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I have been testing out the Bluetti EB3A, a portable battery backup and power station.
The EB3A features a 268 Whr battery, multiple USB outputs, pure sine wave AC outputs, auto DC power port, barrel jacks, and an LED light.
A Bluetti rep sent out the EB3A as well as a compatible solar charger. I haven’t had a chance to test out the solar panel yet, but I put in enough time with the battery backup for an early review.
The charger is about the size of a car battery, and has similar heft. Meaning, it’s compact but not featherweight.
Here’s a list of all the ports you get:
Bluettti EB3A Output Ports
- USB-C (100W)
- 2x USB-A (3A)
- 2x AC (3-prong, 600W total)
- Car/Marine plug
- 2x DC5521 12V DC 10A
- Wireless charger (top)
Bluettti EB3A Input Ports
- AC
- 12-28V 8.5A DC barrel (MPPT)
It comes with an AC power cord, and can be charged via solar panel, auto DC, or other means.
Charging via AC is fast.
Bluetti says that the EB3A portable power station can be recharged from 0% to 80% in 30 minutes. The charging rate slows down a little after that, but is by no means slow.
It has a maximum charging rate of 430W – via AC/wall outlet – and can charge via solar panel at a rate of up to 200W.
The total recharge time is said to be just 1 hour.
The LiFEPO4 battery is said to last for 2500+ cycles. For maximum longevity, Bluetti advises that the EB3A be charged to 80% every 3-6 months for long-term storage.
Bluetti describes their LiFEPO4 batteries as having long charge life, stable performance, better power density, low discharge rate, and flat discharge curve. They add that this battery technology has a “strong safety profile,” and even go as far to say that it’s the “safest lithium-ion battery by far.”
I searched around for user reviews before accepting the test sample, and did not find any reports to suggest or indicate otherwise.
A neat aspect I wasn’t aware of when I accepted the test sample opportunity is that the power station can double as a UPS (uninterruptable power supply), potentially giving it added use in between excursions or emergency situations.
Bluetti advertises that it has a 20ms response/switchover time in case of an outage.
The display is very clear.
Wake up the display when it’s charging, and it will display charging wattage, charge capacity, and output at that time.
When outputting power to various devices, you can control which modules to enable via independent power switches.
The EB3A has a power switch for the light, one for the USB charging ports, one for the AC outlets, and one for the car/marine plug and barrel jack DC connections.
Initial Impression
A couple of ToolGuyd readers put Bluetti on my radar (see Are Portable Power Stations Practical?), but I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I liked the idea of a portable power station in theory, but I had hesitations.
Bluetti advertises the EB3A as “tiny but mighty,” and I have to agree. the They crammed a lot of ports and functionality into a very portable package.
Not only that, it seems to be a very well-polished product. The user manual is only a couple of pages, but is detailed and well-written regardless of technical savviness. I found that I didn’t need to refer to the manual at all, but it has some helpful info, such as how to disable ECO mode.
(I read that the ECO mode can also be disabled in the app, which I have not yet downloaded.)
Portable power sources are Bluetti’s entire business. They say they “prioritize design, service, and quality over everything else.” Still, I wasn’t expecting the EB3A to have such a nicer user interface.
I was surprised by the noise level of the internal fan during charging, which rivals that of internal fan-cooled cordless power tool battery chargers. But if there’s the choice of fan-cooled charging or slower charging, I’ll take the noise for a short while.
It also gave off a slight odor during charging – I’ll have to see if this goes away. I don’t expect this to happen every time; I’ve used other equipment that takes a bit of use for “new product” smells to go away.
Searching online, others have experienced and asked about this; on the Bluetti user forum, a moderator posted in September that “The smell will go away after it heats and cools a few times. This is normal.”
Bluetti offers a wide range of power stations, from this compact model to ones with thousands of watt-hours of energy storage capacity.
This one won’t power the refrigerator or something like a wet/dry vacuum, but it’ll charge phones, tablets, laptops, and even a fan in case an outage takes out the AC in the peak of summer.
The last time we had a power outage, we shared a portable battery bank back and forth to charge 2 smartphones and a tablet. This Bluetti can handle all of that, plus my laptop – at the same time, and more.
So far, I’m impressed. This is something I’m going to keep and use.
It worked well in all of my multi-device charging tests. I hope I don’t have to use it in a power outage, but I’m feeling pretty confident that it will be ready and capable.
I feel that the variety of ports will make this useful for home and hobby use.
For instance, my telescope mount can only be plugged into a car-type 12V DC port, for which I have a lead acid battery power supply. Rather than replace that battery with another low capacity and difficult-to-maintain lead acid battery, it’s one more task I can potentially use the Bluetti for.
I wish there was just one more USB-C port, but I have plenty of USB-A charging cables. Plus, I can always plug an AC adapter to get more of whatever type of USB connection I need.
Bluetti was the first brand of portable power station that I agreed to test for review – aside from those from cordless power tool makers, and I’m glad I did. A couple of readers recommended Bluetti, and now I see why.
Please let me know if you have any questions. I’ll be testing the solar panel charger next.
Price: $299, $239 after clickable coupon
