GOLABS R500 Portable Power Station, 518Wh Outdoor Solar Generator LiFePO4 Battery Backup with 500W Pure Sine Wave AC Outlet, PD 100W USB C Quick Charge for CPAP Camping RV Travel Emergency Orange

You probably already know what a power station is for. They are excellent for disasters and travel where power is needed. Most have the capability to be recharged by a car's 12V cigarette port, AC brick wall, and/or solar panels.I use a small battery for grocery shopping. Groceries? Yes! Hear me out on that one. But before you write me off as some crackhead, I'd like to preface that I have extensive experience with Goal Zero, Jackery, Rockpals, and other branded Lithium-ion battery power stations that I use for extended camping trips and home emergencies.In this review, I will go over:- Lithium-ion (Li-ion) vs Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) battery cell differences- Pros and Cons of this GoLabs battery- Basics like Watts, Watt-hours, Continuous vs Peak rating, and moreThere has been an increase in people taking emergency preparation more seriously amidst climate change, wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, and so on.BATTERY TECHNOLOGY AND SAFETYGoal Zero debuted with Lead-Acid batteries that were bulky and heavy. Today’s devices use Lithium-ion (Li-ion) and Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) for more power in a smaller, lighter package. Li-ion, however, is more volatile and becomes riskier as more cells are packed together. The GoLabs uses LiFePO4. More on that later.CELL MANUFACTURERSBattery cells made by LG and Sony are among the best in the hobbyist world as are Sanyo/Panasonic and Samsung. GoLabs stated that they make their own. During my years of research, I found that use of lower-quality batteries could pose a serious risk to life and property and should become a crucial part in deciding what to buy. I was unable to have GoLabs tell me who manufactures the cells -- common among smaller vendors -- but do keep in mind that LiFePO4 is by far safer and less volatile than Li-ion. So, I will let that slide even though opening up the power station would probably tell me more about the batteries.SAFETYThe second part in a battery’s safe operation depends heavily on the design and BMS (Battery Management System). Some BMS manufacturers, unfortunately, overstate their capabilities that could lead to catastrophic failure.- Design should allow for proper, thermal cooling, use quality components, and obtain proper certifications- Batteries made by known manufacturers are less likely to fail- BMS should sufficiently restrict the battery from going past its capabilitiesI was not able to determine what BMS the GoLabs uses. If my experience with one of their excellent solar panels is any indication, I expect the BMS to be sufficiently good and safe.LiFePO4 vs Li-ion CELLSLithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries -- which this GoLabs uses -- are bulkier, heavier, and cost more than Lithium-ion. However, they excel in these areas:- Less volatile and thus, safer- Charge cycle: 1500-2000 (10+ years)-- Li-ion: 20-25% capacity loss after every 500 cycle (6-10 years with up to 2000 cycles, but diminishing capacity over time)- Usable in high temperatures. Li-ion: only 140F/60C max- Holds 350-day charge. Li-ion: 300MY USE CASEFor the very reason that this battery is made with LiFePO4 -- which is safer than Lithium-ion -- I am feeling sufficiently confident to keep the battery in my car's trunk at all times. Previously, I had used a Rockpals 300Wh and Goal Zero Yeti 500x, and with Goal Zero's blessing, the 500x was ok to be used during the hot, California summer days where ambient temperatures can reach as high as 108F (and of course a lot hotter in a car.) The BMS would and should automatically shut off the battery once its internal batteries were too hot. What the battery was used for was to power my small car freezer for grocery runs so I would not have to rush home to minimize melting. It would allow the car fridge to keep running while the car was off. The Rockpals and Goal Zero always still gave me some concern because they are Lithium-ion batteries, and so I decided to get a BigBlue LiFePO4 battery (and later this GoLabs) to replace them with.IN A NUTSHELLThe GoLabs R500 is a no-frills power station reminiscent of Jackery's color scheme. The 500W of energy (and peak of 1,000W) gives it a HUGE advantage over the Goal Zero Yeti 500x and is on par with the Jackery Explorer 500. This provides enough power for a small amount of electronics and small appliances, such as a laptop, television, mini fridge, medical device (like CPAP), and car freezers, but will NOT work for most rice cookers, and definitely not for a vacuum, water boiler, or circular saw. The hard, plastic material used to help shed weight (and cost) could be prone to cracking from hard falls or bumps, potentially exposing the LiFePO4 batteries to puncturing. The carry handle is fixed and I am not a fan of it (Jackery's is like that too) because it makes it less stackable in tight spaces. LiFePO4 batteries are infinitely SAFER, heavier, costlier, and have a longer charge cycle (battery lifetime) than Lithium-ion, but GoLabs somehow managed to keep it at 14 lbs -- the same weight