REVIEW – In case you haven’t noticed, the stormy season is here as summer is upon us—at least in Florida. And with storms come power outages. We’ve had a couple of power failures already, along with some necessary roof repairs, but I digress. If you live in a place that gets (sometimes violent) storms, you need some sort of power backup—especially if power is out for a few hours vs. a few minutes. That’s where massive portable power stations like the FJD PowerSec MP2000 Portable Power Station and solar panel come in handy—at a price.
We seem to be reaching a golden age of power stations as the choices have multiplied. Plus, prices are finally coming down. The old rule of $1/watt is being rewritten. Can a newer brand such as FJDynamics compete with the more established power station brands?
What is it?
The FJDynamics PowerSec MP2000 Portable Power Station is a massive (in both power and weight) battery perfect for powering larger appliances for a few hours. For instance, a normal-sized home refrigerator can be powered for 16-32 hours. This alone can help save hundreds of dollars worth of food.
The FJDynamics PowerSec MP2000 Portable Power Station is just that: a 2000-watt power station. That means that it will charge a 100-watt appliance for 20 hours or a 1000-watt appliance for 2 hours. It’s basic math. The MP2000 is powered by a lithium-ion battery with a cycle life of 1000 times. This means that the MP2000 can go from a dead battery (0%) to 100% and back again to 0% (one life cycle) a thousand times before the battery will only charge to 70% max. While this is impressive for lithium-ion, it pales compared to the newer lithium-ion batteries found in many power stations.
The battery is replaceable by lifting up the hood located at the top of the unit. Extra backup batteries are available.
Charging the MP2000 to 100% only takes 2 hours (from 0%) when plugged into a wall outlet—which is quite fast as power stations go.
It can also be charged via a 12V cigarette lighter—which takes hours—or solar panels—an extra cost option.
The FJDynamics PowerSec MP2000 Portable Power Station is housed in tough ABS black and yellow plastic with rubberized corners. Large handles grace both ends for carrying (more on that later in the review). All ports are located on the front and are covered in either soft rubber or hard plastic flaps. If the flaps are closed, the MP2000 can be rained on, but it is not submersible.
Input charging (both AC and solar ports are located under one of the handles at the side.
Hardware specs
- Dimension: 18×14.5×10.3 in.
- Weight: 60 lbs.+
- Power; 2000W
- Capacity: 2264 W
- Battery: Lithium Ion
- Waterproof rating: IP54
- 1200W-rated wall outlet
- 66W max car outlet
- AC output: 110V±10%, 50/60Hz, 220V±10%/50Hz (Offline UPS)
- USB-A: 18W x3
- USB-C: 60W x2
- Cigarette lighter: 12V
- DC: 12V
- Pure sine wave
Design and features
After reviewing FJDynamics MP500 Portable Power Station, I was intrigued by their massive MP2000 (less portable) Portable Power Station. The first thing I noticed after unboxing the was its weight. This thing is heavy, as in heavy. It weighs 60 lbs but feels even heavier. When lifting it, I immediately wished it had an extendable handle and wheels—like a suitcase. That would make the MP2000 much more manageable. I hope FJDynamics considers adding this.
Let’s look at the replaceable battery I mentioned earlier. It can be a handy way of swapping batteries for prolonged use. I see a couple of issues here. It’s $400 less expensive than a complete MP2000. If I’m spending this much on a power system—MP2000, panels, extra battery—I would be hard-pressed to not just buy a second MP2000 instead of the extra battery. Plus, the battery doesn’t just pull out. There are four screws, two brackets, and a large connector that help keep it in place. It takes a few minutes to swap it out. Despite these issues, the good news is that there are choices.
When unboxed, it’s recommended that the FJDynamics PowerSec MP2000 Portable Power Station be fully charged before use. That makes sense. If connected to a wall outlet, you’re only looking at 2 hours max of charge time, but it’s actually less because most units arrive with around 50% charge right out of the box.
The most interesting way of recharging the MP2000 is solar. FJDynamics makes a 200W solar panel as an extra-cost option—an expensive extra-cost option. No solar panels worth using are cheap. I imagine that one day, the costs will come down, but it hasn’t happened yet. It’s an easy snap-together connection. If you have the means, two 200W panels can be daisy-chained together for 400W charging!
FJDynamics states that the panels are dust and extreme-heat resistant. They also point out that water can be splashed on the panels with no damage. The water wording is kinda vague, so I am assuming it means to not leave any panels out if it rains.
This brings us to my home state. Florida and solar panels are not a good mix. Our motto is “The Sunshine State”, but a more accurate description would be “The Partly Cloudy State”. We seldom have hours of sunshine with no clouds passing by. Since solar panels love the direct, uninterrupted sun, clouds can cut down severely on wattage input, which can lengthen connection time by—a lot. Plus, Florida gets most of its solid sun in the cooler months of winter—when we don’t have storms or power outages! I recommend buying a solar panel (or two) only if you either live in the Southwest or are totally off the grid. But when the sun is shining, the FJDynamics solar panels work quite well! I was getting over 200 watts in the Florida sun under some trees. Impressive. Only the buyer can decide it solar panels are worth the extra cost.
Using the MP2000 is about as easy as it gets. There are 2 60W USB-C ports and 4 18W USB-A ports, so just about any smart device you have can be simultaneously charged. Next to that are two DC ports and a 12V cigarette lighter port. These ports aren’t used as much, but it’s good that they are there.
There are three grounded AC outlets spaced far enough apart so plugs won’t crowd each other out. Plus the power is pure sine meaning it’s perfectly safe for sensitive electronics—in fact, it’s safer than home outlets!
A comprehensive LED window shows battery life, input wattage, USB wattage output, AC wattage output, Charging status, temperature status, and fan cooling status.
Speaking of fans, I’ve only heard the fans come on while charging the FJDynamics PowerSec MP2000 Portable Power Station. I have yet to hear it come on when outputting power. However, I have not tried to max the power output power with heat guns, etc. like a lot of more engineering-minded reviewers love to do. I try to approach reviews as a more “normal” user.
What I like
- Fast charging
- Solidly built
- Replaceable battery
- Informative LED screen
What I’d change
- Expensive
- Optional solar panels are expensive
- Needs wheels
Final Thoughts
It’s clear that FJDynamics knows its market with the MP2000 power station. It’s massive and will power almost anything. Plus the 200W solar panels offer even more charging options—depending on the climate. It’s expensive but it costs less per watt than it would have 2-3 years ago.
Price: $1,499 US; Solar panels $599 US each; Replacement battery $1,199 US.
Where to buy: store.FJDynamics.com and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by FJDynamics.
