I think you do a great job explaining this tech to new consumers. You helped me with my first purchase choice last summer. Baldr 120 folding and a EB70. I’m now building my own more powerful setup in my home.
It is a wery great power station for camping! Millions people in Ukraine now living in a camping mode - electricity from portable power stations, food from street barbeque, water from a ground, sleeping in a sleeping bags... But we are keeping sense of humour ;-)
@Jasonoid We are all too accustomed to living in the comforts of the modern world. However, insane regimes appear in the world over and over again. Alas, even in the 21st century, people need to fight stupid evil. --- I bought this generator for home and now I can work during daily blackouts. Noisy when charging. Overall, lightweight and easy to use. Wery good review, it helped me to choose ;-)
In South Africa we dont even have a war, but more people are killed daily and we have power cuts for 4hours at a time, 3 times a day. Fucking crazy with this useless government.
Ugh. There were a couple companies selling these on Amazon last summer. They were branded by no names with no reviews so I never took the leap. One even dropped to 199.99 and I still kick myself for not getting it. Glad to see an expert review finally!
I've got they're 240wh power station for camping and was looking for something a bit more powerful for emergency home use and the 518wh for the price was very tempting. But since it doesn't allow AC pass through charging it's off my list. Love your updated spreadsheet and grading system, keep up the great work and awesome videos.
Ill be getting one later this year so you can expect a review video on it. I was hoping to have my subs grow faster than they are currently. Lots of work but not quite seeing the growth from it yet.
Love your video's.... and the super cool geeky spreadsheet! Surely price point is a one of the most important considerations. Also, customer service and brand reliability are massive factors which I guess will be difficult to incorporate a score in your spreadsheet and also reliability can be difficult to calculate as you need some serious usage over a period of time. I love the Ctechi 240 and is unbelievably good value for its price but 1year warranty is ok I guess, but would happily pay a bit more for a product if 2or3 year warranty was included. Also the Ctechi generators look cool and seem well designed asthetically. Some generators have a horrible plastic modular design and look like they were designed by the £pound shop / 1 $ store!!
Thanks for the great work man! 👍🏻 I got an update for the solar charge wattage. I connected my GT 500 to a Wattstunde 200w Panel and the powerstation loads up to 117w. Between 110 and 117. So theoretically the charge time with solar would be under 5h. I don’t know if CTechi made an update to the firmware… I got mine in early 2022 but used a Wattstunden 120w panel before I got the 200w just a few days ago. With the 120w panel I only got 95w charging power at the max. More could not be expected from a 120w panel I guess. As a rule of thumb I learned ~80% of the nominal power of the panel can be expected as loading power. The 200w panel of course could deliver more than 117w, but here the GT 500 limits the charging power. But therefore I got a bit of a reserve, when autumn and winter comes, with better charging results as from the 120w panel would be possible.
GT500 supports 120W charging from AC adapter or 120W from solar panel plus 60W PD USB type C charging, so you could charge with 120W + 60W = 180W total (so even 180W from solar panel if your panel can convert to also at least PD 60W.
I bought CTECHI GT500 unit February 2023 and it has pass-through charging when using AC output socket. I can charge the unit with AC adapter (and it should also work from solar panel as well - it's same input) and I have plugged in my external AC USB charger into AC output socket and use it to charge my phone and it works... AC socket doesn't shuts off. So probably newer units have newer firmware and I confirm they can charge the power station and use AC output socket simultaneously with pass-through charging (so can be used as UPS or even solar powered UPS).
I would have liked a few more words on the advantages and disadvantages of the LiFeP4 technology compared to other battery types, and most of all I would generally like if you could include temperature behaviour into your reviews. What are the min and max outside temperatures for charging, operation, and storage? Temperature behaviour is one of the most relevant criteria in real life use cases, yet almost no reviewer includes this into their reviews.
10:31 Do I understand it correctly that the DC car output still works but AC output shuts down? That is unfortunate for my needs, but I could possibly circumvent it depending on the next question: Will the USB-C output also shut down when charging (with solar in my case)? If so, this thing is useless for me during daytime. If no AC out and no USB out, I can't use it for my computer for work unless the battery is full and I have daylight (time) to waste. I'm looking forward to an answer. Thanks!
Please help. Purchase mine last year been working good but suddenly it will not turn on. Tried calling for help via google information through internet no answer and you cant send message.
Hello Jason ,thanks for such an informative video ,I give it a five star .I have the GT 200 and it is good for charging the phones and tables and running my bar fridge.I am interested in buying the St 2000 model.I encountered on one depth review on UA-cam.Can please do a review for us (CTECHi ST 2000, the 2076 wh series )
@@Jasonoid Looking to start with this one, best so far for the price and specs as you showed, next will be solar panel 160W or 180W, still not sure what brand, but has to be foldable.
@@SupermixRR The price is very good on this model and it should work great for powering a fridge. Since it only gets 101 watts input on solar, a decent 120watt panel should be enough but you can never have enough solar haha :)
Hi - great review! I noticed you measure inverter efficiency under both 12V DC and 120V AC loads, I would like to see both test results in your spreadsheet, even if one is for reference only (not included in your grading system). For me 120V AC efficiency is more important. Thanks for putting that spreadsheet together and making it available!
@@Jasonoid I got a AC200P, 2 wattfun 300's plus I made my own solar system with 2 zooms 200ah lithium Iron Phosphate batteries and a renogy 3000 inverter running through an 60amp epever mppt charge controller. Currently running it in an RV travel trailer.
@@Jasonoid yeah it's cool. Just not looking as best as I want it. I am currently redoing the format of it. It's great backup power in a pinch for sure. I got 700 watts of solar panels to push it for now until I can get more. I watched a few of your videos. I appreciate your content.
WALL-E ! - Once you said that I couldn't get that image out of my head when looking at this power station. That is not a bad thing, and it does have a good look. The flashing display is probably the camera, but quite distracting. You may wish to make a note of this when editing the video so it doesn't make it look like this is normal. This station looks to be able to keep that 12v compressor fridge going constantly if you have it on solar, even at 100watt charging limit and taking 5.1 hrs to fully charge. And since it can be doubly charged using the USB-C as well, using something that can convert solar power to output USB-C power, could charge this even faster. Perhaps something to look into? Thanks again for this excellent review, to bad this doesn't pass through the AC inverter, but if you really needed AC, you could always add a 12v plug inverter of your own. One last thing, if it is a thing on any power station, I would love to be able to see the solar input be the same, or greater, wattage capability as the power output capability is. Don't know if this exists or not, but I think it could be useful especially when using passthrough.