as the Yeti 500x.The 518 Watt-hour capacity provides it with enough charge to power a 60W laptop for up to 7.3 hours (518Wh x 0.85 efficiency loss / 60W), a 40W CPAP for 11 hours, or a 110W Amazon Toshiba TV for 4 hours.Functionally, this is a good, portable power station with a multitude of AC and DC outputs. GoLabs included two USB-C PD with a solid, 60W output and 100W input/output. This makes it useful for charging supported laptops.A MPPT solar charging controller is built-in. These modules are more expensive than PWM ones and provide for more efficient, faster charging via solar panels. The display screen is impressively sharp and bright and provides sufficient information about the battery's runtime.Two things I do not like about this power station, however, is that the AC output is disabled while its battery is charging, and the fan also turns on. This is similar to a Paxcess battery I had previously looked at. Neither any of the Jackery nor Goal Zero batteries turn on their fan unless the unit gets hot. Only the DC-based outputs work (USB, 12V) while charging via wall outlet, car cigarette port, or solar. A cigarette port and MC4 solar cable are included.Overall, for what I have been using this battery for -- storing in the car for grocery runs or light travels during the hot, summer heat -- it works exceptionally well. Knowing that it runs on LiFePO4 cells gives me an additional piece of mind that a fire wouldn't easily start the same way volatile Lithium-ion batteries are known to be the cause of.PROS- At 518 Wh capacity, it is large enough for a weekend getaway, depending on what you use to power it with-- Capacity to power a 30" LCD monitor and Mini PC for 4-6 hours, a Toshiba 50" Fire TV for almost 4 hours- AC Inverter capable of continuous 500W power (and 1,000W peak) - More details later- Very inexpensive- Enough continuous/peak wattage rating to power most, common electronics-- Laptop, tablet, phones, lights, fans, CPAP medical device, projector, TV, mini refrigerator, speaker, camera, DSLR battery charger, and SOME rice cookers- USB-C PD ports (one outputs 60W, another outputs/inputs 100W)- DC ports (USB, 12V) can be used while charging. AC port cannot- Faster charging with MPPT controller (Maximum Power Point Tracking)- Informative, sharp, and bright LED display-- Total power coming in (via solar panel or AC adapter)-- Capacity left (as a percentage)-- Total power (AC and DC combined) being used--- Suaoki G500 displays the Wattage separately for DC and AC, which I prefer- Pure Sine Wave (I did not verify the manufacturer's claim for this review) to help power sensitive electronics- BMS provides built-in overload, overcharge (automatically stops charging when the device is full), and short-circuit protection-- Fan to keep the station's temperature safe- Multiple ways of getting charged-- AC power brick is rather large (outputs 90W)-- Solar panel-- USB-C PD up to 100W- Larger dimensions than I would have liked, making the Goal Zero Yeti 500x still my favorite for its size and capacity- Bottom is well-protected by raised feet- Cigarette socket and MC4 solar cables included- Built-in LED with SOS flashing modeCONS- Anderson Power Port (APP) is NOT included for standard solar panel connection- AC port cannot be used while charging. Only the DC ports (USB, 12V) can- Fan turns on during charging- Carry pouch is not included to hold AC charger and cables- Batteries are likely not made by a globally well-known, Tier 1 manufacturer- Hard, plastic material makes the power station lighter, but could be prone to cracking from hard falls or bumps- Although the exterior looks simple and clean, once I saw the Goal Zero Yeti 500x, I fell in love with the Yeti's design- Battery cannot be replaced. This can lead to unnecessary landfill waste- Cannot be daisy-chained to other GoLabs to extend battery capacity, though you may be able to do so through plugging one of them into the 12V cigarette port-- Some Goal Zero stations can be hooked up to other ones so power can be provided for an even longer time without needing to switch- Not waterproof. Keep it away from water splashes, rain, and pool!USAGE- To turn ON or OFF the Car/USB (DC) or AC outputs, press the corresponding button- Li-ion batteries have 500 charge cycles before capacity drops to about 80% from when they were new-- Li-ion could, in theory, be charged up to 2,000 cycles — about 1/4 of total capacity is lost every 500 cycle- LiFePO4 batteries, however, can 1,500 - 2,000 cycles without losing any capacity in the meantimeCONTINUOUS VS PEAK OUTPUT- GoLabs R500: 500W (1,000W Peak)Before we continue, it is important to understand the difference between Watts and Watt-Hours. How much power is used or produced is measured in Watts, and how much energy a battery can store is calculated in Watt-Hours. See the “Calculations” section below for more details.How much energy a battery can store is measured in Wh (Watt-hours), and how much power is used or produced in W (Watts).