Ecoflow River Portable Power Station | Unbiased Review

This is an unbiased review of the Ecoflow River power station.
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AMAZON LINKS:
Ecoflow River - www.amazon.com/dp/B09HGYTDTZ/...
DJI Mavic Mini Fly More Combo - www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZJZQQ8K/...
Kill-A-Watt - www.amazon.com/dp/B00009MDBU/...
Hamilton Beach Electric Kettle - www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZPN3O2I/...
Gears used in this video
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10'' Selfie Ring Light with Tripod Stand -- amzn.to/3O5t31n

[@shrishan5363]

*100% best **Generater.Systems** I have used. A test for hurricane prep here in Louisiana: three AC units, 5000, 5000 & 8000, 3 fridges, 2 device power setups, 4 flat screens....AND I had 40% of the power meter to spare.*

[@petcuyvers]

How long is a piece of string?

[@darkdodger137]

A direct quote from my Ecoflow owner's manual: "It is not recommended to use the River Pro to power heavy-duty devices e.g., air conditioners, coffee machines, clothes dryer, electric camp stoves, full size refrigerators, microwaves, mowers, ovens, washing machines etc." Ecoflow is partially to blame for advertising runs times for appliances the river series was never meant to run. The river series can run those appliances at reduced voltages through X-Boost, but probably shouldn't. These things are for powering bare necessities in a pinch, not for going completely off grid.

[@toriankirland383]

This is just what is needed for partial rv backup. Operates the ac and stuff perfectly. kzbin.infoUgkxOTeIs0vv4_9B5hsmnLsk9r930uDQLu_Y is quieter than my rv generator. Only suggestion is that it needs a fuel shutoff valve. So it is easier to store.

[@aerohk]

I just bought one, best power station on the market today per my research. Downside is the unit is quite heavy, and it's not cheap.

[@mkl2237]

Great episode! Super practical. Thank you for the very clear explanations… your pace was perfect. Great video work as well. Really professional yet also personal. Fantastic.

[@ExpeditionLightbulb]

Awesome, thank you!

[@notafan1275]

Thank you so much for voicing your (and my) concerns about an emergency power supply being connected to the Internet!

[@PattymacMakes]

I have a small collection of Rivers to use as emergency back up power. I've been using them in different situations around the house to get a feel for how they work and understand the capabilities. Overall I'm really happy with them. I'm considering adding the extension battery for my Pro and put the battery extension on a couple of my small Rivers. I also have a 160W solar panel for charging and that's definitely better on the small Rivers than on the Pro unit. I love these for power outages and I've used them already in a couple of them. They run my fridge and freezers and all my small stuff. I would not push tea kettles or small cooking appliances. I have camping gear for that. I tested out running my wifi and computer and was able to go online like normal. I also have run the smart tv and streamed movies using Rivers. Power outages are awful and with these I can preserve my food and have some comforts. I have a small inverter generator to recharge the stations more quickly as needed. Because they recharge so fast, I felt like it was an efficient use of the small generator. I can charge 3 of them at once and have everything running again right away.

[@ExpeditionLightbulb]

Sounds awesome!

[@Fishingreminder]

Very comprehensive review. The best I've seen, well done. Subscribed! I was about to order one of these but backed off again and decided to build my own instead. A 12v 100ah/1300wh lifepo lithium battery combined with an inverter, a few dc outlets and chargers provides 4.5 times the amount of power for almost the same price. It will be a little bigger and heavier. But the beauty is that I could have all the chargers in a separate box and only take what I need for let's say a camping trip. Could also use a small 25ah lifepo to have something more portable with a similar power range to the ecoflow.

[@emirgoodman250]

Definitely you are not the worst salesman and I love your review. I think I want one already.

[@ExpeditionLightbulb]

Appreciate it!

[@georgeverghese2343]

Thankyou for an honest review.

[@ExpeditionLightbulb]

My pleasure!

[@jeffjohnson1392]

Excellent Video!! Thanks for the knowledge!!

[@ebayerr]

Like everyone else who is considering buying a solar generator,I did my due diligence and researched many different brands. Of course,you can't watch every single video review of every single product out there,but I thought I had made a good choice buying the model reviewed in this video. I received my EcoFlow right before watching this video and I haven't unboxed it yet,so now I'm thinking it wasn't a good choice. I specifically wanted to avaoid having a charging brick for the A/C charger,but this is the first video I watched that mention the inverter is inside the unit itself and it gets hot.Not digging that. And the fact that the real world run time doesn't match the stated claims bugs me too. And the possibility of it using generic batteries doesn't sit well either.

[@ExpeditionLightbulb]

Thank you very much! Sorry it took us so long to comment back. Finally!!! Someone feels the same as me. All three are deal breakers for me and I have gotten rid of the unit.

