Lots of video reviews out there that are more like Anker commercials and this is the only review I could find that was actually a review and not an infomercial. Thank you and well done!

Thank you. I like your honesty. This is why I follow the likes of Will Prowse, TechmanSolar and Jasonoid for solar power videos. Honest, transparent, impartial and professional. Unlike a number of big influencers who sing from the manufacturer's hymn sheet.

The best solar generator reviews on KZfaq. The unit has a lot going for it especially the 240 and the clean sine wave and 240 volt split phase. I wish the engineers would gonna back and rethink the 60 volt limit; I think that’s a real issue because you have to limit your ability to connect your panels in series. I like the higher voltage due to distance of my panels to the units. (Backyard to house) I don’t like the fact that you take advantage of faster charging by using both the AC and solar panels at the same time. Hurricanes in Florida will sometimes take down the grid for a week or more. There will be times when you want to do a quick charge and use both an inverter generator and solar panels at the same time. I think the unit has great potential; however, it has kinks that have to be worked out.

The lack of 240v output while A/C charging would be a deal breaker for me. I would want to use it connected to circuits on my transfer switch sub panel and have it connected to A/C charging on a timer to only charge during off peak electric rates.

I could not verify the auto-off feature for 30 minutes before. I contacted Anker support and learned that if you use any of the USB-A ports or the 12V ports, it will not "close" until 2 hours later, then the time out for 30 minutes starts after it closes. So even when you set the time out to 30 minutes, the F3800 won't shut down until 2.5 hours after there is no more load on the USB-A port. Similar with the AC output ports, they take 30 minutes of inactivity to "close", then another 30 minute of the time out set, so the F3800 will not auto shutdown until 1 hour after the outlets have 0A load with a 30 minute time-out set.

I've watched five reviews of this product and this review was the best. Why? He speaks clearly and at a good pace which is important. For me, what stuck out was total watts vs. actual running watts. They should add this information to the packaging like gas generators do. They show peak surge watts and actual running watts. I always find this somewhat deceptive with power stations. Because it is a mobile unit, I would use it in an RV but not as a home backup because of the limited solar voltage. I think the standard should be 150 max for this type of unit in this price range. For home back up, I would go with the Delta Pro Ultra. I don't yet understand the 240 volts inputs yet. Would love to see videos dedicated to what you could use them for and their respective applications. For example, could I plug in my home dryer and run it? I know people are looking at these systems as a cheaper way to home backup which is great. There is a lot to like about this power station, but seriously, how are going to incorporate XT connections for the solar inputs and not include the adapters? Anker is good but they are seriously lacking when it comes to what people are looking for regarding solar inputs and capacity. I would actually go with the Zendure Superbase V with expansion batteries because the 240 volts is not of particular importance in my application at this time. This was an awesome video; thank you Jason once again.

As always top-notch reviews and likely one of the top two on the internet. You seem to cover everything I have questions about or need to know on a subject. Keep them coming. Long time subscriber.

His review of the F3800 is outstanding. I’ve been looking at the unit for ~1 month and without question his assessment and understanding of this power station is very helpful. Thanks!

I am still learning. A year ago i had no idea of this terminology but able to follow along now. Still learning how to use the equipment used in th testing and why. Please continue making these presentations, I like the funny ones as well. you are a great presenter ☺

thank you for the thorough and honest reviews that you do

Excellent review as always.

Thank you for such an amount of effort and info. One of the most detailed, professional and in-depth reviews of such a criteria. I'm thankful for youtube algorithm for recommending such a video to me! Keep it up, man and have a good one :)

Outstanding production sir. I have no critique for you. No unnecessary music, got right to the point, all very pertinent tests and info. Best review I've seen. Do more!

I just recently purchased the Anker F3800. I had to a few questions that I didn't think of before I bought it. You were very thorough and covered all my questions. Thank you for making this video.

Another thorough review from you. Nicely done.

