EcoFlow RIVER Pro

Our recent coverage of a large BLUETTI power station mostly came about because I was curious about the material science behind LiFePO4 as it pertains to electrodes, and that then led to my colleague covering more such power stations from the likes of Jackery and CTECHI. My own curiosity was sated, but we were then contacted by a Europe-based PR rep for EcoFlow, which meant I had to step back into the saddle. The original plan was to do a similar review of a large power station for a direct comparison to the many such entries popping up everywhere, but they all seem to be taking the crowdfunding route, which takes a while, so I offered to do a quick-look article of another of the company's products in the interim.


EcoFlow has two product lines of portable power stations split into the so-called DELTA and RIVER series. The DELTA series accommodates the larger, less portable units, similar to what has been covered on TechPowerUp before, and the RIVER series is far smaller in size with the largest unit—the RIVER Pro—maxing out at 720 Wh, compared to the smallest DELTA unit at 882 Wh. I have the RIVER Pro here, which has a few nifty features, such as internet connectivity and a mobile app to make these far more user friendly on the go. It's a ~7.5 kg unit, which makes it easier to pick up and take with you, with a great use case being camping trips in a car. Let's dig deeper into the EcoFlow RIVER Pro now, and thanks to the EcoFlow for arranging a review sample for TechPowerUp.

Packaging & Accessories

EcoFlow operates a web shop in the various regions it has a presence, including the UK, which is where this sample shipped from. We see the use of a thick cardboard shipment with the company logo and applicable warnings about the batteries inside. Opening this outer packaging reveals the product box, which is predominantly white with a carry handle to move it around. There is the company logo and product name on the front, along with a large render of the RIVER Pro, and a sticker on the back confirms the exact SKU inside. A double flap on the side keeps the contents in place during transit, and opening the box reveals lots of foam all around the items for added protection. This includes an accessory box above the power station placed between machined, thick foam sheets.


I appreciate the quick-start guide on the back of the accessory box, which is all you need to use around 90% of the capabilities of the RIVER Pro. This box contains a multi-language user manual (online copy here) that walks you through setup, charging, and various discharge/use options. It also reminds you to download and install the first-party mobile app for more control over the RIVER Pro power station. Such products tend to support solar charging with standard solar panels with MC4 connectors, but there is even a guide for when you have non-MC4 solar panels for whatever reason. As such, we also have 1.5 m adapter cables that go from dual MC4 (one positive, one negative) connectors to an XT60 connector, which no doubt goes to the power station itself. This XT60 connector is also on the 12 VDC cigarette lighter power cable used to charge the internal battery. EcoFlow also provides a DC5521 to DC5525 extension power jack cable, as well as an AC mains wall power adapter cable. I have the UK version characterized by its over-built and large UK power plug.

Closer Look

EcoFlow's RIVER series is for on-the-go auxiliary power, with this RIVER Pro being the largest of the lot with a battery capacity of 720 Wh, output of 600 W continuous and 1200 W peak, dimensions of 29x18x23.5 cm, and weight of ~7.5 kg. It's certainly not pocketable as with small power banks, but instead between power banks and larger power stations for capacity and size. The feature set is closer to the latter thus, at least with this model, making it a portable power station after all. The substantial handle on top helps move it around easily, at least if you can handle the weight. The color scheme is gray on the handles and black elsewhere, with a predominantly plastic composition that uses metal where critical.

The front houses a multi-colored LCD display without touch controls, which is about par the course for such devices, as it is only useful indoors or in cloudy external conditions—good luck making anything out in direct sunlight. It is large enough and clear enough to do its job of showing various status indicators, some of which we will see soon. The right side hosts the AC outputs, which on this UK model are placed sideways not to interfere with each other, along with a dedicated on/off button and covered expansion port to connect this to another add-on battery unit for more power if needed. Notice the fan behind the vents here, with more vents on the left cooling the unit along with the charging inputs (AC/M60) underneath a plastic latch. The bottom has four rubber pads for friction; not that this unit will move anywhere by itself. The specification/certification label is in the middle.


The front is likely where most of your time will be spent even outside of the LCD display, with an LED light adding a new feature I didn't see on the other power station I covered. There are three modes: bright, brighter, and a flashing "SOS" mode. The LEDs light up white as seen above. The display has no menus; instead, that screen is all you see, with various indicators popping up when relevant and some large UI elements permanently present, such as the remaining time in hours for charging and discharging, current battery level, and current input and output in watts. The various DC outputs are seen as well, including three USB Type-A ports (12 W x2, 18 W x1), a Type-C port (5/9/12/15/20 V for 100 W max), car charger output (136 W max), and dedicated DC output on/off switch with an associated tiny LED indicator light. A WiFi/IOT button and reset button we will get to shortly are present as well.


