If you checked out my BLUETTI EB3A review, then you already know that I’m a big fan of the brand as a whole.
They have a huge range of products, many of which hold cutting edge technology.
Making these guys a true leader in the world of portable power stations.
However, what makes the AC60 so special?
Should it be a station you should consider buying?
What makes it different from the EB3A?
And what the heck is the deal with the B80?
Below, I’m going to review the BLUETTI AC60 and address all of that, and more!
Let’s get stuck straight into it!
Full Disclosure: We received courtesy product and compensation from BLUETTI in exchange for our honest review only. All opinions expressed here are our own.
If you’re researching what the best portable power station to buy is, then no doubt you’ll have seen BLUETTI’s name pop up a lot.
They’ve been on the block for a few years now and are a solid brand presence in more than a dozen countries.
Sure, they’re not quite as famous as a couple other brands, but have come a long way in a short time.
They stock a range of power stations, solar panels, and even battery expansion packs. Offering customers the chance to buy a product or combo of products that’s ideally suited to their needs.
With the release of new ranges every year, they are at the forefront of emerging power station tech and many of their units make great use of things like fast charging, weatherproofing, noise reduction & expansion capabilities.
I don’t want to dwell too much on this section, but I felt it useful in helping to understand where the AC60 (& B80) fit into the overall BLUETTI product landscape.
When first landing on their homepage, it can feel a little overwhelming.
If this is you, calm down, take a seat … we’re gonna help you.
They have 2 main ranges here, the EB range and AC range. You have:
And within the AC range we have:
NOTE: The exact range can differ depending on which country you are from. This list is accurate at the time of writing for the UK market & I will try to keep up-to-date.
This is where the B range comes in. You currently have the:
These have limited output capabilities, but instead are designed to attach onto a different station and provide a greater battery capacity.
NOTE: They do not increase the power output ability (W) they only increase the overall usable power supply you have at your disposal (Wh).
In the UK, they also stock the EP500Pro. Which has a whopping 3,000W power output and 5,100Wh capacity.
That’s a huge amount of power and primarily designed for home back-up, as opposed to the AC60 which is more of a camping/van life solution.
Okay, so you may be wondering what the difference is between portable power stations and solar generators.
Simply put, a portable power station is the base unit itself, like the AC60 which gives you power and has outputs for you to charge and run devices.
As soon as you bring a solar panel into the mix, you have what is known as a solar generator.
That’s it. Simples.
And BLUETTI stock a range of panels, again the exact type may vary depending on location. But in the UK you have the PV120, PV200 & PV350.
The difference being how many watts each panel is. Meaning, in direct ideal sunlight conditions, the PV120 can punch out 120W of solar into your station.
The exact amount of solar panels you can attach to a station does differ from device to device.
Obviously, the larger panels take longer to recharge and typically allow for more charge.
Let’s review the AC60 more closely by looking at specific key features it offers …
Okay, I thought this was worth its own section as I just wanted to come straight off the bat and say this thing is super well built.
I’ve tested a bunch of power stations recently and this thing comes out top for the smaller units!
It just feels absolutely solid and the materials used really are top end.
It’s a relatively heavy unit for its size. Heavier than other units of similar dimensions I’ve seen and it must simply come down to the fact that there is a lot of battery capacity packed in there.
But the handle on top is very well built, with a nice rubber inside for enhanced grp.
Of course one key reason for the high finish is that this unit is designed to be both water resistant and dustproof.
Okay, this does NOT mean that it is waterproof. I.e. you can’t leave it out in the rain.
If it comes into contact with water in smaller ways, you’ve got less to worry about.
It’s IP65 rated meaning it’s designed to cope in damp environments and has been potentially exposed to “Low pressure water jets from all directions”. But yeah, you can’t go too mad.
I was wondering what this would mean for the actual outlets. I’ve tested other units with dust covers and the results were a bit lacking.
For example on the ALLPOWERS R600, I would actually recommend just removing the dust covers. They block access to the ports and are pretty flimsy anyway and fall out on their own.
However, the ones on the AC60 are an entirely different story and finished much better. They fit in securely and don’t fall out on their own, while also maintaining a great finish.
In fact IP65 rating is the highest level of dust resistance you can get, so that’s testament to how well everything has been put together.
I think the unit just looks incredibly smart, clearly a lot of work has gone into making this thing more durable and hardy, while also maintaining as about a sexy aesthetic as is possible for a power station.
Nowadays, one of the top things that better stations have to stand out is the ability to fast charge. And the AC60 has a turbo charging mode where, when being charged through a household AC outlet, this can be done in as little as 1 hour.
For some people this doesn’t matter too much; in which case they also have a silent charge mode where the unit can take more like 2-4 hours to fully recharge, but makes much less noise than a standard power station charging.
According to their literature this is as little as 45db, 20db lower than what is normal.