Wow, you really do a thorough testing of these power stations! Actually the best review I have ever seen. Keep up the good reviews, you've earned a sub.

Absolutely beautiful testing video! Great job man!

You do an excellent job with your reviews . Very professional and helpful.

Another great review Jason. You set the bar very high for all reviews and yours are second to none. I'm not in the market for something like this at this time, but you helped me very much to build up my knowledge so I can make an intelligent decision when the time does come. Thank you for your time and sacrifice to help keep us in the know of what's available and what's good and not so good about it. It also helps the manufacturer know where there's need for improvement. Thank you very much. 👍👌

Jason, great review, the best on KZfaq. Thank You!

Extremely well done and thorough video thank you!!!

Another great review, Jason. This unit is far beyond my needs, yet the information was excellent.

Great job, I like the idea of the larger units.

Well presented and very thorough review.

Excellent and thorough review Jason; thank you. I purchased my F3800 plus expansion battery on Kickstarter and love it. One thing that you forgot to mention is that when in UPS mode(AC charging and AC inverter on), the max AC input is brought down to 1440W from the 1800W MAX.

Awesome review! Thank you for sharing your awesome knowledge!

You are so equipped and detailed ❤

Great review. Thank you!

Fantastic Channel! Great find.

Dude...friggin epic vid. You just kept busting out more awesome testing hardware and more things to test..."thorough" is an understatement!! You got my sub!!

Nice thorough review. Was not an infomercial. Nice work and thanks!

Jason, I've watched all the F3800 videos and yours is by far the most comprehensive. Thanks so much for the DC input tests. Unfortunately your results were the same as mine, so my idea of using one device to feed four inputs on two F3800's is out the door. I was trying to skip the 48v server rack battery and charge all four ports in an extended outage with an EG4 chargeverter and my inverter generator. So now thinking of one EG4 48v server battery to take care of one port on each F3800 and the chargeverter for the other two ports. I got these at the Kickstarter 45% off rate but for my use case it appears the Ecoflow Ultra would work better for me but at a much higher cost. Also don't love the poor reviews of Ecoflow's customer service. Love that power supply you used. Looks like a beast. Thanks again for such a great review.

Great review as usual. You give the best content on the net. Very strong

Thinking of getting one for my home in Texas thanks for the very comprehensive review

Amazing review.

Absolutely the most detail report on this Anker Excellent job. A quick correction you now can charge DC and AC at the same time :) 4 important update that needs to happen is being able to charge 120v while using 240v , get a higher solar input , UPS mode on 240 . and definitely a 30amp 12v output for rv camper would be a winner, the way for now to go around charging while using 240v is to use a amps 25a 60v dc to the solar input I tried it and it works well. get all this and then this unit will definitely be the best portable unit out there thanks

Great video again Jason. Just like the 767/F2000, the best panels I've found with these 60v input MPPTs are the Qcell 480 watt bifacials with their 53.38voc.

Great job Jason and very thorough. I’ve reviewed one on my channel and the only thing I noticed that you missed is that the left solar input is disabled after 90% charge if there’s something plugged into both. Unfortunately I couldn’t get the expansion battery to charge or discharge on mine and I’m currently waiting for a replacement battery. I can’t wait to run my home from it again with the expansion battery because the unit itself has been working excellent!

Excellent. Thank you.

Wow, the reason I sold my Delta Pros was just because I could not AC charge while connected to the 240v and now this one does the same. Bummer!

That that thing better be a beast for its size

Great job! Learned some things I didn't already know. I got my setup on Kickstarter at a 35% discount which is always a plus. I'm waiting on the rest of my stuff(Home Panel and 12 Circuit Sub Panel). When do you think you'll have a video on those items? I would be curious of your review and how to configure the installation. Keep up the good work!

Nice Job, your testing answered all of my questions. I wish that the 240v output would stay on all of the time though.

