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Acer APS322: 30-second review
Better known for laptops and monitors, Acer has recently thrust a toe into the Arctic waters of Power Station products. The first two of these are a 600W unit and a larger 1800W option, the APC322, which I’m reviewing here.
At nearly 20kg with a power cable, this isn’t the lightest portable battery, but for those travelling in a vehicle, it provides enough power to run basic appliances away from mains power and recharge everyday items like phones and laptops.
If anyone is thinking of an adventure holiday or a building site backup, the APC322 fits those agendas and will also function as a UPS to keep power available in the event of a blackout.
The problem for Acer is that this is already a highly competitive market, and with DJI Power recently adding to the product ranges of Anker, EcoFlow, Jackery and VTOMAN.
Many of them have equivalent products that cost less than the £900 asking price of the APC322, and can output more watts when required.
But the biggest drawback of this compared to the better EcoFlow and Jackery options is that there is no phone app for this Acer Power Station. Therefore, if you don’t keep checking the battery and the display, you will be unaware that the power is about to be cut.
That’s a problem if you want to use it as a UPS, and it also makes it impossible to integrate it into a smart home with automated discharge and recharge.
Because of these limitations, the APC322 is better suited to adventure camping and off-grid use than to powering a home or business for backup.
Without a smartphone app, WiFi or USB connectivity, it cannot signal to a connected system that power is about to be cut, making it unsuitable for inclusion in our best UPS collection.
Acer APS322: Price & availability
- How much does it cost? £900
- When is it out? Available now in the UK
- Where can you get it? Direct from online retailers like Currys.
My research revealed that Acer planned to produce five versions of this Power Station for specific regions.
The APS320 was designed for South Africa, the APS321 for the EU, the APS322 for the UK (reviewed here), the APS323 for Australia, and finally, the USA has the APS324.
With the exception of the American APCS24, all the others have the same specifications, but with AC outlets appropriate to the specific locale. The US version has four AC outlets, but that’s mostly because it’s only outputting 110V, and not the 230V that’s standard elsewhere.
The direct competitor to the product is the EcoFlow Delta 3 Classic, which has a 1024Wh battery but many other features that this Acer model can’t match. That costs $409 from Amazon.com.
A similar offering from Anker is the Solix C1000, which costs £650 in the UK, but doesn’t seem to be available in the USA right now.
If the budget isn’t an issue, Jackery has the 2042Wh Explorer 2000 v2 for only $799/£899 via Amazon, and again, that option has remote control by Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
Based on these prices, for what Acer is offering, the APS32X range is substantially above a price that’s competitive on features or capacity.
Acer APS322: Specs
|
Hardware |
Acer APS322 |
|---|---|
|
Battery Capacity |
1229 Wh |
|
Output Waveform |
Sinewave |
|
Internal Voltage |
51.2V |
|
Voltage Inputs |
AC 220-240 V/ DC 13-45/12/24 V |
|
Max Solar Charge rate |
400W |
|
Voltage Output |
AC 220-240/ DC 5 / 9/ 12/ 12.6/ 15/ 20 V |
|
Max current |
10A |
|
Outlets |
2x USB-A (18W), 2x USB-A (12W), 2 x USB-C (65 W), 3 x power Type G, 1 x automobile cigarette lighter (126W), 2 x DC5521 |
|
Size |
43.2 cm x 27 cm x 30 cm (W x D x H) |
|
Weight |
?19.5kg |
|
Accessories |
Car charging cable |
|
Warranty |
2-year warranty |
|
Extended battery |
No |
|
Recharge Cycles |
3000 |
|
Protection |
Overload protection, solar panel compatible, LCD display, overheat protection, overcurrent protection, overvoltage protection, short-circuit protection. |
|
Min Operating Temp |
-10C |
|
Max Operating Temp |
45C |
Acer APS322: Design
- Heavy and big
- Lots of outputs
- Can charge in three ways
- Limited accessories
I’ll start this section by noting that I own an EcoFlow Delta 2, which has served as my reference point for evaluating the Acer APS322.
