Hi I’m Gidon from thetechnologyman.com.
The Bluetti EB70 portable power station has two 1000W AC outlets, two 100W USB power delivery
outputs and a long lasting 716Wh LFP or LiFePO4 battery.
These power stations are perfect for power cuts, camping, travel and festivals and around
the house and out and about to charge all your tech.
And the EB70 can charge at up to 200W off solar panels when mains isn’t available.
I’ll be testing it with Bluetti’s 200W PV200 solar panel later in the review.
I’ll run through its capabilities and thoroughly test all its claims to help you decide if
this is the right power station for you.
And towards the end of the video I’ll compare it to other similar power stations around
the same price.
So let’s take a closer look.
Overview Inside the box you get the power station itself,
the AC adapter, a car charging cable, a solar charging cable and the user manual.
The EB70 has a 716Wh LFP battery that supports over 2500 charge cycles and weighs 9.6kg excluding
the AC adapter.
This is the first power station I’ve looked at in a while that comes with an AC adapter
rather than the far more convenient and faster mains charging.
And it’s a large and heavy adapter at that, weighing just under 1kg.
I’ll come back to charging the unit shortly.
The slightly smaller 716Wh battery and external AC adapter does make this fairly compact for
a power station with a still very respectable 1000W of output.
A carry handle folds out from the top of the unit to carry it around with one hand.
You can see its dimensions on screen.
It’s made almost entirely of a hard plastic and there’s very little flex.
Only time will tell how durable it is, but it doesn’t feel quite as premium as some
power stations I’ve looked at.
And typically it has no weatherproof rating so you’ll need to be careful using it outside.
All the inputs and outputs are on the front of the unit.
Along the top there’s a single charging input top left, a small LCD screen and a spotlight.
The screen is a very basic affair by modern standards.
It only shows the battery level graphically in large 20% steps and although you can see
the current input and current output power, there’s no estimate of remaining charging
and running time.
It’s just about visible outside in bright sunlight.
The spotlight torch has a low, high and flashing mode operated with its own button.
It’s useful, but I’d much prefer a floodlight.
The unit is a little large to carry around as a torch.
Below the input ports are the DC outputs.
There are two very welcome 100W USB-C power delivery ports, two standard 5V 3A USB sockets,
two 12V 10A DC5521 ports and a standard 12V 10A car outlet.
These DC outputs as well as the 15W wireless charging pad on top of the unit are all operated
by the DC output’s power button.
Finally there’s the AC subsystem with two 240V, 1000W pure sine wave AC outlets, again
operated with their own power button.
All these power buttons turn on with a single press and off with a long press.
Unfortunately there’s no app to operate the unit but there is limited configuration
on the power station itself.
There’s an Eco mode which turns the unit off after 4 hours of little or no activity
to save power.
Press and hold the AC and DC power buttons together until the frequency flashes then
press the DC button to toggle Eco mode.
A dedicated Eco button would have been far more convenient.
Turn Eco mode off if you’re running low power devices that consume less than 10W or
any devices that use power intermittently like fridges and CPAP machines.
In the Setting mode with the frequency flashing be careful not to press the AC button which
will switch the EB70 to 60Hz mode which we don’t want, in the UK at least.
Charging You can charge the unit via mains with the
included AC adapter, a car outlet with the supplied cable or via solar with the supplied
adapter and optional solar panels.
I’m pleased to see Bluetti supplying the MC4 to round 7.9mm adapter, especially since
this isn’t the easiest cable to get hold of.
I do prefer the more standard XT60 input many power stations have.
Even though there are two 100W USB-C ports, you can’t use them to charge the unit like
you can with the EcoFlow River 2 Max for example.
Charging off mains is the power station's weakest feature.
Direct mains charging is so much easier - and faster too.
And the charger is huge and doesn’t feel particularly rugged.
It’s rated at 200W, 25.2V at 8A and fully charged the EB70 is around 4.5 hours which
is still a little faster than some Jackery’s I’ve tested but slow by modern standards.