- AC Inverter: Converts battery (DC) power into AC-- R500 provides 500W continuous output with a 1,000W peak- Peak/Surge (Starting): Nearly every device initially draws extra power to turn on. The highest amount it pulls is the Peak. As long as that number is below 1,000W, it can be STARTED. Examples…-- Turns on OK (PEAK under 1,000W):--- Freezer starts at 400W (peak), runs at 150W once on-- Will NOT turn on (PEAK over 1,000W):--- Home AC starts at 4,000W (peak), runs at 1,000W once on--- Coffee maker starts at 1,400W (peak), runs at 800W once onMost devices power on at a higher (Peak) wattage than when they are already on (Continuous). Therefore, if its peak exceeds the power station’s max, it may not be able to startContinuous Output (Running): Once devices are on, as long as they keep drawing less than 1,500W total, they will stay ON until the battery runs out- CONTINUES running (under 500W)-- 100W TV + 60W laptop = 160W- COULD STOP running (over 500W)-- Temporary overdrawing beyond 1,00W for a few seconds is okay. A quality BMS will protectively shut down the battery if the surge does not end after a while. Regularly going over for a prolonged time can ruin the battery in the long run-- 300W appliance (500W peak) + 220W appliance (400W peak) = 520W. Probably will stay on for a short period--- Add 200W TV (400W peak) = 720W. Battery will definitely shut downCALCULATIONSWhat size battery should you get? How long will it power your fridge for? How long will it take to recharge? The below calculations can help answer those questions and are rough ESTIMATES as conditions, battery quality, and age can vary.CHARGING TIMESTime to Charge This 518Wh Power Station- Calc: Hours to charge battery = Battery capacity (Wh) / Input Wattage-- Note: As battery approaches 75% full, the input charge will increasingly be slowed down to prevent overcharging- AC Wall: 90W @ 5.8 hrs [518 Wh / 90W]WATTS USED/PRODUCED BY A DEVICE- Calc: Watts used or produced by device = Voltage x Amperage- Vacuum with 120V @ 9.5A uses 1,140W- Solar panel with 12V @ 10A can produce up to 120WIDEAL BATTERY POWER STATION SIZE- Calc: Battery capacity (Wh) = Watts used by device x Hours needed for / 0.85-- 10-15% of power is lost during power conversion- 45W car fridge needed for 8 hours: Minimum 424Wh power station (45W x 8 / 0.85)TIME BEFORE BATTERY IS EMPTY- Calc: Hours available for device = Battery capacity (Wh) x 0.85 / Watts used by device-- 10-15% of power is lost during power conversion- 60W laptop with 505Wh battery: Up to 7.2 hours (505Wh x 0.85 / 60W)TIME TO CHARGE A DEVICE- Calc: Hours to charge device = Device’s battery capacity (Wh) / Input Wattage- 60W laptop with 200Wh battery: Up to 3.4 hrs (200 Wh / 60W)TIPS- Always test your devices with the power station before you depend on it on the go- You cannot jump start a car with this type of battery. Look into the NOCO Genius products for that instead-- To minimize fire damage to your belongings or loved ones, store the power station in the garage and not inside the house. Best storage is a dry, cool place, however-- You cannot bring a battery of this capacity on a plane- With the right BMS, quality batteries, and other factors, the power station can be stored in the car while camping during a hot, California summer-- Keep the battery out of direct sunlight. I usually store it on the floor of the car and crack open the windows a tiny bit-- Do not USE in the car if temperatures fall below or exceed the battery's rated, operating temperature- If using a car charger, make SURE you only charge this station while the car is RUNNING. Otherwise, you'll deplete your car's battery and leave you stranded- If charging with a solar panel, be sure to keep the station out of direct sunlight as it could overheat-- A solar panel is NOT required to use the battery- Turn off any output ports (AC/DC) that are not being used in order to conserve power- Do not use any power station in a tightly enclosed area as it can overheat- To prolong the battery lifetime while in storage, keep the battery fully charged every 3-6 months-- Or, keep it plugged in when not in use and discharge it to 50% every 3-4 months-- NOT using the battery for a very long time can actually hurt its lifetime-- There is no "memory effect" in this station's battery. It is better to NOT let it completely drainFINAL THOUGHTSThe GoLabs R500 is a decent battery. The 500W of energy (and peak of 1,000W) provides enough power for a small amount of electronics and small appliances, and is the perfect size for a quick trip or to charge something for a few hours (like my car freezer). Its LiFePO4 batteries are safer to operate than the Lithium-ion ones used in Jackery and Goal Zero's products.The hard, plastic material commonly used by power stations to help shed weight and cost could be prone to cracking from hard falls or bumps, and as such, this product should be handled with care - a puncture of the batteries could cause severe harm. I wish the battery's AC port could be used while charging. It has a significant price advantage over the industry leaders.So, is this GoLabs better than Jackery or Goal Zero? If you want something safe that won't easily burst into flames, has a longer overall lifetime, and is relatively inexpensive, the GoLabs is a good choice. If you want something lighter from companies with proven track records, then GoLabs may not be something you want to get at this time. For me, I am happy with the R500 (primarily because it uses LiFePO4 and makes me feel safer to have it around on trips).

