Bluetti AC200L Expandable Power Station review

Bluetti AC200L review: Introduction

Boasting a  massive 2048Wh battery, four UK power outlets, and a whopping 3,600W maximum power output with its Power Lifting Mode, the Bluetti AC200L Expandable Power Station is designed to give you power on the go.

However, while the Bluetti AC200L may well be designed to be taken out and about, it isn’t what you’d call a compact power supply. Weighing in at a whopping 28.3kg – that’s a good 5kg more than its similarly priced rival, the EcoFlow Delta 2 Max –  you will have to put some effort into moving it about.

However, don’t let that put you off; it’s the trade-off for housing a substantial 2048kWh Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO₄,) battery, capable of powering a fridge for a full day or charging up your iPhone 132 times. 

The AC200L is a substantial power station, and Bluetti makes good use of its form, equipping it with multiple USB options, a 12v car socket, and four main AC outlets.

I’ve had the Bluetti AC200L running in my garden office for a few weeks now, read on for my full review.

Design and components

• Heavy at over 28kg
• Abundant ports – all on the front
• Input ports on the side

As mentioned up top, the AC200L isn’t something you’ll want to move around frequently, unless you fancy speeding up the rate at which your spine deteriorates. At nearly 28.3kg, it’s a challenge for one person to lift, and hauling it around is no easy feat. 

This makes it more suited for a stationary situation like inside a large tents, motorhomes or garden outlet buildings, like where I’ve been putting it through its paces. 

It sits on four rubberised feet that make it pretty non-slip, although I would make sure that if you are transporting it, you keep it low and secured to stop it toppling over. 

On the front of the AC200L is where you’ll plug in your gadgets. With four USB ports in total – a duo of fast charging USB-As (18W) and a pair of USB-Cs (100W) – combined with four UK mains sockets, a 12v car socket and a 48v DC socket, the AC200L has you covered no matter what you want to charge. 

All the outputs are found on the front panel, shielded by thick rubber caps, providing some protection from dust or light splashes. However, the AC200L isn’t weatherproof at all; there’s no IP rating.

One quirk of the design is that the two top AC outlets are inverted, which can be handy for certain placements, but bulky adapters may end up blocking adjacent sockets and you’ll also have wires pointing upwards when using the top plugs, which isn’t ideal.

I also found that the rubber protector caps were more hassle than they were useful, often getting in the way if I wanted to use multiple ports. 

As they don’t actually make the device waterproof, merely protecting from dust, I’d be tempted to cut these off.

You have an overall power button – a reassuringly solid metal number – to fire the AC200L up and then there are also individual touch buttons to fire up the AC, USB and DC ports too; with a green light display making it clear what you’ve got turned on and what you haven’t.

Obviously, it needs to hold some power itself, and there are also a plethora of ways it can be charged – you’ll find these options on the left hand side of the device.

There’s an AC input for using a regular plug and DC input for car or solar charging. You can also combine charging methods too for a faster charge.

The mains connection is via an unusual circular port secured with a locking ring, while DC inputs are handled through a two-pole port, and there’s a grounding terminal in case your mains connection lacks earthing.

An expansion port on the side supports additional external batteries, allowing you to double the storage capacity by adding a Bluetti B230 battery, or extending it further with B210 or B300 units. However, adding batteries doesn’t increase the 2400W output, merely the totally storage capacity – up to a maximum of 8,192Wh.

The AC200L features Bluetti’s familiar display, showing the battery’s charge status and whether it’s currently charging or discharging. You can also see estimates for the time remaining until full charge or depletion, along with detailed AC and DC input/output data. 

Charging

• Multiple charging methods
• Max 2400W charging power
• Full recharge in under 90 minutes

When you first get the Bluetti AC200L out of the box, it will be around 50-60% charged, so the first thing you’ll want to do is to charge it up.

As mentioned, you can charge the AC200L from mains power, solar panels, or a vehicle. Charging from a car tops out at 120W, meaning a full recharge would take almost 18 hours.

Mains charging, however, supports up to 2.4kW, and solar input can handle up to 1.2kW. Using the AC Turbo mode, you can actually charge the battery in just shy of 90 minutes, which is pretty impressive, albeit a tad slower than the 1 hour of the EcoFlow Delta 2 Max.  

In the box you’ll find adapters for both car and solar charging, with all of the cables you’ll need wrapped up together and stored in a nice little bag, which is handy for travelling.

The solar input uses MC4 connectors rather than the more common XT60 plugs found on many portable solar panels, and the AC and DC input cables are a proprietary fitting, so might be a pain to replace if you lose or damage them. 

I found that in its default 1200W mains charging mode, it took about two hours to fully recharge. In Silent mode, which reduces fan noise, charging was a bit slower, taking just over three hours.

In Turbo mode, I initially saw a drop to 1200W after only 15% of charging, but once the unit cooled down, it maintained the full 2400W, fully recharging in around 87 minutes.

While the fan noise is noticeable, even at full tilt, the AC200L remains relatively quiet compared to its rivals such the Delta 2 Max and the Anker Solid F2000.

Performance

• Quiet and efficient power delivery
• Great round-trip efficiency
• Power Lifting mode for extra capability

The AC200L can store 2,048Wh of power and handle peak loads of 2.4kW, which is enough to run most household appliances but may struggle with certain high-wattage heaters or kettles. 

However, if you did need to boil up a quick brew or quickly dry your hair then there is the Power Lifting Mode, which takes the output up to 3,600W – albeit just for a couple of minutes.

In terms of output, the AC200L performed consistently, delivering its rated 2400W without issue. Under heavy load tests, it discharged its battery in around 50 minutes, providing an efficiency of between 85% and 93%, depending on the load.

The Power Lifting I mentioned allows it to power appliances above its rated capacity, as long as they’re simple resistive devices such as a  kettle. I tested this with a combined load of over 3000W, and the AC200L limited output to around 2000W, allowing both a kettle and toaster to run together.

Even when pushing its limits, the AC200L remained relatively quiet, with its cooling fans rarely hitting high speeds. 

Bluetti claims the AC200L’s battery will retain 80% of its capacity after 3,000 charge cycles and claims a 10 year lifespan for the device. Factoring in the degradation, this works out to around 25p per kWh at the £1,399 price-tag it currently sits at in the Bluetti store. 

There is, of course, an app that wallows you to control and keep tabs of the AC200L, letting you to toggle the AC, DC, and USB circuits on and off, and adjusting various charging settings. 

It’s also where you’ll go to enable features such as the Eco mode, which shuts down the outputs when they’re no longer in use, and the Power Lifting mode I’ve talked about.

Final thoughts

The Bluetti AC200L is an impressive power station that performs brilliantly across the board. At its current discounted price, it’s also a fantastic value, saving you a fair chunk of change compared to the EcoFlow Delta 2 Max. 

For performance it is very much on a par with the Delta 2, as well; it’s just the port arrangement and propriety cables used that makes me prefer the Ecoflow, but only just. And there’s that extra 5kg of bulk to consider too.

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FAQs

Bluetti AC200L review: Specifications