Dirt Cheap EcoFlow River 3 - The Perfect Holiday Gift or Overhyped?

[@TheSolarLab]

🛒 EcoFlow River 3 - Black Friday Deals! ➡ EcoFlow: shrsl.com/4rpyh ➡ Use Code: 24EFBFSOLAR for an Additional 7% OFF ➡ Shop Solar: shopsolarkits.com/products/ec... ➡ Use Code: TSLBF5 for an Additional 5% OFF 🛒 We Recommend ShopSolar.com for Power Stations Kits with Solar Panels ➡ Power Station Kits: shopsolarkits.com/collections... ➡ Use Code THESOLARLAB50 for $50 Off Your Order 🛒 We Also Recommend Signature Solar for Batteries, Inverters, Solar Panels: ➡ Current Deals: signaturesolar.com/promotions ➡ Use Code THESOLARLAB50 for $50 Off Your Order ⚡ Take Our Quiz to Find Your Perfect Power Station! ➡ quiz.typeform.com/to/zpvK6MPQ 🔔 Subscribe to our KZbin Channel: @TheSolarLab 0:00 - Intro 1:05 - Spec Teardown 2:24 - What We Like 3:43 - What We Don't Like... 6:08 - Testing 9:38 - Recap / Our Recommendation Looking for an affordable, compact power station? The EcoFlow River 3 is a great unit for light emergency backup or powering small devices on the go, whether you’re camping, road-tripping, or prepping for power outages. With Black Friday deals, it’s cheaper than ever, making it an incredible value for portable power. Check out our review to see if this sweet little unit is right for you! ⚡ FOLLOW US: / thesolarlab / thesolarlab 👨🏼‍💻 The Solar Lab: www.thesolarlab.com We maintain an affiliate relationship with some of the products reviewed, which means we get a small percentage of a sale if you click our links, at no cost to our viewers.

[@thetechguy600]

I just ordered one of these as a bundle with the 45w solar panel as a gift. I tested it for a few days and it works great!

[@s13ef9]

I use the river3 as a UPS for our starlink router, network switch and garage camera. We are rural and have lots of power spikes and/or loss, so the UPS function was our main point of focus. It works awesome and during the 5 day outage after Milton it kept the rotuer and switch running for about 4 hours before needing a charge. It was awesome!

[@TheSolarLab]

That's awesome! Glad to hear that you're happy with the unit ⚡️

[@AndronicusKomnenos]

​@@silviannistorI never said anything about panels. Removed my comment to avoid confusion.

[@silviannistor]

@@AndronicusKomnenos my bad!

[@N_g_er]

@@TheSolarLabthanks

[@michaelmartin9022]

I got ¥20,000 of vouchers at the end of last year, and a shop had the River 2 (also with a UPS) for that much, so I basically got it for free! It's running my router, NAS and also TV (in case the electric goes off in an earthquake, and a tsunami warning comes later), it's kept everything going fine, and the switchover time causes no issues

[@denvera1g1]

Hot take, i dont like phone charging pads or lights. It adds cost that i can resolve myself with a cable, and my own, replaceable flashlight, that i can replace when that LED goes bad.

[@TheRogueBro]

I side with EcoFlow on the lack of a wireless charge pad on this thing. It's got a pretty small battery, and with wireless charging being like 80% efficient, you're just wasting power. Better to just plug your phone in.

[@TheSolarLab]

Makes sense ⚡️

[@donttrickimtricky.8567]

No c port charging so you have to lug around the charging brick.

[@TheRogueBro]

@donttrickimtricky.8567 it's got 2 usb-a and a single usb-c 100watt right in the middle...

[@TheRogueBro]

@@donttrickimtricky.8567 it has USB-A's (so you can use an A to C cable) and it also has a 100watt USB-C on it.

[@thetechguy600]

Also, I wanted to add a bit of info regarding the X-Boost mode. I know that you say it is "fake" which is partially true in terms of wanting to use that mode for long term large electrical loads. However, in my case x-boost is incredibly nice to have since it allows the power station to accept a high surge wattage from something like a refrigerator then once the appliance is running the surge is no longer needed and the wattage drops back to a normal range. If x-boost is off, the power station trips on over-load and will not allow the refrigerator to run. So basically x-boost is great for surges but is bad for large sustained loads beyond the rated running watts for a particular power station.