Hey P M, the screen flashing is the way my camera shutter speeds react to the display refresh rate. I mentioned it briefly in the "display overview" section of the video and showed how it looks normally. Having my camera set to 60hz doesn't play well with lighting so I can't keep it at that setting all the time. I'd love to see a power station that can charge as fast as it puts out power but I think they charging capability of LiFePO4 is limited to a .5C charge rate and the discharge rate is 1C. So to keep within specs of the current chemistry you can only charge half the speed of discharging to get the full 2000 life cycles.
ah yes i recall that, but i think i meant to say that in the beginning of the video, when the screen is flashing, some text at the bottom could be added that states to the effect: the screen flashing is because of the camera, explained further in the video. just a suggestion, but i think it would help. thanks for letting me know about the charging limitation of the cells, i still think it would be nice to have, but i understand why it works that way now at least. though this station has over 500 watts out but doesn't even have 250 watts in, so for me it will become a look out for one that has this balance or near enough anyway. thanks again! hope life is going very well for you.
@@user--PM Thanks for the feedback, it would have been better to put some text on the bottom of the screen for sure...Oops :( I would love to see ALL of these power stations charging at a .5C rate, it appears most aim for about .2C or 20%, the better power stations are up near 40% or even 50% (Bluetti AC200p / Oukitel P2001)
Your table for comparing SPG's is great. however, could you add a column to inicate if the device has UPS switching capability. Some need these to support CPap or other medical devices... Having UPS feature indicated in the table would be great. Thanks.
I have an addition features column, I tend to put UPS functionality there. I don't know if many small power stations that have UPS functionality but most do offer pass through charging, except this one haha.
Once again. AWESOME VID. So great to have such thorough testing and comparisons. love the spread sheet. Gonna share this with my RV buddies. I am building a 24 volt system for my van with 2 12 volt SOK batteries and the MPP all in one...which of your videos will help me design the set up?
I havent built an RV setup yet. I'll probably built a 24v or 48v backup system using solar sometime in the near future, maybe in the next year? Will Prowse would have a few great videos about that type of setup.
@@Jasonoid I was thinking about using it also as an emergency power supply - the control/pump of my central heating's boiler seems to use 450 W. But there's no sun where it's installed. On the road I'd mostly charge batteries, I think... Btw, do you have a philosophical objection to Li-Ion batteries? I would love to see your review of an EcoFlow River. Simply because they are the brand with the most professional-looking website... Of course that needn't mean anything, but first impressions are hard to forget...
@@notafan1275 I am currently testing the Ecoflow river pro and the Ecoflow Delta MAX, both have Lithium Ion cells in them. They work really well and have cool app connectivity to adjust many settings. I haven't found any major issues with either power station. I think it's just up to you if you think you'll benefit from the increased lifecycles of LiFePO4 vs Li-ion. All depends on use case. If you are using your power station every single day, all year, probably would benefit from LiFePO4 increased lifecycles. If you use it once or twice a month, Li-ion isn't bad.
@@Jasonoid Thanks for the reply! I guess we can look forward to a video review of the Ecoflows? I'll subscribe so I won't miss it. Oh, could you talk about how they would work for somebody who doesn't like to use apps (especially not ones where you have to register in China)? Seriously, the app is the point that might make me buy another brand, even though the power station itself looks very good...
@@notafan1275 the ECOflow app requires wifi / internet connection. Bluetti offers a new app that doesn't require internet, just a bluetooth connection.
Hey Jason, love your review. Saw this unit on Amazon and its $299 now. In the questions section, someone asked if you can use the AC while solar charging and the answer from Ctechi themselves said YES. Very disappointed that it does not. Did you ever contact Ctechi on the situation ?? Hopefully this can be fixed on a firmware update.
Its a decent power station at $299. If you just need the DC output for running a DC 12v fridge than no need for the AC inverter. Other than the disabled full pass through charging, I like this guy.
This is likely a silly question, but do most power stations have an internal charge controller? For your testings, do you just plug straight from the solar panels into the power station?
Yeah, all these power station have a built in charge controller with a specific range of voltage tolerances. Just stay within those and you'll be good.
Hey Jason. Amazon has the ctechi gt1500, 1200w power station on sale for $600 after a$200 coupon. Seems like a great deal. Do you know anything about this particular unit?
The fan is pretty quiet, I didn't notice anything loud. The inverter is disabled when charging with this power station so make sure you think about that when making a decision. I still think the Bluetti EB55 is worth the extra cost due to it's larger inverter 700 watts and faster charging speed (200 to 400 watts)
Great video. Just picked up their 320wh station. Can you do a video on lithium battery station care? I've read a few things online about longer-term storage, and there seems to be a lot of conflicting info out there. Just curious what the best practices are for getting those 2000+ cycles out of the battery.
I'll jot down the video idea and see what I can put together. The jist of it is basically the less you take it down to 0% and if you keep it charged up to about 85%, you should get more cycles, probably like 3000+. Doing the 100% to 0% will get you 2000. These power stations are new, we need to see if they can even hit that number of cycles before something goes wrong.
@@Jasonoid Hi, i finally purchased mine, i was wondering if using the passtrhou charching is bad for the unit, or if it doesn' matter. Some places say it is bad, some don' t. What do you think?
I have never been good at electrical math, Will I be able to run a laptop and a Celestron 8se on this station for an all nighter? The plug on the telescope is a 12V 2A plug and the laptop is a 20V 2.25A plug
It looks like the telescope pulls about 25 watts and the laptop pulls about 45watts (Volts X Amps = Watts) Take the total wattage and divide that into the total watt hours of the power station and that will give you an estimated run time: 518wh / 70 watts = 7.4 hours of runtime. Now with about 15% efficency losses, I'd only expect around 6 hours of runtime. Hope this helps :)
I don't have the bandwidth to watch the vid right now. Does this one have the MPPT bug in the firmware like the 240? I had hands on a 240 and was otherwise impressed.
No issues with charging on this guy, you can check out the new grading spreadsheet for a super fast overview and performance info on the power station.
