The Ugreen PowerRoam 1200 may not manage to look extraordinary at first sight without any flash color choices or details in design. But the specifications as a start should pique the interest of those looking for a 1000 to 1500 W battery pack. Clocking in at the sub-$1000 mark, it can easily compete with the other products out there on the market, especially since most of these don't employ the superior LiFePO4 battery cells found in the PowerRoam 1200. The fact that these batteries come from BYD is just another USP.

In general the Ugreen PowerRoam 1200 manages to impress all around in a genuine and useful fashion. While its core technological platform with AC outputs, USB ports and a light are in general to be expected, Ugreen manages to differentiate its product with the total number of outputs as well as its capabilities. It does lack pure sine wave or wireless charging features and the light provided by the LED is bright but quite focused and blinding. On the opposite side of that equation is the ability to push up to 2500 W if needed and the fact that the unit can be physically grounded as an added fail-safe feature.

While it was somewhat unexpected, where the unit really starts to separate itself from the pack is the companion app. Through it, the PowerRoam 1200 can be tweaked in so many different ways with thoughtful features while also allowing cloud based control if the device is internet connected. From features like device sharing or the ability to tweak display brightness, how the unit handles inactivity or certain battery states to the ability to reduce noise in a useful fashion - those are just some of the features the app provides. While the design of that phone interface is a bit unique it is consistent, which means that there is only an initial, singular learning curve.

It is difficult to set battery packs apart from each other, as it really tends to come down to a numbers game - capacity, charging speed, output prowess, noise level, weight or size. The Ugreen PowerRoam 1200 delivers a solid set of numbers for all these aspects, but then manages to truly set itself apart in the best possible way with software. So much so, it is a bit of a surprise Ugreen did not market the PowerRoam 1200 as a Smart Power Station.