If you take the specification of the APS322, it’s obvious that the inclusion of the extra cells required to achieve the 1229 Wh, another 20% more than the Delta 2, has made this design less portable. But it’s nearly double the mass of the Delta 2, which is only 12kg, versus the 22kg of the APS322.
It’s generally a terrible plan to dismantle power stations unless you’re a trained electrician, so why this power station turned up so heavy, I’m unsure.
It has recesses on the sides that make it easier to carry, but this isn’t something a child could easily move, and equally, you wouldn’t want to move this any great distance, even as a healthy adult.
Where the APS322 outshines the Delta 2 is in respect of outputs. There are thirteen in total that include three AC, six USB and a collection of more esoteric choices.
Charging can use standard AC, a 12V car socket or DC inputs from Solar Panels. That last choice would require buying some portable panels for use in the great outdoors, but under the right conditions, the entire capacity can be charged in 4 to 6 hours of sunlight. The maximum input is 400W, so you need to be careful about what the panels are outputting, especially if you are running multiple panels in series.
Many Power Stations put the AC outlets and inputs on the rear, leaving the front for USB and other connections. The APS322 has all the outputs on the front, and the inputs are split between the back and the right side, that’s the face with the camping light.
Both the input locations have covers and use a flexible material as hinges, which means they don’t stay open unless they’re held or forced by a cable.
On the side is the Cigarette lighter socket, two DC 5521 outputs and a switch to activate the DC output. The rear features the AC inlet, a button that toggles between slow and fast charging, a single solar/vehicle charging inlet, and a reset for overload protection.
Considering how some of the cheaper Power Stations don’t offer the protections that are genuinely needed, and therefore could create an electrical fire in the wrong circumstances, the APS322 has all the protections you reasonably might expect.
For controlling the battery, there is a simple display that shows the charge level, the output level, and how long the battery will last based on current consumption.
A single button powers on the battery, and another brings all the AC outlets online, but all the USB ports remain active when the unit is powered on. A third button makes the display active, as it will automatically turn off after a short period of time.
And there is also a camping light that could be useful if you need illumination while you determine the reason you have lost power or are attempting to restore it using the APS322.
What it lacks is any means to connect additional capacity, something that can expand the Delta 2 to a total capacity of 3040 Wh. That makes the APS322 less attractive for home users wanting to avoid peak period power costs.
Included with the battery is a 2M-long power cable, and another that uses the Car Lighter 12V DC output to provide jump-starts, presumably intended to get a vehicle with a dead battery started. That second car charging cable is also about 2M and has two large crocodile clips meant for car battery terminals, making it long enough to sit the APS322 on the ground while charging the vehicle battery in the engine bay.
It seems mildly odd to include this without a cable to convert an MC4 solar connection to the phono inputs on the APS322. Without that solar cable, you will need to source it from Acer if you wish to connect solar panels, even if they are not Acer-branded.
The maximum input from solar panels is only 400W, which, depending on the panel used, might be exceeded by a single panel. Therefore, those wanting to connect panels should be careful about their maximum rated output, and, if using multiple panels, ensure the total amperage doesn’t exceed 10A.
Overall, the extra capacity in the APS322 is useful over a standard 1024Wh battery, but it seems to lack the features and polish that more experienced brands now provide as standard.
Acer APS322: User experience
- No mobile App or USB control
- Recharge prediction is poor
There are different applications for a product like the APS322: one is using AC appliances away from mains power, and the other is as an add-on to mains power in the event of a power loss.
In the first scenario, the APS322 is charged from the mains, using solar or from a vehicle and then taken away from civilisation, where you can plug appliances and mobile devices into it to either recharge or directly power them. And, given the sheer number of outputs, it’s generally well placed to do that job.
However, the one major limitation of this device for that use is the cap of 1800W of output. That’s not an issue if you are charging laptops and mobile phones, but some commonly used appliances will exceed that level, such as the humble electric kettle. And, if you are renovating a cottage, many power tools, such as chop saws and heavy-duty drills, exceed the 1800W limit.
It’s interesting to note that many power station brands offer a peak value of at least 2400W, mostly to allow some of the more common appliances to work, if briefly. And, it goes without saying that if you do have a device that pulls the full 1800W connected, the capacity of the battery could be exhausted in as little as 40 minutes of use. And, should the device exceed the 1800W limit, then overload projections will kick in and cut the power.
