Bluetti EB70S Portable Power Station
Power outages are a common occurrence, and nearly all of us have experienced one within the past few years at least, even if only for a few hours or minutes.
But long-term power outages are common too, and one bad storm can leave you without electricity for a day or more. After Hurricane Ian it took a month to restore power to some locations in Florida. Thats a long time without lights, fans or refrigeration!
In the not too distant past your only option to generate power yourself was some type of fuel powered generator, which are noisy, and need to be kept outside, unless you were savvy enough to DIY a battery to some solar panels.
Thankfully now we have other options - as battery technology has gotten better, companies like Bluetti have started integrating them into complete solar generator systems which make it super simple to power your life off-grid, whether thats a voluntary choice or otherwise.
Bluetti was kind enough to send us their EB70S Portable Power Station to test and review for this article allowing us the chance to really give their product the once over.
What is a Solar Generator?
If you don't know, there's a newer type of portable power "generator" that's hit the market over the last decade which uses batteries and solar power instead of an engine using traditional fuels like gas or propane.
They are a little more expensive than what I would call a traditional generator, but I find this new breed of solar generators adequate for charging a few devices at a time although there are also whole home battery backup systems available, that can tie into your houses electrical panel.
You can charge up these solar power stations from the grid when you have power, and from solar panels or a vehicle when you don't.
We have both types of systems at the BOBB compound, traditional and solar. If we need to pull down heavy power we use our 12,500 watt dual-fuel generator, but most of the time we can power what we need with the solar power supplies we have, including the fridge, fans, and lights (we opt out of TV usage during blackouts, a good excuse to walk away from the tube for a while and just play games or read books.)
They are also fantastic for camping trips where you typically don't need huge power for days on end.
Bluetti EB70S Outlets & Battery
Lets take a look at what the EB70S offers us in terms of connectivity and power output.
What you can see from the image above is that you get some DC outlets and some AC outlets, as well as a wireless charger and an LED light.
This gives you a range of options when it comes to charging or powering a slew of small to medium sized electronics and you can run/charge multiple devices at once.
We'll discuss what you can and cannot power with the EB70S in a bit.
AC & DC Outlets
On the AC side (right) of the EB70s there are 4 US standard outlets: two with ground plug holes, two without. These outlets are connected to an internal inverter which converts the DC of the battery to AC.
The DC to AC conversion is slightly inefficient so you will see reduced performance from the AC side that you would from the DC side in terms of overall output from the battery.
If possible, try to use the DC side power. This will give you better and longer performance overall. There are many DC 12 volt versions of the electronics you use everyday that you can get like heated blankets, refrigerators, TV's and more.
Your phones and portable electronics are already DC, so no worries there.
The LiFePO4 Battery
The battery chemistry used by the EB70S is LiFePO4 with 716Wh capacity and 800W rated wattage. LiFePO4 batteries are very stable, meaning they are safe to use and are not prone to exploding when you aren't treating them nicely as some other batteries are.
They have 2,500+ cycles, meaning you can charge and discharge them that many times before you start to see the battery fail. The capacity of the battery decreases over time and you might do better than that number, you just will be using a smaller percentage of the battery.
LeFePO4 is our favorite battery chemistry since it's is stable, inexpensive, lightweight, durable and long lasting.
There is no "battery memory" like the old rechargeable ones, you don't have to charge and discharge them fully each time you use them.
Supplying Power to the EB70S
You have a few ways to charge up the battery in the EB70S.
The easiest way is to plug it into the wall of your grid tied structure, whether thats at home or elsewhere while there is power. Then the system is ready to go should you need it. The AC adapter charges up a drained unit to full in 4 to 4.5 hours.
But if grid power isn't available and you've used up all the battery of the EB70S then you can either charge it with solar panels, or off of a fuel generator, or even from a 12 volt source like a car or RV.
Solar
Solar charging is probably the most natural way to keep the EB70S running, and it doesn't require a huge amount of PV panels to top it off.
One 200 watt solar panel should charge the system up in about 4 to 4.5 hours with the right type of conditions: shining sun and correct panel orientation.