It works great, if you just use to power something. But, don't even try to charge it while it's powering something else. It will shut off somewhere between 15 to 30 minutes.It will turn off the AC outlets, the DC outlets, whatever you are using. I have tested this a couple of times, to make sure what I was powering from the GoLabs unit was continually drawing power, and it was. The outlets didn't shut off from lack of use.I was going to buy a 2nd 500watt unit, but not now.

Most of this unit is very good and there are many good features, but the unit is turning off the DC output while charging. I have a portable refrigerator plugged into the DC output and charging the R500 power station with the supplied 110V wall charger. Typically the unit turns off the DC circuit in about an hour of use. However, the shutoff has also occurred in a little as 15 minutes. One expects the pass through to keep the battery charged and run plugged-in devices continuously. If external power to the power station fails then internal battery should provide the power for connected devices. However, if the DC circuit is turning then the R500 cannot be counted on for use to power CPAP machines, portable refrigerators, etc. Otherwise I really like this unit.

I charged the battery through the solar panel and it filled up quickly. It has plenty of power and is light enough to be easily lifted with one hand. There are many ports to use, phone, USB, car, anything.

Apparently numerous people are reporting a similar issue. I am charging it at roughly 90W and running the AC inverter at the same at roughly 80W... nothing too serious to be totally frank. The unit shuts off the AC without warning and for no reason that I can ascertain after one hour. That is just unacceptable.* AC inverter shuts down after one hour while charging for no reason* The 100W USB C PD input only accepts roughly 55W. It won't charge at 100W via USB C.* The 5.5mm DC outputs are wonky, most things I plug in are too loose. Also it is only regulating to 12.5V. It should regulated to at least 13V. Come on!* The unit ... has kind of an 'overheated' smell. Sure its brand new, but I'm not liking the smell.

