You don’t need to spend thousands on a nice portable power station to use while camping or when the power goes out. TheEcoFlow River 3 Plusis small and compact, offering many outlets and multiple charging options. And the battery can even be easily expanded with optional power packs.
EcoFlow River 3 Plus
The EcoFlow River 3 Plus is a portable battery pack with 286Wh of storage, making it perfect to provide power for small appliances or electronics while camping or during an electrical outage. The power station sports 3 AC outlets along with a pair of USB-A ports and a single USB-C port. It can be charged with a solar panel, AC input, or with the included car charger. Thanks to a built-in Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection, you can remotely control the power station with a companion app.
Price and Availability
The EcoFlow River 3 Plus retails for $199 on Amazon and EcoFlow’s website. In addition to the backup battery itself, a number of bundles include a solar panel or extra battery to provide additional use time.
Specifications
Compact and Easy to Carry
You won’t have to worry about the EcoFlow River 3 Plus taking up a lot of room in your home, garage, or car. It weighs a little more than 10 pounds and is 9.1 inches wide, 9.2 inches tall, and a little more than 5 inches tall.
The battery is 286Wh. That’s good enough to power a laptop, light, fan, or other small devices for a few hours. You can also easily recharge something like a laptop, smartphone, tablet, and other devices multiple times over. The output is rated at 600W while its X-Boost technology is made to handle up to 1200W without any issues.
Thanks to that small size, I was able to find a spot for it anywhere around my home, including in a closet in my bedroom and near my computer to use as a UPS system. To help make it easy to carry, there is a large handle on the back. In an emergency, that makes a huge difference in helping you get the power pack where it needs to be.
The front of the battery pack is well-designed and gives you quick access to what you need. In the center is a screen that shows a number of items. In the center is the battery percentage remaining. On the left side is the input, with the output on the right side.
You can also see exactly how much battery life is remaining with the current input/output and whether the battery is connected to a local Wi-Fi network. The screen can turn on and off with a button near the bottom. The screen is easy to see in bright light but isn’t overly harsh in the dark.
On the left of the screen is a DC port, while to the right is one of the AC outlets. Below the screen is a pair of USB-A ports and a USB-C input that can provide up to 100W of power, more than enough to power and charge a large MacBook Pro.
A light switch and light is at the bottom of the battery pack’s front. There are three modes to toggle from—low, high, and SOS. Even on high, the light uses a minimal amount of power. I’ve used power banks enough while camping and even during a power outage, and a built-in light is an absolute necessity. You’ll always be able to see the ports and light the way.
Two additional AC power ports are easily accessible on the other side of the River 3 Plus.
Multiple Charging Options and a UPS Mode
You can choose from multiple options when you need to recharge the battery.
The easiest is AC charging. You can juice up the battery pack in just an hour. EcoFlow includes a long AC power cord that you can keep with the River 3 Plus. With a 220W solar input, the cell can be charged in 1.5 hours. Finally, with the included car charger, you can go from 0 to 100% in 3.3 hours, a respectable charging time for a car cord.
You can find the AC power and combined solar/car input on the back of the battery pack protected by a slide-down cover. I used all three charging options while testing the River 3 Plus and got very similar charging times to what was advertised.
I tested the battery during a camping trip and around my home and came away very pleased. Along with the light to help me find my iPhone while in a tent, the battery was very quiet even while fully maxed out. EcoFlow says the battery’s maximum noise is less than 30dB, and I never noticed any noise—even in a whisper-quiet tent at night. I also didn’t notice any overheating with the battery pack, something that can happen. The exterior got warm, but never hot.
If you ever want to add additional power, there’s no need to buy another battery pack. EcoFlow offers two models of extra batteries, a 286Wh and 572Wh version. A small pogo pin connection allows you to easily connect the extra battery to the main unit. It is always a good idea to understand how much energy you need in a battery pack before making a purchase, but it’s nice to see that you’re able to add-on later.
Even while at home, you may put the River 3 Plus to work as a top-notch UPS. It provides under a 10ms auto-switch during a power outage. That will help protect your equipment and give you more than enough time to switch off a computer, NAS, or something else. A USB-B cable is included to help use it as a UPS.
Especially with the two rear AC outlets, the River 3 Plus works very well as a UPS, and it lives under my computer desk to help protect my equipment. I tested it out by cutting off electricity, and the switchover was near instantaneous.
Nice App Control and Customization
App support is a feature usually reserved for much larger and more expensive backup battery packs. So it’s a nice surprise to see that you can check in on the EcoFlow River 3 Plus from anywhere with the companion EcoFlow app for iPhone or Android.
After connecting the power station to the app, you can see a wide-ranging page with input and output power data. With a quick tap, you can also turn on and off AC or DC power. Finally, you can turn the built-in light on or off and select from one of three modes.
In the app’s settings, you’re able to also further customize the battery pack. You can select charge and discharge limits to extend the lifespan of the River 3 Plus.
One of my favorite options was the ability to schedule tasks like AC charging and discharging.
You can use the app to share control with others to make it easy for them to interact with the battery pack. I’m sharing control with my wife so she can always see the status on her smartphone.
Should You Buy the EcoFlow River 3 Plus?
TheEcoFlow River 3 Plusis a perfect choice to get started with a portable power station. It’s lightweight, easy to carry, and is small enough to be tucked away under a bed or in a closet when not being used. Or if you don’t want to tuck it away, just use it as a UPS for sensitive electronics.
With seven outlets, you should be able to power up small appliances or electronics while on the go or during a power outage. It obviously won’t last for days, but it’s great to keep around for the bare essentials at home or on a camping trip.
The inexpensive package is made even better by the app’s ability to provide even more customization and control. If you ever want to add more power, you can purchase an optional cell that snaps right onto the original unit.