I really like your review of this power station, best review out there. I’m considering purchasing ANKER SOLIX F3800. My question is: 1. What is required to connect two units in the house to double the battery capacity? 2. Will there be needed twice as many solar panels to charge both of the units at the same rate as one? Thanks again for your explanatory.

Super review. I have followed you for over a year now and always learning. A couple of items on gen charging (17min). Per Anker the F3800 will not accept a gen with modified sine wave. Bummer with all the old gens used. My set up was to use the gen to subpanel and then charge the F3800 during the day off a house 120v outlet or use two with 240v adapter plug. Use the F3800 at night into subpanel. A bit of switching but workable. Still the issue here is that with my old gen, it will still put out a MSW so per Anker, I will need a chargeverter from house current to charge.

Excellent presentation. Thank you. If I am going to spend $5000 on this just for my home for backup power, I am getting a fixed in place natural gas generator for about the same cost and will run the entire house basically forever.

Thanks for the thorough, data driven review. I believe the Anker Home Power Panel acts as an automatic transfer switch and will resolve the issue of 120V AC charging while retaining 240V output. The HPP should also have the ability to preference solar input over AC input (if I interpreted the website information correctly). Do you have any plans to review the Anker Home Power Panel that was specifically designed to work with the F3800?

Nice unit I agree 100% with the flaws you pointed out. My bigger panels all put out 41 volts that maximum voltage input should of been higher. Geez my 2000 w pecron takes in 95 volts per solar input. Should of been 150 like most bigger power stations. Lack of attachments they need to correct that which is an easy fix that should be made. At the end of the day, its worth the money in my opinion. Whatever that's worth. Lol, great review as always!

Thank You for All that you are doing for our Planet Earth.... Peace.. Shalom.. Salam.. Namaste 🙏🏻 😊 🌈 ✌ ☮ ❤

Needs either more versatile solar input capabilities or the 240 volt while AC charging ability for me to opt in. As is, you also would need a large generator with this power station which kind of defeats the purpose. Still this device is pretty impressive. Great review!

Looking the kit! It's a proper evolved brand .

Add some barrel jacks on the DC output, and maybe let me bump that voltage up a bit in the app, I'd really like to see 13.8 -14.0 DC just to help keep the current down a little bit, Mainly for an "special use case probably exclusive to just me! Definitely need to be able to use dual charging with FULL ac output, and again let me prioritize one over the other as needs dictate! And yes a higher DC voltage input would probably be nice! I'm just starting to explore this arena right now, I'm starting small to experiment and learn

Great review. Should this be hooked up to a 50amp generator outlet? I have two units I expect to combine at some point, but may not always use them connected. Thanks & keep up the great work...

Good video, thanks for making this. fyi 2:58, It looks like that top chord is only only the 30amp 120 volt outlet... but you mention it's 240v.

Another very nice review. If I were building an off-grid cabin, this would be almost ideal. Otherwise, charging it from 120V AC introduces some pretty serious limitations, especially the loss of 240V output.

Excellent review and explanation! Thank-you! I do have a question. What does the charge controller do with the ampacity available from the solar panels when there is no load on the system and the battery or batteries are at 100%. Is that condition detrimental to the PV array?

When the 240 output is connected to a transferswitch (so the generator input of it) no problem that it goes to 0 Volt while the unit is AC charging. The reason for it is that when you are AC charging that means there is AC coming from the grid and the transferswitch is using the grid anyway. For charging this battery from a generator when solar is not enought I would consider using the DC inputs or use the generator to feed both the transferswitch as the Anker, basicly feeding the whole group again.