I've had 2 of these and they both broke within a year. Luckily they will honor their warranty after some persuasion. Just spend a little more on a more reputable brand.

We bought this power bank in December of 2021. The bank was ok but it would shut off randomly while we were camping and go into power saving mode while we had our car fridge plugged in. February 2023 and the product stopped working, wouldn't power on or charge. When I contacted the company they told me that there was nothing they could do because it was out of the 1 year warranty period. They do not stand behind their product and basically told me it was not their problem because it was out of the warranty period. Beware if you buy this item, you'll get a year and a couple months, just enough to be out of warranty, before it stops working.

The media could not be loaded.  This is a long-term review. I’ve had this power station for a good eight months. At the beginning it worked fairly well, but the more I start using it the more the functionality stop working. First let me start off by saying that this is not good for portable refrigerators. There’s no mechanism to keep the battery on. So when the refrigerator doesn’t require power when it’s at its desired temperature, the battery thinks that there’s no power, then it turns off. So then the refrigerator turns off, and now all your food is left to spoil.The problem that I’m having now, is that the AC and DC ports stopped working. At first I thought that it was because the battery was low, but at 40% the battery should still be OK to operate. Then I charged it up to 100% and tried tried it again and then the battery went down to 20% and the ports stop working. Then I charged it up again to 100% now on the AC and DC ports does not work at 100%. So now it’s fully no operation of all.

Very frustrated. The pass thru charging won't run the AC outlets when the unit is being charged. So you are limited to USB and DC. It's not the end of the world if you don't need it. But I wanted to use AC while charging the unit. Of course only if you read the tiny fine print will you find that out. I was really excited for this and now I have a 450$ paperweight that can't be returned. I did lots of research, but missed this. Thanks GoLabs. Maybe advertise this lack of functionality up front before bragging about having pass through technology.