[@miket4685]

Honest and thorough review! When you tested it on a refrigerator, was a a typical house fridge or was it a portable camping fridge like Dometic or Iceco - thanks for you time

[@ExpeditionLightbulb]

Appreciate it! It was a house fridge.

[@robloxprincess8218]

I love this power station being that I can attach an extra battery whenever I need more power.

[@timloydtodd820]

very helpful. thank you.

[@ExpeditionLightbulb]

Glad it was helpful!

[@cmorr72]

Good review. I have been in market for portable unit to take to the field. Thank you for doing the research. SFMF.

[@Dubbdthills]

The best point. I just said this a few days ago. & now I'm running into this video. First let me say great video. 👍🏼 Speak your truth . Everyone have different experiences which is not good. Back to the best point, I do not feel like these units should have wifi connection. If the grid gets hacked these units can be hacked too. Bluetooth i can deal with. I understand updating but they should be good checked and properly running off the line. Quality control should be a must. These units are expensive. I have the pro, max, delta 2, & wave 2 & i have to babysit these things sometimes calibration & all. & i love them but i don't feel confident enough these units will work in the end when everything else fails. Idk yet. 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@dallas0391]

Question will this connect to shore power for camping? I know about the adaptors connecting from the outside box.

[@marlanscott2508]

I own one of these, and I'm very happy to have one. But I also just purchased the eco flow delta 1300 I should be set for any power outages.

[@MsStallard]

I bought the EchoFlow River Plus to use in power outages with the hopes of being able to power my KitchenAid full size refrigerator. I hope this was a good choice. Truly appreciate your video. Any chance you might review the River Plus vs the River Pro soon?

[@ExpeditionLightbulb]

Just be careful because it drops the voltage on our refrigerator. We will not be reviewing the Plus vs the Pro because we do not make any money on KZbin or being sponsored.

[@schadlarry]

I just got the River Pro and my capacity test was also poor. 493 watts out of 720 or 68%. Customer Support has told me to run a few cycles but I haven't noticed much improvement. Also takes about 900 wattts to charge it fully and only getting 500 watts. Might return it to Costco. It does charge fast and the inverter works as advertised.

[@ExpeditionLightbulb]

I was the only one to publish in KZbin that gave a bad capacity test, even the channels that I trust gave very good results. Thank you for the confirmation and validation that I’m not the only one. Since then, we have given the unit away.

[@DaytonaShooter]

Thank you for this useful information. Do you think this would be a good power source for a 45w 12v fridge? I plan to charge with solar while powering the fridge. Is that a sound plan? Given your experience, how long will this power the fridge on a single charge? Thank you in advance for responding. This information can be beneficial to a large audience of people trying to keep food and drinks cold on the go. 👍

[@ExpeditionLightbulb]

Sorry for the late reply. Very conservative numbers, 4 hours only. Just because of our low capacity test. With DC or AC power you should be able to charge and power up the fridge.

[@williamhazel4433]

I own the Ecoflow. I found everything that has been said about it is true. There, is no other power station I want to use. Next year I'll get another Ecoflow power station.

[@stubones]

My River pro runs my PC like a dream. The PC has a 850w power supply and two GPUs. With X boost (drops voltage )engaged its only drawing around around 100w-1150w and the PC is very stable. I'm super impressed.

[@klumsyninja9073]

For how long?

[@JustaCuriousity]

Thats the thing, he didnt mention the time 😂

[@robopam]

I've ordered the River Plus with the slightly higher capacity from NiC Lithium batteries. I have no clue if it will preform better but it does claim 800 cycles to 80% The data plate on my fridge says 170 Watts so I'm hoping it can run it for an hour or two in an emergency without dropping voltage

[@ExpeditionLightbulb]

The best way to tell is with a Kill-a-Watt meter and then put it on voltage. It should do it. Thank you for commenting.

[@eugenesayles7160]

Thanks for the unbiased review. I enjoyed it. I think I will get myself a River whenever I get the chance to.

[@ExpeditionLightbulb]

Thank you!

[@RebelViking912]

Just found your channel. Saw the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor on your wall background. Gotta sub a brother!

[@ExpeditionLightbulb]

Appreciate it!

[@brashachilles9725]

Emergency radios often have DC input.

[@RonRPL]

It is available internationally, but it requires old, 2021 app version to set frequency to 50 Hz to use it outside US.

