BLUETTI EB55 PORTABLE POWER STATION REVIEW

GRID POWER ON THE MOVE

Review by Dusten Ryen

Running out of battery is the worst, and if you ride ebikes you’re likely going to experience a dead battery from time to time. That’s why we find portable power stations to be a great solution not only for boosting the battery backup when you’re at the car, but also for having available power to keep those GoPros juiced and maybe a small fridge or other device. With a lot to choose from on the market the BLUETTI EB55 delivers a 537Wh battery, 13 outputs, and multiple inputs for less than $500. If you’re looking for a solid portable power solution, we don’t have much to say about the EB55 that isn’t positive and worth offering a better experience for those weekend missions or overnight trips.

THE LAB
The BLUETTI EB55 has a 537Wh LiFePO4 battery for long battery life, quick charging, and years of use available with over 2500 charge cycles before capacity will drop below 80%. With a 700W inverter (1400W surge protector) powering 4 110V AC outlets; a 100W USB-C fast charge port; a 12V carport; 2x12V DC outputs; 4x5V/3A USB-A outputs and even a 15W wireless charging pad, you can easily charge just about anything without having to use adaptors.

Shipped with a 200W AC charger to keep it charged up and ready for use, it also is capable of recharging while you drive from a 12V/24V carport, or by solar for those that might have them. At just over 3 hours to complete charge up for use (with AC or 24V carport), the BLUETTI EB55 can get back up to full juice quickly to get you ready to head back out into the wild. Demanding devices like an instant pot may just mean it’s lights out early when you’re out camping, but normal use with your phone, GoPros, camera, or a lantern will allow for your weekend to be charged no problem.

The body of the BLUETTI EB55 is plastic to keep weight down, allowing it to tip the scales at 16.5lbs (7.5kg), and there’s a large carry handle to make transport easier. An inbuilt LCD screen indicates the battery life remaining in 20% increments and shows the input or output power so you can monitor the likely battery life. The device carries an IP21 rating, making it quite susceptible to damage from the elements, so care must be taken if there’s any chance of rain or a lot of dust. Available in 3 color options, the BLUETTI EB55 offers portable off-grid power for a retail price of $499.

THE DIRT
Being e-friendly, we see a lot of low batteries, and being able to charge them up at the trail head is an essential to our process. Naturally our first test with the BLUETTI EB55 was, can it charge our eMTBs? The answer: Yes, quite well in fact. Granted a dead Norco Range VLT with the 900Wh battery will only charge up about 60% due to the lower 537Wh battery capacity provided in the EB55, but our Specialized Levo SL saw those blue bars returned to 100% no problem, with enough battery left to charge a GoPro and Sony camera battery. We found it capable of not only charging up our ebikes to the same standard as at home, but also to keep our GoPros, laptops and camera batteries going on big days and overnight trips. Throughout the testing duration we encountered no issues or funny business, with devices being charged as quickly as you’d expect, if not quicker, and no cut-outs that left us with an undercharged battery in a time of need.

With 13 options to connect a device to the EB55, you’re really spoiled for choice, which removes a lot of the concern of having the right cable or adaptor with you out in the wild. The ability to let your buddies plug in to gain some extra juice without preventing yourself from using the device is awesome, too. The quality of feel of the plastic body and buttons isn’t great, but it feels sufficiently durable to handle a bit of the inevitable rough and tumble. It’s certainly not an ultra-portable device, in the sense that you’d know about it if you were to cram it into a backpack, but it’s easy enough to walk from house to truck and vice-versa. In this respect, we’d almost wish for a larger capacity for how we used the pack to give more charging capabilities, but the EB55 is a reasonable compromise. At $499 it’s by no means a stocking filler (well, not in our world anyway), but with years of life expectancy it could pay itself back many times over with its convenience when out getting it on an adventure.

The Wolf’s Last Word

We are big fans of portable power stations and have used a handful over the years. BLUETTI made a fine device in their EB55 that offers plenty of charging ability for most anyone. It was completely reliable, and you have peace of mind with a 2-year warranty as well as a 2500 battery life cycle.

Price: $499
Weight: 16.5lbs/7.5kg
Website: bluettipower.com