Bluetti offers the PV200 solar panels for around $500 which match nicely to the EB70S.
They are ultra-compact, portable and water resistant so very useful for on the go use.
Any panel with MC4 connectors (standard solar connectors) and output of 200W max VOC 12-28V at 8A should work with the EB70s, since it comes with MC4 to male 8mm (input) adaptor charging cables, just make sure its Voc or Vmp rating does not exceed 28V.
If you want to run multiple panels make sure you run them in parallel using an adapter like this one. Running in series could overload the charging circuit of the EB70S.
Car Charging 12v / 24v
There is another option for charging your EB70S, and that is by using the car charging cable that comes with the unit (think cigarette lighter plug.)
This method is the longest option as you'll need around 7.5 hours on 12 volts (standard) and 4 hours for 24 volt systems. However if you are using your Bluetti EB70S in an RV, or on a road trip, this is pretty convenient.
What Does the EB70S Run & Charge?
Now we get to the most important question you should be asking yourself, what good is this type of system for me anyway?
If you've gotten this far I'm assuming you've recognized the need to have some kind of backup power system for your home, or you are looking for a power solution that you can take with you when grid power isn't available so you are looking at your options.
In addition to what is listed above, you can also power:
- CPAP Machines
- Laptops
- Ham Radios
- Headlamps and Flashlights
- Fans
Theres more - if you poke around YouTube you'll find videos of people testing all kinds of electronics with the EB70S. It can't run everything of course but it isn't meant to. So no, you aren't running an oven or your air conditioner off of it, but nearly everything else in your house it should be able to handle.
EB70S Size & Weight
The EB70S weighs 21.4lb (9.7 kg) and its dimensions are (LxWxD): 12.6 x 8.5 x 8.7 in (32 x 21.6 x 22.1cm).
It isn't terribly heavy or bulky and is small enough to be considered a portable device in my book.
Thats important because most likely you will need to move it around to charge up, or to run your devices.
It comes with a handle on top which folds down flat, I feature I like quite a bit.
EB70S Review
Ok so what do we think about this unit? Overall it's very well done. The design is simple and intuitive.
The display is easy to read and informative. A more detailed battery meter would be nice (showing more precise percentages for example) but it's good enough to give you an idea of where the battery charge level is at.
As we said before, we really like that they are using a LiFePO4 battery in the system since we think this is one of the best types of batteries out there right now.
Performance in our testing is what you would expect: the system performed more or less to the stated amount of total power output.
We don't hold manufacturers too strictly to performance metrics, especially with devices which are charging or powering other devices, because there are so many variables that can effect the performance its impossible to state with 100% assurance the outcome of each charge.
That said, anything more than a 20% delta between advertised performance and actual performance we would consider false advertising, but we are happy to report that the Bluetti EB70S holds up to their output claims.
Our only complaint is that the battery is not user replaceable. While adding this feature does add expense to the manufacturing of the unit, it's a feature I would pay more to have so that I can keep this EB70S going for years and years.
Some upgrades that would be cool: app integration via bluetooth, so that you can control the unit from a phone. Additional connectivity options would be great, like Anderson Power Pole in/out.
The Bluetti AC200P has a lot of the features I want - it's a beast of a generator. Maybe if I'm good I'll get one for Christmas :)
BLUETTI EB70S Portable Power Station
Typical Price: $599
Stay powered off-grid with the EB70S Portable Solar Power Station from Bluetti. It comes loaded with features:
- Massive 716Wh capacity and 800W rated wattage
- The ultra-stable LiFePO4 battery chemistry,2500+ life cycles
- Four 110V AC outlets
- Two 100W PD ports
- Two 5V/3A USB-A ports
- Two regulated 12V/10A DC outputs
- One 12V/10A car port
- One 15W wireless charging pad
- Max input of 200W: can be fully recharged in 4 - 4.5 hrs with solar panels (OCV 12-28V, 200W)
- Also recharged from an AC wall outlet in 4 - 4.5 hrs or a 12V car port in 7 - 8 hrs
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