[@jibb8545]

This is the information I was looking for. I don't need this unit to sustain 600W. I just need it for the 350W surge on a 3D printer to get up to temperature and then it'll run at 100-150W for the actual print.

[@diskdrive123]

Read your fridge specs... It has a compressor, it has a massive startup surge. My fridge is about the same size, on Delta 2 has ~1800W surge for 2-3sec.

[@mt-qc2qh]

When I set my River 3 up as a ups for my router, 2 Pi servers and 3 Blink camera hubs I thought to put the main Pi server on the usb-c. Big mistake. The passthrough AC charging would track the 25w on the AC, but not the 5w on the DC. When I set my charging range to 20-80% it would constantly cycle between the two limits because of the 5w DC discharge. I moved the Pi to the AC power strip and now the AC passthrough matches the AC consumption at 30w and all is well. Customer service responded that the UPS mode is indeed for the AC and the DC are intended for charging devices only. Lesson learned.

[@ChrisEpler]

Got one of these a while back, it's decent for what it is. It's a decent unit for a portable 12v fridge. I have mine running a Dometic CX2 37L next to my desk attached to a 100W flexible panel sitting in a window (Gets ~50%). Keeps it going for a day w/o solar or so. It would be a good fit for a small 12v fridge like 20-37L in a car providing power when you stop to eat/get gas/sleep in your hotel room etc and when you don't want to carry something larger or for portable electronics charging like phones/tablets/laptop. Don't expect to run your desktop on it. I look forward to more people learning Ohm's law!

[@daviddarnell8898]

Those are 15 amp outlets. 20 amp outlets have one plug that is t shaped.

[@BronzeDragon133]

Hey, if all you need is to temporarily power your work laptop and WiFi in the case of the normal short blackout, it sounds great! I scored a DELTA 2 off Amazon for $399 today. Sufficient for me to power both work laptops and WiFi through a severe winter storm blackout and still have a light on at night without worrying about keeping charge on our tablets and phones. Add on a basic inverter and I can recharge it off the car if absolutely required...

[@TheSolarLab]

That's a steal! Thanks for sharing ⚡️

[@Sylvan_dB]

The Delta 2 is a nice unit. I have a Delta 2 Max and bought a Delta 2 for my Dad because his Jackery 1500 died (too young).

[@leokolev]

It should be 3 USB-C ports, 30w, 60w, and 100w. 30w people can use with the USB-A adapter if they need USB-A for some reason 👍 This is the right design which one will work for you for the next 10 years! ❤️ I'm an electronic engineer and computer technician and I know what I'm talking about 👍

[@Yugemos]

I'm a NASA rocket master craft engineer and I disagree.

[@leokolev]

@Yugemos 😂😂😂 so you need more USB-A ports??? ....

[@tewilk]

Agree about the 45w panel... basically the cheapest thing they could bundle to make it feel like a got to have deal. Would had been better with 100w panel bundled in.

[@zmed93]

Will you ever provide discount codes and links for Canada?

[@briankeithwood]

I carry a small 5 outlet power strip (like $5 or something) to get the plugs further apart.

[@noahhenry2370]

Lacking a bidirectional USB-C port is pretty unfortunate. Amazon does sell USB-C to XT60 adapters, technically you could use one of those to charge it with USB-C, but then you're going to have to carry around adapters in case you need them :/

[@Mae-nr7wr]

the fact that an ecoflow does not like X-boost being on while getting charged by another ecoflow says it all

[@Yugemos]

Lots of defective River 3 units shipped in the first couple batches. Lots and lots and lots. Pretty sweet mine almost burned my house down.

[@JonH-wj5zm]

Look at you and your fancy studio lighting. Nice!

[@TheSolarLab]

Glad you like it!

[@Moes_Prep_and_Tech]

Anker Solix 300 for the Win, or the DC version of it using a cheap 12v to AC cigarette lighter adapter for low powered AC stuff

[@TheSolarLab]

That's a great unit as well!

[@einyv]

I just tested the 300DC version with my CPAP last night. I used my CPAP for 7.17 hours and the 300 DC still had 31% charge left. Good little unit for a backup and my ecoflow 110w panel can charge it.