[@twocommastv]

Are all the Ecoflow Rivers Defective?They dont has low voltage cutoff on the usb and my units keep getting bricked when I leave anything on the usb outlets too long and all they want to do is send me a replacement.This unit has a factory defect they are not fixing

[@codyrahn4870]

Can you hook up golabs solar panels to the river? I can get 2- 100w panels for less than the 110 ecoflow panel

[@1FAST91SONOMA]

you can but you can also find better deals too. Costco has Massimo panels that are a decent deal. I recommend over-paneling your solar devices if you actually rely on them. This will allow them to charge as fast as possible and make the most of less-than-ideal solar conditions. if you have 200W of solar on a 200W input device and so much as a cloud dares appear anywhere near your panels you could see your input drop drastically. Same for smoke or just an overcast day. I'd highly recommend picking up the 300W panel from Massimo for maximum input power. I run Dokio 300W panels on my River Pro+Extra Battery setup because I got them cheap ($220 each) but the Massimo panels are nicer

[@sgtusmcarch]

Semper Fi brother

[@greatcesarsghost]

I lost rhe the power cord is it the same as a cord for a PC tower ...or do I have to buy it from ecoflow and pay $$ for it ....let me know

[@ExpeditionLightbulb]

We honestly don’t know… contact Ecoflow, better safe than sorry.

[@cgatling34]

my issue so far is that the battery drains very fast when trying to charge a laptop and definitely for small appliances like rice cooker. the website says the river should be able to charge a laptop 4 different times. i can only charge my laptop once and the batter goes down to around 30%.

[@petcuyvers]

As they say,...."oils ain't oils"

[@1FAST91SONOMA]

I bought the River Pro and add-on battery. It runs my ac, fridge, microwave, hotplate, etc. I wish it had a higher solar input limit so it could charge faster. I also really wish it didnt have wifi or need an app. This IoT nonsense needs to stop. I got this as an intro to solar and a silent way to bring in free energy should I need it while Im building a 560AH lithium solar setup in my modified 4x4 suburban bug out vehicle/camper.

[@giancristobal1601]

How many hours do you think will it last with a 17 watts fan?

[@ExpeditionLightbulb]

In our testing I only pulled 170w, so 17 divided by 170 = only 10 hrs

[@janiselow7482]

Besides of Ecoflow is there any other that is better?

[@ExpeditionLightbulb]

We cannot say better because we personally do not like Ecoflow. You can try Bluetti (is the most comparable to Ecoflow). But the brands that we trust are Inergy, Goal Zero and Jackery.

[@LONEEAGLE_space_rock]

I want to power 1. a Roland cube amp (max.50 watts) 2. VOX 5 watt amp 3. KORG Monologue (battery powered synth) 4. Boss DD7 Digital delay, all for at least one hour continuously.

[@richierich8166]

Can i use it while charging?

[@ExpeditionLightbulb]

Definitely.

[@MichaelKret]

Hi, I'm living in Ukraine, currently it is 9 month of russians invasion into my country, as they have been beaten in a battlefield, russians now destroying our civilian infrastructure, I'm having about 3 hours electricity per day. I do work remotely and this thing allows me to charge my laptop about tree times, and all other devices, also it's my light, and it's very important that it charges so fast. So, for casual "survivor" that live in a state of everyday semi-blackout I would easily recommend this device.

[@c.harryeverley5074]

What happens when the unit is at 1% and when you plug it back in to recharge it, it just beeps?

[@ExpeditionLightbulb]

It should start charging regularly without beeping. Ours would not charge because the unit overheated because we drew too much power.

[@nycamera]

The burnt plastic smell is coming from your Kill-A-Watt meter, it can't handle sustained voltage drops.

[@CECE1839]

Agree, No, we do Not need our EcoFlow River Power Station to talk to the Internet, lol, lol, lol ...

[@chrislee1099]

Brought a ecoflow river pro 600 won't charge, got a little blue icon flashing, so not to impressed with it, I only Brought this cos of the fast charging and all the reviews

[@chrislee1099]

Found out its a temperature issue

[@ExpeditionLightbulb]

We were overwhelmed with all the stuff on the manual too, glad you figured it out.

[@DoritosResidue]

@@chrislee1099 is the issue fixed with a fw upgrade? Planning to buy this but still researching

[@chrislee1099]

@@DoritosResidue now I've got my issue sorted out it's great been running drills , sanders, jig saw , got a heat gun today 900w gonna see if it runs that someone hit the bumper hoping a bit of heat mite pop it out

[@MovieTrailersHD2]

only 500+ cycles? oh well, I will pass...

[@feherberci]

Forget this product - the worst battery product I ever met. I am just returning my second one after the changing. The first one has a lot of problems and I was not able to even use it. The second one went wrong after a few hours so I have to return it. Looks like a good quality product but using it the worst I ever saw. Do not buy any Ecoflow battery only if you want a misery.

[@silvershirebjj]

Omg. Bluetooth isn’t the internet jarhead. Wow. Seriously. 😂👍

[@ExpeditionLightbulb]

Hmm… if you were paying attention, we said WIFI not bluetooth.

[@kerrycooper-dean4243]

😂😂😂😂😂