Caravan review: Jayco J-POD X | Part 2 — After a year on the road

After a year of adventures, we’ve taken a look at how our Jayco J-POD X has held up — and it’s proven its worth as a versatile, lightweight pod/camper built for off-grid trips.

In brief: 

• Compact couples pod/camper
• 4.4.m / 14ft 4in overall length
• 1323kg ATM, towable by most vehicles
• Smart rear kitchen and side-entry layout

We bought a van. Back in August 2024, we picked up this J-POD X from Jayco with a few options added on to make it what we think is the perfect staff camper for those who put Caravan World together. If you missed our first look at the J-POD, check it out here. 

Now, more than a year on, we’ve already covered almost 8000km with this J-POD — it’s been through the Flinders Ranges, up the East Coast and I recently clocked another 2000km with it through Gippsland and Kosciuszko.

The J-POD X has an ATM of 1323kg and a tare weight of 1018kg, so it doesn’t have a huge payload (305kg). Its ball weight, however, is very light at 72kg. It’s a compact unit at 1.97m (6ft 5in) wide and an overall length of 4.4m (14ft 4in). It is a little bit taller with the optioned-on rooftop tent and measures in at about 2.3m (7ft 5in), but it’s still ideal for getting into tight spaces.

The Jayco J-POD X Outback is a versatile little pod camper, perfect for our travel style

Why we chose the J-POD X

There are three layouts in the J-POD range: the Outback, the X and the XL. The Outback is the evolution of the Sport, with entry into the camper via the rear hatch; the X, like you see here, has side entry doors; while the XL is a slightly larger pod overall and quite different from its siblings.

The X uses the same body as the Outback, but instead of having the bed and kitchen space all in one room, the X’s kitchen is kept separate and accessed externally on the rear wall. The XL’s upsized body makes room for a larger side pantry, kitchen and extra interior space.

I think the X has the best layout. Now, some people prefer the internal living space of the Outback, but I think it’s harder to get in and out of. Plus, every time you open it up to get to the kitchen or fridge you’re more likely to let bugs in. The XL does offer a massive internal space, but it’s cramped inside. For tall people like me, the X is an easier van to get in and out of and to hop onto the bed.

There are three layouts for the J-POD

So, we bought the X and we added on a few critical options to make it staff-ready — the most important one being the Escape by Jayco rooftop tent. Our reasoning for this was to create a second private sleeping area — when staff are using the camper there are people up top and people down below. We also added on the Fogatti hot water service with its shower tent, and honestly, it’s the best thing ever. One thing we didn’t option on is a lithium battery. We could still retrofit one, but as you’ll find out below, we don’t really need to.

Taking all of this into account, what you see here is a little more than $36k. So, to find out exactly what you get with the J-POD X, we’ll start on the front and speed-run you through all of the features.

Our Jayco J-POX X OUtback with a rooftop tent and awning

J-POD X walkthrough and features

Up front there’s a Cruisemaster DO35 hitch, a 9kg gas bottle that you’ll hardly refill, a massive front locker that’s too easy to overload and a jerry can holder for extra water. Above the locker is a 200W twin cell solar panel. On the side, the entry door is double skin with a lockable flyscreen. There is a slide-out kitchen with a two-burner Dometic stove and sink, and above this is a pantry you can access from inside and outside the camper. Up top is a freestanding 270-degree batwing-style awning from Escape by Jayco that we have added lights to.

The slide-out with sink and stove and rear kitchen hatch

In the back, behind the main hatch that doubles as an awning is a great kitchenette with an exceptional Bushman 85L fridge and a decent amount of storage for all your food gear. It should be noted, the new J-POD Xs come with an upgraded 110L Bushman fridge/freezer.

Around the corner, on the driver’s side wall, we have the Fogatti hot water service that is plumbed to the sink and the shower right beside it. The shore power input is a 15A plug that goes straight to the charger and through to a 10A general power outlet (GPO) at the rear kitchen. Then there’s a second entry door and above it, on the roof rack is the optioned-on rooftop tent. And below the door you’ll find the external battery box with a 100A AGM battery.

I know, we all know, that the battery box sticks out like a sore thumb, but there are new regulations around where you can put electrical devices, particularly batteries. They cannot be located inside a living/habitable area, and they must be more than 1.5m away from an ignition source, such as the gas bottle up front or the gas plumbing for the hot water service. If they haven’t optioned-on the HWS, some people have moved their batteries to the front locker or, if they have an option of a gas HWS, into the rear locker. Whether that’s legal, we can’t say, but our interpretation is that it’s not. All up, our placement below the side entry door is the best place for the battery from a legal standpoint.

The front storage locker

Heading inside, there’s a bit of storage under the innerspring mattress, where you’ll also find the Projecta PM235J battery management system (BMS) that’s app controllable. And at the bed head there are some reading lights with USB ports. For ventilation there’s a Sirocco fan, a roof hatch and the side windows, which have block out screens fitted too.

Just open the door and jump into bed when you reach camp

With bedding on the mattress, it’s a bit harder to raise the bed to access the storage and, as you’ll see in the photos, we have accidentally torn one of the struts out the bed base. It should be an easy fix though — just a bit of backing plate from Bunnings should do the trick.

Real-world use and off-grid setup

All of this might sound great, but how does it perform?

Over the past year we’ve put the J-POD X through its paces. In testing, the fridge set at about level three draws just under 4A when running and cycles on and off every six minutes every 15–20 odd minutes, which means it will consume about 1 to 1.5A per hour. In theory, that means with about 50 usable amps from the battery up front you should see about two days of the fridge cycling on and off before the battery is depleted. And that’s exactly what we saw in the real world. But there’s also a solar panel up front that’ll extend your off-grid stays.