[@SamTullie]

I just got a EcoFlow River one refurbished hoping it's going to last for a while

[@1kzrider]

Man what a fiasco getting my river 3. I bought on prime day took 4 weeks to get it. Then had received IMO a used unit. It had scratched screen and missing screen film protection. Wear marking on top. And the side panel door would not stay closed. I sent it back had to wait weeks for new unit. So now near 8 weeks later I finally have my River 3. I agree with everything in this review. The outlets suck to close. The USB C should be 140 watt bi directional. And offer more than one USB C port even. And yes seems like the top would have been perfect for the wireless charge pad. And yes Why not a nice light. I like the Anker C300 lights a lot. After Ecoflow issue I bought two Anker C300 units AC and DC unit. The AC has as you shown the 3 ac outlets much better spacing. And more USB C outlets with light of course. Anker crushed this river 3 IMO. Even slight edge in capacity for Anker. And yes the 45watt panel on this is a joke. Unless truly left to charge for days on in and used for taking unit on the go for over night trip. But, if you have this and the 110watt panel and bad solar day you can add with splitter the 45 to the 110 to help.

[@TheSolarLab]

Sorry to hear about your experience with EcoFlow and the River 3. That's super annoying. We agree that the Anker C300 AC & DC versions are pretty sweet little units - glad that they're working well for you!

[@Sylvan_dB]

I would have liked better USB-C, but I avoided the anker specifically for its size, no UPS and the light is totally unnecessary. I jumped at the River 3 for its UPS capability and size. The slightly smaller volume and the flat box instead of square tower are much more usable when it is an out of the way appliance rather than a focal point. I have it sitting display up, so a wireless charging pad would have been money and power wasted. Besides, I have wireless charging pads all over the house. They run from A.C. so I don't need to worry about them burning 1/3 of their power as heat.

[@Yugemos]

Everything about the River 3 is a complete joke. I have a crappy off brand 18w panel battery pack 76 Watt hours... it's 10 years old and it out performs my River 3...

[@1kzrider]

@Yugemos I like the size of the River 3 easy to grab and carry. It so far does what I got it for just fine. But, my wants would gave been 140watt Bidirectional USB ports. I prefer had 3 usb c ports in row where there are now and put the two usb a ports on bottom 1 port each side of power button.

[@1kzrider]

@Sylvan_dB having both river 3 and anker the anker fits on my desk way better than river 3. I still IMO of course think anker for me on desk is better product. To take outdoors the river 3.

[@adriftatlas]

The whole running a lightbulb for 30+ hours is important because inverter self-consumption on their other units is ridiculously high. The Delta 3 Plus has been measured at nearly 40W! From their FAQ: EcoFlow RIVER 3: AC standby power consumption ≤ 4W, DC standby power consumption ≤ 2W. EcoFlow RIVER 3 Plus: AC standby power consumption ≤ 5.5W, DC standby power consumption ≤ 2.3W. Those are some very good numbers for any inverter, if true. I am waiting till the River 3 Plus/Max comes out. That unit will have 10ms UPS and USB UPS HID output to act as a true UPS. It also has a proper 600W inverter.

[@Superfatcat2525]

We have our router and modem plugged into a power strip. Our River 3 says it will last 19 hours. We will see. Our electric company has a planned shut off tomorrow. And it did charge up super fast. It came charged at 50% took less than an hour to get it to 100%. We will be keeping it plugged in as a UPS.

[@Sereous313]

How was the planned shut off?

[@pablocallejas]

Thanks a lot for the honest review!! I wanted to buy it because of the 600W boost.. What alternative would you recommend?. I want something that would let me run a toaster (without breaking the bank obviously)

[@TheSolarLab]

The Anker C800 would be a great unit! The DJI Power 500 would also be work well for you. Stay tuned for our video tomorrow - we'll be releasing some exclusive Black Friday deals on units that would suit your needs!

[@tylerstout1549]

I've been looking for a small affordable unit for emergencies to charge small items like phones, flashlights, headlights, etc. Ecoflow seen like one of the better and more innovative manufacturers out there. What makes/models would you recommend for this intended purpose? Eventually, I also want to something suitable to run my fridge during black/brown outs; it says it's 900 running watts, but from what I've been told, it really only needs about 300 because it only needs to run about 1 hour a day to maintain temp. Any recommendations there?

