The whole point of camping is supposed to be getting away from technology. We did the opposite. We headed into the mountains with a bag full of outdoor tech to see which gadgets actually earn their place in a camping kit.
We packed gear to keep us powered, online, fed, and hydrated, plus a few things to help out on the trail. Some of it is genuinely useful, some of it is delightfully over the top, and one phone can quite literally light your campfire. Here’s everything we brought and how it held up.
Oukitel WP63
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Shiun Okada / Android Authority
Forgot the lighter? With the Oukitel WP63, that’s not a problem. Oukitel bills it as the world’s first rugged phone with a built-in electric igniter. Pop open the small cover at the top, tap once, and a coil heats up that you can hold against tinder to get a fire going. For safety, the igniter has an automatic cooldown of around 10 seconds between uses.
The fire starter is the headline act, but it’s far from the only trick. The WP63 packs a massive 20,000mAh battery that will keep it going for days, and it doubles as a power bank with 18W reverse charging. You can’t even forget the cable, because there’s a USB-C lead built right into the phone. That came in handy when one of our phones started dying at camp.
Shiun Okada / Android Authority
There’s also a large LED camping light on the back, an 8MP night vision camera for seeing in the dark, and a 3W rear-facing loudspeaker for campsite music. All of that explains why it’s built like a brick: it weighs 629g and measures 27mm thick. Underneath it all, though, it’s a proper Android phone, with a 6.67-inch 120Hz display, that just happens to charge your gear, light your trail, and start your fire.
Oukitel P2001 Pro
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Shiun Okada / Android Authority
The nearest outlet was miles away, so the Oukitel P2001 Pro portable power station ran the whole campsite. It’s rated for 3,200W across four AC outlets and can handle surges of up to 6,400W. Kettles, coffee makers, microwaves, and portable air conditioners usually need around 1,000 to 1,500W, so it runs that kind of kit with room to spare.
Capacity is 2,048Wh from a LiFePO4 battery. Our hungriest gadget was a 500W cooker, and even that should run for roughly three-plus hours, depending on efficiency and what else is plugged in. Everything else on our trip sipped power by comparison. Alongside the AC outlets, you get two 18W USB-A ports, four USB-C ports (including one 100W PD port), a 120W car socket, and two DC outputs.
Shiun Okada / Android Authority
Recharging is just as flexible. The P2001 Pro takes up to 1,000W of solar input, can top up from your vehicle on the road, and charges from a wall outlet at up to 1,800W. It also works as home backup, switching over in under 10 milliseconds during an outage, and Oukitel rates the battery for more than 4,000 cycles before it drops to 80% capacity. Just know that “portable” is relative: it weighs about 47 pounds.
