DJI Power 1000 Mini Review Lands With An 8/10 From The Verge, US Sale Still In Limbo

DJI launches the Power 1000 Mini globally today, and The Verge’s Thomas Ricker posted his review this morning giving it an 8 out of 10. The headline finding: it is the smallest 1 kWh portable power station on the market. DJI shrank it down roughly in half compared to the original Power 1000, while keeping the same battery capacity. Pricing is €579 / £449 in Europe and the UK. The full review is on The Verge.

For American drone pilots, the relevant detail sits in one sentence. DJI spokesperson Daisy Kong told The Verge that US authorization is still pending. That is a quiet way of saying the unit may not launch here at all, which fits the pattern we documented after the FCC’s December 22 Covered List action hit DJI, its drones, and its components.

I covered the April 20 global launch date six days ago when DJI teased the silhouette. The review confirms the specs we reported from the China-exclusive debut. No surprises, but Ricker’s hands-on time fills in the parts spec sheets do not cover.

The Size Reduction Is The Entire Point

Ricker put the Power 1000 Mini next to four competitors and the volume numbers tell the story. The Mini comes in at roughly 14.3 liters. The Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 is 18.0 liters. Anker’s SOLIX C1000 is 20.4 liters. EcoFlow’s DELTA 2 is 23.7 liters. The Bluetti AC180 is the biggest at 26.6 liters. Weight sits at 11.5 kg (25.3 lbs), roughly in line with the category because every major brand has settled on LiFePO4 cells.

The AC Output Trade-Off Is Real

Shrinking the footprint meant shrinking the inverter. The Power 1000 Mini delivers 800W continuous AC with a 1000W peak. EcoFlow’s DELTA 2 and Anker’s SOLIX C1000 both push 1800W continuous in the same 1 kWh category. Ricker reports the unit ran his 800W water boiler and, surprisingly, his 1200W Nespresso machine briefly, but not at the same time unless plugged into a wall jack. Wall-connected bypass mode delivers up to 2200W on the 240V European unit and 1440W on the 120V US model, if DJI ever ships one.

Push it past its limits and it shuts down gracefully with an overload message on the display and an error in the DJI Home app. A power cycle clears it.

The SDC Port Is What Makes This A Drone Product

DJI’s proprietary Smart DC (SDC) port is the reason a drone publication cares about a power station. It accepts up to 400W input (9-28V) and puts out 300W. DJI sells dongles that turn it into an MC4 solar input, a 12V barrel output, or a car alternator charging cable that runs off a vehicle’s starter battery at up to 400W, over three times faster than a 12V cigarette lighter. Ricker did not test the alternator cable himself.

The SDC port also drives DJI’s fast-charging cables for drone batteries. If you fly a Mavic 3, Air 3, or a Matrice, the Power 1000 Mini charges those packs faster than any competing station because no other brand has the adapters. Same argument DJI made when the original Power 1000 and Power 500 launched in April 2024, still the strongest reason a DJI pilot picks DJI over EcoFlow or Anker.

The USB-C Downgrade Nobody Will Love

The built-in retractable USB-C cable is rated at 100W and magnetically folds back into the body. Both USB-C ports are bidirectional. Here is the catch: the original Power 1000 supported 140W USB-C, and the Mini drops that to 100W on both the retractable cable and the standalone jack. For MacBook Pro 16 owners, 100W is enough for slow charging under heavy load but not full-speed top-up. Ricker flagged this as a disappointment.

Charging Speed And Useful Extras

The unit recharges from 0 to 80% in 58 minutes and fills completely in about 75 minutes from a wall outlet. Solar input runs up to 400W through the built-in MPPT controller with an MC4 dongle. The integrated LED bar has an SOS mode and can be triggered remotely through the DJI Home app over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, which Ricker said he used for pre-dawn van moves without waking his wife. The battery is rated to retain at least 80% capacity after 4,000 cycles.

DroneXL’s Take

Here is the part that does not make it into a product review: DJI launched a power station today that may never legally sell in the United States, and the FCC ban is why. The Power 1000 Mini is not a drone, but it is a drone-adjacent product with a proprietary port built specifically for DJI aircraft batteries. That makes it exactly the kind of component the FCC Covered List action from December 22 was engineered to stop.

When I first covered DJI’s power station debut in April 2024, the math was simple. If you owned DJI drones, the SDC fast charging made it the obvious pick over EcoFlow or Anker. That math still holds for the Mini if you live in Europe, the UK, Australia, or Japan. If you live in the US, you are shopping in a smaller pool. Jackery and EcoFlow do not charge a Mavic 3 Series battery from 10% to 95% in 32 minutes. DJI’s SDC cable does.

Watch the US authorization status for 90 days. If DJI gets FCC clearance by late July 2026, accessories without radio transmitters are slipping through a Covered List gap. If it stays pending, the ban works exactly as DJI’s Adam Welsh described Section 1709: a regulatory trap door that closes regardless of evidence.

DroneXL uses automated tools to support research and source retrieval. All reporting and editorial perspectives are by Haye Kesteloo.