If you’re in the market for a power station, let us warn you: most companies have a tendency to overinflate product specs. While it’s no surprise that lesser-known brands do this, even the big boys are guilty of exaggerating what their products can do. Speaking of which, guess who is one of the biggest culprits? Believe it or not, it’s EcoFlow.
We actually talked a lot about this in our recent “Who is EcoFlow?” video, where we dug into their backstory, their crowdfunding campaigns, and how they have a tendency to over-promise and under-deliver when they’re promoting products prior to launch. Even though they’ve improved on this over the years, there’s one exaggerated feature they just can’t seem to shake: X-Boost. And, frankly, we think it’s nothing more than a gimmick.
In nearly every recent EcoFlow power station review we’ve put out, we’ve dismissed X-Boost as “fake news.” Today, we’re going to break down what exactly X-Boost is, how it supposedly works, and why we think it’s just a marketing tool that doesn’t really deliver on what it promises.
At its core, X-Boost is a feature EcoFlow includes to allow a power station’s inverter to handle appliances and other loads that require more power than the inverter is rated for.
Picture this: your power station has a 1,200W inverter, which means it should comfortably run devices that draw up to 1,200 watts. But what happens when you plug in an appliance that requires 1,800 watts? Normally, that would be a deal-breaker, but here’s where X-Boost is supposed to save the day.
X-Boost works by lowering, or “pulling”, the voltage that your appliance receives. Let’s break it down: Appliance power is calculated by multiplying voltage by current (amps). For example, a device operating at 120 volts and drawing 10 amps uses 1,200 watts (120V x 10A = 1,200W).
Now, if an appliance is designed to draw 15 amps at 120 volts, it would typically require 1,800 watts (120V x 15A = 1,800W), which is beyond the inverter’s rating.
With X-Boost, instead of trying to push 120 volts to meet that 1,800W demand, the inverter reduces the voltage, say, from 120 volts down to about 90 volts. At 90 volts, the same 15-amp draw only totals 1,350 watts (90V x 15A = 1,350W). In a way, the appliance is “tricked” into running because it thinks it’s getting enough power, even though it isn’t receiving its full, proper voltage. This clever voltage drop allows the inverter to support higher current draws without actually exceeding its rated power.
In short, while X-Boost might let you run a device that requires more power on paper, it does so by underpowering it, which means the device won’t operate at full capacity. From our perspective, this isn’t a true power boost, it’s more of a workaround that could lead to inefficiencies, underperforming appliances, and even potential damage to the connected appliance or device, especially when you’re talking about sensitive electronics.
We’ve seen some pretty clear signs that X-Boost isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. When we ran tests where we exceeded the output rating for a power station’s inverter, triggering X-Boost, we noticed the device or appliance wouldn’t run properly. For example, a lamp plugged into a power station with X-Boost would see its light bulb dim dramatically once the feature kicked in.
We often use heat guns to test output power for power stations we’re reviewing because heat guns are small devices that require a lot of power. If you’re running a heat gun on an adequate power supply, they tend to just hum along at a consistent temperature and volume.
However, when we pushed an X-Boost-equipped EcoFlow power station using a heat gun, we noticed that the second the heat gun started drawing power beyond what the power station’s inverter was rated for, the heat gun was less noisy and the level of heat it produced was noticeably reduced.
Sure, the heat gun was still working, but only at about 70% to 80% efficiency. For something like a heat gun, space heater, or electric kettle, this might be acceptable because it would just take a little longer to heat that device up. But for sensitive electronics, like a computer or CPAP machine, that drop in voltage could spell disaster. Let’s find out why.
While certain devices and appliances might not be impacted in a serious way when they receive a lower voltage than they’re supposed to get, this can be a serious issue for your more delicate electronics. When these types of devices aren’t getting the proper voltage, a few nasty things can happen:
Let’s imagine you’re using X-Boost to run your laptop computer. If the computer is designed to run on 110 to 120 volts and it’s only getting 90 to 100 volts, the CPU and GPU have to work extra hard to compensate for the missing juice. This extra workload means they’re running hotter than they should. Plus, the computer might not be receiving the power it needs to run its internal fans, even if X-Boost is tricking the computer into thinking it’s getting enough power.