Is it actually a cigarette lighter plug with a solid steel barrel and a ceramic disc to hold the positive power connector or is it an auxiliary power port with a thin metal barrel surrounded by plastic and a plastic disc holding the positive connector
@@Jasonoid One power station I'd love to see someone do a proper review on and a tear down to see if the the charging peramiters could be fixed and can the inverter do as it claims and how good is its build quality is the natures generator it's old school sealed lead acid technology but the price is affordable even up in Canada and since it's sold by Lowes and Home Depo online shipping doesn't cost an arm and leg but in researching it I found many flaws the main one was improper charging peramiters I've bought booster pack with modified sine wave inverter on average 1 per year for the last fourty years to charge my cordless tools batteries at work and when needed jump the vehicle until I found utube I thought that's all they lasted since I had just bought 2 new ones I checked with the manufacturer and was lied to but after almost a year I found out and by proper charging it I got another year but I couldn't get it to start my vehicle last time so I think it's gone but natures generator sounds good in that it has a 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter that if the inverter is good and will last it could be a good way to go green better if the the charging peramiters could be fixed and if they would change the solar charge controller to a decent mppt programmable controller it could be a great starter unit but they need some good review channel doing a proper review instead of a prepper doing a quick test and saying it works when bought doesn't matter if it frys when under load or if the battery is designed to need replacing every year just a thought even an old school sealed lead acid battery unit if built proper so it last 5 to 8 year's before the battery needs replacing if it's got a good programmable mppt control so it's upgradeable to lithium or other technology that may be available by then would be ideal but with preppers using the esso principal of every sucker sucked in once they won't change and the factor that the good review channels seem to think that everyone can just open the wallett and pull out 5 grand or more with out even thinking about it or just borrow it for a lot of us with low fixed income and for seniors our borrowing is at 20% buying a unit to go green isn't an option but a unit for around a thousand Canadian and no or low shipping cost is an option
Jason, I like your concept of the spreadsheet; but I cannot see it very well on my laptop. I was going to print it out so I could see it better but you have made it non-printable, nor do I want to print something you will be adding to. Could you make it so I can use my arrow to slide from side to side? I just wanted to see it in a 100%-125%. That's all; thank you for being informative about these power stations.
Hey Kevin, I have viewed it from multiple 'view only' accounts and I haven't had any issues moving around (I can scroll left and right and up and down and see the whole thing no issues). Maybe try opening it in Google Chrome or Firefox and see if that helps?
Fantastic review! I think it’s a good power bank, but will not be buying based on your review. Jason, if you were to spend around $500 - $550, which unit would you purchase? You do the best reviews and it’s appreciated. I’m leaning towards that Bluetti EB70S, but wanted to ask you first. What if you went up to $600, would it change any? Thank a bunch, Jason.
I'd recommend the EB70s since it has lots of capacity and charges pretty quick. Minimal downsides too... Out of all my smaller power stations, if I had one to take with me, it be the EB70.... Until something better comes out, never know what's on the horizon!
Older power stations that have lithium ion batteries (NMC) used the direct battery voltage for the 12v socket. That means that as the power station state of charge drops, so did the voltage output. Why does that suck? Some 12v devices cant run when the voltage drops. This isn't much of an issue anymore with LFP power stations.
Thanks for another video and option it seems at one point you mention trying solar usbc output from 1 panel and dc output from another. Additive effect for charging? It was a different review am i remembering correctly and was there an oitcome
This power station accepts dual charging, so you can charge with a solar panel and possibly with a secondary solar panel that outputs USBc 60watts. Pretty cool.
@@Jasonoid next question. Am going back and forth between setpower rv45 and 45d. Love the swappable lid on dual but can't see ever using it in dual mode. Really like form factor on single rv45. Ever compared efficiency between the two?
The RV45 will always be more efficient due to having a metal construction, thicker insulation and just one zone. You cant go wrong with the RV45, love that budget fridge.
Gostaria de saber quantas horas consegue alimenrar uma neveira 12 v porque para mim esse é primordial para ter bebidas frescas e a car continuar em bom estado quando estou isolado
Oops I forgot to mention those items! Since it doesn't have pass through charging I figured most people wouldn't be serious about this option. My experience with Ctechi has been great in the past, they were excellent in providing a solar firmware upgrade for my Ctechi 240wh power station when it had issues charging with solar.
😱😢 No pass-through?!? That's a deal-breaker for me, sadly. These portable power stations can be used as UPS devices if they have pass-through. I came to realize how important this feature is after having researched and used my first one. Other than that, it's a great looking unit and you did a good job presenting it.
You can use a 12v to 230v adapter to run 230v appliances while charging this station. It works, i tested it. It isn’t ideal, but considering the price it’s a workaround if you nee€ this feature in a pinch. Most devices i want run are able to do so with DC power, so for me that’s more about if it’s possible, not that i need it..
I bought CTECHI GT500 unit February 2023 and it has pass-through charging when using AC output socket. Just now I am charging the unit via AC adapter and I have plugged in AC charger into AC output and use AC external charger to charge my phone and it works... nothing shuts off.
I think that one piece of data missing on your spreadsheet is # of years of warranty. Especially when a few power stations have roughly the same features/score for around the same money. A longer warranty would be important in my decision & I assume other folks as well.
Good thinking. I think it comes down to what company makes each power station VS the actual warranty they offer. A no-name company can offer a warranty but they will never fulfill your request to get a replacement or the unit fixed. The large companies like ECOflow, Bluetti, Jackery, and GoalZero have much better support existence than these smaller off brand companies. Ive only recommended products that I feel are trustworthy so that helps a little bit, no recommending cheap junk is a good place to start.
@@Jasonoid I agree but what you have in your spreadsheet doesn't show that value. Perhaps a full point for the company behind the product to show reputation/support/warranty OR remove products you wouldn't want people to buy based on that factor. JMHO FWIW.
You would add this to your grading list. Would the camera be able to see the display read out well? Well the answer from me is a little bit flashly. But will still figure out what is reading. Also so far your battery stations are not bad too read displays. Whenever recording with a camera. But with this one is a thin display with the color white red out and with the other ones like all the Ecoflows and some other battery stations as a thicker display where it doesn't do that camera recording display issue effect and also doesn't matter how good the camera is it's what the camera is seeing. ( Display Overview worked and some display are not ment to be recorded at a little bit of a long distance and also the refresh rating is the problem ) Also there had this problem. But with bad sun light while I do solar charging with my 1 100watt 17v solar charging for my allpowers 372Wh and not expecting to get the full 100% rating output and also as longs I am getting something like at least higher then 30watts as base to almost charge 2 1/2 smartphones on USBs DC. So yea as basic as it can get. Whenever I am doing emergency solar charging with my battery station. Also like the display on the battery station and also I wonder if anyone can change the temperature to °F instead of °C. Because, I get a good reading on using °F. But I use The allpower Bluetooth app on Moto G7 play and use my Samsung J7 Prime too record a short review test video.