■ Background:There are plenty of power station options and which one to get is not just a question of getting the most watt hours or how much you want to spend. After researching the matter quite a bit and browsing for many models, here are what I think are the important criteria when looking at a power station. The most important criteria is “what is the need” and that depends mostly on how it’s going to be used. Then when trying to fill that need you need to factor in things like longevity, functions, price, quality, construction and portability.I plan to use mine essentially for powering a cooler-fridge that I’ll be carrying along a month long mini-van trip with my wife and the dogs. We will be sleeping in the mini-van. The cooler-fridge draws between 25-35 watts when cooling and idles when the set temperature is achieved. I needed a power station to keep it going 24/7. When the van’s running, I can power the fridge and charge the power station from the 12 volts car socket. I also have a 100 watts solar panel to help out when we’re resting in a sunny spot. The rest of the time the power station will be powering the cooler.■ Description:It has a 12 volts car socket input and a 100 watts USB-C PD input/output. It also has a 2.1mm DC input that I use when connecting my solar panel with the included MC4 to 2.1mm provided cable. You also have USB-A outputs and two AC sockets rated at 500 watts. On the side of the power station, you will find an ambient light to help light up your surroundings – it’s pretty bright. You have buttons for turning the unit on/off, you have an on/off DC power button, an on/off AC power button and an On/Off display button - these are self-explanatory and work well.The carrying handle works well, but as the rest of the unit it’s all plastic and it would be wise to protect the power station from any strong impacts.It has an integrated MPPT charge controller to help with efficient charging.■ Battery:This is a 518Wh LiFePO4 power station. For those not familiar, 518Wh refers to the total amount of energy this battery has to offer. The higher the number, the longer you can operate devices using the battery, but it will also make it heavier and more expensive – and this is pretty much linear. Meaning a battery with twice the capacity will cost roughly twice the price and be roughly twice as heavy.LifePO4 is short for Lithium iron phosphate. We usually here about li-ion or Lithium-ion battery which are almost everywhere like in our mobile phones. These two types of batteries differ in their chemistry. The li-ion batteries are denser making them lighter and that is their main advantage over LifePO4. The Go-Labs R500 weighs 14.3 pounds compared to a similar capacity li-ion power station from another known brand that weighs 13.3 pounds. So we’re not talking night and day here. On the other hand, LifePO4 is more stable and much less prone to fires than li-ion, which makes them safer for my application where the inside of a car can get hot. There’s also another major advantage of LifePO4 which is longevity. You can charge LifePO4 about 5-7 times more than an equivalent li-ion. You get to recharge this power station approximately 3500 times vs 500 times for a li-ion battery.■ Operation:Operation is quite straight forward. You need to turn the unit on before using any of the outputs. You also need to turn on the AC or DC for whatever use you have.If you plug any charging source (say a solar panel) the unit automatically powers on and starts charging. The LED display will also automatically power on.The LED display powers off automatically after two minutes of inactivity. You can turn it back on by pressing the display On/Off button.The unit supports pass through charging which is really an important feature in my opinion. It lets you use your power station as normal while it’s charging. You can see a demonstration of this in the accompanying picture.■ Test run:I put this battery to the test to see how long I could use it without recharging it with my cooler-fridge. For the test I started by cooling down the fridge to 4 Celsius while plugged in. I then switched it over to the power station. In the end it took 36 hours to bring the battery down to 50% meaning I could’ve expected 72 hours of continuous operation. To be fair, this was with the cooler in the basement at 18 Celsius. I expect much warmer conditions in the van and therefore much more power draw and less battery time. But, even at say 24 hours of battery time I expect it would be OK because while travelling, I can charge the battery at 100Wh in the car socket and using the solar panel I can get between 50-80Wh. So that should be enough to keep things going. Either way, a bigger battery in my situation, doesn’t really change things because no matter the size of the battery, if you’re travelling for a long time, you need your charging to keep up with your consumption. In other words, if I can't charge 500 Watts fast enough to keep up up with my energy consumption, while a 1000 watts power station would last longer it would also take roughly twice as long to charge, so not a solution. If my setup isn’t enough, it could translate to needing more solar panels, not necessarily a bigger battery.■ Wrap up:I’m very happy with the Go-Labs R500. It works exactly as one would expect and is a balanced system – meaning the charge speed and usage make sense. I also believe that the designers made the right technological and functional choices for this unit while keeping the price reasonable. Time will tell if this unit and its LifePO4 batteries are as durable as they say.■ *** Edit August 2022 ***I just got back from the month long minivan trip with the battery powering my mini fridge 24/7 and here are a few quick observations after using it in real conditions. - 500Wh was the right capacity to have for this trip. - The battery never got below 30%, thanks to charging the battery when driving and using the solar panels and a pretty efficient fridge.The battery worked as expected with one major exception. Pass through charging is unreliable. On my original review I tested pass through charging to work fine. But through extensive use during my vacation I discovered that pass through charging disengages on it's own at random times, usually between 10-30 minutes after starting it.For example, let's say I'm using the 12 volts car socket for charging the power station and I have my fridge using the battery AC outlet, it would work for a while and without warning the AC output would turn off on it's own which would shut off my fridge. Now this isn't limited to AC output, it would do the same on DC output. I would have my power station being charged through the solar panels and my fridge connected to the 12 volts socket on the power station, and this time the DC output would turn off after a while. Now if I was to press the DC button on the power station (or AC if the fridge was plugged to the AC output) it would turn on again but only for a while. So this meant that we had to baby sit the power station to make sure the fridge wasn't being cut off. This only happened when we were pass through charging - When simply using the power station output, not charging it at the same time, like at night, it was never a problem but since the fridge needs to be on all the time and the power station needs to be charged at some point, there was no way to avoid it.Because of this problem, I'm withdrawing 2 stars from my original review. The power station was very useful during our trip but dealing with the random shut offs (and figuring it out) is not something you would expect or want to deal with when you need reliable energy. I will contact the seller and see how that goes.*** Edit after contacting the seller:I contacted the seller, and he has unfortunately confirmed the problem. He was very cooperative and was willing to give me a full refund. I'm giving a star back to the seller for standing behind his product and his customers.There's a work around for the problem when car charging. If you have more than one 12 volts outlet in your car or a 12 volts outlet and an integrated inverter for 120 volts, you can use one for the fridge and the other one for charging the battery when the car engine is on. You could also use a 12 volts socket "Y" splitter. This way there's no pass-through charging and you can charge the battery while using the device. This isn't an option when charging with solar panels, but if your close by you can reset the DC/AC button whenever it disengages - Not ideal, but doable. I still believe that pass through charging should work, and the power station would be better served with that functionality.

