED light bar that pulls out from the top of the unit. It provides 360-degree ambient lighting with adjustable brightness levels, turning the power station into a campsite lantern. No extra gear to pack, no extra batteries to charge, and no tangled cords. In testing, the light output was genuinely useful — bright enough to illuminate a full campsite table and the surrounding area without being blinding. It is the kind of thoughtful design that makes you wonder why nobody did this sooner. The light draws minimal power from the main battery, so you will not sacrifice meaningful runtime.

58-Minute Ultra-Fast Charging

Anker’s HyperFlash technology charges the C800 Plus from 0 to 80% in about 43 minutes and to full in 58 minutes. That is nearly identical to the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus at 56 minutes and faster than the older Anker SOLIX C1000 when comparing percentage-per-minute rates. For road trippers, this means a quick stop at a rest area with a wall outlet can top off the battery before you reach your campsite. The fan does ramp up during fast charging, but the noise is manageable at roughly arm’s length.

Five AC Outlets and Versatile Port Selection

With five AC outlets, the C800 Plus offers more plug options than most competitors in this capacity range. The Bluetti AC70 provides only two AC outlets, and even the larger Anker SOLIX C1000 tops out at six. Two USB-C ports handle laptop and phone charging, while two USB-A ports cover legacy devices. The single car outlet rounds out the package for 12V accessories. The 1,200W continuous output handles blenders, small power tools, CPAP machines, and mini-fridges without issue. The 1,600W surge capacity provides headroom for motor-start appliances.

LiFePO4 Longevity

The LiFePO4 battery chemistry is rated for 3,000 cycles to 80% capacity. That translates to over 8 years of daily use — a meaningful upgrade over older NMC-based stations that typically lasted 500 to 800 cycles. At $649, the cost per cycle is competitive, though the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus offers 4,000+ cycles at the same price point with a larger 1,024Wh battery. The tradeoff is weight: the C800 Plus at 20.3 lbs is noticeably lighter than the DELTA 3 Plus at 27.6 lbs.

What Could Be Better

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, which makes value-conscious buyers pause. The 3,000-cycle battery rating, while solid, falls short of the 4,000+ cycles some competitors now offer. There is no expansion battery option, so 768Wh is the ceiling. The unit also lacks an app-based solar charging optimizer, which both EcoFlow and Bluetti include in their competing models. Finally, at $649, the price is a tough sell purely on specs — the camping lights add real-world value, but only if you actually use them.

The Bottom Line

The Anker SOLIX C800 Plus is a well-built mid-range power station with a genuinely useful trick up its sleeve. The integrated LED camping lights are not a gimmick — they solve a real problem for outdoor users and eliminate one more piece of gear from the packing list. The 58-minute charge time, five AC outlets, and 20 lb weight make it a strong portable companion. However, the $649 price is hard to justify on capacity alone when the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus offers 1,024Wh at the same price. If camping and outdoor lighting are central to your use case, the C800 Plus earns its premium. If you just need the most watt-hours per dollar, look at the competition.