Allpowers 600W Power Station + Solar Panel 200W – Best Entry Level Kit?

General thoughts after a week of usage/size comparison/practicality/interesting things:

• So this here is the Allpowers R600 – it’s a small, portable power station that can keep you going in a power outage or if you need an off-road power source. Allpowers also include 100-200W solar panels in a bundled version. I was surprised by how light and portable it was initially! But it’s a strong performer and I was able to power a cooker, computer, two monitors, photography light, and various other devices at the same time. It even has a wireless charging pad and uninterrupted power supply mode with a 10ms response time.
• What do you get in the box? The R600, instruction manual, and AC charging cable. You also get a 5-year warranty, which shows that Allpowers are confident their products will stand the test of time!

Closer-up look: Overall Construction, design, and practicality/ergonomics

• 5.6kg – this is the smallest and lightest of the power stations Allpowers offers. There is a 299Wh Lithium Iron Phosphate inside, which can be charged and discharged 3500+ times before hitting 80% capacity. That’s almost 10 years of daily use, so I can see that 5-year warranty making sense now. The battery management system includes voltage, current, and temperature monitoring. The power station also features AC overload protection and a circuit breaker. These are all important to keep you safe and to maximise the life of the battery. I tried powering various 2000W devices and the device immediately powered down. Using a wall socket, I charged the unit from 0-100% in approximately an hour using the ‘fast’ charging mode – which can be set from the app. More on that later.
• Overall construction feels and appears sturdy. The exterior is made of plastic – not sure what kind.  Concealed handle on top. Air vents on both sides, there’s also an internal fan on the right side. Under the dust cover, there’s an AC charging port, circuit breaker, and solar/car charging port. It will charge a lot faster through AC. Four rubber feet. You can also get this in beige, but I prefer black – can see this thing getting dirty outdoors.
• There’s a 12V 10A car power outlet. As well as two AC plugs with dust covers (mine have Australian plugs but different countries will have separate versions and plugs). There are 2x100W USB and 2xUSB-A ports rated at a total of 35W. What’s interesting is that the power station supports up to 700W combined (600 AC and 100 DC). There’s also a wireless charging pad on top rated at 15W. As I mentioned before the UPS function (with 10ms delay) allows you to plug in various essential devices that are sensitive or essential in a power outage.  1200W surge protection so it won’t shut off automatically.
  • UI Demonstration. Estimated runtime remaining calculated on the fly.
  • Phone app: using Bluetooth, the Allpowers phone app allows you to access the main features and also a few more. You need to press and hold down the DC button for 3 seconds first to enable Bluetooth. You can set the charging mode from quiet (200W), standard (300W) and fast (400W). I noticed the fan was more audible on the fast mode. Overall the fan was extremely quiet and I barely noticed it at all indoors.

Indoor and outdoor demonstration:

• Indoor demonstration:
  • Home Office/Kitchen – I have essential lighting, computer, and recording gear that can all be powered by the R600 during a power outage. You may also use it to power a cooker, coffee maker, blender, or kettle and keep all your essential devices charged.
  • UPS – Medical devices (CPAP, oxygen concentrator) or server backup power to prevent data loss.
  • Portable entertainment hub – power a TV, soundbar, and gaming console for a couple of hours during an outage.
  • Emergency lighting – charge multiple batteries via external charger, or directly plug in lighting.

• Outdoor demonstration:
  • Portable Solar Power Station: Setting up solar panels, angling them towards the sun. Connecting to the R600, it will constantly recharge it, while being able to power several devices. Just need to watch the input/output figures, and also re-angle the panels to maximize charging speed. Applications:
    • Camping power station
    • Field photography or videography setup
    • Remote workstation
    • Outdoor tools – power small gardening tools like an electric trimmer.
    • Picnic – sound and blender to make smoothies

Considerations

• Only supports up to 600W. This isn’t the power station if you’re looking to run high-wattage devices for longer periods. E.g. I have a 2000W hair dryer and kettle that won’t run with this. With that said, it’s easy to find many appliances below 600W such as flood lights, fridges, cookers, and blenders. I could run my gaming laptop and two screens without breaking 150W. It’s also incredibly light due to the 299Wh battery.
• The wireless charger is awesome but you need to line it up exactly for it to work.
• If you want to charge from your car, you’ll need to buy a third-party car charger.
• Would be good if it had some rubber bumpers on the corners to help protect it during transit, or from drops and bumps.

Verdict

• This is an incredible little power station that I think everyone should have stashed away in an emergency, or to make life easier when you’re camping or off-road. I found that with an added $3 power board, I could quite easily power several appliances and devices as long as the total output was less than 600W.  The ability to connect a solar panel and charge while the power station was outputting to several devices is a game-changer as you could run a basic setup – a small fridge, laptop, and other devices indefinitely (given enough sunlight).