﻿Hi I’m Gidon from thetechnologyman.com. The Allpowers 500W power station has a big 606Wh
battery but it is one of the lightest and most compact units I’ve tested in this category. And
it has a couple of features that make it stand out amongst similar offerings from other companies.
I’ll also be looking at the accompanying Allpowers 100W solar panel that turns
the unit into a portable solar generator. These power stations are perfect for power cuts,
camping, travel, festivals; and around the house and out and about to charge all your tech.
The prices do tend to vary so please check the links down below, but they’re
not particularly cheap. So I hope this video will help you make the right choice.
Let’s take a closer look. Overview
Inside the box you get the AC adapter, the AP-SS-007 power station itself and
an instruction manual. Unfortunately there’s no car charging cable that usually comes with
these portable chargers, or any additional cables for charging off a solar panel.
The power station is lighter and more compact than other comparable power stations I’ve tested.
It weighs just over 5.4kg and you can see its dimensions on-screen. The Bluetti and
Jackery are over 600g heavier and the EcoFlow River Max is almost 2.5kg heavier at 7.8kg.
Yet despite its size and weight it has a 606Wh Lithium Ion battery inside, which is more than
the Bluetti, Jackery and even the EcoFlow, at least on paper. I will be testing this claimed
capacity shortly, but that should be enough to run a 60W mini fridge for at least 10 hours,
or a 55” TV for around the same time. Or charge the latest 16” M1 MacBook Pro with its 100Wh
battery around 5 times, or a more typical 50Wh laptop at least 10 times from completely flat.
It feels well built with a simple mostly uncluttered boxy design,
but like its contemporaries it still has no water resistance rating which
always puzzles me considering their intended outdoor use.
The left side of the unit has two DC inputs - one 5521 port to use with the included AC adapter
and one Anderson Powerpole port to connect up to a solar panel.
Then there’s the 12V 10A car socket output with its dust cover and below that an air inlet vent.
The front of the unit has two 220V AC sockets that will accept UK as well as international plugs.
These sockets support 500W continuous output with a 1000W surge peak. They operate at 50Hz here in
the UK, but you can switch them to 60Hz via the smartphone app, which might be useful for travel.
Underneath the AC sockets there’s a 1W LED light, the power button which can also turns
on Bluetooth, the DC outputs power button that turns on the USB-A ports, the car socket output
and the 12V DC outputs, and the AC outputs power button that needs a 3-5 second to switch on and
off to avoid accidental operation. Then there’s the LCD display
which shows a Bluetooth icon if active, remaining time to discharge or charge the built in battery
depending on how much power is going in or out, a graphical display of the battery capacity with an
exact percentage underneath and how much power is going out or coming in. There’s also a fan
icon that comes on when the fan is operational and various icons indicating which ports are in use.
It’s a useful display, with decent viewing angles indoors but it’s harder to see outdoors in bright
sunlight. And the display can only show either input power or output power and always shows
output power if anything is connected to any of the AC or DC outputs and even if just the
AC subsystem is turned on with nothing connected, which already uses around 6W.
It would be nice if you could switch across to check input power, perhaps using a single press
of the AC power button. This would be particularly useful when charging via solar, where input power
can vary considerably. Also it’s a minor point but I’m not sure why Watts are displayed as WATTA.
Perhaps it’s Wattage truncated. Finally there’s a second 1W LED light.
Both LEDs have their own power switches with one level of brightness and no flashing SOS mode. They
are usefully bright but I still think a floodlight like on the Bluetti AC50S is more useful.
The right of the unit has 3 USB-A ports, two of these with orange tabs are 18W Qualcomm Quick
Charge 3.0 ports and the other one’s a standard 5V port. Then there’s a two-way 60W USB-C Power
Delivery port that can be used both to charge the unit and as an output to charge other USB Power
Delivery devices like laptops. This port is always operational - you don’t need to turn anything on.
Beside the USB ports are two 12V 5A 5525 DC outputs and below all these ports is an exhaust
vent with a fan. This fan turns on as the unit heats up pulling cool air from the inlet vent on
the other side and expelling hot air, to try and keep the temperature of the unit down.
The top of the power station has a folding handle that’s slightly rubberised for comfort
but also holds it firmly in its closed position when not being used - I guess
to stop it rattling around in a campervan or RV. There’s an accompanying smartphone app to control
the power station. After turning Bluetooth on with a long press of the power button, you start up the
Allpowers app on your smartphone and tap on the smartphone icon in the top right of the screen.
