Goal Zero Yeti 200X

I’ve owned a Goal Zero Yeti 1000 since June of 2018. You can read about my thoughts on that unit here. I purchased the Yeti 1000 from Costco back then for $999.00 and have never regretted my purchase. Since I found GZ products so well done when I noticed they had made a much smaller version, the Goal Zero Yeti 200X I decided to purchase one for a trip I was taking during the 2019 Christmas week to Joshua Tree National Forest. I wanted to use it to charge my electronic devices which included my cell phone, my camera batteries, my instant hot water heater and my CPAP machine.

Because this trip was during the winter and in addition was a very unusual December for JT with both snow and higher than normal rain, I opted to take my gas generator rather than my solar panels.

The unit was released in the Fall of 2019 so as of this writing there are not many hands on reviews. You can read all about the GZ200x on the GZ site for specs.

Each day I charged the unit to 100% before beginning to use it on my devices. They included:

• ResMed AirMini
• Costway Tankless Water Heater
• Samsung Galaxy S10+
• Apple iPhone XR
• Apple iPad Mini (2)

After running all of these devices during the day and charging or using them during the evening the 200x would have between 26 to 31 percent charge left in the morning. Keep in mind that I use my CPAP during the evening between 7 to 9 hours. The 200x performed flawlessly and I’m currently in the process of testing recharging it using a Jackery 100W solar panel and will post my findings later here on this blog.

I am just a bit confused that GZ has conflicting information posted on their site and user manual. Their site lists the controller as a MPPT, but the User Guide list it as a PWM controller. If you are interested in the difference between MPPT and PWM you can read about it here. I’m really hoping it’s MPPT as advertised on their site and wrote to GZ to ask, but have not heard back. Once I do I will update this post.

The only other ‘issue‘ I found is there are many sites on the web that state the 200x will charge in only two hours from dead using the USB C input as long as it uses a 45W charging source. I call BS on that since I tested it and it did NOT charge in 2 hours from fully dead. I even purchased a 87W USB C Charger Power Adapter which charged the unit in 3.25 hours NOT two hours as stated. With the included AC adapter the 200x charged in 4 hours from fully dead, as advertised in their literature.

So the question is would I buy this 300 buck battery with inverter again? Oh yes, no question. The fact that is so compact and only five pounds, powers so many of my devices while camping is wonderful. Will I have to carry a gas generator to keep this thing topped off? Only time will tell after I actually test my 100W solar panel in good sun. More to come so stay tuned….

Hey I’m a photographer so I thought I’d post some of the shots I took in Joshua Tree. For me nature shooting is my form of ‘fishing’ meaning complete relaxation!

Infrared shots

Night Shooting under the stars. (The ONLY night that it was not overcast.)