I'll usually mention in the review video if the display has issues. So far none of the displays I have tested have issues looking at them with your eyes. This one was a bit annoying with the camera shutter settings.
Also yea I normally call it a thin display if recording it from a distance with a camera if it starts to show this effect. But other then that still like this kind of display read out and also the best and easy part of charging the battery station in a slow speed is the type-c in/out if it as that ability. Also speaking of ability I like displays that stays always on. While using any kind of loads in/out. Also I did notice that you are missing time remaining from empty to full and % battery level. But overall still a pretty cool battery station still. Also looking at the top where the handle is that it looks like a toaster just from looking at the top of the battery station. But cool too have wireless charging and also not really picking on how much watt it needs to be. Because, I don't have any smartphones that as built-in wireless charging. Also even know it doesn't have AC passthrough charging and still be able to us the DC while it's charging is still a good battery station for me. Also 12v output doesn't have the eco shut off if not reading no load.
Don't agree with your ranking (performance & price) placing BigBlue under Bluetti EB 70, which is not in the 500 watts category & GoLabs 500 & ranking it 3rd, same as Bluetti EB 55. BigBlue was the champ & did best on VIAIR dc powered compressor, on your vid on "Best Gadgets"
Thanks for your feedback hmfe M. The BigBlue CP500 was a champ for DC output but remember it doesn't support pass through charging (AC inverter is shut off). Many people rely on that feature. The grading system is just a way to compare all these power stations against each other. If you like the BigBlue PPS more, thats great! As I get more PPS in the 700wh category I will add them in their own area in the spreadsheet. Currently the category is "Around 500wh".
Hi Jason, thanks for your response. There are many factors/reasons, which sets BigBlue above other power banks in it's corresponding category such as: it's LED light, it's clear LCD screen with ALL pertinent info, screen staying on & not shutting down every few seconds, DC, USB & PD not disabled while charging, solid & powerful, just to name a few. Looking forward to many more of your informative & wonderful vid's. Keep up the Great work, cheers🥂
I'd have to nix it just for not having pass through charging. Wireless charging/handle setup must of been a afterthought. Ac outlet looks like you'd need a power strip to plug in more than one thing at a time. All in all, pass
Arbitrary cut-offs are not helpful. I'd opt for useful standards. i.e. 4.9 vs 5.1 hr recharge essentially same. I think you can measure PD wattage in terms of laptop-frig recharge >60Watts to match devices, so 'bad' if 55Watt. I'd want to see 700Watt for rice cooker, as 'good/bad', and over 1800Watt for terrific AC inverter. I realise that everyone has different appliances, and different applications, but you can make 'general measures' like this.
Not supporting passthrough charging, is a deal breaker for me, but another thing that is a deal breaker is, I believe reading the data sticker on the back, it is not a MPPT charge controller. And this is the one that really destroys everything, under total capacity from the sticker on the back it shows 162000mAh this would be 162Ah and sense the battery in this unit is obviously a 24-volt pack which with lithium iron phosphate has a standing voltage of 26.4 volts nominal this would give this unit 4,244 watt hours. This tells me that the people who are putting up this information don't even know what they're looking at so we have no idea what it's really capable of or what anything is rated at all false advertising and not the kind of people that I want to deal with, it seems that the Chinese can't figure out a milliamp hours I've seen several of these little phone charger packs rated at over 100 amp hours!!! They really need to get their shit together and put proper information on stuff!!!
You just believe, but don't know... According to User Manual, GT500 supports MPPT input voltage range 12-29V, input current 4-7A (recommended 18V/100W). And my unit actually has passthrough charging (even AC socket works during the charging, it doesn't shuts off as stated in this review).
I think you do a great job explaining this tech to new consumers. You helped me with my first purchase choice last summer. Baldr 120 folding and a EB70.
I’m now building my own more powerful setup in my home.
AWESOME! What setup are you going with in your home backup?
It is a wery great power station for camping! Millions people in Ukraine now living in a camping mode - electricity from portable power stations, food from street barbeque, water from a ground, sleeping in a sleeping bags...
But we are keeping sense of humour ;-)
I'm sorry about what's happening in your country!
@Jasonoid We are all too accustomed to living in the comforts of the modern world. However, insane regimes appear in the world over and over again. Alas, even in the 21st century, people need to fight stupid evil.
---
I bought this generator for home and now I can work during daily blackouts. Noisy when charging. Overall, lightweight and easy to use.
Wery good review, it helped me to choose ;-)
In South Africa we dont even have a war, but more people are killed daily and we have power cuts for 4hours at a time, 3 times a day. Fucking crazy with this useless government.
Ugh. There were a couple companies selling these on Amazon last summer. They were branded by no names with no reviews so I never took the leap. One even dropped to 199.99 and I still kick myself for not getting it. Glad to see an expert review finally!
Really!? I didn't see them before this, thanks for the info!
Wow $200.
Temu has them for 203 right now
Fantastic review and thanks for that spreadsheet!
I've got they're 240wh power station for camping and was looking for something a bit more powerful for emergency home use and the 518wh for the price was very tempting. But since it doesn't allow AC pass through charging it's off my list. Love your updated spreadsheet and grading system, keep up the great work and awesome videos.
Kinda a bummer when I discovered pass through charging was disabled. Nothing in the manual stated that feature. Lots of other options available.
@@Jasonoidso, you can you still charge phones with usb while charging the Ctechi ?
@@Sandro667386 yes
Great grading chart! I would love to see the Monteck Solar 1000w power station briefcase added. Your type of review is very helpful. !:- )
Ill be getting one later this year so you can expect a review video on it. I was hoping to have my subs grow faster than they are currently. Lots of work but not quite seeing the growth from it yet.
i really enjoy your videos, very thorough
Thanks Maujavier!
Love your video's.... and the super cool geeky spreadsheet! Surely price point is a one of the most important considerations. Also, customer service and brand reliability are massive factors which I guess will be difficult to incorporate a score in your spreadsheet and also reliability can be difficult to calculate as you need some serious usage over a period of time. I love the Ctechi 240 and is unbelievably good value for its price but 1year warranty is ok I guess, but would happily pay a bit more for a product if 2or3 year warranty was included. Also the Ctechi generators look cool and seem well designed asthetically. Some generators have a horrible plastic modular design and look like they were designed by the £pound shop / 1 $ store!!