I measured around 49dB with a sound level meter one metre from the power station.
That was around 13dB over background noise.
You wouldn’t want to sleep next to it charging.
I checked the temperatures with a thermal imaging camera as you can see.
It was a pretty warm day and parts of the power station and charger were warm to the
touch but not hot.
The LED on the AC adapter changes from red to green when it’s fully charged.
Frustratingly the AC adapter has a small noisy fan that runs continuously even after it’s
finished charging so you’ll have to remember to unplug it.
You can charge using both a 12V and 24V car outlet at up to 8A.
Using my van’s 12V socket I got around 110W which would charge the unit in around 8 hours.
Using a bench power supply I tried charging at 24V and a little over, which was pretty
much as fast as using the AC adapter - around 200W.
Finally I tested charging via solar.
The EB70 has a built-in MPPT controller for more efficient solar charging and supports
an input between 12 and 28V, again with the 8A current limit.
You can use any solar panel with standard MC4 connectors within that voltage range,
but I tested the power station with Bluetti’s PV200 200W folding panel.
I’ve tested quite a few solar panels and this has become one of my favourites.
It weighs just over 7kg which isn’t bad for a 200W panel and its built-in carry handle
makes it easy to transport.
Setup is pretty quick.
You just unfold it and it rests on its built in supports which can tilt at an adjustable
angle depending on how high the sun is in the sky.
Or you can just lay it flat.
Then connect the solar panels’ MC4 connectors to the solar charging cable supplied with
the EB70 and plug this into the power station.
The panel has an open circuit voltage of 26.1V so it’s a pretty good match for the EB70.
On a sunny day in June in the UK I got around 140W which isn’t bad at all and would fully
charge the unit in around 6 hours.
Two similar panels connected in parallel should easily achieve the 8A, 200W maximum but the
200W limit for any of the charging inputs is a little on the low side compared to other
power stations that might be on your shortlist.
Also with just the one input you can’t charge via say the mains adapter and solar at the
same time.
Performance The Bluetti EB70 has a 1000W inverter which
can power many devices around the home.
Bluetti provides a few sample devices and their predicted runtimes, but I’ll show
some real life examples shortly.
This UK version has two outlets, the US version has 4.
The US version appears to only have an 800W inverter.
I confirmed their pure sine wave output, which is important for sensitive electronics with
a graphical multimeter.
These outlets can surge briefly to 1400W according to Bluetti.
First off I tried a fan heater in its 1000W mode which the power station ran continuously
just fine.
I could also run this Crockpot Express multi-cooker in its saute mode at just under 1000W.
And it’d happily run the slow cook modes for much longer.
I did expect it to run my Nespresso coffee machine which is rated at 1250W but it immediately
triggered the current overload protection.
I checked the coffee machine with an energy monitoring plug and it pulls just over 1300W
initially - which is still below the EB70’s 1400W rated surge output.
Bluetti doesn't specify how long it can maintain this 1400W but it must be for a very short
time.
If you do overload the AC outlets, you can just press their power button to reset.
It could easily run the milk frother at just over 400W.
Next up I tried a few power tools starting with my Bosch 720W grinder.
This doesn’t have a soft start so is always a good test, but it ran perfectly with the
Bluetti, as did a 650W Ryobi SDS drill.
But a bigger 1250W Titan SDS drill was too much for it.
Even running at close to 1000W it’s not too noisy - I measured around 45dB one metre
away - similar to when it’s charging but without the additional noise of the AC adapter!
And it didn’t get too hot either as you can see from the thermal imaging camera recording.
If you have Eco mode turned off you need to remember to turn off the AC subsystem manually.
With its fairly rough battery gauge I couldn’t precisely measure the AC’s parasitic drain
- how much the inverter itself consumes.
But the unit did get quite warm with just AC on and nothing plugged in.
I tested the DC outputs starting with the 12V car outlet which is rated at 10A which
I confirmed with a load tester - I got around 125W peak output.
I only had to ramp this up a fraction over 10A to trigger the current overload protection.
