EGO Power Station Review

I had someone ask me last month, “Who is EGO?”  I have to admit, I was a little surprised. I thought everyone knew them but maybe because I am in the business and was there when EGO first hit the market.  So my answer was straightforward, the company that revolutionized OPE and made my life much better.  I saw the glare and look of confusion come over his face and that’s when I laughed and told him what I thought. Let me tell you why and then we can jump into the EGO Power Station Review. Plus, don’t forget to check out my free advice down below under the value section.

EGO Power Station Review Overview

So it’s true, I think EGO revolutionized OPE and I know it did make my life easier.  First, the revolution.  Sure before EGO, there were companies that had battery-powered lawnmowers and trimmers.  But let’s be honest, all those products were junk.  They barely finished a lawn, they were cheaply made and the batteries were awful.  EGO changed it because they designed an incredible battery around a high-quality lawnmower and trimmer. It was the first battery OPE product that could do real work in the yard.

So how did it make my life easier?  Well besides the fact of me having to mess with gas, spark plugs, and pulling a cord until my arm fell off, I did all the yard work.  My wife never liked or felt comfortable working with the gas mower or gas trimmer.  When I got the EGO, it was so simple, quiet, and less intimidating than gas.  Guess what? She does the lawn now.  Sure I am lazy but I didn’t even ask her.  She just offered to start doing the lawn because she liked the exercise and being outside.  So yes, it did make my life easier.

Before we jump into the EGO Power Station Review, let’s get a little background and understand where this product shines and doesn’t shine.

Who is this Inverter for?

This is not intended for someone who just went through a tornado or hurricane and their power will be out for days or even weeks.  That is where a gas generator is the best option. This is best suited for those short time frames, a couple of hours or a day worth of power.

Who will Benefit from this Power station?

This is a tough question to answer because the list goes on and on.  I think this would be perfect for obvious activities such as tailgating, ice fishing, camping, and hanging out. And as a backup inverter for the house that experiences those 5 to 10 hour power outages and even the job site where you need some power.

However, I think there are a lot more people that would benefit from this power station.  Think about the older population in this country that have medical devices that offer health support. What happens when their power goes out?  What happens if a family member isn’t nearby?  This power station is so simple to use and the fact you can use it indoors makes this a perfect solution for the older community.

What about a hunter? With this, the inverter is extremely quiet and doesn’t put off a gas odor. Trust me, this is just one example of the different ways people can make good use of this.

EGO Power Station Review Features

The EGO Power Station features 3000W peak and 2000W of continuous power.  While it may look heavier, it’s really not that bad.  The Power Station comes in at 29lbs and if you load it up with all four 7.5Ah batteries, it will still only weighs about 55lbs.

The power station is designed to run off the EGO 56V batteries.  While there will be a bare kit in the future, the current setup comes with 2 7.5Ah batteries.  If you are in the EGO line up, you know they do offer other batteries such as a 2.5Ah and a 5Ah battery.  You can use any older battery or any combination together to run this power station.  However, you will get different results.

• 2.5Ah battery will provide up to 600W
• 5Ah battery will provide up to 1200W
• 7.5Ah battery gives you the full 3000 startup and 2000 continuous watts.

One feature you will notice is the battery status gauge.  Before it was a single button that changed colors and you pretty much had to guess how much power was left.  The new battery comes with a new status gauge that breaks it down into increments of 5 so you have a much better feel of how much is left on the battery.

The power station has 4 battery slots.  You can use either one battery or up to four batteries, again any size or combination.  If you are using a single battery, it doesn’t matter which slot the battery is seated in. Even better, you can hot swap.  If a battery looses a charge, just swap it out without any interruption.

Each port is labeled so you can correspond the port by using the LCD on the front of the power station.

Another cool feature is the power supply which sits on top of the unit and can be removed.  On one side of the power supply, it connects directly into the unit and the other side connects directly into the wall.  You may wonder why isn’t the power supply inside the unit? Easy. This allows them to give a quick and easy upgrade if needed down the road, such as a rapid charger.

To charge all four 7.5Ah batteries you are looking at around 12 hours since they charge individually and not all at once. Also, it doesn’t fully charge a battery and then move to the next.  It works the batteries by charging for a while, then moving on to the next battery.  So if you do have an emergency and the batteries aren’t fully charged, they are all close to having the same amount of charge.

When you are charging the unit, you can not use it as an inverter, it’s one or the other.

