So you decided to research a portable power station like the Bluetti EB3A here.
This is a small power bank with various outlets but it is not that "small" as a "power bank" but it is as a power station it's about as small as you can get with power stations at under 300Wh (watt hours) of power to use its 268Wh. That's about a day of use. Can also be used as a pass through such as if needing to charge multiple things at once. This can be re-charged with a wall plug, cigarette or solar panel.
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Bluetti eb3a
This is a small power bank with various outlets but it is not that "small" as a "power bank" but it is as a power station it's about as small as you can get with power stations at under 300Wh (watt hours) of power to use its 268Wh. That's about a day of use. Can also be used as a pass through such as if needing to charge multiple things at once. This can be re-charged with a wall plug, cigarette or solar panel.
This review is a mix of 2 other recent posts about 12V vs 24V and fuses and a mini fridge and the OBD2 port fuse connection to the 12V cigarette lighter ports. Sections taken out the info combined here now.
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It has a 12V DC port (cigarette), two USB-A ports (older flat rectangular shape), and 1 USB-C port, and two 12V wall outlet plug ports. So you can find a way to charge your things with this.
On the eb3a I'm getting 100 watts directly from the car battery with an extra long cigarette plug port. It's 102 to 103 with car running.
Drops to 35 mainly but saw it at 47 watts when not running when first turn off engine then drops to about 35 watts.
It's about as much power as a solar panels worth of power to my power station at 100 watts. Could be 147 watts is the EB3A cap anyways.
The Bluetti EB3A (discontinued) in 2026 now.
It's a 600watt, 268Wh power station ((this is how much power it can output from the battery charge it has in total it's 268 watt hours of power at peak 600 watts (things like laptops use 40 watts not 600 continuous FYI) but it can momentarily do more as in when an appliance first starts could be 1000 watts to start then less running it)). Likely won't start a microwave and be able to run it if it could handle the surge spike. Need more watts and more surge power on start up so eb3a is good for laptops, etc... mini fridge. [Link]
Has AC and DC power option and the USB connections. AC as in wall outlet and DC for cigarette lighter 12v plug port. The AC uses an "inverter" so that draws power to use so it is best to use the 12v cigarette port for DC power. If shopping items to use look for those that come with both cables types.
Can be charged with wall, cigarette or solar panel. MPPT plug port. You can't plug a cigarette connection to input to it to charge, instead the cigarette plug goes into the cars cigarette plug then there is the MPPT plug port on the eb3a. Little circle plug hole. You can output from the eb3a with a cigarette connection in top left for DC power that is plugged into the eb3a then into your tech. To charge off the eb3a or as a pass through if getting wall or solar power or direct from battery. The lower left is the port to charge the eb3a with solar or cigarette and then the wall AC cable plugs into the square looking cover on the port. Need to lift see picture above.
In about ten minutes got 8% charge so from 1% to 9%. At 100 watts. Has a 30A fuse, one connected near the battery in a little storage box inline and 2 spare. It's up to 17% in time took make this blog post. So 20 minutes.
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Bluetti eb3a
600 watt portable power station is it better to run a portable fridge on AC or DC?
It is better to run a portable fridge on DC (12V cigarette lighter port) rather than AC on the Bluetti EB3A.
AC = Alternating Current
DC = Direct Current
Why DC is Better::
No Inverter Drain: Using AC requires the Bluetti EB3A to turn on its internal inverter. The inverter alone wastes about 10 to 15 watts of continuous power just to stay awake.
Direct Efficiency: Portable fridges run on 12V DC compressors naturally. Plugging into the 12V DC cigarette port skips the conversion step and saves battery life.
Maximized Runtime: Because the EB3A has a small 268Wh capacity, saving those extra watts means your fridge will run significantly longer before the power station dies.
Tips for Best Results::
Pre-chill the fridge: Cool the fridge down using wall power at home before you head out.
Use Eco Mode: Turn on the fridge's internal eco mode if it has one so it draws less power once cold.
Keep it shaded: Keep the power station and fridge out of direct sun to reduce compressor cycle times.