As well as this, it is possible to charge your AC60 via a car cigarette port, solar power and even by connecting to other 12v/24v lead acid batteries. I’m not sure how relevant the last one is for most people.
I won’t be going too in-depth in this review of BLUETTI’s solar panels, you can check out my BLUETTIT EB3A review for more on that.
However, for reference the AC60 can support up to 200W of solar input, meaning it’s possible to recharge your unit from completely empty to full in around 3 hours (depending on the quality of sunlight at the time.
If you do read the EB3A post above, then you will see that I rate BLUETTI’s panels very highly.
Nothing to write home to mum about, but certainly better than many other panels I have tried.
Okay, let’s talk now about something pretty special … the fact that you can expand your AC60s overall battery capacity.
Below I have a bit more of an overview of the B80 and its individual features. But the long and short of it is that you can quickly and easily TRIPLE your overall battery bank, just by introducing one more unit.
The B80 was designed specifically to integrate with the A range of stations (plus some others), but doesn't work on all other BLUETTI models.
Also, be aware that what this doesn’t do is increase the overall wattage you have at your disposal.
Meaning that once integrated, you can’t use more powerful devices through your AC60, but you can use the same devices for 3 times as long.
All of the outlets and inverter technology lives within the AC60; the B80 itself is essentially just a giant battery.
I think this is such an amazing idea.
For most camping purposes, the AC60 is an incredible piece of kit, providing more than enough to power basic camping accessories and to charge all your phones, travel drones and laptops.
However, one thing you will find is that, if the weathers bad or you have more people coming on your trip, the standard 403h of power may simply not be enough. Rather than needing to invest in an entirely new power station, all you do is pick up a B80 (or 2) and you're good to go.
Then, in the future, when you go on trips where the larger battery storage isn’t necessary, you simply leave the B80 at home and save a bit of space and weight.
Okay, so how much power does the AC60 actually have.
Well first up it’s worth quickly pointing out the difference between Watts & Watt Hours.
The AC60 has 600W of power and 403Wh of capacity. For those of you not used to power stations, this is a decent amount. Not the smallest out there, but far from the most.
To understand what exact model of station you need, it’s worth taking a look at the devices you realistically need to use.
Let’s say you are going camping for 2 days and take an 18 litre Dometic CoolFreeze Compressor Fridge with you (purely as an example).
It only draws 50 watts while cooling. I imagine power draw drops once it reaches temperature, but then will need to cycle back on as necessary once temperature rises.
So 50 watts is quite a low power draw, and so to run for one hour, it will use 50Wh.
At 403Wh, this means your AC60 would last for about 8 hours. In reality likely longer, due to cycling on the fridge as it reaches temperature.
But you get my point.
On the flip side, to charge a mobile device will use much less power.
To charge a Mini 3 Pro drone battery will require 30 watts of power and take roughly one hour. So that would be a total usage of just 30Wh (give or take).
Just remember that more powerful devices require the inverter to work at fuller capacity. Up to its maximum of 600W. Most kettles at 2000-3000W, so they simply won’t work as the unit would trip.
Ultimately you need to look at the usage you need and make a decision as to whether the AC60 has enough power or perhaps even look at buying a larger model to power more devices.
Or better still, just leave the kettle at home!
The AC60 has 7 outlets, these are:
For the size of the unit this is all pretty standard, though some units of similar capacity often only are able to fit 1 UK power adapter on the outside.
I did test the ALLPOWERS R600 before and they have two sockets but they are much more bunched up.
On the AC60 they are well spaced apart and nothing is bunched together.
One thing I have found with every other wireless charging pad on power stations is that you have to get the position exactly right for it to work.
But the AC60 is so much better for this. The tolerance gap is so much higher and you don't have to faff around, it’s much easier to pick up the right spot. So I consider this a bonus worth mentioning!
Like their other power stations, there’s a lot going on inside the unit itself that I won’t even begin to pretend to fully understand.
I mean, the basics are all there, it has an advanced BMS (battery management system) to help look after the batteries during charge and discharge; as well as an MPTT for controlling solar input and charging the batteries that way.
As well, of course, as an inverter for when you’re running those 240V AC loads.
It’s super well packaged and, though it’s heavier than some similar sized units, it’s not crazy heavy or more than you’d expect.
One interesting feature is the light being on the rear of the station. And not just that but the fact that it stretches full width across the back of the unit and is quite tall.
This is actually pretty unique based on what I’ve seen!
Most this size have a much smaller beam of light on the front. This one is sort of softer due to the opaque white covering, and is actually more convenient in that it can provide a lot more light overall.
The batteries are built to allow for a whopping 3,000 cycles at a discharge and recharge of 80%.
This is really good!
All batteries have a shelf life and these ones are pretty darn impressive.
Finally, it’s worth giving a shout out to BLUETTI’s industry-leading 6 year warranty period for the AC60. Most stations (including from BLUETTI themselves) have a period of 2-5 years.
