This portable power station just set the gold standard for me – and it’s priced well

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• One of the intuitive options I’ve seen to creating an expandable energy station
• Excessive-efficiency circuit for sub 100W gadgets massively boosts battery runtime
• The unit is constructed like a tank to take bangs and drops.

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Simply if you assume that transportable energy stations have grow to be pretty much as good as they’re going to get, an organization goes forward and makes some massive adjustments that you simply simply did not see coming.

Common readers will know that I am an enormous fan of EcoFlow’s RIVER collection of transportable energy stations. The River 2 Pro has been with me on many an journey, together with on a UFO hunt to Rendlesham Forest, the situation of Britain’s own Roswell UFO incident. It is also been with me in my hammock on quite a few chilly, moist nights. It has been a kind of Goldilocks energy stations — not the smallest, and positively not the largest.

Additionally: The best portable power stations to last through power outages

But it surely’s time for an improve. And what if this new energy station might be smaller than the RIVER 2 Professional, but additionally grow to be larger

The River 2 Professional has given option to the River 3 Plus. And this has just a few methods up its sleeve.

The RIVER 3 Plus is a conveyable energy station with 286Wh of capability that measures 9.2 × 9.1 × 5.8 inches and weighs 10.4 kilos. It has three AC shops — one on the entrance, two on the rear — good for 600W steady load and a surge load of as much as 1,200W. That energy capability is smaller than the 768Wh of the RIVER 2 Professional, nevertheless it’s additionally nearly 7 kilos lighter. 

The unit additionally contains a powerful but snug deal with on the again for ease of shifting.

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The batteries are automotive-grade LiFePO4 cells designed to final 3,000 recharge cycles — which is round 10 years of on a regular basis use — earlier than their capability drops to 80%. 

The cells are protected to IP54 requirements (protected towards a restricted quantity of mud and water splashes from any path), and the shell of the unit is made out of a fire-retardant polymer designed to outlive a 3-foot/1.5-meter drop.

It is also bought one 100W USB-C port, two 24W USB-A ports, and a 12V automobile outlet. 

One of many options that I used to be significantly serious about making an attempt out on the River 3 Plus was what EcoFlow calls X-GaNPower. This can be a high-efficiency mode that kicks in when the unit is working hundreds below 100W, and it just about gives double the runtime. 

A small 3W load which may have in any other case run the unit to zero in about 19 hours can now run for 35 hours. I’ve examined this declare and bought outcomes that align with EcoFlow’s guarantees. 

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That is very spectacular, and on condition that a number of what individuals run from their energy stations falls into this class, customers will see an enormous runtime enhance. 

There’s an AC enter port and an XT60 port for charging within the automobile or from a photo voltaic panel. For these wanting to make use of the River 3 Plus as an in-home uninterruptible energy provide (UPS), the unit can swap from the grid to battery in below 10 milliseconds. There’s additionally a USB-B port to permit it to speak with PCs or NAS gadgets and switch them off in case of a protracted energy outage.

You get choices on the subject of charging the unit. Utilizing the grid, you’ll be able to go from zero to 100% in an hour, photo voltaic utilizing the XT60 could be as fast as 90 minutes, and automobile charging can take round three and a half hours. 

Additionally: Why I travel with 3 different portable power stations (and can’t get out of the habit)

However there’s extra to the River 3 Plus. On the underside, there is a port that permits it to be connected to growth batteries — the 286Wh capacity EB300 (at present 22% off and solely $209) or the 572Wh capacity EB600 (at present with 24% off and is yours for $418) — and that is what permits the River 3 Plus to grow to be a much bigger energy station. 

In addition to providing a large vitality enhance, the growth battery has a 140W USB-C port that can be utilized to energy gadgets and cost the growth battery (a course of that takes 7 hours).

That is probably the most revolutionary resolution to creating expandable energy stations I’ve encountered. No cables are wanted. I like it!

The unit runs fully silently more often than not, however when the fan kicks in, it is a quiet 30dB, which is unlikely to function on most individuals’s radar, even when they’re making an attempt to sleep. 

Additionally: This $12 USB-C accessory solved the biggest issue I had with my laptop’s charger

On the entrance of the River 3 Plus is a really cool mild — good for energy cuts and tenting — and a snazzy show that permits you to know every part that is occurring with the ability station, from enter and output energy to fan standing. And for these wanting an excellent deeper dive, there may be, after all, app connectivity, which additionally gives distant management.

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

I evaluation a number of energy stations in a yr, however the EcoFlow River 3 Plus is the primary this yr to make me go “oooooh” just a few occasions. The design is kind of much like the opposite models within the RIVER line, however the revolutionary growth system and the additional runtime for low-power hundreds are definitely very cool.

The unit itself is simply $299, making it very competitively priced. Should you’re in search of an excellent deal on a small energy station, that is for you, doubly so should you assume you would possibly wish to increase its capability in some unspecified time in the future.