It was easier to actually charge than it was to unlock that unnecessarily tight plastic latch, with the provided AC mains cable allowing for up to 660 W and solar input maxing out at 200 W (10-25 V), with the optional car charger input faring slightly worse—but far more consistently—at 8 A max over the 12 V rail for 96 W. You can combine both types of inputs to make the RIVER Pro charge to full in under an hour easily, or you can stare at 2–3 day charge times with a single solar panel in the British winter I currently am experiencing.

Performance Testing & Conclusion

What makes the EcoFlow RIVER Pro all the more exciting is that aforementioned WiFi/IOT button, and support from a first-party mobile app available for free on the Google Play Store and iOS app store. Reviews are middling at best, with most complaints talking about connection issues that I have not experienced myself. It relies on you first connecting to the device via its generated WiFi network before you provide your own WiFi internet credentials to the device. The WiFi indicator will pop up on the screen as well, and the app is fairly straightforward in allowing status indicators at a glance, in addition to controlling the various outputs and inputs. Not pictured in the GIF above is a time chart for charging and discharging power levels, which shows how long the solar charging has been going on and whether you need to move the PV panels. The connectivity is over WiFi, so you can theoretically monitor the power station from a good distance away, which is handily paired with the temperature sensor readout, as well as any alarms that will pop up as notifications.


The settings menu has plenty of other options, some of which are shown here. In particular, I appreciated the ability to set the maximum charge level, which on this more traditional Li-ion battery unit is best kept at 80% or so to make the most of the rated 800 Cycles to 80%+ capacity. If you use it daily only, that's still more than the warranty period of two years, which is some solace, as there are the larger LiFe-O4 units with their 3000-8000 cycle lifetimes. You can also select the maximum charging levels in each mode, as well as limit the output as deemed necessary. This app removes the need for an onboard menu with touch screen or navigation buttons, which keeps the unit physically smaller and provides more customization, control, and monitoring—a very useful selling point in itself.


Once charged, actually using the RIVER Pro is as simple as plugging in the connector of your choice and turning on the respective DC or AC switch. The app and LCD screen will reflect this change, with the time now indicating how many hours of use are available at the current load, which is seen in watts real-time. For example, that Honeywell portable fan seen above consumes about 50 W with built-in inverter losses accounted for, and can easily be run overnight if necessary. My gaming laptop could probably do 3 to 4 hours at full throttle while I simultaneously charge my phone and a multitude of other USB-powered devices. The 100 W Type-C port is very handy here, and the RIVER Pro generally makes for a very good camping set to, say, run an electric stove, some lights in addition to the integrated one, charging your phone and laptop, or even a portable projector.

Helping make the RIVER Pro even more relevant is what EcoFlow calls X-Boost, which when turned on has the AC outputs accommodate power draw surges of up to 1200 W from appliances such as hair dryers and electric kettles. It is turned on by default, but can be switched off in the app if needed. This doesn't mean you should use the RIVER Pro for demanding loads, such as an air-conditioner or a fridge continuously, however. Such loads are best-suited for larger power stations. The RIVER Pro also makes for an entry-level UPS. Having it plugged into the AC mains for charging and your PC into one of its output, for example, will have the RIVER Pro take over within 30 ms in a power outage. This minimal delay can still be enough of an interruption in some cases, and this configuration may also cause electric shocks if not wired properly. As such, I would refrain from doing so regularly, especially considering the battery cycles hurt by this process.

You can purchase the EcoFlow RIVER Pro for £699 (incl. VAT) from the EcoFlow web shop, which is unfortunately a significantly worse deal than the $649 in the EcoFlow US store. The US store also seems to get discounts and sales the UK store does not, with the RIVER Pro currently selling for $599 there on a soon-to-end Valentine's day sale. In fact, every other region outside the US gets shafted to where I have to call EcoFlow out for these practices that go beyond the usual treatment non-US countries tend to get. As it stands, it gets hard to generally talk about how much value the RIVER Pro provides, but it is of course a better buy in the US than elsewhere. I think the feature set is great, but as discussed above, the use of a traditional Li-ion battery coupled with the middling capacity still makes it quite a niche product for specific use cases. It does lay a good base to show what EcoFlow is capable of, however. I am sure there are several potential customers for it already.