Great review 💪
Thanks for the great work man! 👍🏻
I got an update for the solar charge wattage.
I connected my GT 500 to a Wattstunde 200w Panel and the powerstation loads up to 117w. Between 110 and 117. So theoretically the charge time with solar would be under 5h.
I don’t know if CTechi made an update to the firmware… I got mine in early 2022 but used a Wattstunden 120w panel before I got the 200w just a few days ago.
With the 120w panel I only got 95w charging power at the max. More could not be expected from a 120w panel I guess.
As a rule of thumb I learned ~80% of the nominal power of the panel can be expected as loading power.
The 200w panel of course could deliver more than 117w, but here the GT 500 limits the charging power.
But therefore I got a bit of a reserve, when autumn and winter comes, with better charging results as from the 120w panel would be possible.
GT500 supports 120W charging from AC adapter or 120W from solar panel plus 60W PD USB type C charging, so you could charge with 120W + 60W = 180W total (so even 180W from solar panel if your panel can convert to also at least PD 60W.
Aside from solar, how would you rate the device overall?
I bought CTECHI GT500 unit February 2023 and it has pass-through charging when using AC output socket. I can charge the unit with AC adapter (and it should also work from solar panel as well - it's same input) and I have plugged in my external AC USB charger into AC output socket and use it to charge my phone and it works... AC socket doesn't shuts off. So probably newer units have newer firmware and I confirm they can charge the power station and use AC output socket simultaneously with pass-through charging (so can be used as UPS or even solar powered UPS).
Would you recommend it?
I would have liked a few more words on the advantages and disadvantages of the LiFeP4 technology compared to other battery types, and most of all I would generally like if you could include temperature behaviour into your reviews. What are the min and max outside temperatures for charging, operation, and storage? Temperature behaviour is one of the most relevant criteria in real life use cases, yet almost no reviewer includes this into their reviews.
10:31 Do I understand it correctly that the DC car output still works but AC output shuts down? That is unfortunate for my needs, but I could possibly circumvent it depending on the next question: Will the USB-C output also shut down when charging (with solar in my case)?
If so, this thing is useless for me during daytime. If no AC out and no USB out, I can't use it for my computer for work unless the battery is full and I have daylight (time) to waste. I'm looking forward to an answer. Thanks!
Please help. Purchase mine last year been working good but suddenly it will not turn on. Tried calling for help via google information through internet no answer and you cant send message.
Try this email:
joseph@ctechi.com.cn
not working USB-C for charge station(((
That multiplexed display is quite the show on camera! :) Seems like a decent little unit.
Refresh rate and camera shutter don't match, I was able to match them up briefly during the "display" section of the video haha
5:19 so how you charge it and discharge simultaneously? Because it has no charge through as you showed later
Hello Jason ,thanks for such an informative video ,I give it a five star .I have the GT 200 and it is good for charging the phones and tables and running my bar fridge.I am interested in buying the St 2000 model.I encountered on one depth review on UA-cam.Can please do a review for us (CTECHi ST 2000, the 2076 wh series )
Another Perfect Video and Demo. My camping Pack will be all off your videos :))
Thanks Ricardo for the feedback, what setup do you have right now or are you looking to start with?
@@Jasonoid Looking to start with this one, best so far for the price and specs as you showed, next will be solar panel 160W or 180W, still not sure what brand, but has to be foldable.
@@SupermixRR The price is very good on this model and it should work great for powering a fridge. Since it only gets 101 watts input on solar, a decent 120watt panel should be enough but you can never have enough solar haha :)
Lower score. Pass through charging is a MUST have for any power station. Maybe even assign that feature 2 points.
Thanks Gabe, thats a super important feature, I am considering what I can do with the scoring spreadsheet.
Hi - great review! I noticed you measure inverter efficiency under both 12V DC and 120V AC loads, I would like to see both test results in your spreadsheet, even if one is for reference only (not included in your grading system). For me 120V AC efficiency is more important. Thanks for putting that spreadsheet together and making it available!
I have both the AC and DC capacity test results in the section below the grading, check out the spreadsheet for more info.
@@Jasonoid D'oh! Thanks!
Got here from watching Askive Solar. New subscriber
Thanks SilverPrepper, what power station do you have in your setup or are you still looking for one?
@@Jasonoid I got a AC200P, 2 wattfun 300's plus I made my own solar system with 2 zooms 200ah lithium Iron Phosphate batteries and a renogy 3000 inverter running through an 60amp epever mppt charge controller. Currently running it in an RV travel trailer.
@@silverstacksprepper that's an awesome setup! Tons of battery power for backups/emergencies!
@@Jasonoid yeah it's cool. Just not looking as best as I want it. I am currently redoing the format of it. It's great backup power in a pinch for sure. I got 700 watts of solar panels to push it for now until I can get more. I watched a few of your videos.
I appreciate your content.
WALL-E ! - Once you said that I couldn't get that image out of my head when looking at this power station. That is not a bad thing, and it does have a good look.
The flashing display is probably the camera, but quite distracting. You may wish to make a note of this when editing the video so it doesn't make it look like this is normal.
This station looks to be able to keep that 12v compressor fridge going constantly if you have it on solar, even at 100watt charging limit and taking 5.1 hrs to fully charge. And since it can be doubly charged using the USB-C as well, using something that can convert solar power to output USB-C power, could charge this even faster. Perhaps something to look into?
Thanks again for this excellent review, to bad this doesn't pass through the AC inverter, but if you really needed AC, you could always add a 12v plug inverter of your own.
One last thing, if it is a thing on any power station, I would love to be able to see the solar input be the same, or greater, wattage capability as the power output capability is. Don't know if this exists or not, but I think it could be useful especially when using passthrough.
Hey P M,
the screen flashing is the way my camera shutter speeds react to the display refresh rate. I mentioned it briefly in the "display overview" section of the video and showed how it looks normally. Having my camera set to 60hz doesn't play well with lighting so I can't keep it at that setting all the time.
