I tried this Bluetti power station with wheels – now every other charger feels outdated

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It took people about 300,000 years to discover that rolling something is easier than carrying it. As hard as it is to believe that the iPhone hasn’t been around for 20 years, it’s hard to believe that we’ve only been using wheels for 6,000 years.

And it’s strange how few power station manufacturers put wheels on their units (and if they do, they feel good about it). They still expect you to pack 80-pound lumps like a prehistoric caveman.

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Bluetti solves this with Elite 400 — a power station built on wheels that would make the Flintstones sit up and pay attention.

What is tire handling?

OK, why does the Elite 400 need wheels?

However, this is a large system, carrying a whopping 3,840Wh of energy in a large bank of lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) cells. That’s enough to run the refrigerator for over three days, a hair dryer for 90 minutes (which, if you have a lot of hair like me, you won’t need!), or your RV heater for 9 hours.

That’s quite a load for a portable power station, and one that the Elite 400 handles with ease. I’ve connected all kinds of devices to mine, from high resistance loads like heaters and ovens to devices that need a stable output, like computers, and the unit has worked flawlessly.

Take all that, and add an inverter that can push 2,600W of AC power (3,900W operation), and you’re looking at a unit that measures 17 x 11 x 41 inches and weighs 86 pounds. That’s more than the 51 pounds recommended by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

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There are four 20A AC outlets (the unit pictured is the UK version, so output options vary) for high-powered devices, four USB ports (two 15W USB-A and two 100W USB-C), and a 12V/10A DC output port.

The unit has a color LCD similar to the one used by Bluetti in other power stations. It shows enough information without being overwhelming. If you want to dive deeper, you need the Bluetti app, which is up there among my favorite power channel controls.

You can begin to see why this needs wheels!

Charging options

In terms of input, the Elite 400 can take AC, which will charge it from low to 80% in 1.9 hours and full in 2.5 hours. If you mix AC and add 1,000W of solar, this recharge time is reduced to 70 minutes from 0 to 80% and 1.8 hours to full. 1,000W of solar power alone takes 6 hours to fully charge the unit.

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If you choose the slow, quiet 800W AC charging option, it will take less than four hours — but you can sleep in the same room as the power station without worrying about a fan coming on to disturb your sleep.

This slow charging option also helps extend battery life, although with a five-year warranty and the known longevity of LiFePO4 batteries, it’s not a major concern.

For more than occasional car charging, I recommend Bluetti 2 1,200W DC-to-DC chargerwhich reduces recharge times from a day using your car’s built-in 12V outlet to just a few hours.

Stuffing at the station

The tires are a joy to use on all surfaces, from loose gravel to carpeted floors. Any wheels are better than carrying around a 100-pound lump, but these wheels handle any surface you throw at them (except mud… I don’t recommend dragging your power station over mud!).

And wheels need some kind of handle, and the telescopic handle on the Elite 400 is perfect for the job.

It’s not so weak that I expect it to break or split in half at any moment, but it’s not so strong that it’s unnecessarily big and heavy. Oh, and the handle is comfortable to use — beware, some companies put uncomfortable handles on things.

ZDNET shopping advice

I Bluetti Elite 400 it’s one of those portable power stations that’s perfect for many applications, from regular home use to emergency power (we can switch to battery before any connected device is noticed), to RVing or camping.

It is an all-purpose unit.

You need to be careful with the weight because 90 pounds is too much weight to do anything without moving it around.

But you also get close to 4kW of power and the ability to handle 20 Amps of load. Anything you can plug into a standard outlet will work with the Elite 400, making it a no-compromise system.

The price is also good.

With a regular price of $1,899, it is very competitively priced for a unit that delivers this much power. Right now, on Amazon, you’re getting 32% off the list price, bringing the price down to a very competitive $1,299. At that price, this is a steal because you’d be hard-pressed to find a 3kW portable power station for that price.