BLUETTI EB3A Portable Power Station, 268Wh Solar Generator LiFePO4 Battery Backup w/ 2 600W (1200W Surge) AC Outlets, Recharge from 0-80% in 30 Min., LFP Backup for Outdoor Camping, Trip, Power Outage

I used this during a weekend camping trip and it powered all of my electronics, and the size and weight makes it easy to carry and pack away in the car. It easily took care of airing up my air mattress, taking less than 5 minutes and using only 1% of battery. I tested out the solar panel, our campsite was in a slightly shaded area, but I still managed to get around 52 watts of input charge. Which was plenty for my needs in camping for charging devices and airing up the matress. Definitely recommend.

The EB3A is a handy little machine with plenty of output power! 4.5/5 almost perfect but down .5 the buzzing fan sounds, even on silent charge mode.First let me start by saying that overall this is a great little machine. I admit I may have not bought this at the $299 retail price, but on sale is is most certainly worth it. I wanted a solar generator that had a greater than 300 watt inverter, LiFePo4 batteries, and in a small package. Most importantly be able to power the battery charger for my Stihl electric chainsaw, which draws 300-400 watts. If it could brew a coffee, that would be icing on the cake, but not expected.I did all those things with no issues. It powered the chainsaw charger at 400 watts. It ran my 1200 watt coffee maker at 315 watts using power lift mode taking 5 minutes to brew a cup. 21% of the battery was used brewing that cup. Others have done it more efficiently using different means of heating the water like a 600 watt kettle. I was just testing what I had on hand to make coffee.I didn’t test faster charging as I don’t see the need to put the batteries under that strain. If anything I prefer using the lower speed “silent” option. Which isn’t exactly silent. Some places online say the EB3A will do it silently, but even in the app it states that it will slow the fan and only reduce the noise. Nothing about eliminating it completely. In silent mode the fan will come on occasionally, depending on external temperatures. You can hear the fan controller buzzing noticeably as it slowly ramps up the speed to the fan. It’s not horrible, but certainly not “silent” either. I did reach out to Bluetti about this and they said it is normal. My hope is that they will be able to reduce this via a firmware update. I’d rather have the fan reach its set speed more rapidly, than have to listen to it struggle to move at the lower speed settings as it is ramps up. Still better than the fan being off or full speed only though!The power output meters seem to work reliably for as far as I can tell. Deviations were no more than a few watts from my Kill-A-Watt meter plugged into the grid vs plugged into the battery for the few items I tested. Not counting the coffee maker obviously. For example a 52 watt incandescent bulb registered as 52 watts on grid @ 120 volts using the meter. With the same bulb connected the meter registered 50 watts on the EB3A @ 120 volts, while EB3A registered 56 watts on it’s display. The USB readouts seemed to line up pretty nicely as well. A 4.4 watt load on my USB current meter showed up as 4 watts on the EB3A, a 10 watt load on the USB current meter showed up as 10 watts on the EB3A.There is also some parasitic load if you leave either of the power outputs on, but it does not register on the display. This would be the case if you left any inverter powered on, and not unique to this device. I have also found if you leave the app connected, the processor stays awake, and consumes some battery power. Best to power off from the app or close the app so it will go to sleep sooner. I was wondering why my EB3A was warm when unused at times, and I found the app was still connected each time that occurred. FYI, this isn’t a complaint, just letting you know of some quarks of the device so you don’t have to figure them out on your own.One thing I really like is I can easily boost the battery with some much cheaper LiFePo4 batteries I have laying around. I got 2 12.8V 42Ah batteries for around $80 each on AliExpress with around 1kWh of capacity total. Put in series they will charge the EB3A at about 199 watts, or about 99 watts in parallel. I figured this would work since it is supposed to charge off of a car from the DC input, not just solar, and was rated for enough voltage to put the batteries in series. FYI the batteries I used have an internal BMS for safety to prevent over-discharge and over-current and would recommend the same if you attempt to boost your EB3A with batteries directly. And if using lead acid batteries with no BMS, using a fuse would be a good idea.Also if you buy any 3rd party DC 8mm cables, make sure the plug is long enough to fit in snugly. I had one 3rd party cable where the plug was noticeably shorter than the other and it didn't fit securely into the EB3A. Please check attached pictures to see difference between the Bluetti MC4 cable and a 3rd party cable. I bought the 3rd party cable because it was heavier gauge wire, but that doesn't help if the plug won't stay in.It worked well on solar too getting around 70 watts input on my Dokio 110 watt folding solar panel. TBH I’ve never seen the Dokio put out much more than 70 watts with anything else so I’m not too concerned of any issues with the EB3A. The solar panel was another AliExpress buy. I’ll have to try charging with a better panel in the future.And while many others have done capacity tests I can say this will run a 75 watt incandescent bulb for about 3 hours, or 225Wh of output. Which given efficiency losses in the inverter is not too bad, but not amazing either. Again I didn’t buy this for huge capacity, my extra batteries + solar will keep it topped off.Overall I’m very happy and would recommend this to anybody who needs a small, powerful, versatile solar generator. But just don’t expect it to brew coffee all day (without some backup) just because it can do it a few times on its own. ;)

