‘Less Is More’ is a mantra that I’ve increasingly adopted over the last couple of decades and probably something I should get tattooed on my arm as a daily reminder for me to always seek the simplest and lightest solution.
I’ve reviewed a number of portable power stations over the past couple of years and they all offer a different mix of pro’s and con’s depending on what your specific goals are.
This is a good thing as we all have different goals and points of view and it definitely isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ kind of thing.
Bluetti recently sent me their AC70 Portable Power Station to field test and produce a video and blog post and in the interests of full disclosure they have not paid me anything to create this content but I do get to keep the AC70 so you’ll no doubt see it along with some of their other gear from time to time in future videos.
My goal when testing and reviewing gear is not to find and expose the ‘junk products’, but rather to spend my time working with gear from brands that make inherently good quality products and explore the capabilities, strengths and potential weaknesses of those products.
And also to explore how they fit into the type of expeditions that we like to do.
Travelling ‘off-grid’ is one of our core values here at Expedition Australia and having your own power supply is essential to that goal.
My initial impressions of the AC70 were that it seems to sit nicely in the sweet spot of enough AC power output for everything I need and a big enough battery while also being compact, lightweight and importantly, affordable.
So with that said, let’s explore the AC70 in more detail . . .
BLUETTI AC70 KEY FEATURES
• 1000w Continuous AC inverter with 2000w Lifting Power
• Big Battery – 768wH of battery capacity
• Long life – 3000 charge cycles with 80% battery capacity
• 950W Turbo AC Charging – 45 Mins to 80%
• 500W Fast Solar Charging – Fully Charge in 2 Hrs
• Compact and Lightweight – Only 10.2kg
• 5 year warranty
1000w Continuous AC Inverter
The AC70 is able to output 1000 watts of clean AC power giving it the capacity to power a wider range of AC devices than it’s smaller counterparts (eg. the EB3A and AC60).
For example, my induction cooktop can pull up to 2000 watts of power when it is available but can be dialled down to 1000, 800 or even 600 watts bringing it into the range of the AC70.
Watch my video above to see me field testing the AC70 cooking my dinner.
It also has plenty of clean AC power to power laptops, CPAP machines, charge camera batteries, run a video projector or other sensitive electronic devices.
2000w Power Lifting Mode
Some devices that require more than 1000 watts of AC power can still be powered from the AC70 using ‘Power lifting Mode’.
This feature, which you turn on and off in the Bluetti smartphone app, enables you to power energy intensive devices that primarily use a heating element – hairdryers, kettle, electric blanket, fan heater, toaster etc.
Devices that have high resistive loads but not complex electronics.
Keep in mind that you will drain the battery faster so on cold nights it would probably be better to heat up some water in your kettle for your hot water bottle than to install an electric blanket in your swag!
768wH Battery Capacity
There are several things in life you can never have too much of . . . money, time and of course battery capacity when you are camping!
But realistically we need to draw the line somewhere.
More battery capacity means more money spent and more weight to carry around.
So how much is enough?
Well it depends on the amount of power you use at camp and your capacity to recharge the battery.
The type of trips I like to do are multi-day road trips where I generally only stay one or two nights at each spot.
So for me I need enough battery capacity to do the things I need to do at camp before recharging the battery on my way to the next overnight stop.
I’ve installed a 1000 watt AC inverter in my Landcruiser specifically for fast charging my portable power stations while driving between camps and you can watch that video here to find out more about it.
I took the AC70 out camping for a couple of nights to the Rubicon River a couple of hours out of Melbourne and I wanted to see if 768wH of battery capacity would be enough for me to cook a couple of meals, recharge my drone and camera batteries, run some lights and boil the kettle a couple of times.
And the result was that it was just enough if I am careful with the power usage.
Cooking a dinner of Fajita’s and breakfast of bacon and eggs the next morning used approximately 75% of the capacity of the AC70 and the other 25% was used boiling my little Popup Kettle once and recharging camera batteries.
Watch the video at the top of this post to see it in action.
I did manage to topup the battery by about 5% from my 120 watt Bluetti Solar Panel but being mid winter, the sun was low in the sky and lacked any real punch.
What I concluded from my experiment was that 768wH would be enough power but I need to use a better quality frying pan with a slightly heavier base that retains heat better and use the induction cooktop on the lowest setting of 600w so as to minimise wasted energy.
