RIVER 3 Plus (286Wh)

EcoFlow River 3 Plus is a really cool product and is value for money It highly portable and preforms better is in a class of its own Big plus is the app that let you know the input and output usage and lets you turn on or off the device plugged With both AC and DC output capabilities A handy for power outages Only if external extended battery where also available separately in India it would be unstoppable

I bought the River 3 Plus to take on a festival camping trip My goal was to keep our personal devices charged up and to power a small 12 volt cooler throughout the night when solar power wasnt available I would say it met the goals but I might go up to a larger capacity or add the extra battery unit if doing it again The River 3 Plus itself performed flawlessly and ran silently even in near 100 degree weather and actually probably 115 inside the car The display shows everything you need to know as far as input and output wattage and estimated run time Its a good size to easily carry around compared to the Delta series that weigh much much more The Bluetooth pairing was painless and the app worked flawlessly I also appreciated the built in light when messing with the buttons at night For my use case on this trip the biggest issue is the battery capacity and the DC input limit I was trying to charge a couple Dewalt power tool batteries to run a tent fan charge several phones a camera some tent lights and keep our 12 volt fridge running through the night I only had a 100 watt solar panel and that proved to be not enough to replenish this fast enough not the fault of the River 3 Plus I should have bought a 200w panel I then had to rely on my cars 12v cigarette lighter adapter for times when the sun was not out which is also limited to about 100w So I could never get more than 100w input at any time When I managed to get it topped up enough it definitely kept the fridge going 247 which was the most important task If I could suggest any improvements it would be to add a second solarDC input because then I could have used both my cars interior cigarette lighter ports or solar plus car simultaneously to deliver 200 watts which would have definitely sustained my needs a lot better Overall Im very happy to have this unit and expect to get a lot more mileage from it Ecoflow really seem to know what theyre doing with the design of these portable power stations

I had been buying using and recommending power stations for over 6 years now including those from Goal Zero Jackery Bluetti EcoFlow and many other brands EcoFlow really surprised me with their Delta Pro that I bought a few years ago for our vacation home due to many of its innovative features In fact a Goal Zero representative I spoke with at a conference was surprised by EcoFlows engineering chops that year It put the company on my radar as one of the top power station manufacturers I could recommend Thus far I had bought tested and compared EFs Delta Pro and Delta series batteries and I was curious about what the River line was targeting Jackery and Goal Zero did not distinguish their products much Jackery has the ExplorerExplorer Pro and Goal Zero the Yeti XYeti Pro What I learned was that River offered lowercapacity batteries up to 286Wh or 858Wh with expansions for portability and lowpowered devices like laptops and cameras Delta was designed for larger appliances and tools for extended runtime with battery capacity between 1000Wh and 12000Wh or even to power a home or RV If you do not know what Wh WattHours and W Watts mean do not worry I will go over the basics later on in this review For now know that Watthours measures the battery capacity how long something can run for and Watts measures how much power is used or produced When shopping for batteries you will also run into terms like Lithiumion and LiFePO4 In fact many people are confused about what they are We will go over them in more detail later but know that EcoFlows batteries all use LiFePO4 now as do Bluettis Jackery and Goal Zero only recently switched to LiFePO4 This battery chemistrys greatest benefit is longevity lasting at least 10 years with normal use ANALYSIS The EcoFlow River 3 Plus is a compact portable battery designed for everyday use with lowerpowered devices like cameras phones laptops car freezers and home network equipment that keeps the internet running Where EcoFlow shines compared to competitors is its embrace of modular designs The River 3 Plus 286Wh capacity can be expanded with an extra battery that doubles 572Wh or even triples 858Wh its capacity depending on which Smart Extra battery you pair with With 572Wh a car freezer could run for a full day and with 858Wh the same appliance can run between 152 days depending on how warm the ambient temperature is In cold weather the car fridges can last even longer River 3s naming convention is a bit odd the base River 3 Plus 286Wh becomes River 3 Max 572Wh by adding the Smart Extra Battery EB300 286Wh and turns into River 3 Max Plus 858Wh by adding the Smart Extra Battery EB600 572Wh In other words all 3 models share the River 3 Plus as their base Sweet Spot The 1000Wh battery capacity hits the sweet spot for many consumers including this author who are looking for the right balance of power and portability But when it comes to home integration the more Watthours a battery ecosystem offers the longer one can power a home for during a blackout The River 3s advantage with the lower capacity 286Wh 572Wh or 858Wh is portability where space may be at a premium Plus they are far lighter to carry than 1000Wh or larger batteries EcoFlow Goal Zero Jackery and Bluetti power stations can be used while simultaneously charging themselves WHICH MODEL IS BEST Which power station to get depends on your needs and for that I recommend you read the CONTINUOUS VS PEAK OUTPUT section of this review then check the CALCULATIONS part to figure out what size battery to get BATTERY TECHNOLOGY As I previously stated the River 3 uses LiFePO4 Lithium Iron Phosphate whereas older Jackery and Goal Zero batteries used Nickel Manganese Cobalt NMC The latter is also used by todays cellphones from the likes of Apple and Samsung Where individuals are often confused is that some consider LiFePO4 to be better than Lithiumion Liion batteries but in reality both NMC and LiFePO4 are Liion I found many incorrectly referring Liion to be NMC and not LiFePO4 Regardless what are the differences between NMC and LiFePO4 LiFePO4 is bulkier and heavier than NMC yet most power station vendors now use LiFePO4 Here is why LiFePO4 is better than NMC Safer less volatile and thus cheaper to manufacture Charge cycle 15002000 10 years NMC 2025 capacity loss after every 500 cycle 610 years for up to 2000 cycles after which capacity is vastly diminished EcoFlow claims 3500 cycles before dropping to 80 of original capacity and 6500 to 50 Usable in more extreme temperatures 4F20C to 176F80C NMC only 140F60C max Holds 350day charge NMC 300 LiFePO4 batteries are less volatile safer more usable in extreme temperatures and have a higher charge cycle count battery lifetime than NMC You can see from some of my pictures that the River 3 Plus 286Wh LiFePO4 is nearly the same size as the Goal Zero Yeti 500x 497Wh NMC Again LiFePO4 has many advantages but it is heavier and bulkier than NMC batteries The River 3 Max 572Wh is vastly larger than th...

I am using it for my TV to avoid power issues during power failures which is common in my area With Ecoflow power availability to the TV is seamless and TV continues to work without any interruption

This is exactly what I was hoping it would be Small and lightweight for when I just need some portable power and not much heavier to carry around when I need a bit more Being able to use the expansion battery separately has turned out to be a great perk as well Very well designed and executed