Review – We wrote some articles about power stations on The Gadgeteer. A large number of faithful gadgets rely on electricity to keep the nasty goodness running, and in the event of a power outage, these power stations can provide much-needed electronics for nerd gear. VATID brought their new 600-watt power station to the market, and I agreed to take a look.
What is it?
VATID portable power station is a 518Wh portable lithium-ion power station with a variety of charging and power options. It supports charging via solar panels, but solar panels are not included or available from VATID. Its rated output power is 600W, which can power or charge small electronic devices, but it is not suitable for high-power items exceeding 600W.
What’s in the box?
- power plant
- Two-part power cord and 110V charger
- Car 12V charging adapter cable
- manual
Hardware specifications
- Size: 7.9″W x 5.5″D x 8.5″ H
- Weight: 11 pounds
- Material: ABS plastic cover is available in orange or yellow
- Output power: 600W, 900W peak
- Capacity: 518Wh/140.000 mAh
- Battery type: Lithium ion Li(NiMnCo)O2
- Charging options: 110V, USB-C PD, car lighter socket, solar panel with built-in MPPT controller (not included)
- Charging time:
- 100W AC adapter: 10V-30V, 120W through 5521 type DC input port about 6 hours
- 60W 5V-20V USB-C PD: about 10 hours
- 100W solar panel: 10V-30V through 5521 DC input port, 120Wabout 10 hours
- Car charger: about 10 hours
- 100W AC adapter + 60W USB-C: about 3.5 hours
- Output options (9):
- DC type 5521 12V/10A 120W (x2)
- AC 110V/600W (x2) pure sine wave, 900W peak
- USB:
- USB-C 1: 5V-20V 65W PD3.0
- USB-C 2: 5V/3A 15W
- USB-A 1: 5V/3A 15W
- USB-A 2: 5V-12V 18W QC3.0
- Car cigarette lighter charging port 12V/10A 120W
- Note: All nine output ports can be used at the same time, the maximum output power is 600W
- Flashlight mode: bright, dark, SOS-3W LED
- Display: Real-time LED display input or output power, remaining charging time or battery life (based on current usage) and output function (AC, DC or both)
Design and features
We will start from the back, where we will find the vents for the cooling fan.
There are also several vents on the side. At the bottom, we see four rubber non-slip feet and all specifications.
The front of the device is where we find all the connection and status indicators.
There is a sturdy handle on it. When not in use, it folds down to the top of the device.
Below are the details of countless clearly marked input and output ports.
Open the lid of the 12V output port, we see a standard cigarette lighter power port, you can use this type of power cord to power anything.
Along the top of the front panel, a comprehensive display shows all relevant charging/discharging details.
The two buttons on the left can open and close the AC and DC output ports. Holding them down will toggle the AC output between 60Hz and 50Hz. The display shows the current battery charging status, and the remaining power when discharging is estimated according to the current load. When charging, the estimated time to fully charge is displayed. It also displays the current input or output power.
Press and hold the small button on the right to turn on/off the power of the built-in light on the right.
When the light is on, the button will cycle the light from high to low to the SOS emergency signal (…-…).
set up
To set up the device, you need to charge it. You can do this in four different ways.
- 110V charger included (about 6 hours)
- Supplied 12V cigarette lighter adapter (approximately 10 hours)
- A USB-C PD charging cable (about 10 hours)
- Combination of 110V charger and USB-C PD charging (3.5 hours)
Performance
I started my test with a standard power station test-plugged in my old 500W halogen work light.
It started to consume 461W, and the power station reported an estimated operating time of 1 hour. As the test progressed, the power of the lamp slowly increased to approximately 475W. When I was looking at the power station, it reported an estimated running time of 12 minutes, and then shut down immediately when the battery was completely depleted. Total running time: 57 minutes. One thing that impressed me was that once it was turned off, it felt cool to the touch. The cooling system does a good job of managing the temperature of the power station and keeping it cool.
I plugged in the AC power adapter and 65W USB-C PD charger. The power station reported that it was charging at 150W. It changed from crash to 100% charger at 3:40. Not too shabby.
Checking the output port, I plug the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra into the low-power USB-A port, fast charging USB-A port, and PD 3.0 USB-C port. From top to bottom, this is what I see.
The fast charging port seems to work as expected.
Since the power station supports charging via solar panels, and I have a solar panel, I decided to give it a try. The VATID power station has an MPPT charge controller. The MPPT charge controller is a charge controller that tracks the power provided from variable power sources such as solar panels and adjusts the charging voltage so that it is charged with the best efficiency.
On a sunny morning in central Florida, I installed solar panels in the driveway and pointed them at the sun.
As soon as I plugged the charging cable into the panel and the power station, the power station woke up and happily began to absorb those solar electrons.
Because outdoor lighting is not suitable for shooting fast refreshing LED displays, it is a bit difficult to read, but when I say that the power station is charging at around 65W, please trust me. The November morning was not bad. At this rate, if you try to redirect solar panels directly to the sun throughout the day, a dead power station should be fully charged in about 10 hours.
what do I like
- A small package provides a lot of power
- Its 10-pound weight makes it easy to carry
- Multiple charging options and multiple power output options make it a flexible power solution
- The display provides usable information about remaining battery life based on current usage
What will i change
- If you use a power station in a confined space, the noise of the cooling fan may be a bit loud
- The estimated time shown is only an estimate, so don’t take it too seriously
Final thoughts
With the development of power stations, this is a pretty good power station. It is relatively small, especially considering its large battery capacity. There are nine different ways to power your goodies, and there are multiple ways to recharge them, I think the VATID power station is certainly worth seeing. I conducted another test with work lights and fans, and the power station happily output more than 500 watts of power. If you live in an area with frequent power outages, or if you need a portable power source for camping, beach trips, etc., the VATID portable power station is worth a look.
Price: $499.99 (VATID and Amazon seem to provide discount codes regularly)
Where to buy: VAT number with Amazon
One thing to note-if you go to VATID’s website to buy, please look at the lower right corner and click on gifts.
If you provide an email, they will send you a discount code that is $100 less than the full retail price, reducing the cost to $399.99. There may be more valuable discount codes on Amazon.
source: The sample of this product is made by Value-added tax group.
