BLUETTI EB3A Portable Power Station, 268Wh LiFePO4 Battery Backup w/ 2 600W (1200W Surge) AC Outlets, Recharge from 0-80% in 30 Min., Solar Generator

Glad I have one, thinking about getting a second one!
Summary statement – the EB3A has two applications that it is tailored too:1) It’s great for ‘wireless’ AC power around the house for those occasional power needs when running an extension chord is more burdensome or the chord is just not long enough. Things like a drill, box fan, light, radio or laptop.2) Also useful for portable DC low power needs, like when camping. USB lights, USB fan, 12V flood light, charging phone, etc.Actual recent use:* went out and used in tent for a two nights (3-days) for lighting, kept cool via USB fan and keeping phone charged with a folding solar panel and charged the EB3A around 120watts. Came back with the battery fuller than when I started!* used it when working outside house to power a ‘corded’ drill. Love having more torque that typical cordless drills.* ran a powered speaker with no buzz meaning the sine-wave power output is clean.My unit came standard IEC power chord. But I did reach Bluetti and also received free MC4 to 7909 (8mm).I like that everything is on one side except the spot light. Think the spot light would be better on the side, but that would effect the placement of the air vents and probably end up being a different larger shape instead. The shape is quite compact as-is.Having the ability to rapid charging the EB3A in under an hour is a nice option to have. This DOES require the phone app to change the “Working Mode” to ‘Turbo’. NOTE: this will age the cells a bit and is not recommended unless needed. It has two more modes ‘Standard’ and ‘Silent’, but the Silent mode slows down the fan. The fan in Standard mode didn’t catch my attention so apparently not annoying enough. Not really sure why Silent mode exists other than charges at a lower 100w (down from ~200w) .Also having the AC charging adapter integrated is something I wish more battery banks did.App Experience:I like that the Android app is not have as invasive as other apps (think competitors) . The only permission the app requires is ‘Location’ which too many other apps require when access the Bluetooth stack. Not sure why. The apparently optional ‘Camera’ permission I think is for scanning the bar code or something? Again, the only permission required is ‘Location’.The app does NOT require creation of an external account. The EB3A doesn’t have Wifi so it cannot communicate directly back ‘home’. Pretty sure the mobile app makes use of your mobile phone identity. A unique identifier, location and product model/serial is all they minimally collect.The EB3A firmware updates via Bluetooth through the phone which is a plus in my mind as competing products require directly connecting the product to Wifi for firmware updates and then make it difficult removing from a wireless network. Should never have issues connecting the Bluetti app to the EB3A out when camping and away from your home Wifi as the EB3A doesn’t use Wifi. I cannot state how this simplifies things, for those that don’t want certain things to be 24/7 connected to the internet! I mean how useful is a battery bank in a grid down scenario when it must be connected to the grid to operate?I did experience two quirks of which I’ve come to the conclusion that both were insignificant and apparently one-offs:Quirk #1:Initially charged up the unit (from Sun), then updated up the firmware via Android app. After the update, the State Of Charge (SOC) dropped down a bit. Figured that it needed to relearn the state of charge as most BMS’s take both voltage level and a current shunt meter into account. I cycled it once all the way up and down to 3% and back up, and the SOC seems to be re-calibrated.Quirk #2:The wireless charging was acting weird, but had similar experiences using my Samsung phone on another wireless charger (I almost exclusively use wired charging). Order an external wireless charging pad to USB C (adds wireless charging to any USB C device) for testing and it did indeed charge the phone just fine. Apparently my phone’s built-in wireless charging sometimes acts stupid.Hopefully this is a fairly complete overview of my experiences and opinions with the EB3A!

I just marvel at this every time I see it. The generator is so compact and lightweight. The solar panel is really well designed for carrying and the cord that attaches to the generator is nicely concealed in a zipper pouch on the back of the panel. There are only two minor things I could be picky about so far. First, the carrying handle, which is recessed into the top of the generator sticks in the down position and is really difficult to get into the up position. Second, there are two more cords for connecting to the generator that come in a small cardboard box that opens and closes like a pizza box. With the awesome pouch on the back of the solar panel that so nicely carries the cord for it, I’d have figured Bluetti could have come up with a batter way to store and transport the other two cords that are included.

Solar panel works but need 100% direct sunlight to charge. If it gets cloudy, the solar panel will make the unit discharge. But it works.