Wow, you put out a gazillion terabytes of information and my brain can only take about a kilobyte. Lucky for me you had the grade sheet at the end that summarized it very well and the pros and cons. Agree that the solar charging is limited and it is something that should be remedied along with the pass through charging. It boggles my mind that most of this manufacturers think about the systems they built as home back ups units only and fail to fully grasp that in emergency scenarios due to earthquakes or hurricanes , and tornadoes, and grid down systems, that using 12V appliances during days or weeks of power outages are more efficient and very crucial in these instances. During a time that I had no power for 10 days and sun for 4 of those days had I not had my 12V refrigerators/freezers to transfer my food from the residential fridge and freezer there would have been some spoilage for sure. Luckily I had redundancies in place but people that may not have the finances for whole residential backup system could benefit more from a unit that has 3 or more 12V plugs. I personally am not impressed in having a 6000W inverter with a 3800w battery where using all ac appliances only can drain your unit in a few hours. I'd rather have a 6000W battery with a 3000W inverter. Managing your power source is more crucial in power outages something that many many people are not aware of or understand. As always fantastic video. I love your content very succinct and informative and don't pay attention to that jerk's comment. When you get haters it's because they are jealous, incompetent , and losers.

Thanks!

Great review and testing. Did you try to use your HVAC to figure out if it handled the surge during the compressor power up ?

One thing I would like to see that most reviews don’t mention is the charging efficiency. I might have missed it in your video, but measuring from the wall to the unit how much energy does it take to charge the unit from zero to full. Is charging also 80+ % efficient?

Great video review, thank you! Can you help identify best solar panels to use with this unit besides the portable ones due to the limited 60V solar input?

I've had my eye on this one for a while. The lack of 240v output while charging from AC isn't a big deal to me. Chances are that if you're using the 240v out, it's probably because you're in backup mode and there isn't any 120v input available anyway. Also, the 120v charge input is about 1700w max, and you're probably drawing a lot more that that if using the 240v output. The 1700w input would give you a little bit more run time, but the draw will be faster than the charge. I would not be using pass-thru or UPS modes, a much smaller UPS at the usage point would fit my usage better than having the 3800 co-located with my sensitive devices. Saw a few comments on lack of an RV outlet. 50a to 30a RV adapters for under $10 at wallymart.

Good to know about 240 disconnects in UPS mode.

The only thing this video doesn't cover, that I know of, is the home panel power port. When connected to the home panel power port, it charges and sends out current from the same cable, but can do you have access to all the a/c ports when connected this way, or does it limit a/c to the ups ports?

This thing was a steal a few months back when they first introduced it at $2599, but even this price is pretty good for an all-in-one solution for 240 split phase. You really went all out on that BK Precision DC power supply, but you really can't beat quality. I don't think it is a quirk that the 240 split phase receptacles are not energized during 120 single phase charging as this would require an internal method of converting the 120 single phase into 240 split phase, which can be heavy (large center tap step up transformer, about 70 pounds) and expensive. A 3000 watt transformer for this purpose is more expensive than the Anker 3800! Also on a side note, common grounding of solar arrays violates the NEC in the US, and will void your home owners warranty if a fire results and it's found to be from common DC grounding of solar arrays. A very thorough review as always. This Anker is a refreshing product when compared with the pricier, multiple box and big cable alternatives from EcoFlow and Bluetti:)

Great video, really helps to chose between this Anker F3800 and the Eco-Flow Delta Pro Ultra both quality products from good companies. It seems that not being able to DC charge (e.g. from solar) while running the 240 V output is a big problem. Do you have to choose between running your 240 V power (e.g. EV charging) and solar charging?

Great video. The lack of 240v pass-through charging is a deal breaker for me. I want to charge this with a generator during a power outage and this would mean I have to do something special to begin charging and not lose power.

First off GREAT video, super detailed. Could you test the efficiency of the 240v outlet for the benefit of those charging a car? Charging a Tesla at 120v yields a 10-12% loss due to having to boost the voltage to 220v+ I would be interested in how much lower they would be than the 120v figures. I am considering using this as a solar bank to run one or two of my 120v room AC units during the day. My concern is the no load efficiency of the inverter at night draining 25% of that stored energy that could be used just before the sun comes to it's peak, but the low no load efficiency seems counter intuitive. It seems like there may be two 120v inverters inside to run the 240v outlet, is there a mode in which it can operate maybe only one 120v bank at no load with more efficiency? If the unit is depleted during the night, will it reboot once a charge source such as solar is received? Have you measured the power consumption when the unit is in UPS mode and fully charged? While this is the highest charge rate system I have found, the no load inverter efficiency is certainly a downside, have you seen better no load 120v only systems that are above 3kw?