Over time, forcing your computer to run without an adequate supply of stable power could lead to serious overheating issues, which could cause permanent damage or even reduce the actual lifespan of certain critical components.
Sensitive electronics rely on a steady, predictable voltage. When the voltage is lower than expected, not all of the components within that device receive the power they require.
One component might get enough power while another starves, leading to erratic performance. Imagine your computer starting to act like a toddler with ADHD, or even worse, like Tiny Baby when he’s hungry. You definitely don’t want your computer behaving like a cranky, underpowered miniature monster!
In other words, without a stable and proper voltage, the system could crash, freeze, or behave unpredictably because it’s not getting what it was designed to receive. So, X-Boost could work in the sense that it allows your computer to run on a lower wattage than the power station can provide, but it could also be doing a lot of serious damage.
Devices like CPAP machines, refrigerators, or other high-precision electronics depend on stable voltage for proper operation. Running these on a reduced voltage can cause them to underperform or fail altogether, which can be dangerous and costly. The mismatch in power can result in everything from memory loss in computers to severe malfunctions that could end up frying your circuitry.
Again, while X-Boost might let you run a device that technically exceeds the power station’s rated inverter output, it does so at the cost of reducing the voltage, which could compromise performance and potentially damage your equipment over time.
Before we write X-Boost off entirely, it’s worth mentioning that it can be useful for short-term surges. If you have a device that occasionally demands a burst of extra power, such as a heat gun or a toaster that only surges for a few seconds when you turn it on, X-Boost might help keep it running just long enough to do its job.
However, even in these scenarios, the efficiency drops to about 70% to 80%, meaning the device isn’t operating at its full potential. For resistive loads, this might be acceptable, but for sensitive electronics, this is where the problems we discussed above arise.
Ultimately, while X-Boost might serve as a temporary stopgap for power surges, it’s potentially dangerous if used continuously or on devices that require stable voltage at all times. In the long run, relying on a feature that essentially amounts to false advertising can lead to equipment damage, reduced lifespan, and erratic performance.
EcoFlow has pushed X-Boost on almost every one of their recent power stations, including the DELTA Max and the top-selling DELTA Pro.
Take, for example, their new EcoFlow RIVER 3 Portable Power Station. It sports a tiny 300W inverter that, thanks to X-Boost, supposedly can act like a 600W inverter when that 300W output is exceeded. But realistically, nothing that small is going to reliably surge that high, even if that’s what the company advertises.
In our own reviews of many of these EcoFlow power stations, we’ve consistently brushed off X-Boost as a feature that’s more about marketing hype than actual performance. And while some folks might thank us for calling out EcoFlow on this, others see value in it and seem to think we’re missing something. Either way, we just wanted to give you the straight-up truth and some more context.
From our perspective, it’s just a gimmick because it doesn’t actually do what EcoFlow says it will. Not only does it not actually supply the power it claims, because with a lower voltage, it’s not a true output, we also think it’s potentially dangerous, as these voltage inconsistencies could damage sensitive electronics, which require consistent and stable power.
At the end of the day, what we’re saying is this: X-Boost does not provide a true power increase. It’s an advertising trick to get you to believe that the power station can handle more than it really can.
Sure, it might work in some scenarios, like handling a surge for a few seconds, but for most everyday applications, especially when it comes to sensitive electronics, it’s more of a liability than an asset.
Again, we just find it misleading. Most people aren’t going to dive deep into the specs or the science behind the X-Boost claims, they’ll just see the advertised “1,800W X-Boost Output” and assume it’s the real deal. And, at the end of the day, that’s exactly what EcoFlow wants their buyers to do. So, if you’re considering one of their products, just keep in mind that X-Boost is more of a marketing feature than a practical one.
With that said, we also wouldn’t want anyone to write off EcoFlow just for this one issue. They still offer plenty of high-performance power stations that have really innovative features, but we firmly believe X-Boost isn’t one of them.
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