You can then tap on the S500 to connect. The app is fairly basic, allowing you to remotely turn on
and off the LED lights and the DC and AC ports. You can also switch between 50Hz and 60Hz.
You can also monitor the input and output power and check the battery level which is
useful since the built-in display only shows either input or output power.
I did have an issue with the Bluetooth module on my first unit where the connection was unreliable
and even when it connected I couldn’t use all the features of the app. Allpowers sent me a
second unit which so far is working properly. But there hasn’t been any updates to the app
for over a year, and the app doesn’t feel finished with some dialog boxes
having a mixture of English and Chinese. The accompanying app for the Ecoflow River
Max I reviewed recently is on another level if you like the idea of remote support of your
power station. Charging
There are various ways to charge the Allpowers power station but there’s
only one option included in the box. The power station supports
passthrough charging so you can use any of the outputs whilst the unit is charging.
The included 20V, 5A or 100W AC adapter plugs into the 5521 input on the Allpowers.
This will charge the unit from completely flat to 100% charge in 5-6 hours at just under 100W.
This seems slow after just testing the Ecoflow River Max which charges directly off mains at up
to 500W - with a full charge taking around one third of the time it takes to charge this unit.
And although the Ecoflow weighs significantly more you don’t need to carry an AC adapter.
The Allpowers AC adapter weighs just over 700g including the Figure 8 power lead.
You also lose the UPS uninterruptible power supply functionality of the EcoFlow that’s
a useful side benefit of mains charging. You can’t just use a more powerful charger
either - the maximum input is the 100W or 20V at 5A of the included charger.
But there is one slightly hidden feature that enables faster charging.
The 2-way USB-C port can charge the unit at up to 60W. And you can charge via this port while
charging with either the included AC adapter or a solar panel, which I’ll discuss shortly.
This shortens the charging time considerably. I was able to charge the unit from flat to 100%
in around two and a half hours at just under 170W according to the unit’s display.
Although this is a little misleading since the LCD screen changes from charge time remaining to Hello
when at 100% charge, but then continues to charge for up to another 2 hours,
still at a fairly high input power. It was more like four and a half hours
before the charging input dropped to around a 3W trickle charge. So if you want the full
capacity of the battery I’d leave it charging well after the Hello greeting appears.
You will need a USB-C cable and a 60W USB power delivery charger to use this feature,
but as well as boosting the overall charging speed when you’re in a hurry, it’s also very convenient
when you’re travelling and don’t want to have to take the heavy AC adapter. I tried various
USB-C power delivery chargers and it looks like you need one that can output 20V. I found the
display on the Allpowers was way off using the 30W output from a RavPower PowerHouse charger.
It displayed around 70W which I confirmed with a USB power meter was in fact the 30W max output
from the RavPower. I couldn’t get the Allpowers to actually charge the RavPower PowerHouse. No matter
what order I plugged it in, the RavPower always sent its output to the Allpowers.
Charging off the EcoFlow River Max’s 100W output did deliver the full 60W input to the Allpowers,
still displayed as around 70W. You can also charge off a 12V
car socket output although again you’ll have to supply your own cable.
I used the cable from the EcoFlow River Max with a XT60 to DC 5521 adapter I soldered up. I only
got around 57W which seemed low but checking the manual is actually slightly higher than the
spec’d maximum of 50W. This is much lower than other power stations I’ve tested. The Jackery
Explorer 500 can charge at 85W off a car socket and the Bluetti and EcoFlow managed around 100W.
I’m not sure why there’s this limit on the Allpowers but it would take over 10 hours to
charge the unit off your car’s cigarette lighter outlet. I even tried using the Anderson Powerpole
port with a Jackery car charging cable and their adapter, but still got just over 50W.
Finally you can charge off a solar panel using the Anderson Powerpole port, which is why these power
stations are often called solar generators. There’s a built-in MPPT controller for
more efficient solar charging and the input supports 16.6V to 24V up to 5A,
which would be a maximum of 120W with the right solar panel in perfect conditions.
I tried the power station with the Allpowers AP-SP-027 100W solar panel which should be a
good match and the Allpowers manual quotes 8 hours to charge the 500W Allpowers off
this panel. It’s a fairly compact single fold panel with polycrystalline cells. You can see
its dimensions and weight on screen. There’s no IP rating but it’s listed as waterproof.
