Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsSlick, high-tech portable power.
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2024
We recently picked up this unit along with an ECOFLOW Delta 2 and solar panels at the substantial Memorial Day Sale. All told I think we saved over $1,000 vs. the typical price. and feel a bit more prepared for the heavy hurricane season we're anticipating here in Florida. We're very pleased.
LIKES
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS - This is a handsome, nicely made piece of equipment. It feels solid in every way and with the built-in handle it's very easy to pick up and carry about, as long (as you're not going too far!) The layout with the display and A/C outputs all on the same side is better than on the Delta 2.
USE AS EPS
ECOFLOW advertises that you can leave these units plugged into wall power with your devices connected on a pass-through basis, and the unit will seamlessly take over when the wall power fails, which was what I wanted. It works. They're careful to say the switchover from wall to battery power may not be quick enough to keep some computers from shutting down (like a true "UPS") but my laptop with its own battery never blinked. The app reported this tiny cube would run my cable modem, router, laptop, smart speaker, and dual 20" monitors for about 7 hours; or a bit more with the external monitors off. We work from home, and this will be a great help in power outages large or small.
BATTERY CHEMISTRY
Glade to see the Lifepo4 chemistry that trades a bit of energy density for roughly 3x the charge cycles. This unit should last as long as we need it
CAPACITY
We decided on this unit and a Delta 2 instead of one bigger unit so we can place them around the house, plugged in to critical devices and ready to go in an emergency. At 700+ claimed watt hours, this is substantial backup power source in a very compact, easy to carry package. We have this one set up in a bedroom to take over lights and run a fan. It will be nice for every single thing in the house to not go black the second we lose power, which even without hurricanes happens a few times a year in our area.
APP
ECOFLOW's app is slick, sophisticated and great to use. I like the images of the respective devices that lets you look at each one in turn, and that both this and the Delta 2 can connect to Bluetooth and Wi-fi. The Delta took a while to get it to connect to our network, but the little RIVER 2 PRO connected instantly. Just a breeze to set up.
NOT SO LIKES
Not much with this unit, frankly. It's a little odd that both this and the larger Delta 2 we bought won't register the amount of power being drawn if it's below a certain level. For example, we moved the Delta 2 to my home office and set this one up to run a couple of small LED lights, a larger LED lamp, and an Echo 5 smart speaker/alarm clock in the bedroom, with plans to connect a tower fan in the event of a summer blackout. With the fan running, it will show the power draw (about 40 watts total) but with just the lights and the Amazon device, it shows 0 output, although it will still calculate runtime. Good to know it will run the small items a long time though.
SUMMARY/RECOMMENDATION
This is a great device. I'd almost suggest getting more of these for the kind of setup we have, except I'm not sure the little RIVER 2 PRO would do as well with my wife's electric kettle, which runs perfectly from the Delta 2 and is a necessity for making sure she is properly caffeinated (which is more of a necessity for my personal safety and comfort than it might seem).
For car camping or running a kiosk or something, it would be absolutely perfect in many circumstances. I have no notes for ECOFLOW except that more power for less money is always appreciated.
FIVE STARS