Baseus 420W Portable Power Station review

REVIEW – When it comes to power banks, I have more than my fair share, and I have reviewed plenty.  I have them in various sizes and capacities, all over the house, the office, and several in my car.  I hate having to look for power outlets, so a portable power bank is a great solution to always have handy, especially when traveling or away from the house. But the bigger the power bank, the more difficult it is to carry, so finding the right balance between portability and battery capacity is the trick. The new Baseus 420W power station with a 90,000 mAh battery capacity and a small, portable size seemed like a great deal.  Let’s check it out!

What is it?

The Baseus 420W Portable Power Station is a portable power station that can charge 8 different devices at once.

What’s in the box?

• Baseus 420W Portable Power Station
• A zippered, nylon carrying case
• A USB-C fast-charging cable (240W max)
• MC4-to-DC solar panel charging cable
• A user manual

Product specifications:

• Size:  10.23 x 6.70 x 4.65 inches
• Weight: 8.17 lbs
• Output wattage:  420W max
• Battery capacity:  90,000 mAh
• Ports:
  • USB-A (2) – 5V fast charging
  • USB-C – 30W max fast charging
  • USB-C PD3.1 100W max charge out, 140W max charge in
  • AC (2)
  • DC car charger (12V)
  • DC in (12V).  (Solar CD input: 12-25V-8A 100W max)
  • DC out

Features and performance

The Baseus 420W portable power station, weighing in at just over 8 lbs, is a good size for the power that’s packed into that package.  On the bottom, you’ll find 4 large rubberized feet that prevent it from slipping on whatever surface you set it down on. On the back, you’ll find two 110V AC outlets covered by silicone flaps, along with the power button to turn them on. On the left side, you’ll find the LED light that can be switched between constant, SOS mode, and strobe, which is a pretty common thing you’ll find on a lot of power stations in the market.  I suppose most folks are going to be taking this outdoors and you’ll need some light, and if circumstances dictate, a way to send an SOS for help! And the strobe light?  Perhaps for your dance party??

Also on the left side, you’ll find one of the vents for the internal fan (the other is on the right side), and you can’t cover that up or it will cause heat problems.  You’ll also find 4 small nubs on the corners that allow you to stand the Baseus on its left end and still allow the vent to not be covered up.  On the right side, you’ll also find the handle recessed into the side so that you can pull it out for carrying or push it back in to keep it out of the way.  There’s nothing on the top of the Baseus, but I think a wireless charger would have been a nice addition there.

On the front of the Baseus 420W Portable Power Station, you’ll find everything else.  You’ll see 2 standard 5V USB-A ports, a USB-C port rated at 30W, a 12V car charger port, a DC out port and a DC in port that could be used with a solar panel charger utilizing the included MC4-to-DC charging cable.  You’ll also find another USB-C port that’s a PD3.1 port that can input power at 140W maximum (this is how you’ll most likely charge the Baseus) and can output power at 100W maximum. I should mention at this point that the Baseus doesn’t come with a power brick.  It does come with a USB-C cable that’s rated at delivering 240W maximum power, so the inclusion of that cable is a plus (don’t lose it!). But you’ll have to already have a power brick that can handle high rates of charging or go purchase one if you don’t have one.  And it’s worth it if you don’t want to wait 15 hrs to charge the Baseus like I do, utilizing the best power brick I have… a PD20W.  I will be purchasing a faster power brick soon because waiting that long for a full charge is pretty pitiful.

The LCD panel is located there in the middle, between the ports.  You’ll find the main power button below the LCD panel.  The panel has a lot of indicators on it, and I grabbed the graphic from the Baseus website since it explains all the indicators:

The panel shows you how much battery is left, the temperature of the unit, which ports are being used, etc. But what I like most about the LCD panel is that is shows exactly how much time is left on the battery, based on what you currently have plugged up to the ports.  And it adjusts on the fly as you swap out devices on the ports. It also shows you exactly how much wattage is being pulled with the devices you currently have plugged in. It’s just handy to know how much time is left on the battery before it dies, and you can adjust your device usage based on what you’re seeing.  An important point to mention is that you can charge the Baseus while using it to also charge your devices, if you use the USB ports or the AC ports.  You can’t use the DC ports while the Baseus is charging.