When I received the item I of tried all the ports to make sure they worked. The two USBc ports were very loose and were not useable. I informed GoLabs who offered a refund or replacement. I took the replacement, which went quickly and smoothly, but the charging levels and time left on the display were not working leaving me with no idea what the battery level was at or how much charge time was left. After 2 bad batteries I felt they were too unreliable and asked for my money back which GoLabs did very promptly.So for a review I have little good to say about the battery, 2 out of 2 duds, but as for the service they were as helpful as could be and quick with anything that I asked to be done. Aside from giving me a battery that works.Update: after seeing ‘inlalalands’ review and video, right below my review, I will add that mine did the exact same thing with the time remaining display, even flashing the exact same numbers. Don’t know what it means but maybe GoLabs should take note.Update #2: After this review GoLabs reach out to me to apologize for the experience I had with the R500 and asked if they could have another chance and send me another unit. I said yes and fortunately for me it works perfectly. I must say I am impressed with this battery when it works as it should. I already liked that it was a longer lasting LiFePO4 battery but the screen is very large and clearly displays all the relevant info you need to know. I also like that all the USB ports are fast charge where other brand continue to waste space with the old slower technology. All methods of charging seemed quite fast, using GoLabs 100w solar panels I got 80 watts on a sunny but mid afternoon winter day, thru my car port I got about 60w, wall outlet was 87w and thru the 100w USBc I got 105w. I also attached my portable freezer cooler to see how long it would run it it and it lasted about 2 full days empty, so full could last 3-4 days without recharging.Lastly I would like to thank GoLabs for they’re service. After they refunded my money from the last transaction I did not expect to hear from them again. To come back to me and apologize for my experience and offer to make it right is rare for most businesses, so thank you to GoLabs and to Lisa who I dealt with.

*** NOTE YOU CANNOT CHARGE AND USE THE BATTERY AT THE SAME TIME**You need to charge it, then use it.I used mine for offgrid trip of just to run some small tools when I'm away from home and it's running great.I runned a weedeater without any issue (less than 500w)I runned a fridge and it runned at least for 12h of running time. (so about 2 days if it's a 12v compressor cooler and if your food is cold before running the fridge)

The media could not be loaded.  I purchased this for camping, thinking I'd need it in a month or so. The weather has been terrible here, so camping is a no-go for a while yet. Funny enough, I ended up needing it on a road trip I just took, and it was invaluable. My fuse blew for my 12v's on my truck from an inverter I was using, and thankfully I had this fully charged and was able to charge mine and my wife's phones, tablet and our switches, with PLENTY of power left over to charge other things. This is also going to be handy for if there's any power outages here, especially for my modem/routers so I can at least be entertained while I wait for the power to be restored.So for those who want or need to know, here are a few things I figured out:- It took about about 6 hours to fully charge from 0-100% with included charger- Has about 518w/h of provable stored power (88 watts per hour in ~6 hours).- Power bank needs to be ON to use flashlight (or any functions).- Considerably light weight, around 14.4lbs (6.53kg) without any accessories- Can fast charge Samsung phones via USB-C- Has a built in fan to cool down unit while charging. There may be a slight smell the first few times the unit uses the fan, as it is blowing away hot air from the inside of the unit. This is normal, and fine. It's basically just the heat making the plastic odorous, and will go away very quickly.- Can EASILY light up a medium sized room for hundreds of hours with the LED light on low setting.The feel is good. A rigid, hard plastic case. Feels like it can take a beating and still look and work good. Very satisfied with the purchase. I am considering buying the solar panels for my trips up north to Six Lakes, and this power bank would be amazing to use over loud gas generators that we bring. We only ever use the generators for powering speakers, charging phones and maybe an ice maker or mini fridge. Considering the costs of similar units, you can't go wrong purchasing this.