So it shows a lot of faith in the quality of their batteries and the product as a whole that they are happy to warranty for such a long period of time.
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Okay, we can hardly do a proper review of the BLUETTI AC60 without talking about the B80.
This is one of the defining features of the unit; the ability to massively expand the overall battery capacity by integrating with these other units.
I’ve said it above and I’ll say it again, I absolutely LOVE this idea. It’s so much more convenient than lugging around an unnecessarily large (and expensive) unit who’s capacity may simply be too much for some trips.
In terms of size and weight, the B80 is relatively similar to the AC60, slightly less tall overall, but a very similar look and feel.
Of course, on the inside, that equality of weight is because the B80 has a lot more battery power, but much less other techie bits that you’ll find inside of the AC60. That’s because the B80 has no need to have things like an inverter for running 240V devices.
It has a very similar carry handle, and is also IP65 rated. Meaning it’s just as good in those damper/dustier climates.
It’s pretty straightforward. Inside the box for the B80 they send a connecting cable that plugs into the side of the B80 and the AC60.
You will see on the side of the AC60 that there are 2 ports, meaning you can add in up to 2 B80’s at any one time.
What this does is it just creates one massive battery bank. All of the 240V AC components are unaffected, you still only have 2 of these through the AC60 and they still have the 600W output (1200 in lift mode).
And of course you also have the cigarette socket and 2 x USB ports on the B80s themselves which you can continue to use.
The B80s don’t charge the AC60, instead just share power with it.
Yes! The unit is clearly designed and marketed to be sold as the ideal companion to the AC60. It shares a lot of similar features and design attributes. However it can also be integrated with the EB3A, EB55, EB70, and AC180.
This is accurate at the time of writing and for the UK market, it may well (at the time of reading) be compatible with even more BLUETTI models!
I think it’s so cool that you can even charge the B80 while it’s plugged into the AC60!
Just connect them both and plug the AC60 into your household mains and boom, they will both charge themselves up together. Meaning no hassle or need to switch over the cables.
So if you’re the sort of person that needs to charge these overnight, you haven’t got to worry about staying up till one is charged and then getting the other one in before heading off to bed.
Better still, and just like the AC60, you can charge your B80 via solar panels or while driving.
Okay, here’s something I wanted to quickly touch on as it seems to be a popular topic.
Should you buy the BLUETTI EB3A or the BLUETTI AC60?
Size-wise, they are very similar, and in terms of power they are both 600W.
So, why would BLUETTI manufacture and market 2 power stations both with the same power levels?
Well, let's look at a few other stats:
The AC60 has clearly been built for more demanding usage.
Especially when you couple the overall build quality. The EB3A is a great unit, I’m a huge fan. But it doesn’t have the same premium and hard wearing materials which give it that IP65 rating.
It also isn’t able to charge as quickly or have the extended warranty of the AC60.
Pricewise, from what I can make out, without any discounts, the AC60 has a list price of £699, vs £269 ($699 vs $299) for the EB3A.
If we are to speak about which one is “better”, the AC60 comes out on top in a lot of categories. However, at the same time it is probably over-engineered for what some people may need.
If you’re going camping in the middle of the summer a couple times a year, then the EB3A is probably a better shout.
If you plan on using the device much more regularly, in a wide variety of conditions, often needing to charge it outside most days, then the AC60 is probably a better long term investment.
I genuinely like both units.
If someone was giving them away for free, I’d choose the AC60, but if I was looking to make a purchase decision, I’d think carefully about what I’d realistically be using it for.
Honestly, this unit isn’t for everyone.
Meaning, if you plan on doing some regular camping trips with friends and nothing too extreme, then you may be able to find a unit with the power capacity you need for less money.
Even from BLUETTI itself the EB3A is a smart choice for this demographic.
However, if you like to be a bit more adventurous, and need a unit that is super robust, extremely well built, and that will stand up to the elements better, then yes, I would 100% recommend this unit.
It’s by far the most solid smaller power station I have ever tried and everything stood up and worked as it should.
And I am just really impressed by the ability to combine this with up to 2 other B80 stations and massively expand your overall power bank from 403Wh to a whopping 2,015Wh.
This then gives you so much more flexibility in terms of how much power you want to take away with you depending on the nature of the trip.
I love how you’re less tied down to either buying 2 or 3 of these smaller units, or investing a LOT of money into an absolutely beastly unit that may be simply far too big, heavy and cumbersome for a lot of trips you want to take.
The point here being, that you need to think carefully about the nature of the trips you want to take and what sort of usage your station will be getting.
BLUETTI really do have a fantastic range of products and industry leading warranties to boot.
The best places to buy BLUETTI stations are either direct on their site or through Amazon.
You can find their store for US customers here:
For UK customers:
That’s about it!
I hope this review of the AC60 (and B80) was useful.
Now over to you …
Are there any other questions you think I missed?
Are you thinking of picking one up for yourself?
Drop a comment below and let me know!
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