I'd love for you to review the Anker Home Panel when it becomes available.

You plugged an eg4 battery in to charge it. Can something like the eg4 powerpro be used to charge it. Thanks for your in-depth review and answering questions. I purchased one of these before seeing your review, and it gave me great insight. Well done!

very detailed. i want to use this to run a RV off grid while running a PC as well- the RV uses a 5500kw Generator now- will this work as is or do i need to add the battery? how many solar panels to keep this charged? Thanks you have earned my sub.

So if you wanted to leave the device plugged in via 240 but also charge it using something like a generator or a dedicated solar circuit from your house it almost seems like you'd need a AC to XT-60 converter?

For home use, comparatively a Tesla Powerwall is less expensive.

Based on your review, the best plan for this in an outage would be 2 of the 48v server rack batteries and each with an MPPT hooked up to it. Have a wide ranging MPPT on them to get around the voltage limits of the unit and keep your critical loads powered from 240v. The server rack battery is nearly the perfect DC input for this it seems. I do like this unit in general, but the charging quirks makes for coming up with some innovate solutions. Ecoflow's new Delta beast does outshine this one, but it costs more too. I'm still waiting to see one of these that can allow my AC Coupled solar panels to be used when the grid is out. I know wall units from Sol-Ark, EG4 and Schneider can, but have yet to see one of these kind of portable ones have the feature.

I like this better than the ecoflow cause of its shape. I can put it in the garage in front of the car. And I can purchase batteries in the long run wo breaking the bank

crazy testing, matches the abilities of the product. I remember when I first saw this station, it has grid tie functionality where it can dump energy to the house? Am I mistaken? I'd want a feature like this so that the battery gets utilized daily when the station is not outdoors. otherwise, I'd just DIY a server rack battery as a station and home backup which is a lot cheaper albeit janky setup.

Great review as always, thank you!! I bought this on Kickstarter and generally pleased, My biggest gripe is I cannot charge it from a small gas generator and use the 240. Hopefully they can do a firmware upgrade and enable that feature? Anker, you listening?

Can I ask an unrelated question Jason? I notice you do charge your battery banks off of solar. How long is your mc4 connection wire to the inside from the outside? I’ve heard one can only go 50 feet before you loose power from the length of the cord to the battery bank. This is a esp issue for me. I have a high quality heavy Cale that is 50 feet but I still can’t get it to the house from the position of the panels, and being in Michigan, there’s no way I would leave a bank outside. What are your thoughts in this matter? Thank you…

So if you had to choose one for home backup, I feel like you would choose the Ecoflow Delta Pro Ultra over the Anker Solix 3800. Am I right ?

@Jasonoid Based on your review I pulled the trigger on one of these bad boys. I noticed fans turn on/off very randomly, even at very light

Excellent and comprehensive review. I don't think it's a great option, especially in North America, where a hybrid inverter and a couple of EG4s would be a much better full time backup system for your house. I'm really a bit confused as to who it is aimed at. It's too big to be considered really portable but at the same time the lack of dual charging options with software control and the missing 240V output while AC charging sort of relegates it to off grid scenarios - but there are far better options for any one living off the grid. The limited solar input is also a big turnoff. Just be done with it and by a Tesla Powerwall 3 with 6 MPPTs, superfast changover, up to a massive 11.5KVA power rating and 13.5KWh capacity. The only downside I can see is the 13amp limit on solar which is going to rule out a lot of panels that exceed that limit.

I have one ordered, scheduled to arrive tomorrow. Could you use a 48v charger to charge it and still get all the ac outputs on? That might be a way to get around the problem with ac charging.