I'd love to see a power station that can charge as fast as it puts out power but I think they charging capability of LiFePO4 is limited to a .5C charge rate and the discharge rate is 1C. So to keep within specs of the current chemistry you can only charge half the speed of discharging to get the full 2000 life cycles.
ah yes i recall that, but i think i meant to say that in the beginning of the video, when the screen is flashing, some text at the bottom could be added that states to the effect: the screen flashing is because of the camera, explained further in the video. just a suggestion, but i think it would help.
thanks for letting me know about the charging limitation of the cells, i still think it would be nice to have, but i understand why it works that way now at least. though this station has over 500 watts out but doesn't even have 250 watts in, so for me it will become a look out for one that has this balance or near enough anyway.
thanks again! hope life is going very well for you.
@@user--PM Thanks for the feedback, it would have been better to put some text on the bottom of the screen for sure...Oops :(
I would love to see ALL of these power stations charging at a .5C rate, it appears most aim for about .2C or 20%, the better power stations are up near 40% or even 50% (Bluetti AC200p / Oukitel P2001)
It looks nothing like wall-e
Thanks!
Thanks so much Jfedba!
Your table for comparing SPG's is great.
however, could you add a column to inicate if the device has UPS switching capability.
Some need these to support CPap or other medical devices... Having UPS feature indicated in the table would be great.
Thanks.
I have an addition features column, I tend to put UPS functionality there. I don't know if many small power stations that have UPS functionality but most do offer pass through charging, except this one haha.
can i charge with solar and use the inverter ac at the same time.
?
Once again. AWESOME VID. So great to have such thorough testing and comparisons. love the spread sheet. Gonna share this with my RV buddies. I am building a 24 volt system for my van with 2 12 volt SOK batteries and the MPP all in one...which of your videos will help me design the set up?
I havent built an RV setup yet. I'll probably built a 24v or 48v backup system using solar sometime in the near future, maybe in the next year? Will Prowse would have a few great videos about that type of setup.
@@Jasonoid it would be the same as an on grid back up system with solar. all connected all the time.no vehicle charging...I look forward to it.
Have you seen how I run my setup currently? ua-cam.com/video/eiWnqukg9mM/v-deo.html
Sir nice power station 😊😊😊😊
Thanks for this test! The worst point seems to be that AC shuts off when charging, and now I wonder whether that's really a problem for me...
Some people don't really use the AC inverter much on these smaller power stations. For camping I know I mostly use DC gadgets.
@@Jasonoid I was thinking about using it also as an emergency power supply - the control/pump of my central heating's boiler seems to use 450 W. But there's no sun where it's installed. On the road I'd mostly charge batteries, I think...
Btw, do you have a philosophical objection to Li-Ion batteries? I would love to see your review of an EcoFlow River. Simply because they are the brand with the most professional-looking website... Of course that needn't mean anything, but first impressions are hard to forget...
@@notafan1275 I am currently testing the Ecoflow river pro and the Ecoflow Delta MAX, both have Lithium Ion cells in them. They work really well and have cool app connectivity to adjust many settings. I haven't found any major issues with either power station. I think it's just up to you if you think you'll benefit from the increased lifecycles of LiFePO4 vs Li-ion. All depends on use case. If you are using your power station every single day, all year, probably would benefit from LiFePO4 increased lifecycles. If you use it once or twice a month, Li-ion isn't bad.
@@Jasonoid Thanks for the reply! I guess we can look forward to a video review of the Ecoflows? I'll subscribe so I won't miss it.
Oh, could you talk about how they would work for somebody who doesn't like to use apps (especially not ones where you have to register in China)? Seriously, the app is the point that might make me buy another brand, even though the power station itself looks very good...
@@notafan1275 the ECOflow app requires wifi / internet connection. Bluetti offers a new app that doesn't require internet, just a bluetooth connection.
can this station be charged via PD and vehicle at the same time? Or only PD + AC-charged. Thanks
I don't have this unit anymore so from my best memory, it can dual charge with AC or DC (since they are the same port) and USBc PD input
I didn't see a section on expand-ability on your chart. Did I miss that. Knowing if the unit capacity can be increased is a great feature. Thoughts?
If a battery can be expanded, it will be under the "additional features" column. I dont have any power stations right now that support that feature.
Hey Jason, love your review. Saw this unit on Amazon and its $299 now. In the questions section, someone asked if you can use the AC while solar charging and the answer from Ctechi themselves said YES. Very disappointed that it does not. Did you ever contact Ctechi on the situation ?? Hopefully this can be fixed on a firmware update.
Its a decent power station at $299. If you just need the DC output for running a DC 12v fridge than no need for the AC inverter. Other than the disabled full pass through charging, I like this guy.
This is likely a silly question, but do most power stations have an internal charge controller? For your testings, do you just plug straight from the solar panels into the power station?
Yeah, all these power station have a built in charge controller with a specific range of voltage tolerances. Just stay within those and you'll be good.
No pass through charge is a deal breaker. Also the 101 watt solar input limit could be firmware fixable?
Can i attack a 430w panel?
As long as the max solar panel voltage doesnt go over the max voltage input. I'm guessing it will be too high.
Hey Jason. Amazon has the ctechi gt1500, 1200w power station on sale for $600 after a$200 coupon. Seems like a great deal. Do you know anything about this particular unit?
How loud is the inverter fan? Would you recommend this unit over the Bibene 614wh?
The fan is pretty quiet, I didn't notice anything loud. The inverter is disabled when charging with this power station so make sure you think about that when making a decision. I still think the Bluetti EB55 is worth the extra cost due to it's larger inverter 700 watts and faster charging speed (200 to 400 watts)
Great video. Just picked up their 320wh station. Can you do a video on lithium battery station care? I've read a few things online about longer-term storage, and there seems to be a lot of conflicting info out there. Just curious what the best practices are for getting those 2000+ cycles out of the battery.
I'll jot down the video idea and see what I can put together. The jist of it is basically the less you take it down to 0% and if you keep it charged up to about 85%, you should get more cycles, probably like 3000+. Doing the 100% to 0% will get you 2000. These power stations are new, we need to see if they can even hit that number of cycles before something goes wrong.
@@Jasonoid Hi, i finally purchased mine, i was wondering if using the passtrhou charching is bad for the unit, or if it doesn' matter. Some places say it is bad, some don' t. What do you think?
@@miguellloret9773 I don't think it's bad if the unit is designed for it. Keep heat down, no issues.
Thanks a lot sir!
How is it holding up?
