This has been a great spring season for testing portable power stations here in Upstate New York. The storms have been frequent, and many have caused power outages that last anywhere from a few hours up to most of a day. In fact, the power is out as I’m writing this. But my laptop, router, and various other home devices are drawing power from the Bluetti Apex 300, which starts at $900 when bundled with the B300K expansion battery (tax and shipping included) on Indiegogo right now.
Bluetti built this rig as more than a box of batteries, with a number of clever features and a few industry firsts that make it stand out from an increasingly crowded field. I have spent the past few weeks testing it out during blackouts, campouts, and even a community event in the park, where it allowed a DJ to kick out jams for several hours without having to run a half-mile of extension cords.
Bluetti Apex 300 Portable Power Station
The built-in display keeps tabs on performance and remaining capacity. This was after several days of sporadic use.
Stan Horaczek
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What is the Bluetti Apex 300?
Bluetti built the Apex 300 as a modular system that’s expandable to fit a variety of needs. Out of the box, it works like a typical portable power station with a 2,764.8Wh of storage capacity and six AC outlets. But the system is scalable into a full-fledged power system for home backup or RV living/van-life. You can daisy chain together up to three units and a total of 18 B300K batteries for a total of 11,520W output and 58,000Wh capacity. That’s enough juice and oomph to power a typical house off the grid for an entire week.
Bluetti Apex 300 key features
- Expandable capacity up to 58,000Wh of capacity and 11,520W, enough to run a typical house for a week
- Dual 120/240 voltage for maximum versatility
- Works as an uninterruptible power supply with a 0ms turnover to keep crucial devices running during a blackout with the industry’s highest pass-through rate
- Offers a DIY solution for hooking up to your home’s main panel
- Companion app reacts to extreme weather alerts and changes charging patterns to ensure batteries are topped off in case of an outage
- Tightly integrates with installed solar panels to provide energy savings
- Industry first 4,000W PV voltage regulator allows for high-speed solar charging—charging takes just 1.9 hours at top speed
- Super versatile charging for RV life. Works with RV park chargers, EV chargers, alternators, and solar
- Battery life is good for roughly 6,000 charges before reaching 80 percent capacity—that’s 17 years of regular use
Bluetti Apex 300 as a portable power station
You don’t have to build an entire infrastructure around the Apex 300. On its own, it provides 2,764.8Wh of power storage, which is plenty for camping trips or as an emergency backup to keep essential devices up and running. The cells inside are second-generation
LiFePO₄ cells. Bluetti suggests the cells will last for 6,000 charges while maintaining 80 percent of their original capacity. I obviously haven’t been able to test that, as it represents roughly 17 years of typical use. But these are the latest and greatest in the technology that has replaced typical lithium-ion batteries across this industry.
The unit itself fits easily into a typical car trunk, including our very basic 2016 Honda Civic. Carrying it is a lot like carrying a stocked cooler around the house, job site, or camp. I brought this specific model to a neighborhood event in a local park. The DJ easily stashed it under his table and drew power for his setup and speakers for several hours.
Every port has rugged rubber covers over it to prevent crud and moisture from getting in during transport. A pair of burly handles makes it relatively easy to lug around, though it isn’t light. If you plan to move it around frequently, Bluetti offers a dedicated cart designed to make it easy to lug.
Built-in wireless connectivity allows a companion app to monitor and control the Apex 300’s status and performance. The app makes the synchronization process simple, and it took me less than 10 minutes from removing it from the box to having everything all set up.
Bluetti Apex 300 as home backup
An old school home backup generator sat waiting for the power to go off before kicking in and turning on. That meant losing power to crucial devices like computers and CPAP machines. When installed in the home, the Bluetti Apex 300 acts as an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) with a 0ms delay and 50A, 12,000W pass-through. That sounds complicated, but it essentially means that power runs through the Bluetti system before going into your home and, as a result, it can keep power flowing constantly, even if the grid goes down. There’s functionally no delay. While other systems operate as UPS devices, the 50-amp, 12,000-watt capacity really sets the Apex 300 apart. That’s enough juice for electric vehicle charging, something no other similar device can currently claim.
It’s relatively simple to connect the Apex 300 via an inlet box or even a generator expansion port for people trying to have several layers of protection. It’s full power unlocks, however, when it’s integrated into a home solar setup. It charges super efficiently, thanks to
a 500V/4,000W PV voltage regulator, which Bluetti claims can help pay for the entire Apex 300 system in as little as two years with the resulting energy savings.
In order to max out capacity, the Apex 300 requires daisy-chaining several Apex 300 main units and extra batteries together. When you’re using three Apex 300s in parallel, it offers 30,720W solar input, which makes it “the world’s largest solar-powered micro energy storage system” according to Bluetti.
Bluetti Apex 300 for RVs and off-grid camps
While there are four typical AC outlets on the front of the Apex 300, there are also two more robust AC outlets (NEMA TT-30R and NEMA 14-50R output ports) on the side that allow for easy RV and off-grid integration. You won’t typically find these RV-centered ports together on a single battery backup system. Those connections allow for high-powered usage, which is crucial if you want to run high-draw appliances like washing machines, tools, or air conditioners.
A simple switch on the front allows users to swap between 120V and 240V charging. Plus, it’s simple to build the Apex 300 and its expansion batteries directly into an RV for an integrated power solution.
When it comes to charging the Apex 300 on the road, there are tons of options. It can charge via solar, RV park chargers, from the vehicle’s alternator when installed directly in the RV, and even from an EV charger on the road.
For off-grid living, the 7,680W surge output rating is crucial for running high-draw devices like power tools, which can sometimes overload systems with less capacity.
Bluetti Apex 300 availability
The Apex 300 solar generator starts at $900 when bundled with the B300K expansion battery (tax and shipping included) on Indiegogo. It’s in-stock and ready to ship. Installment plans and additional early-bird perks are also available during limited-time offers until the campaign ends July 19. Because the system is modular, you can start with a base unit and then add B300K expansion batteries down the line as you need more capacity.
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