Unlike the power station, it comes with a generous assortment of cables to connect to
the popular integrated MC4 connectors. There’s a MC4 to Anderson cable to connect to the
Allpowers. But there’s also a MC4 to DC 5521 with several adapters including the 7.9mm connector.
You can use this adapter with any of the Jackery Explorer range and the Bluetti AC50S. The only
adapter missing is an MC4 to XT60 connector to plug into the EcoFlow, so you’d have to solder
something up or purchase an additional cable. All the cables are stored in a zipped pouch,
together with two legs that have to be buttoned onto the solar panel. These two legs can be
partially unbuttoned and pulled out to tilt the solar panel towards the sun, after opening
up the velcro closure. It is a little fiddly positioning the thin legs to hold the panel up,
but it’s still pretty quick to set up. It’s not as convenient to use as the slim Jackery Solar
Saga 100 with its magnetic closure and wider legs, but it is a little smaller and lighter.
I plugged in the MC4 connectors to the MC4 to Anderson cable and plugged this into the
power station. It’s still winter here in the UK but the sun did make a rare appearance.
Even quite late in the afternoon I did briefly get 70W from the solar panel which
was a little more than I was expecting. One thing to note is you can’t charge off
Solar and the AC adapter simultaneously. I wasn’t able to use the DC5521 and Anderson
inputs at the same time - the DC5521 input will always take priority. But you can use
the 2-way USB-C port whilst charging with a solar panel to speed up charge times.
Once the weather improves I’ll do a comparison video on the various solar panels I’ve accumulated
to try and help you find one that fits your needs. But initial impressions of the Allpowers 100W
panel are favourable. Performance
I started off testing the 12V, 10A car socket outlet. I used the port to provide DC power to my
Hota D6+ LiPo charger which charges the batteries for my RC cars. I could pull the full 120W
off this socket charging a 4S LiPo battery. I also tried charging the EcoFlow River Max
and got over 100W of output. I tested the port with a multimeter and unfortunately it’s not a
regulated output, which means the voltage will drop as the capacity of the battery is depleted.
This will reduce the power output but more importantly may drop the output voltage
below what the connected device requires. I also tested the two 5525 DC 12V 5A outputs.
These also aren’t regulated but might still be useful for powering LED lights for example.
I tried plugging this 12V LED lighting strip which used around 15W.
Since the output’s not regulated this light strip will dim as the battery level depletes.
The two orange tabbed USB-A ports support Qualcomm’s Quick charge 3.0 at up to 12V,
1.5A or 18W with a compatible device. The remaining port is a standard 5V port
but supports up to 3A or 15W total power. I tested all these ports to their maximum
capacity and found no issues, and they can be all used simultaneously as required.
I’ve already discussed the USB-C port for charging the unit, but it also supports 60W
USB-PD output for charging anything from this Lenovo Chromebook to smaller Macbooks. I would
have liked to have seen 100W output like on the EcoFlow to charge even more power hungry devices,
but 60W is enough for plenty of devices. There’s no wireless charging pad like on
the smaller 300W Allpowers unit and the Bluetti AC50S I reviewed last year.
The power station has two 500W pure sine wave AC outlets which are 220V here in the UK and
110V in the US. I confirmed their pure sine wave output, which is important for sensitive
electronics, with a graphical multimeter. As I mentioned earlier the sockets will accept
international as well as British plugs which is a nice touch. I tried plugging
in various adapters that come with the GoPro SuperCharger and they all fit fine.
I would have preferred the sockets on the side of the unit like on the EcoFlow.
Oversized plugs and even the cables for standard
plugs either obstruct the LCD display or make the power buttons awkward to press.
As I’ve mentioned in my other reviews on these power stations, you should have some idea of
what you’re plugging in. The rated power of the device you’re plugging in shouldn’t exceed 500W,
but also the startup power which can be a lot higher can’t exceed 1000W. Anything with a
motor can sometimes draw up to three times its rated power when it starts up. It’s useful to
have a cheap energy monitoring plug to ensure the power station you buy has a big enough inverter
to run the devices you’re planning to plug in. A 500W inverter is plenty for most of your tech,
like laptop chargers, fans, speakers, televisions etc. But it’s not enough
for most things with an element like a kettle, toaster or a sandwich maker.