[@valdisplaudis]

What about inverter drain? How much does it consume on its own? Can you turn AC outlet on and leave it for 10 hours to measure % drain per hour?

[@Yugemos]

It drains a lot. I'm in Minnesota and on a cloudy day with a 125w panel hooked up, I lose battery. It's terrible.

[@aperson1181]

What are your recommendations for a good backup in case of power outages we usually have power outages that last from day to several days and I'm trying to power a railroad modem in a switch what do you recommend?

[@Sylvan_dB]

I agree on x-boost - turn it off in the app immediately! I'd much rather the power station turn off than burn out my gear with bad voltage. Forget the light. No, no, no! I can plug in the size of light I want, such as a $1 USB light or much larger as needed. And charging pad? No way. If you must have one, they are like $5-10 for the cheap ones the would include or $50 for good vendor specific ones which would add more than 30% to the price of this unit. Also wireless charging sucks power being only about 70% efficient and is out of date or incompatible unless it is very slow (5-10w charging speed). You don't want waste if you are doing emergency backup and if you are not doing emergency backup then there are much better "powerbanks" for phone charging such as the jackery explorer 100 or anker units.

[@CMDR_Birb]

Are you from Toronto? We have the same GigaHub Bell modem!

[@paycar114]

thanks for telling the committed crew you weren’t gonna come back to bobby’s builds :/ been hoping for almost year for at least one video to drop over there just to find this 😢

[@gelu88]

I don't like x boost either, but it has a legit application, you dismissed the toaster application out of hand but it's true, you will literally get 600w of energy out because the inverter can run lower voltage at much higher amps. It's legit for purely resistive loads. You literally will get 6 amps at 100v instead of 2.5 amps at 120v.

[@randydinglehopper62]

Should be off by default though

[@GageRutherford]

Hey Robbie just noticed you switched to this.(not sure what’s up hope you’re doing well and all) I miss your vids tho. Hope to see an update on what’s happening. Best wishes to ya.

[@scottyz]

Bluetti EB3A is a better buy with more battery and better inverter for about the same price

[@thebluray]

Keep them honest. Most products are not honest regardless of what you buy from electronics from pots and pans. It’s all hype = lies. lol Thank you!

[@teozhang1874]

Is there an ECOFLOW model from charging an EV ?

[@xraykadiddlehopper8067]

So the usb c is not bidirectional like the other rivers?

[@OcRefrig]

Personally i think a Light on a unit is a waste of Money & real estate. unless it was facing the ceiling & could be used as a Room light. i'd Rather have proper outlets on the unit. Every body these days should own Multiple Rechargeable Headlights for Emergency 🚨 situations. so Lights on units are unnecessary & take up valuable real estate & add $. Foxelli sells a Awesome rechargeable headlight for about $12.00. works awesome , rechargeable, Lasts for about 6 Hrs on High , Lots of light. super durable , been using them for many years for work & home.

[@Amygdallama]

Are the codes only useable on the ecoflow website?

[@TheSolarLab]

The code 24EFBFSOLAR works on EcoFlow.com's website for an additional 7% Off The code TSLBF5 works on ShopSolar.com for an additional 5% off. Both codes apply to the River 3, or any other product you wish to order from either website!

[@mikebroom1866]

Wireless charging is so inefficient, I have no doubt it was a good idea to remove it.

[@RoguePlanetStudio]

Is that a NF sweater??

[@TheSolarLab]

Yessir 🔥

[@leokolev]

Great unit just with big 2 minuses - only one USB-C port... and 2 USB-A... I don't have any USB-A in my house anymore... its old technology... Why did EcoFlow put 2 of them????? And no lights... 😢 Anker SOLIX C300 is much much better for 2025! 👍💪

[@randydinglehopper62]

X-boost is a terrible “feature”. Should be off by default. Bad user experience. Don’t mess with how devices are expecting voltage.

[@Bluecollarham]

X-Boost is to help cope with initial surge on starting appliances. Not meant to run over rating continuously

[@SteveInMaine207]

Bell? Are you telling me that you guys are a couple of greasy Canadians? I've been watching all this time, and I never knew that.

[@SteveInMaine207]

JK, it's just a TPB reference. 😅

[@modemlooper]

Ankor solix 300 is better. It has better usb ports

[@john-j7e7e]

river 2 has usb c pass through charging. pass