I have never been good at electrical math, Will I be able to run a laptop and a Celestron 8se on this station for an all nighter? The plug on the telescope is a 12V 2A plug and the laptop is a 20V 2.25A plug
It looks like the telescope pulls about 25 watts and the laptop pulls about 45watts (Volts X Amps = Watts) Take the total wattage and divide that into the total watt hours of the power station and that will give you an estimated run time:
518wh / 70 watts = 7.4 hours of runtime. Now with about 15% efficency losses, I'd only expect around 6 hours of runtime. Hope this helps :)
I don't have the bandwidth to watch the vid right now. Does this one have the MPPT bug in the firmware like the 240? I had hands on a 240 and was otherwise impressed.
No issues with charging on this guy, you can check out the new grading spreadsheet for a super fast overview and performance info on the power station.
Is it actually a cigarette lighter plug with a solid steel barrel and a ceramic disc to hold the positive power connector or is it an auxiliary power port with a thin metal barrel surrounded by plastic and a plastic disc holding the positive connector
It appears to have a metal barrel and a fiberglass / plastic holding the positive power connector.
@@Jasonoid One power station I'd love to see someone do a proper review on and a tear down to see if the the charging peramiters could be fixed and can the inverter do as it claims and how good is its build quality is the natures generator it's old school sealed lead acid technology but the price is affordable even up in Canada and since it's sold by Lowes and Home Depo online shipping doesn't cost an arm and leg but in researching it I found many flaws the main one was improper charging peramiters I've bought booster pack with modified sine wave inverter on average 1 per year for the last fourty years to charge my cordless tools batteries at work and when needed jump the vehicle until I found utube I thought that's all they lasted since I had just bought 2 new ones I checked with the manufacturer and was lied to but after almost a year I found out and by proper charging it I got another year but I couldn't get it to start my vehicle last time so I think it's gone but natures generator sounds good in that it has a 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter that if the inverter is good and will last it could be a good way to go green better if the the charging peramiters could be fixed and if they would change the solar charge controller to a decent mppt programmable controller it could be a great starter unit but they need some good review channel doing a proper review instead of a prepper doing a quick test and saying it works when bought doesn't matter if it frys when under load or if the battery is designed to need replacing every year just a thought even an old school sealed lead acid battery unit if built proper so it last 5 to 8 year's before the battery needs replacing if it's got a good programmable mppt control so it's upgradeable to lithium or other technology that may be available by then would be ideal but with preppers using the esso principal of every sucker sucked in once they won't change and the factor that the good review channels seem to think that everyone can just open the wallett and pull out 5 grand or more with out even thinking about it or just borrow it for a lot of us with low fixed income and for seniors our borrowing is at 20% buying a unit to go green isn't an option but a unit for around a thousand Canadian and no or low shipping cost is an option
Jason, I like your concept of the spreadsheet; but I cannot see it very well on my laptop. I was going to print it out so I could see it better but you have made it non-printable, nor do I want to print something you will be adding to. Could you make it so I can use my arrow to slide from side to side? I just wanted to see it in a 100%-125%. That's all; thank you for being informative about these power stations.
Hey Kevin, I have viewed it from multiple 'view only' accounts and I haven't had any issues moving around (I can scroll left and right and up and down and see the whole thing no issues). Maybe try opening it in Google Chrome or Firefox and see if that helps?
Fantastic review! I think it’s a good power bank, but will not be buying based on your review. Jason, if you were to spend around $500 - $550, which unit would you purchase?
You do the best reviews and it’s appreciated. I’m leaning towards that Bluetti EB70S, but wanted to ask you first. What if you went up to $600, would it change any? Thank a bunch, Jason.
I'd recommend the EB70s since it has lots of capacity and charges pretty quick. Minimal downsides too... Out of all my smaller power stations, if I had one to take with me, it be the EB70.... Until something better comes out, never know what's on the horizon!
@@Jasonoid
Thank you, Sir!
That's a nice product.
It you don't mind the AC inverter being shut off during charging, it's a great option!
@@Jasonoid Keep up the good work. I subscribed
@@Sonoma_Coast Glad to have you aboard!
Jason, what is regulated DC Output? Why is it good?
Older power stations that have lithium ion batteries (NMC) used the direct battery voltage for the 12v socket. That means that as the power station state of charge drops, so did the voltage output. Why does that suck? Some 12v devices cant run when the voltage drops. This isn't much of an issue anymore with LFP power stations.
@@Jasonoidthanks
Thanks for another video and option it seems at one point you mention trying solar usbc output from 1 panel and dc output from another. Additive effect for charging? It was a different review am i remembering correctly and was there an oitcome
This power station accepts dual charging, so you can charge with a solar panel and possibly with a secondary solar panel that outputs USBc 60watts. Pretty cool.
@@Jasonoid thanks going to have to give that a try
@@Jasonoid next question. Am going back and forth between setpower rv45 and 45d. Love the swappable lid on dual but can't see ever using it in dual mode. Really like form factor on single rv45. Ever compared efficiency between the two?
The RV45 will always be more efficient due to having a metal construction, thicker insulation and just one zone. You cant go wrong with the RV45, love that budget fridge.
@@Jasonoid thanks for helping me make up my mind. I want lowest draw so single zone for me thanks
Gostaria de saber quantas horas consegue alimenrar uma neveira 12 v porque para mim esse é primordial para ter bebidas frescas e a car continuar em bom estado quando estou isolado
Does it have UPS functionality
This is a really old unit. No UPS functionality unfortunately.
I don't remember you saying anything about WARRANTY or CUSTOMER SERVICE.
Warm Regards from Reno, Nevada
Oops I forgot to mention those items! Since it doesn't have pass through charging I figured most people wouldn't be serious about this option. My experience with Ctechi has been great in the past, they were excellent in providing a solar firmware upgrade for my Ctechi 240wh power station when it had issues charging with solar.
😱😢 No pass-through?!? That's a deal-breaker for me, sadly. These portable power stations can be used as UPS devices if they have pass-through. I came to realize how important this feature is after having researched and used my first one. Other than that, it's a great looking unit and you did a good job presenting it.
You can use a 12v to 230v adapter to run 230v appliances while charging this station. It works, i tested it. It isn’t ideal, but considering the price it’s a workaround if you nee€ this feature in a pinch. Most devices i want run are able to do so with DC power, so for me that’s more about if it’s possible, not that i need it..
I bought CTECHI GT500 unit February 2023 and it has pass-through charging when using AC output socket. Just now I am charging the unit via AC adapter and I have plugged in AC charger into AC output and use AC external charger to charge my phone and it works... nothing shuts off.
