• The EcoFlow River 3 Plus is a compact portable power station best for light home backup, home-office UPS use, and short camping trips.
• It can deliver a maximum of 600 watts of power, which is more than similar stations of this size.
• It features three AC outlets, one on the front and two on the back.

I’m always skeptical about the usefulness of most compact portable power stations. To maintain their small size, their power output doesn’t cut it for much beyond recharging devices. And that raises the question: Why not opt for a power bank, which costs less and is even more compact? But EcoFlow’s River 3 Plus changes the equation.

What stood out to me about River 3 Plus—and the reason why I wanted to review it—was that it weighs just 10 pounds but outputs 600 watts. That’s not typical of power stations of this size. Often, they are limited to around 300 watts or so, which isn’t a lot, especially if the station is outputting 120-volt AC power.

EcoFlow gets past this problem in its River series by using Gallium Nitride (GaN) semiconductor technology (which it calls X-GaN) in the inverter and charging circuits, which replaces silicon to deliver high efficiency in a smaller form factor. For the River 3 Plus, it seems to pay off.

How I Tested

Like many power stations I’ve tested, I ran the River 3 Plus through its paces by powering different types of devices and small appliances, such as a monitor, a laptop computer, a tower fan, and even a refrigerator. Additionally, I recharged a phone using the USB ports and simulated a blackout to test out its uninterruptible power supply (UPS) capability. I also ran it through two types of recharging, including fast-charging from an AC outlet and solar energy recharging using a 200-watt portable panel.

How Much Power Can It Deliver?

Sometimes, smaller power stations look a bit bigger in real life than they do in the advertising, but the River 3 Plus is the opposite. Out of the box, it was smaller than I expected, but still had a decent array of outputs, including two USB-A ports, one 100-watt USB-C port, a 12-volt car port, and three 120-volt AC outlets. All of this in a lightweight design that’s the size of a toaster is impressive (though I would have preferred two USB-C ports and just one USB-A).

The River 3 Plus has a 600-watt output, but supports up to 1,200 starting watts for appliances that draw a lot of power (like a space heater or refrigerator) or tools that need that initial boost. There’s a power-boost mode, too, that runs devices continuously up to 1,200 watts, but you have to be careful because this type of feature could potentially damage sensitive equipment, like a TV.

The capacity of the lithium-iron phosphate (LiFePO4) battery is not quite as large as the power output, rated at just 286 watt-hours, which is typical for power stations of this size, but you can expand that to 572 watt-hours or 858 watt-hours using expansion batteries that connect at the base of the station. At best, you’ll get around 8 to 12 hours from this station if you're powering a few low-watt devices.

During my tests, I put the output to good use, powering a laptop, monitor, and a low-powered fan for an entire workday, while also topping off my phone battery at one point, and I still had power left to go at the end of the day. Later, I even ran a two-slot toaster on it with no problem, something you usually cannot do with a lower-powered compact power station that typically only outputs 300 watts.

For a more rigorous test on a different day, I was able to power my refrigerator for an impressive 3 hours and 45 minutes. I’m not saying this is an appropriate home backup solution, but it could deliver some relief during a brief blackout situation. It’s also designed to act as a UPS with a 10-millisecond transfer time, which also worked flawlessly for me. I didn’t even notice any interruption of power in my computer devices attached to it.

How Fast Does It Recharge?

There are three ways to recharge the River 3 Plus: AC power up to 650 watts, solar power up to 220 watts, or direct current from your car’s 12-volt outlet (cable included). During my test, the station recharged from 0 to 100 percent in just under 50 minutes, which is consistent with EcoFlow’s fastest advertised recharging time.

Solar recharging was simple, too. While I didn’t have an EcoFlow panel on hand, I used a 200-watt portable panel from Anker. It had trouble detecting the panel in auto mode, so I used the app to specify solar charging, and it worked fine, pulling in around 138 watts on a perfectly sunny day, which is normal efficiency for most panels. With a station this small, you could easily recharge it using solar in around two hours, so long as the conditions are ideal.

Who Should Buy the EcoFlow River 3 Plus?

The River 3 Plus is perfect if what you’re looking for is a small backup with a UPS for a home office that can also power the occasional TV or small appliance. It might work well on a short camping trip, too, where you need some extra power for your devices and need to inflate an air mattress, but also want to pack lightly. It’s not meant for long-term power, especially if you plan to power something like a refrigerator. So if you’re a camper who needs something that will last a few days, you’d be better off with something like the EcoFlow Delta 3 Plus.

EcoFlow’s real achievement here, though, is the compact design and near-silent operation—it’ll never get in the way or cause a distraction. In that regard, the River 3 Plus is one of the best compact power stations we’ve seen.