The battery is a 90,000 mAh, so it can charge smaller gadgets many times over before dying. But larger devices obviously pull more power.  For example, I plugged up my 55 inch TV to the AC outlet on the back to see how long it would last.  The TV pulled 154 watts of power and it lasted 1.5 hours as I watched a movie.  I don’t imagine I will be using the Baseus to run a TV, but I wanted to test it with something large to see how long it would last. It is important to mention a few items that probably won’t work with the Baseus (or most other power stations for that matter).  I tried a toaster, space heater, and a blow dryer, all of which caused the Baseus to overload and not work.  However, I was able to get many other devices to power/charge, such as a standing fan, laptop, cellphones, tablets, a curling iron (surprised me on that one!), and a projector.  The projector was pulling 260W of power, so it wouldn’t last long if used very long, but hey, it worked!  You’ll have to play around with the ports to figure out which ones work best for your devices.  For example, using a USB-C cable I was able to plug my Pixel 6 up to the USB-C port and get 12-13W of power delivery but when I used the PD20W power brick with the AC connection on the back I was able to get a full 20W of power delivery and therefore charge my phone a little faster.

I have scanned Amazon for every power station in this price range and close to this maximum wattage capacity, and what I found was interesting.  There are other power stations that might have the same amount of ports, but they are always bigger in size. Most of these competitors have only 1 USB-C port, whereas the Baseus has 2.  A handful of them have a wireless charger option, and the Baseus does not.  So that’s a negative on the Baseus that they should have considered including.  Overall, having looked at a bunch of competing products, I am comfortable stating that as of right now there aren’t any competitors that have this many port options, at this wattage capacity, in this compact size. Having said that, the compact size of the Baseus may not be a selling point for you.  I mean, if you are going to simply toss the Baseus in the storage bin in your RV, then the compact weight and size may not be that important.

I will mention some things that are nice.  There is a smartphone app for Baseus that allows you to connect to the power station via Bluetooth so you can see what’s currently being used, the battery level, etc.  You can also use the app to turn the AC power ports on and off, and you can adjust the brightness of the LCD light. The second thing I’ll mention is that you have to long press the power buttons to use them, so a stray touch won’t accidentally turn off the power, which I think is a nice feature!  The zippered canvas carrying case with straps is also really nice to be able to hold everything… the Baseus, the cables, and the manual.

My complaints about the Baseus 420W Portable Power Station are few, although they aren’t really complaints, just ‘like to haves’.  I already mentioned not having a wireless charger.  Considering that USB-C is becoming the standard for most gadgets these days, I would like the Baseus to have more USB-C ports.  I can’t remember the last time that I needed a USB-A port.

What I like

• Easy to carry size
• Zippered carrying case
• You can charge up to 8 devices at once
• LCD panel tells you everything you need to know
• Companion smartphone app is kinda useful
• You have to long-press the power buttons to use them, which prevents accidental touches.

What I would change

• A power brick is not included
• Wireless charging would be nice to have
• More USB-C ports please!

Final thoughts

The target market for a power station like the Baseus 420W Portable Power Station, if you believe the marketing from Baseus, is the outdoor type of person who needs power out in the wild or always on the go. But this can be a super convenient device for folks who have limited access to wall outlets in an office environment, or a bunch of roommates who hog the power outlets, or in a place where losing power in your home is a regular occurrence.  You won’t be taking this with you on a flight or carrying it around for a jaunt to the restaurant with your friends. But the small size and large capacity and multitude of ports is so convenient that you’ll find a place to use this in your life. And if you happen to be that person who camps all the time or spends time outdoors, you’ll really find this power station handy.  I do wish it came with a high capacity power brick, so without that it might not seem like such a good deal for some people since you’ll have to drop some money for one of those. Or just use your cellphone power brick and wait a very long time for the Baseus to fully charge.

Price: $279.99
Where to buy: Baseus ( Save $80 with coupon code: Gadgeteer420 )
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Baseus.