The DC 5521 outputs have the same rating and performed almost identically.
The two standard USB-A ports are rated at 5V, 3A which I also tested with a load tester.
They don’t support any fast charging standards but I ramped these all the way up to 3.7A
and the voltage still remained over 5V.
There are a generous two 100W USB-C power delivery ports.
I ran these both at full output - one of them charging an EcoFlow River 2 Max, and the other
a Gooloo GT3000 jump starter.
They are also great for charging the latest MacBooks or any laptop that can charge over
USB-C power delivery.
Finally I tested the wireless charging pad.
This supports up to 15W and charged my iPhone 13 Pro up to 10W according to the power station's
display.
Without direct mains charging there’s no UPS or Uninterruptible Power Supply support.
Another very useful feature of some of these power stations and I missed having it on the
EB70.
All ports support passthrough charging and can be used whilst the unit is charging.
Finally I measured the usable capacity of the 716Wh LFP built-in battery.
I ran a heater via an energy monitoring plug at just under 1000W until the power station
turned off.
The heater ran for 36 minutes and 11 seconds and consumed 564Wh.
So a fairly disappointing 79% efficiency.
Power stations like this will always have conversion losses and Bluetti also mentions
a 90% depth of discharge.
So the unit is therefore shutting off before it’s entirely empty to protect the battery.
I did also run this test at close to the EB70’s maximum output - so heat losses will be exaggerated.
Next I measured the capacity with the DC car output at 8A, or around 100W, using a load
tester.
The power station performed considerably better, consuming 639Wh, which works out as an efficiency
of 89%.
So if you’re running something like a fridge that comes on intermittently, I’d try and
run it off DC, with the Eco mode and AC outlets turned off.
Conclusions The Bluetti EB70 has been out for a while
- at least the US version, and it does show.
It’s missing a lot of the features I’ve come to expect with these portable power stations.
There’s no direct mains charging, no UPS, a basic LCD display and no app.
I’m really not keen on the clunky and noisy AC adapter, but if you’re buying this to
run off solar or your car outlet that won’t be an issue.
Bluetti were one of the first companies to standardise on the longer lasting LFP battery
technology and the 716Wh battery in the EB70 should last over 2500 cycles - and even then
it’s meant to still have 80% of its original capacity.
Although it is disappointing that Bluetti only offers a 2 year warranty on this specific
unit.
It also has a very good range of outputs.
I particularly like the two 100W USB-C power delivery ports, and the wireless charging
pad.
Bluetti have opted for a slightly lower capacity battery to pair with the capable 1000W inverter.
I quite like this - it keeps the weight down a bit and if you’re able to keep it topped
up when you can, you should have plenty of capacity for most day-to-day devices.
It worked very well paired with the 200W PV200 panel also from Bluetti - but there are plenty
of cheaper options if you don’t need something as convenient and portable.
The 200W charging limit seems a little restrictive, but it’s a decent match with solar for a
power station at this price point - you’re not going to want to spend more on solar panels
than you spent on the unit itself.
Which brings me to the price.
Since it’s not the latest model, there are some good deals available.
The US version, albeit with a smaller inverter, is only around $500 at the moment.
The UK version is under £600 which is still pretty competitive, but I personally wouldn’t
pay its RRP of £800.
Its closest competitor is probably the EcoFlow River 2 Pro which is currently a little more
expensive.
It has a smaller 800W inverter, only one 100W USB-C port, but it has a slightly larger battery,
faster mains charging, weighs less and has app support.
If you don’t need the larger inverter and can cope with a slightly smaller battery,
Bluetti have the EB55 and EcoFlow have the River 2 Max I looked at recently.
And they’re both considerably cheaper.
I’ve reviewed quite a few power stations on the channel - I’ll provide a playlist
down below if you’re interested.
But I’d love to hear your thoughts.
What do you think of the Bluetti EB70 - is it on your shortlist?
If you have it what do you think of it - is there anything I’ve missed?
As always, if you have any questions, please ask - I read every comment and will do my
best to respond.
I do hope you found this video useful.
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