I also plan to install permanent solar panels on the roof of the Landcruiser which would keep trickling power into the AC70 all day and ultimately put back in a lot more than the 5% I added from just 2 hours of having the portable panel setup in the afternoon.
The AC70 can utilise up to 500w of solar input so on sunny days the panels on the roof should keep it topped up easily (When I install them I’ll do some more testing).
That combined with fast AC charging when driving using the built in AC inverter in my car and it should be enough.
Add a B80 Expansion battery for another 806Wh
If you find that the 768Wh of battery capacity of the AC70 isn’t quite enough then you can add a B80 expansion battery to the system in what Bluetti call ‘Power Bank Mode’.
Connect the B80 to the AC70 using an XT60 to Aviation cable and you’ll expand the capacity of the system to 1574Wh.
There are a few benefits to a modular system like this:
- Spread the cost over time – Rather than one big purchase, buy an AC70 now then add a B80 if/when you need it later on
- Flexibility – If you don’t need both the AC70 and B80 for a trip then leave the B80 at home
- Power separate devices – The B80 by itself is DC only and can be used to run DV devices independently of the AC70. eg. run your 12v camping fridge and charge USB devices.
- Easier handling and storage – At around 10kg each, moving the AC70 and B80 in and out of the car and around camp is easier than lugging one big system that could weigh more than 20kg
If the B80 isn’t enough you can connect a B230 Expansion Battery for an extra 2048Wh or B300 Expansion Battery for an extra 3072Wh for even more additional capacity.
You’ll also need additional cables to connect the expansion batteries:
- B80 to AC70 = XT60 to Aviation Cable
- B230/B300 to AC70 = P090D to XT60
3000 Charge Cycles With 80% Capacity
The AC70 uses Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) battery technology which ensures extremely long service life.
The system can be recharged from empty to full 3000 times and will still retain around 80% of its original capacity.
Unless your planning to flatten and recharge it every day for more than 8 years, it is unlikely that you’ll ever wear out the battery in the realistic service life of the product.
Compare this to your old lead acid and deep cycle batteries that you’re lucky to get a few years of service life out of even without using them every day.
Compact – Weighs Just 10.2kg
Larger portable power systems can weigh in excess of 20kg making them heavy and cumbersome to move around.
At a little over 10kg the AC70 is light enough that it is easy to move around and small enough to store in tight places, behind the driver’s seat for example where it is out of sight and also out of the direct sun.
I have quite an obsession with reducing the weight of my rig and every kilogram counts so lugging around a large battery system just to have plenty of power in reserve is not my goal.
A more compact and lighter system with just enough power makes more sense to me . . combined with the capacity to easily recharge it from solar and AC charging while driving.
5 Year Warranty
Most new tech products these days come with a 1 year warranty and the option to purchase an extended warranty to add a couple of extra years.
The AC70 comes with 5 years out of the box!
Coupled with its 3000 charge cycles this means that even if you use it daily for 5 years you won’t wear out the battery and you’re covered against breakdowns by the warranty.
950W Turbo AC Charging – 45 Mins to 80%
The AC70 can pull up to 950w of charging power from an AC outlet (in Turbo Mode) which will take it from 0% to 80% in around 45 minutes and fully charge in around an hour.
With the AC70 set to Standard Charging Mode the 1000w AC inverter installed in my Landcruiser delivered between 400w and 500w while driving which fully charged the AC70 from 0% to 100% in under 2 hours and didn’t put any excess load on my alternator.
500W Fast Solar Charging – Fully Charge in 2 Hrs
The real upgrade over the previous generation of portable power stations is the fast solar charging.
The AC70 can take advantage of up to 500w of solar power and fully charge in under 2 hours.
This is ideal if you have rooftop solar panels on your vehicle, van or trailer or a portable solar panel that can continually feed power into the AC70 during the daylight hours and keep the AC70 topped up.
Bluetti App Control
The AC70 is compatible with the Bluetti smartphone app giving you a range of remote control capabilities from your phone.
With the app you can monitor the charge state of the AC70 including power coming in and out of the system plus turn on and off the AC or DC outputs. It’s best to leave them switched off if you’re not using them as they will slowly drain the power if turned on.
There are also option to select the charging mode, turn power lifting on and off, ECO mode, the auto sleep function and firmware updates.