Operating near the limit of a battery is never a strategic idea, as it’s most likely to cause failure of any component that isn’t to spec.
The alternative use model is one where you have this connected to equipment that you need to protect from power failure, where the power station effectively operates as a UPS (uninterruptible power supply).
To this objective, the APS322 has a sensor that can detect the falling voltage when the power is pulled and respond rapidly enough to keep power on even with connected computers without causing a reset.
That’s great, but I would never use this product for that purpose. Why? Because when the power goes out, there is no audible warning, no phone message, and no means to use a USB to talk to a connected system and warn it to shut down in a proper manner before the battery is exhausted. That’s poor, and because of the lack of any network capability, it can’t be integrated into a smart home scheme to charge when power is cheapest, and discharge when it’s at its most expensive. EcoFlow and Jackery are offering these things, and were when Acer was designing this product. So, how did it get to market without Wi-Fi or Bluetooth?
The quoted charge time is 90 minutes for full capacity, but my testing told a slightly different story. When the charge cycle started, the display read 00% capacity, and it predicted a fill charge pulling 1284W in just 56 minutes. But soon it had forgotten that prediction and changed it to another of 2 hours and 28 minutes when it hit 69%.
As the charge progressed, the wattage was lowered to around 300W, which is something you come to expect from this type of device.
In the end, it took from 9:21 am to 11:07 am to reach 100%, for a total of 1 hour and 46 minutes. That’s not terrible, but it’s also not 90 minutes, and that was on ‘fast charge’ mode using mains power. As a comparison, the EcoFlow Delta 2 has 20% less battery but only takes 80 minutes to hit full power from empty, which is marginally faster per Wh recovered.
More of a concern for Acer is the EcoFlow Delta 3 Plus, which can recover its full capacity in just 56 minutes for its 1024Wh of battery, and is rated for 4000 cycles, not the 3000 of the APS322.
It’s clear from these numbers that the APS322 was made to compete with the Delta 2 and similar products, and not what is available now. One telling aspect is that the maximum charge level is roughly 1200W, and that doesn’t change if the unit is simultaneously connected to solar and AC.
Also, when it’s charging, the display’s predictions are all over the place. But surely the logic inside is driving the reduction in wattage to top off the cells, so why isn’t that same information used to calculate more accurately how long it will take to charge?
The display is also super-annoying because it stays on for only 2 minutes before turning off, regardless of whether the battery is charging or in battery mode. There is no beep it makes when it hits 100%, so you end up using the last guess the system had about being done and then pushing the button to see how it’s doing, which is usually the wrong answer.
Obviously, the display when charging should be on all the time, and I’m sure that the rubbish recharge calculations could be fixed with a firmware update. Assuming there is any way to deploy that fix.
For those reasons, and its unsophisticated nature, the Acer APS322 probably isn’t the best investment at this time.
Acer APS322: Final verdict
I’m curious how much research Acer did before launching this product, since the market is awash with 1024Wh LFP batteries with sophisticated networking and apps for around £500.
And for those who just want a battery to power AC appliances, ones with twice that capacity can be found for less than the APS322’s asking price.
Therefore, as nicely made as this product is, it’s priced way above where it should be, since it lacks the sophistication we’ve come to expect from DJI, EcoFlow, Jackery, and others. If it could match the EcoFlow Delta 2 price of £390, and give its buyers 20% more capacity without app connectivity, then it might find a market. But there is plenty of choice and some bargains to be had for Power Station buyers.
However, at its current price and with only a 2-year warranty, the APS322 seems out of its depth.
Acer APS322: Report card
|
Value |
Expensive for a Power Station without any remote control |
3 / 5 |
|
Design |
Nicely made, plenty of outputs, but heavy to carry |
4 / 5 |
|
User experience |
No app, no USB UPS control, no power loss warning |
2.5 / 5 |
|
Overall |
Lacks features that all EcoFlow and recent Jackery products have, and it’s excessively heavy |
3.5 / 5 |
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