Below the power supply, there is a compartment that will store the cord when not in use.  This is really my only complaint.  Every time you want to access the cord, you can remove the power supply.

Once the batteries are in place, it’s as simple as pushing a button to turn on the power station.  No cords to pull, no gas to check, no oil to fill, no spark plug to go bad.

The unit has four USB ports which can be covered by a hard plastic cover. There is a button right next to them that allows you to turn on and off the ports.

The power station has 3-3 prong outlets which are 120V and 15A.  As with the USB, there is a cover and a push button to turn on and off the outlets.

All the buttons and outlets are located on the front of the power station and it does have a very nice layout making it easy to read and access everything.

The power station has an awesome LCD screen that gives you all the information you can want such as battery ports, watts, what ports are on and off, and how many watts the unit is set up for depending on the battery configuration.

One cool feature is the ability to use your smartphone with the power station.  From your phone, you can view watts per outlet, turn the outlet on or off and view battery status on a percentage basis.

On top of the unit, there are two handles for carrying and transporting.

The sides are protected with a roll cage and heavier protected corners.

The bottom has a hard plastic and four soft rubber feet.

EGO Power Station Review Performance

While this Power Station has so many uses, we are a power tool channel, so we thought we would hook it up to some tools.  So when we tried to run a table saw or miter saw, the power management system kicked on and shut it down.

While the Power Station can run 15A, it will not run it if it is a quick surge.  However, we did find a way around this problem.  We bought an inline system that makes a tool a soft start so there isn’t a jolt Amp request.  With this item, we could run the table saw and miter saw.

We also tried running a router which is only 11 amps and it handled it with ease.

We don’t have a ton of corded items at the shop but we did try and run the fridge.  We weren’t sure how it would handle when the compressor kicked on, but it didn’t have any issues at all.

I wouldn’t expect it to have a difficult time charging a phone but thought we would throw that picture in for verification.

So here is the deal.  This battery power inverter has so many uses.  Follow us on Instagram and we will revisit this on the website.  We are going to take this in the woods when we hunt and we have a couple camping trips coming up where we will show this off.

EGO Power Station Review Value

So let’s talk about our wallet, and the price of this unit.  You can pick this up on Amazon for about $1,300, which comes with the power station and 5.0Ah batteries.  I know it may seem like a lot, well it did to me anyway.

But when I started researching, I found this is actually a great price.  Other battery inverters cost more and have less power.  The Goal Zero Yeti is 1400 watts runs about $1800, go figure.  In fact, I only found one that has more watts, the Yeti 3000 but it will cost you $3000.

But here is the major difference between EGO and the competitors.  First, with the EGO, you have external batteries so you can swap them out, while the others you have to wait to charge the unit back up.  The biggest plus with the EGO is the platform.  With the EGO, I can do so much more with the batteries such as take care of my whole lawn with a lawnmower, blower, trimmer, hedger, edger and snow blower.

So for me, the EGO is easily the top performer in regards to price.

FREE ADVICE

Your wife might be like mine and balk at the price tag.  So for me, I couldn’t buy this for my fishing trips or tailgating.  If I spent $1,300 on something like this and not the kids, I would be living on the couch.  However, since this is easy to use and can be used inside, I can sell it as a benefit to the household and not just me.  Now she can use it inside the house, for the kids if the power ever goes out when I am not around.  Perfect for the family.  Now my only snag in this idea is what happens when I am out fishing and the power goes out.  She goes downstairs to grab it and it’s not there. Maybe I just need to get a more comfortable couch.

EGO Power Station Review Final Thoughts

As with other EGO products, I think they nailed the EGO Power Station.  While it’s extremely easy to use, provides plenty of power and can be ran inside, I love the fact that I can use any EGO batteries and swap them out if a battery runs out of juice.  Sure this does come with a hefty price tag and isn’t for everyone, but this is one of those products that hit a home run in its market.  For the contractor who needs power inside, the hunter who needs power and doesn’t want to scare away their target, the household who lost power and wants to run it inside the house, or even that older person who depends upon power to power their medical devices, what a great back up system for these people and more.  If you would like to read more about the EGO Power Station, check out their website.

Since I use the EGO line of products, this system makes all the sense in the world.  I am going to leave mine in the garage and just swap out batteries as needed for the OPE tools.  If power goes out, since it’s always charging, I will have a full charge and be set to go.

What would you use this power station for?