Powdeom 700W Portable Power Station – Review & Real World Testing

The Powdeom 700W Portable Power Station – Real-World Testing Across Multiple Uses While Camping & Review

I’ve been running a second battery in my 4Runner for a few years now. However, I have always wanted a backup portable power supply that isn’t tethered to the vehicle.

I don’t currently have solar, so if I stay in one spot for more than 36 hrs, my fridge will turn off. I also get a bit nervous about using power without running the rig for a while to charge the batteries, which is annoying and uses gas.

For trips where we’re stationary for more than one night, I’d love to have the option of running all of our devices and electric accessories off of an independent power source. Now I can with the Powdeom 700W portable power station. 

Find It Online:

• Company Direct Website (Coupon Code “trail” takes $200 OFF): Check Price
• Amazon: Check Price

Overview

The design of the Powdeom is clean and simple, the controls are minimal, and its shell is a tasteful dark gray. There are eight outlets on the Powdeom and it has three ways to recharge: AC, Solar, and via the DC outlet in your vehicle.

Some of the other popular units have colorful trim or oddly shaped rubber moldings. For those wanting something more subdued, the Powdeom is a good choice. The price is also competitive at $549 for the 700W model. For comparison, the Goal Zero Yeti 500W comes in at $529, Jackery Explorer 500 at $429, and Blue TTI 500 at $599. 

The Powdeom is rated at 700W with a 614Wh capacity. It boasts a LiFePo4 Battery that’s capable of 3000+ charge cycles to 80%. What’s the benefit of LiFePo4 over Lithium-ion? The cycle life (life span) of a LiFePo4 battery is 4-5x longer at an estimated 10 years. For reference, lithium-ion batteries only have a cycle life of 500 charge cycles.

LiFePO4 is also safer. Lithium-ion batteries can overheat and catch fire, but LiFePo4 batteries don’t. 

Out of the box, the display on the Powdeom showed a charge of 50% and 99 hrs of remaining output with DC selected. The first thing I did was plug it into a wall outlet and it showed a 52-minute countdown to full charge. Immediately, a fan kicked on and ran for the duration of the charge. That’s reassuring because batteries do not like excessive heat, especially while quick charging.

Not sure this matters to everyone, but for the geeks out there, the input showed as 360W and 60Hz. 

Each power port on the Powdeom has a small push button to turn it on. A small blue light on the button indicates that the port is active. Whichever one is selected (AC, DC, USB C, etc.) is shown on the display. The AC input was highlighted while charging. 

Power Station Charging Time

While plugged in, the Powdeom seemed to stay accurate with the countdown timer. 15 minutes after starting to charge, the countdown had dropped by 15 minutes. 

I started charging it in my office while working so I could keep an eye on it. However, the fan is a bit distracting, so I took it to another room to continue charging. Strangely, the charge time dropped from 33 mins to 22 mins, and the power input jumped to 522W.

We’ve had some trouble with the outlet in my office throwing a breaker in our home. I’m not sure if this just exposed an electrical issue in that office circuit. I moved it back to the original office outlet and now it showed 523W. So, not sure what happened there.

After 42 minutes, the fan shut off and the unit showed a full charge. That was 10 minutes faster than the original countdown timer showed. In that 42 minutes, it went from 50% to 100% charge. At full charge, the available charge fluctuated between 74 and 66 hrs. After about 10 minutes, it settled at 59 hrs while still plugged into the wall as well as after I unplugged it.

With nothing plugged into the unit, as you cycle through the different ports, the projected power times change.

For example:

• AC showed 27 hrs
• USB showed 66 hrs
• DC showed 59 hrs

How long to charge the Powdeom from the 4Runner’s second battery?

I have a second battery on the 4Runner that I use to power the fridge and rear power outlets (AC, DC, USB). I’m currently having some electrical issues and may actually need a new second battery.

While the truck was running and driving, the second battery powered the rear outlets where I was charging the Powdeom. In about 30 minutes, the charge on the Powdeom jumped up 5%. So, between 12:30 and 1:00 pm, driving from home to the mountains, it charged from 46% to 51%.

Based on this, I’m assuming my setup would likely give me a full charge in about 10 hrs on the road. I need to do more testing on this. Hopefully, with my electrical system at full function, the charge time would be better. 

I decided to turn the power station off and let it sit for 5 days to see if the stored power would dissipate. This was at 11:23 am on Monday, Feb 13th. At 10:45 on Feb 18th, the charge was still at 100% and showed 99 hrs for DC power. 

Device Charging Times

There were a few obvious things I wanted to test with the Powdeom, but I also reached out to folks on Instagram for questions. Below are the charging times I tested as well as answers to most of those questions. My apologies if I missed any. 

How long does it take to charge a phone?

• iPhone 13 Pro from 0% to 50% took 45 mins
• 2% of the Powdeom battery used

Basic math leads me to believe that fully charging my phone would use about 4% of the Powdeom battery. The Powdeom display showed a power output of 9W while charging the iPhone.

How long does it take to charge an iPad?