05 July 2025: It seems that Bluetti has added an option for a Bluetooth password. I have edited this post to reflect that.The Bluetti EB3A has been a solid performer in real-world use. So much so that I have ordered a AC180P. The EB3A powered a medical device without issue during a recent storm-related power outage and also kept our internet running so the kids could stay connected. It’s compact, lightweight, and easy to carry, with a design that clearly shows some thoughtful attention to detail. The unit is quiet when I turned on silent mode and doesn’t automatically shut down if Eco mode is turned off.Setup and daily use are simple and straightforward. The companion app is easy to navigate, even if it leans a little gimmicky — it includes mini-games where you can win coupons or gear, a social feature, a suggestion forum, and a store for purchasing Bluetti products directly. It’s not essential for basic operation, but it adds some value if you’re into that sort of ecosystem.One thing to keep in mind: for full control of the unit, the app is required.All in all, the EB3A is a well-made and dependable power station that does what it promises. If Bluetti improves access control in future updates or models, it would make a great product even better.

The product is essentially perfect.It does exactly what it says it does. Seems very well thought out.But the surprise to me was after 18 months of moderate use the cooling fan failed, and the support and response from the company was surprisingly good.Any product can suffer a failure. So I don’t fault that.I initiated a contact with their support on a Friday before a Holiday weekend. In the initial email I detailed the issue, and all the steps I attempted to address it. I got the automated 'we got your email' response one minute later. I got a real response 3 days later (that Monday) and the response came in at 3am. So when I saw that I was crestfallen, as that to me meant overseas customer support. I braced myself to read the reply, expecting the usual delay tactics, requests for reboot, and never ending need to again restate the issue. To my shock, NONE of that happened. The very first response from Anson in Bluetti Customer Support, was that I needed to return the unit for replacement. The email included detailed instructions on the next steps they needed to begin the return process. Anson actually read my email, understood the issue and advanced a solution in the very first contact.There was a bit of back and forth as I fulfilled their requests to initiate the return, but through that process they provided a paid return shipping label and clear instructions. The other thing that surprised me was that their customer support system was much more pleasant to interact with than most others I have dealt with.The initial email I sent, was just an actual email to their support email address. Not a web form with drop down menus and a process to navigate. I was able to compose and attach stuff in a way that I am comfortable with from my native email program. Then the response from them was an email that began with "Your request ###### has been updated. To add additional comments, reply to this email." Not above this line! Just reply. So I looked at the subject and return address, but those were still the address and subject I had started with. No special case number in the subject. No unique reply to address. So again I was disappointed that my reply would get picked up by another customer support representative and I would be forced to play the rinse and repeat game that we so often deal with with overseas customer support.But no, again I was surprised. Each reply I sent, was met with a response at about 3am the next day from Anson. They used FedEx both ways, and even with the 3 day delay to hear back from a real person, I had the replacement unit in my hand 8 days after I sent the very first email. They even followed up to make sure I was all happy, (an automated system generated email) and when I replied to that email, that was not part of the original thread, again it was Anson that answered. Such a shocking and pleasurable experience!