With kit this good is there any good reason to try and build your own system? Back in 2020 I built a system based around a 12V 200KAh LiFePO4, Renegy solar charge controller, and a Renegy 3000w inverter. It works great but if I were to do it again, I think I'd buy a one-box solution like Anker.

Can the expansion battery charge separate from the station for solar or only through the station?

If you are only pulling 100 watts or so, powering a home AC refrigerator for example, how long does it run? IE how much does the inverter eat just being on? Shame there isn't any 240v charging

Could you use some kind of AC-DC converter to be able to charge with a generator and retain the 240v outlet functionality? I'm building a new house (600 sqft) and I'm looking at a more portable power solution versus a wall mounted off-grid inverter. Space is limited. I want to be able to run the central AC unit, refrigerator, and well pump, with the capability to run a washer/dryer if needed. I'll be on the grid so it kind of sucks that this thing can't charge with AC and power the 240v outlet at the same time. I plan to have solar panels, but I'm kind of limited on roof space b/c the house is small. I'll have yard space, but that means taking up space for a permanent installation or constantly having to lay out panels. Its not impossible, but its not ideal. The wall mounted off-grid inverters seem more capable, but I won't have an area where I can easily wall mount them out of sight. I also like the idea of being able to throw this thing in my truck and haul ass in case of a hurricane evacuation order.

Great video!

What is the connection cable for the expansion battery? Could it be "rigged" to work with a 48v server rack battery? I'm guessing there's some proprietary BMS anker has under wraps?

Likely running 2 120V inverters in series for 240V split phase output, but AC charging likely uses one of those inverters in reverse, hence half your AC output is gone when AC charging.

Excellent review. Looks like a nice unit but the fact that the solar input is limited to 60V with no dual charging capability from DC and AC at the same time is a real disappointment for a unit in this class. It's also disappointing that you can't charge from a 240V source to get true pass through at 240V. It would be nice if that was an available option. At this price range I would expect these features. I do like the 240V output from one head unit.

So, the unit acts like it's own interlock. If you have the 240V plugged into your home service and the AC charging cable installed, with the grid power down, the 240V supplies your loads. When the grid power comes back, the 240V outlet gets disabled and the AC charging port starts up. With both cables connected, if the grid power goes down, the 240V outlet activates and supplies youe loads. Is this scenario correct?

Can I connect the 48 volt EG4 to the solar input of the Anker F3800? Would this then add 5kw of battery backup to the total system? Could I then charge the EG4 with a generator at the same time? This would allow me to charge the Anker with AC and without disabling the 240v output?

Thanks so much for your reviews and tutorials!... If I planned on using two server rack batteries as extention batteries/charge for the 3800, would it make more sense to go with 12v or 48v? I watched your DC to DC video, so I know I can use a step-up converter to charge it from a 12v, but Im wondering if I could go straight from xt60 to the EG4s terminals with 48v? Would I need fuses on the xt60 cord for the 48v?

I hope Anker would make this available in the Philippines without the excessive price. Too expensive here in the Philippines close to double the price.

Does this take it's own solar panels? you said you bought an adaptor, so could i buy 3, 290w,36v solar panels, and put them in series, to each of the two battery inputs? So like theoretically 870w 36v input to each of those two inputs? or is the max VOC 60? (I only know a small amount of solar/etc, so i might be getting everything here wrong, just curious)

EcoFlow version of this class has every checkmark. Especially AC UPS at full rating. And better solar charging options.

Great review. Any chance these batteries will weigh less? Living in Hawaii, shipping charges are through the roof. And solar companies don't cover it.

Solar input did it for me as a no go. I got the delta pro ultra. Been getting error codes for different things (5 different ones). Can’t have it plugged into wall and using 240 if the 240 is above 2,000w, tries to pull from wall and error code. EcoFlow support took 8 days to respond and didn’t help. Why can’t things be like an apple product that just works.

What would you recommend as a comparable unit? Currently shopping for a unit to supplement my propane generator