The solar panel is a 200W twin cell, and on a bright, sunny day we see as much as 6A pushing into it. Typically, you’d get more like 4A, which means over a good sunny day over multiple hours in summer you should still get about 20 to 30A back into the battery, and if you’re exploring and camping the summers like I’ve been doing, that’s more than the fridge will consume.

It’s easy to monitor the battery and how it’s charging with the Projecta app, which also turns the camper power on and off. And the BMS will charge a lithium battery if we decide to go down that route. All you need to do is change the settings, and because you get more usable amps from lithium, the 100A battery should get you three to four days off-grid, or maybe more.

Highlights: What we love most

The best part about the J-POD X has to be the rear kitchen and hatch. The bench height is perfect for food preparation, and with plenty of storage, the proximity of the fridge and easy access to the stove and sink, it really is a near-perfect layout.

What’s not so perfect for some is the height of the awning. For context, I’m 2m tall so accessing the awning to open it up is fine, but if you’re a little shorter just get yourself a nice little step. And it’s such a good awning that you won’t mind this little compromise. The awning covers the rear hatch and kitchen really well and the fact you can keep it freestanding on a nice day without any poles or tiedowns is fantastic. If you’re looking for a good option for securing your awning, we recommend (and love) Tiegear — they’re what we use and they’re honestly the best. We also use one for tying the awning back to the side of the pod, because that little bit of slack that you can get from the elasticity helps keep the awning nice and tight without over tensioning it.

(To read our review of the Tiegear awning pack, click here.)

The awning offers great shade and protection, but it is hard to pack away

To make the awning setup even more homey, we’ve added some lights. They are aftermarket and not supplied by Jayco. We chose to go with a white and orange option because we sometimes camp in areas full of bugs and prefer them not to invade our campsite en masse. The awning could do with a strip to seal a gap between it and the top of the pod. I’ve seen some people lowering the awning on different brackets, which can help solve this issue.

As mentioned, we optioned on the Escape by Jayco rooftop tent, and it was a good idea. We’ve had staff in it a few times and it’s spacious and comfortable, but it is a real pain to put away. You need to be as tall as me or carry a decent ladder. You could climb on the roof, but it’s not rated for that, so we don’t recommend it.

Inside the Escape by Jayco rooftop tent

Putting the rooftop tent away can be a pain, even when you're a giant like Tim

The J-POD’s mattress is decent, but if you are a big person like me you might feel the springs come through so a topper wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Underneath it all: water, suspension and towing

Under the J-POD X you’ll find a single 80L freshwater tank. There’s also a mains bypass, so if you’re in a caravan park you can plug your tap and run it straight to the sink without going through the tank. During our travels, this 80L tank lasted us around four to five days. I know you can get more out of it than that if you’re frugal, but we do love using the hot water.

The J-POD X rides on JTech 2.0 coil suspension from Jayco, their own version of a trailing arm suspension setup. It rides really well, balancing the weight without bouncing too much. In terms of towing, for this review we were using a Ford Everest Tremor, which is a very capable offroad version of the very popular Everest model — check out our full review here. The Everest Tremor is more than you need to tow a camper like this. The reality is, with a 1323kg ATM, you can tow this pod with almost anything. We see them out on the road with vehicles such as a Subaru Outback all the time. Anything with a 1600kg braked towing capacity should be able to handle it with ease.

Towing the Jayco J-POD X Outback with the new Ford Everest Tremor

A year with the J-POD X: final thoughts

I’ve towed 4.5T caravans thousands of kilometres, and I’ve taken smaller campers than this deep into the Victorian High Country. Where the J-POD X stands out for me is that it’s a hybrid — a compromise between the off-grid luxury and everything you could carry in a big 4.5T van and the simplicity of a small, lightweight camper without having to worry about wet canvas.

Getting in and out of the J-POD X is super easy and setting up when you get to camp, if you’re lazy, is literally as easy as opening the door and climbing into bed. For me, the layout is fantastic and it’s what first drew me to the J-POD. This kitchen, fridge positioning and rear hatch is perfect for me. The only thing I’m not too sure about is the rooftop tent — I don’t think I would do it again just because it’s difficult to use. I’d recommend to my friends to bring a swag, put the kitchen away at night and let them sleep below the awning.

The Jayco J-POD X Outback with the Ford Everest Tremor

There is one other thing I have to mention about Jayco and that is that it’s Australia’s largest manufacturer of RVs and trailers. Jayco has more than 150 dealers or service agents around the country, and this J-POD comes with a five-year structural warranty. That’s super important for people like me who don’t get to use campers as often as they’d like but need to know it’s going to be reliable, and it will be easy to deal with any small warranty issues.

With an as-seen price of $36,293, it’s not a cheap proposition, but I reckon it’s a great deal when you look at everything that comes with this camper and just how easy it is to use.

Measuring up

Pros

• Fantastic layout
• Easy to use
• Compact size

Cons

• Optioned-on rooftop tent is hard to access
• Awning might be a stretch for some
• Accessing the under-bed storage isn’t the easiest

JAYCO J-POD X OUTBACK SPECS

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

EXTERNAL

INTERNAL

Jayco J-POD X price from $32,990*

(*as of October 2025)

OPTIONS FITTED

• Escape by Jayco rooftop tent
• Fogatti instant gas HWS
• Escape by Jayco 270-degree batwing-style awning

Jayco J-POD X price as shown $36,293

MORE INFORMATION

Jayco Australia

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