UPS Mode
UPS stands for ‘Uninterruptible Power Supply’ and it’s a very handy feature for when you have your AC70 at home between trips.
Any devices that you would want to keep running in the event of a loss of mains power can be plugged into the AC70.
For example your Internet modem or home computer.
Keep the AC70 plugged into the mains power and it will stay charged at 100% while power from the 240v mains runs straight through to the devices you have plugged into it.
If the mains cuts off due to a power failure, the AC70 will instantly switch over to battery mode and keep the attached devices running until its inbuilt battery runs out.
Often when you have a local blackout due to weather or an accident that brings down the power lines, your NBN internet connection is still active.
In this case, by using the AC70 as a backup power supply in UPS mode you can maintain internet access.
Silent, Standard and Turbo Charging modes
The AC70 has 3 x AC charging modes and each has a different input power and charging speed.
- Silent Mode – The slowest charging speed but it generates only 45dB of sound from the internal cooling fan in the silent charging mode. Ideal for charging in camp or vehicle overnight when you need the AC70 to be silent.
- Standard Mode – The default mode.
- Turbo Mode – The fastest charging option for when you have plenty of AC power available (mains) and need the system charged fast.
I’d recommend only using Turbo Mode when you really need to as generally charging batteries faster generates more heat and can reduce the battery life.
What Can Be Powered From The AC70?
The AC70 has a lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) battery with a capacity of 768Wh and a built in 1000W pure sine wave inverter providing up to 1000W of clean AC power through two 230V AC outlets.
This is ideal for sensitive electronic devices like laptop computers, battery chargers, etc.
In Power Lifting Mode the AC70 can power AC devices with resistive loads up to 2000W, eg. hairdryers, kettle, electric blanket, fan heater, toaster etc.
Keep in mind that the power capacity of the AC70 is the total of all devices plugged into it so you if you have devices that use at or close to the capacity of the system you may need to run them one at a time.
Generally speaking, look for devices that use as little power as possible to maximise battery life.
For example I found this Popup Camping Kettle at Snowy’s that uses only 1000W of power and works with the AC70.
Normally kettles use over 2000W of power.
| ✅ YES | ? MAYBE | ❌ NO |
| LED Lights | Small Microwave | Air Conditioner |
| Phones | Electric Frypan | Large Kettle |
| Tablets | Electric Grill Plate (BBQ) | Large Microwave |
| Laptops | Air Fryer | |
| Camping fridge/freezers | Espresso Machine | |
| Fans | Electric Wok | |
| Small Kettle (eg. Popup) | ||
| Toasted Sandwich Press | ||
| Small Toaster | ||
| Small Hairdryer | ||
| Rice Cooker | ||
| Slow Cooker | ||
| Cordless Tool Battery Charger | ||
| Induction Cooktop on Low Power | ||
| Small Fan Heater | ||
| TV | ||
| DVD Player |
NOTE: I checked the power requirements for many of these devices based on products on the Kmart website
AC70 Power Station Specs
BATTERY INFO
| Capacity: | 768Wh(32V,24Ah) |
| Type: | LiFePO4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate) |
| Life Cycles: | 3,000+ Cycles to 80% Original Capacity |
| Shelf-life: | Recharge to 80% Every 3-6 Months |
| Management System: | MPPT Controller, BMS, etc |
OUTPUT
| AC Output: | 2 × 230V/4.3A, 1000W in total |
| Inverter Type: | Pure Sine Wave |
| Surge Power: | 2,000W |
| USB-C Port: | 2 × 100W Max. |
| USB-A Port: | 2 × 5VDC/2.4A 12W in total |
| 12V DC Outlets: | 1 × 12V/10A (Car outlet, regulated.) |
INPUT
| AC Input: | 950W Max. |
| Solar Input: | 500W Max, 12-58V, 10A |
| Car Input: | 12/24V from Cigarette Lighter Port |
| Max Input: | 950W |
| AC Charging Time: | 1.3 – 1.6 Hours (950W Turbo Charging) |
| Solar Charging Time: | 2.8-3.3 Hours (500W Max.) |
GENERAL
| Weight: | 10.2kg |
| Warranty: | 5 Years |
IN THE BOX
Pricing & Where To Buy The AC70
Check current product prices and purchase at www.bluettipower.com.au