• 10.5-inch 2017 iPad Pro from 0% to 98% took 2.5 hrs
• 8% of the Powdeom battery used

During the charge, the available charge on the Powdeom went from 99% to 91%. Power output showed to be at 11W with only the iPad plugged in. As it moved toward a full charge, the power output gradually dropped to about 4W.

How long does it take to charge a laptop?

• 15-inch MacBook Pro from 0% to 40% took 30 minutes
• 8% of the Powdeom battery used

To fully charge, I estimate it would use 20% of the Powdeom battery. While using the laptop, The Powdeom’s output was fluctuating as I was working. It bounced between 20 watts and 30 watts and at times, jumped up to 70 watts.

How long will it run a fridge?

This was a popular question. I ran my Dometic CFX50W fridge off the Powdeom while the 4Runner was parked in my garage and while I was out driving for a few hours. The temperature in the garage and outside was in the mid-40s and relatively constant.

I had the fridge set to 34 degrees, the setting I generally use for trips. I did not open and close the fridge as it would with normal use. 

• After 48 hrs, the charge on the Powdeom had dropped from 99% to 8% charge.

The fridge turns on and off as its temperature fluctuates, so projected times on the Powdeom display couldn’t accurately be recorded.

When the fridge was running, the Powdeom showed around 7-8 hrs of runtime. However, when the fridge was off, the Powdeom would register as much as 99 hrs. When it was running the fridge, the Powdeom showed about 50 watts of power consumption. 

How many days would it last while camping?

While camping, overnight, I ran an electric heating pad on High for 10 hrs, charged my iPhone twice, and charged two drone batteries. Powering these devices over the course of about 20 hrs, the Powdeom battery was drained 40%. I’d guess this would be a relatively normal single day of use at camp, so it seems like you could get two average days of power from the Powdeom without needing a recharge. 

How long would it run a heated blanket?

I actually purchased two heated blankets for this test. I’ve been meaning to buy one, but just haven’t made a decision on what to get. There are $20 heated blankets and ones that retail for over $100. I bought one of each and tested them at home with the Powdeom. 

Blanket 1 – Mantuole Heated Sleeping Bag pad ($85) 

While charging, this blanket only drew 4 watts of power. When the blanket was on, the Powdeom charge dropped between 2 and 3 percent charge in an hour. So, math would suggest that you could run this blanket for around 40 hrs.

Note: This is a two-sided blanket, and I only ran one side on High for the time that I was testing it.

Blanket 2 – Stalwart 75-BP1011 Electric Blanket ($22)

While charging, this blanket drew a whopping 42 watts of power. The Powdeom showed 5 hrs runtime when plugged in. When e blanket was on, it dropped about 10% in an hour. So, math would suggest that you could run this blanket for around 10 hrs on one full charge.

Note: This blanket had only one setting, hot. It was hotter than the other blanket tested, but consumed so much power that I’d definitely opt for the pricer blanket.

This isn’t an article about blankets but thought this was worth mentioning. I know quite a few people use heated blankets in the winter, and I got this question from a few people.

Will it run AC power tools?

Honestly, this made me a little concerned and I didn’t want to blow my new power station. But, I gave it a try because you asked. I decided to try my AC-powered Milwaukee Sawzall, and reluctantly squeezed the trigger and ran it at maximum power with no issues.

The power output on the Powdeom was around 540 watts with the Sawzall at full power. I ran it long enough to cut through a muffler and then stopped. I can’t tell you how much it would drain the Powdeom but I was just psyched that it worked and nothing blew up.

How long to charge an AC power tool battery

• Milwaukee M12 battery from 50% to 100% took just under an hour
• 5% capacity of the Powdeom battery used

While charging, the output was 43 watts.

Note: I plugged the M12 charger into the Powdeom and did not watch it consistently. When I checked it after an hour, it was fully charged. 

Final Thoughts

I generally pack light, but I’ll be making room in my rig for the Powdeom 700W Portable power station.

I’ve always been curious about these power banks. Quite a few companies are making them, and they’ve become ubiquitous in the overland community over the last year or two. My second battery has been great, but not without its issues; issues that the Powdeom negates. At the very least, it will back me up if electrical issues arise in my rig. 

I love that I can use it in the rooftop tent, on the rear table, away from the rig, and even at home if the power goes out. It charges everything I need and allows for running both AC and DC electronics.

The look is a bit generic compared to some of the fancier name brands, but I actually like the unassuming black brick shape. I also like that the handle folds down and the top is completely flat, which allows for easy packing. It also provides the ability to set a phone, tablet, or other small chargeable devices on top while charging. 

If I were buying a power station with my own cash and not getting the product in exchange for this review (full transparency), I would bump the Powdeom into my consideration set. Its simple design, specs, and price definitely make it competitive with the big names in portable power stations.

I wish the $550.00 retail price made it a more obvious choice, as most of the more well-known options I looked at were in a similar price range. The bottom line is that the name brands in the same price range only give you around 500W vs. 700W from the Powdeom. If that extra 200W rating translates into more time with more power to your devices in the middle of nowhere, which it should, I’d say it’s worth it.