A portable power station is a pretty simple product. A battery pack with a couple of plugs to feed electrons in and out, all in a plastic box. Of course, there’s a lot more to it than that. I mean, it has to have the ability to connect to your smartphone, right? When I look at the features of this Pecron E1500LFP, I see the physical manifestation of market research, surveys and focus groups. But unlike modern BMWs, this seems to pay off in a product that, more than anything, checks the “fit for purpose” box on my product testing bingo card.

There are many considerations to make when choosing a portable power generator. I explained them in more detail in my DJI Power 1000 review back in June. If you want a better idea of ​​how to decide what size unit you need, I would recommend reading that article first.

What are the specifications of the Pecron E1500LFP?

In case you haven’t already guessed, it’s a 1,500 watt-hour power bank that uses LiFePO4 batteries. The name says it all. As I write this, it’s on sale for $699 on the company’s website and on Amazon. Its normal retail price is $1,299. The 1,500 Wh capacity is a bit of an outlier, as most companies make either 1,000 or 2,000 Wh units. But for reference, an Anker C1000 is on sale for $999, a Jackery Explorer 2000 PRO is on sale for $999 as I write this, and the BLUETTI AC200MAX is $1,099. Not just for Pecron, but for all portable power stations in general, my advice is that unless you’re in a desperate situation, I would never spend the full list price. In my experience, there is almost always a sale coming up.

The unit feels relatively compact compared to some competitors, measuring 15 x 9 x 12 inches. The DJI Power 1000 I recently reviewed measured 18 x 9 x 9 inches. The Bluetti mentioned above is 17 x 11 x 15 inches. Unless you’re using one of these units in an RV and need a very specific space for it, the size differences probably won’t make much of a difference. The Pecron weighs 40 pounds. The DJI is the flyweight at 33 pounds. The Jackery weighs 43 pounds. And the Bluetti weighs a whopping 62 pounds.

The basic idea of ​​a power bank is to not only make energy convenient to carry around, but also easy to access. On the input side, you can plug those electrons into a household outlet for a maximum of 1,400 watts. Pecron says you can fully charge the power bank in 1.8 hours. According to my testing, under 2 hours is quite doable. Pecron didn’t send along any solar panels, but the power bank is rated for a maximum DC charge of 700 watts with a multiple panel arrangement. It’s also rated for 100 watts DC when charged from a car’s 12V outlet, I’ve seen up to 98 watts.

The ability to connect various devices to the E1500LFP is one of its strengths. It delivers 2200 watts of continuous power and 4400 watts of peak power. It has 3 120V AC outlets. The DC panel consists of a 12V 10 amp outlet (car cigarette lighter), a 12V 30 amp XT60 connector with a cable with alligator clips for charging a car battery, and a 12V 5 amp barrel connector. Below that are a 100W and an 18W USB-C port, and 4 18W USB-A ports. Finally, it has a wireless phone charger. I had to take my iPhone out of the case to get it to work, but it’s a nice touch.

What did I do with the Pecron E1500LFP?

How you use a power station like this is entirely up to you. Some people use it purely for camping, when they want to sleep in a tent but still want to get up and drink their drip coffee and a toasted bagel and watch Netflix. Other users want to charge batteries or even plug in power tools on the job site. Some want the peace of mind of having one of these devices around in case of a power outage. If you have electrical equipment, you are basically the target audience for a power station.

One of my standard tests is to run my electric kettle that I use every morning to make coffee. It uses almost 1500 watts, which is a lot for a small appliance. It started at 84% of its battery capacity and by the time I was done making coffee it was down to 78%. I powered my computer and charged my iPhone and Apple Watch via USB. I plugged my entire home office setup into the 120V AC outlet and everything ran without a hitch.

This leads me to one of the main advantages of the Pecron E1500LFP. It actually works as an uninterruptible power supply or UPS. Not all power supplies can do that. Most are capable of continuous charging, meaning you can input and output power at the same time. Unless they specifically state that they work as a UPS, if there is a loss of input power, the output power will be temporarily interrupted, causing your computer and other devices to shut down. This continues to work, I have verified.

I’ve used it to charge RC batteries on the road and it’s ideal for that. But I wanted to try something tougher and push it a little more. I ran a DeWalt pressure washer with it at 2100 psi in temperatures around 35 degrees. Yes, I got up early here in Vegas so it was only 35 degrees. The pressure washer was between 1,000 and 1,450 watts and ran intermittently for half an hour while I washed my car. I checked it every few minutes for overheating and it was never an issue. I started with a fully charged Pecron and used about 30% of its capacity.

Portable power station Pecron E1500LFP: The verdict

Improvements Pecron has made to the E1500LFP over previous units include WiFi connectivity and a smartphone app. The app connects easily, looks great, and never freezes or crashes during use. Honestly, I don’t see much added value in the app. You can see how much power is coming in and going out in real time. You can see the current charge level. And you can adjust some settings like screen brightness and shutdown timer. However, you can’t set a charge or discharge limit. If anyone reading this has a power station and uses the app all the time, I’d love to know what you use it for.

Hank and I have played with many power stations and solar generators. So far I have not seen one that I would describe as inferior or cheap. I think once you get into this price range, a quality case, a nice clear and bright screen, and good buttons are such a small percentage of the production cost that it’s a no-brainer. Like all the ones I’ve seen, this one feels sturdy. The silicone bumpers on the corners seem to take a fall easily. I have to say, I appreciate the handles on the side. There is an option to add a basket handle to the top that would make carrying these much easier with one hand, but then you can’t stack things on top.

The E1500LFP comes with a nice zippered bag for the included cables. You get the battery charging cables mentioned, the power adapter for charging, the DC cable for connecting solar panels and the 12V socket for charging via your car. There is also a small user manual.

Overall, it’s a great unit that rivals the best in the segment based on its specs and operation. If you can get it for $700, as it is as I write this, it’s a great deal for a 1,500Wh power station. I’ve never gotten this one below about 20%, but there are a few other reviews online where they’ve gotten over 1,400Wh of power out of one of these units – that’s impressive. Many units shut down when they reach 20% capacity, and maybe that’s for the best. I wouldn’t do it often, but it’s there in an emergency. The power station has a 5-year warranty, with a 1-year warranty on the included cables. I have no complaints about the E1500LFP, and as mentioned above, at its current price, it’s an absolute steal.