I think that one piece of data missing on your spreadsheet is # of years of warranty. Especially when a few power stations have roughly the same features/score for around the same money. A longer warranty would be important in my decision & I assume other folks as well.
Good thinking. I think it comes down to what company makes each power station VS the actual warranty they offer. A no-name company can offer a warranty but they will never fulfill your request to get a replacement or the unit fixed. The large companies like ECOflow, Bluetti, Jackery, and GoalZero have much better support existence than these smaller off brand companies. Ive only recommended products that I feel are trustworthy so that helps a little bit, no recommending cheap junk is a good place to start.
@@Jasonoid I agree but what you have in your spreadsheet doesn't show that value. Perhaps a full point for the company behind the product to show reputation/support/warranty OR remove products you wouldn't want people to buy based on that factor. JMHO FWIW.
You would add this to your grading list.
Would the camera be able to see the display read out well? Well the answer from me is a little bit flashly. But will still figure out what is reading. Also so far your battery stations are not bad too read displays. Whenever recording with a camera. But with this one is a thin display with the color white red out and with the other ones like all the Ecoflows and some other battery stations as a thicker display where it doesn't do that camera recording display issue effect and also doesn't matter how good the camera is it's what the camera is seeing.
( Display Overview worked and some display are not ment to be recorded at a little bit of a long distance and also the refresh rating is the problem ) Also there had this problem. But with bad sun light while I do solar charging with my 1 100watt 17v solar charging for my allpowers 372Wh and not expecting to get the full 100% rating output and also as longs I am getting something like at least higher then 30watts as base to almost charge 2 1/2 smartphones on USBs DC. So yea as basic as it can get. Whenever I am doing emergency solar charging with my battery station. Also like the display on the battery station and also I wonder if anyone can change the temperature to °F instead of °C. Because, I get a good reading on using °F. But I use The allpower Bluetooth app on Moto G7 play and use my Samsung J7 Prime too record a short review test video.
I'll usually mention in the review video if the display has issues. So far none of the displays I have tested have issues looking at them with your eyes. This one was a bit annoying with the camera shutter settings.
Also yea I normally call it a thin display if recording it from a distance with a camera if it starts to show this effect. But other then that still like this kind of display read out and also the best and easy part of charging the battery station in a slow speed is the type-c in/out if it as that ability. Also speaking of ability I like displays that stays always on. While using any kind of loads in/out. Also I did notice that you are missing time remaining from empty to full and % battery level. But overall still a pretty cool battery station still. Also looking at the top where the handle is that it looks like a toaster just from looking at the top of the battery station. But cool too have wireless charging and also not really picking on how much watt it needs to be. Because, I don't have any smartphones that as built-in wireless charging. Also even know it doesn't have AC passthrough charging and still be able to us the DC while it's charging is still a good battery station for me. Also 12v output doesn't have the eco shut off if not reading no load.
👍 you make very good reviews. 👏👏👏 Can you please make one of the Ctechi GT1500? Thanks
I'll have to reach out to CTECHI to see if they have one available they want to send out for review.
How could the display screen ever be brighter than the color of the battery?
LOL I KNOW RIGHT! You'll never lose sight of this power station!
Don't agree with your ranking (performance & price) placing BigBlue under Bluetti EB 70, which is not in the 500 watts category & GoLabs 500 & ranking it 3rd, same as Bluetti EB 55. BigBlue was the champ & did best on VIAIR dc powered compressor, on your vid on "Best Gadgets"
Thanks for your feedback hmfe M. The BigBlue CP500 was a champ for DC output but remember it doesn't support pass through charging (AC inverter is shut off). Many people rely on that feature. The grading system is just a way to compare all these power stations against each other. If you like the BigBlue PPS more, thats great!
As I get more PPS in the 700wh category I will add them in their own area in the spreadsheet. Currently the category is "Around 500wh".
Hi Jason, thanks for your response. There are many factors/reasons, which sets BigBlue above other power banks in it's corresponding category such as: it's LED light, it's clear LCD screen with ALL pertinent info, screen staying on & not shutting down every few seconds, DC, USB & PD not disabled while charging, solid & powerful, just to name a few. Looking forward to many more of your informative & wonderful vid's. Keep up the Great work, cheers🥂
I'd have to nix it just for not having pass through charging. Wireless charging/handle setup must of been a afterthought. Ac outlet looks like you'd need a power strip to plug in more than one thing at a time. All in all, pass
Great points you make here gluntz!
$310 right now.
So is the BigBlue cp500 so chose your favorite! Haha
Arbitrary cut-offs are not helpful. I'd opt for useful standards. i.e. 4.9 vs 5.1 hr recharge essentially same. I think you can measure PD wattage in terms of laptop-frig recharge >60Watts to match devices, so 'bad' if 55Watt. I'd want to see 700Watt for rice cooker, as 'good/bad', and over 1800Watt for terrific AC inverter. I realise that everyone has different appliances, and different applications, but you can make 'general measures' like this.
2022 and no pass thru charging, big fail. SOS and strobe.....why? This company needs better engineers.
Pretty much all these companies have SOS and strobe modes in their lights. I agree with the pass through charging 😭
No pass through makes this a non starter.
That's a great point Robert
Not supporting passthrough charging, is a deal breaker for me, but another thing that is a deal breaker is, I believe reading the data sticker on the back, it is not a MPPT charge controller. And this is the one that really destroys everything, under total capacity from the sticker on the back it shows 162000mAh this would be 162Ah and sense the battery in this unit is obviously a 24-volt pack which with lithium iron phosphate has a standing voltage of 26.4 volts nominal this would give this unit 4,244 watt hours. This tells me that the people who are putting up this information don't even know what they're looking at so we have no idea what it's really capable of or what anything is rated at all false advertising and not the kind of people that I want to deal with, it seems that the Chinese can't figure out a milliamp hours I've seen several of these little phone charger packs rated at over 100 amp hours!!! They really need to get their shit together and put proper information on stuff!!!
You just believe, but don't know... According to User Manual, GT500 supports MPPT input voltage range 12-29V, input current 4-7A (recommended 18V/100W). And my unit actually has passthrough charging (even AC socket works during the charging, it doesn't shuts off as stated in this review).
man talk slower :)
You can actually speed up or slow down the play back speed of any video on UA-cam. Super helpful feature.