EcoFlow Delta 3 Review — My Pick for Most People, and the One That Grows With You

From full to shutdown on a constant 300 W load, with a meter at the AC outlet, it ran 2 hours 54 minutes and delivered 862 watt-hours from a rated 1,024 Wh — 84.2%.

That's the lowest of the four 1 kWh units on my bench. The Bluetti Elite 100 V2 and Anker C1000 Gen 2, rated identically, delivered 892 and 884 Wh under the same load. My figure is within 8 Wh of OutdoorGearLab's published 870 Wh.[3]

Thirty watt-hours is about forty minutes of a camp fridge. It's not a reason to reject the unit, but it's the cost of what it does better.

58 minutes from empty to full on the wall, with input peaking at 1,510 W — close to EcoFlow's 56-minute claim.[1] The Anker C1000 Gen 2 was six minutes quicker, but the Delta 3 did it without me having to dig a fast-charge toggle out of an app, and I rated the charging experience 4 out of 5: fast and painless.

Solar ceiling is 500 W, and it accepted 495 W on my panels. That's mid-class — more than the Jackery's 400 W, less than the Anker's 600 W and well short of the Bluetti's 1,000 W.

The Delta 3 is the only 1 kWh unit I tested that grows. I tied it to an extra battery for about 2 kWh, and it expands to 5 kWh.[1]

The Anker C1000 Gen 2 has no expansion path at all, and nor does the Bluetti Elite 100 V2 or the Jackery Explorer 1000 v2.[4][5][6]

27.6 lb on my scale — the heaviest 1 kWh unit. It's heavier than it looks, with one handle on each side, and I rated handling 3 out of 5.

Everything else about the hardware is the best in its class. The fit and finish are excellent, with nothing loose or rattling — 5 out of 5. The screen is clear and the buttons obvious. Six AC outlets is double the Jackery's three, and both 140 W USB-C ports are where you'd want them.

The app is the best I used across all eleven units: stable, clear and with genuinely useful charging schedules. Setup took a couple of minutes.

Under light loads it's unobtrusive — 43 dBA at about 500 W in a 32 dBA room. Above about 1 kW it becomes noticeable, reaching 54 dBA at maximum output. In a kitchen that's background noise; in a quiet bedroom at high load you'd hear it. I rated it 3 out of 5.

Calculated from my measured capacity — assumptions here.

Heaviest 1 kWh unit. 27.6 lb, with a one-handle-each-side grip.

Least efficient in its class. 862 Wh from 1,024 Wh — 30 Wh less than the Bluetti at the same rating.

Fan audible over 1 kW.

Solar capped at 500 W. The Delta 3 Plus doubles that, if solar is your priority.[2]

Pricier than rivals. $699 list for 862 usable watt-hours is about $0.81 each, against the Anker's $0.57.

The naming. Three concurrent 1,024 Wh products called Delta 3 is a genuine hazard when buying.

On measurements alone it ranks seventh, held back by efficiency, weight and value. Living with it is a different story: its hands-on rating is joint-highest of the eleven, and overall it ties for second. It's my overall pick because that combination — and the expandability — suits more people than any other unit.

After 37 days, the Delta 3 is my pick for most people, and I'd buy it again. It refilled in under an hour, ran a van fridge all weekend, has the best ports, build and app of any 1 kWh unit I tested — and it's the only one that can become a 2 kWh or 5 kWh system later.

The catches: it's the heaviest in its class, the fan is noticeable above 1 kW, and it delivers a little less of its rating than its rivals. You pay more for all that.

Buy the Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 if value per watt-hour is the priority and 1 kWh is enough forever. Buy the Bluetti Elite 100 V2 if you'll sleep beside it or charge from a big array. Buy the Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 if you carry it a long way.