Why DJI thinks the next generation of portable power stations will be smarter, smaller and almost invisible

For most people, DJI is still the drone company.

It's the brand behind some of the best drones on the market, as well as a growing range of cameras, microphones and creator tools. Yet over the last few years, DJI has also been building something very different: portable power stations.

The DJI Power series might seem like an unusual addition to the company's portfolio at first glance, but according to Tongxi Lu, Product Experience Engineer for DJI Power, the category emerged from a problem DJI had been observing for years.

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"We noticed an energy gap," Lu told me during a recent interview. "People use their drones to get the best shot, but afterwards they have to wait a long time to recharge, which interrupts the creative workflow."

That observation became the starting point for DJI Power, when the company realised that the same battery expertise it had spent more than a decade developing for drones could potentially solve a much broader problem.

More than a drone accessory

While DJI Power was initially inspired by creators and drone users working away from mains electricity, the company quickly discovered that portable power stations were being used in a much wider range of scenarios.

People were taking them camping, using them in vans and relying on them during power outages at home. In many cases, users weren't buying a power station for one specific activity at all. Instead, they simply wanted access to electricity wherever and whenever they needed it.

As a result, rather than designing products around individual activities, Lu says the team focused on what she calls "the energy gap," the moments when people need power but don't have easy access to it.

DJI isn't necessarily concerned with what happens when a device is plugged in, but it studies everything around that moment, including how people transport a power station, where they store it, how they find it during a blackout, and how it fits into their daily routine.

"We design specifically to remove the friction in those processes," Lu explained. "It's not just when you plug into the product. It's the whole process and the whole journey."

Bringing DJI's engineering culture to batteries

According to Lu, the Power division benefits from many of the same engineering resources, testing procedures and development philosophies used throughout DJI's wider business. "We brought the exact same engineering we used to build drones into the power station market," she said.

That includes expertise in battery management systems, thermal control, and fast-charging technologies, areas where DJI has accumulated significant experience over the years of developing drones and aerial imaging products.

The result is products such as the DJI Power 2000 and DJI Power 1000 Mini, the latter arguably the most distinctive model in the range, thanks to its relatively compact size.

Unlike many power stations that prioritise maximum capacity at the expense of portability, the Mini attempts to balance performance, safety and convenience in a package that can comfortably move between home, car and campsite.

Lu says that balance reflects DJI's wider design philosophy. "We focus on how people actually take the product to the exact places where they use it," she said.

The best power station is the one you don't think about

Perhaps the most interesting insight from the interview came when Lu described the fundamental difference between drones and power stations.

Drones are aspirational products that people actively engage with; they learn to fly them, share their footage online and often see them as an extension of their hobbies or creative identity.

Power stations, by contrast, occupy a supporting role. You don't buy them for enjoyment or to show them off; you simply expect them to work whenever they're needed.

"They don't want to play with the power station," Lu said. "People just use it and take it for granted." That observation has fundamentally shaped how DJI approaches the category. "The goal is to figure out how this product could enter their lives... invisible," Lu explained.

In other words, the ideal portable power station is not one with the most impressive specifications, but the one that solves a problem before you even think about it.

That philosophy also extends to product design. Despite being utility products, DJI still wants its power stations to look and feel like premium technology rather than industrial equipment.

The future could be much smarter

While today's power stations largely function as oversized batteries with displays, Lu believes the category will become considerably more intelligent over time, thanks to advancements in machine learning and LLMs.

As smart homes become more connected and artificial intelligence becomes more integrated into consumer technology, she expects user expectations to evolve beyond simple monitoring and charging.

Currently, users can check battery levels, monitor power draw and control some functions remotely. In the future, Lu imagines systems that understand context and make decisions proactively.

"I'm going out tomorrow to a campsite," she said as an example. "You need to tell me what I need in the next couple of hours and how you should manage my energy."

It's an intriguing vision, one where future power stations could become energy management assistants, helping you predict consumption, optimise charging and prepare for upcoming activities.

For now, DJI remains focused on growing awareness of the category beyond its existing customer base.

Lu admits that many DJI Power buyers still come from the company's drone and camera ecosystem, where the brand already enjoys a reputation for reliability and engineering quality. Reaching consumers who have never owned a DJI product remains one of the division's biggest challenges.

Still, if DJI's long-term vision proves correct, portable power stations may eventually become less of a niche for outdoor use and more of an everyday household technology.

And if that happens, the company believes the best products won't necessarily be the ones people notice most. They'll be the ones quietly working in the background, powering modern life without getting in the way.