I tried plugging in a range of power tools to really test out the power station. It coped
pretty well and I even got it to run a 720W Bosch grinder, although it did overload the inverter
several times when starting up. The unit will beep and the AC icon on the LCD display blinks.
Just unplug the device and turn the unit back on again. If your tool has variable speed you can try
starting it off slower and then ramp the speed up if you find it tripping the power station.
This grinder doesn’t have variable speed but connecting it to the EcoFlow which has a very
fast and responsive display of instantaneous power output, measured over 1300W on several
occasions on start up, so it’s not surprising it overloads the Allpowers. But once up and running
it worked fine, even under load and at close to 600W - well above the rated 500W of the inverter.
Most other power tools I tried ran fine including a 310W Festool sander, a 550W Bosch belt sander
and a 650W Ryobi SDS drill - although with the SDS drill I did have to ramp up the speed slowly.
As a more controlled test I filled a studio lamp head with 100W incandescent bulbs. I was able
to power six 100W bulbs before overloading the inverter when I tried a seventh - although it did
run for 10-20 seconds. The 6 bulbs ran at around 570W for 5 minutes which is pretty impressive.
I ran a capacity test on the battery to check its 606Wh rated capacity.
I used a single 100W incandescent bulb for this test as a constant resistive load.
I made sure the battery was fully charged, leaving it plugged in for a further 3 hours
after it reached 100% charge on the LCD display. It took just over 6 hours to completely discharge
the power station and the energy monitoring plug measured 541Wh which is far better than
I was expecting. That’s an efficiency of 89% which is well above what you’d expect after
conversion losses. Typically these power stations are around 80% efficient using AC power. Allpowers
quote 85% efficiency off AC power and 90% off DC. The power station didn’t get too hot in my testing
even under a heavy load. At close to its maximum output for 20 minutes or so the hottest it got in
certain areas was a warm to the touch approximate 40°C, measuring with a Flir thermal imaging
camera. The AC charger got similarly warm to the touch too, charging at its full 100W output.
When you turn the AC, on the cooling fan comes on briefly and then turns off.
The power station is then silent in operation until the fan comes on again
usually after a few minutes when using AC power.
The fan is quite noisy. I measured around 47dB one
metre from the unit, around 10dB louder than background noise.
Like most of the power stations I’ve tested so far the Allpowers uses a Lithium Ion battery
which isn’t replaceable and only has around a 500 charge discharge life cycle. I’d really like to
see power stations like this switch across to Lithium Iron Phosphate cells which can support
2000 plus charge discharge cycles. Conclusions
The Allpowers 500W power station is compact and relatively lightweight considering its capacity
and inverter’s genuine 500W output. Probably my favourite feature is the USB-C power delivery
charging which although not the fastest charging method is very convenient.
It’s disappointing there’s no car charging cable included and the Bluetooth app needs
some work. And it’s still pretty slow to charge off the included 100W charger, especially when
you compare it to units like the EcoFlow which can charge directly off mains at up to 500W.
Build quality is generally good, but I did have an issue with the power button getting
stuck in its on position several times, although so far I’ve always been able to jiggle it free.
I’ll be testing the Allpower 100W solar panel more thoroughly in a group test soon,
but first impressions are good. It’s compact, has an excellent assortment of accompanying
cables and even in non-ideal conditions I got around 70% of its rated maximum output.
It’s main competitor is the Bluetti or Poweroak in the UK AC50S which is currently
around the same price on Amazon. The AC50S has wireless charging and a more useful floodlight,
but a far less capable 300W inverter and I measured around 100Wh less capacity.
The Jackery Explorer 500 is currently more expensive but Jackery often have discounts.
It has a similarly capable 500W inverter, and I measured a similar capacity.
Its build quality is marginally better but it has no USB-C power delivery charging, only a
single AC outlet and a far more basic display. The EcoFlow River Max is a fair bit more expensive
and also doesn’t have USB-C PD charging. And its measured capacity was a little
underwhelming. But it can charge far quicker, has a beefier 600W inverter, 100W USB-PD output,
a larger more informative display and a far more capable accompanying app.
All these units are heavier and larger than the Allpowers. I’ve reviewed all
these power stations if you want to find out more about them. They’ll be links on screen
and down below in the video’s description. But I’d love to hear your thoughts. If you
have the Allpowers what do you think of it? Or if there’s something else you want me to
take a look at let me know down below! And as always, if you have any questions,
please ask - I read every comment and will do my best to respond.
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