Anker SOLIX F1500 Review - Is It Worth Your Money?

After reviewing more power stations than we can remember, one thing has become abundantly clear, not all power stations are created equal.

When you're spending your hard-earned cash on a pricey power station, you just want it to be capable of doing exactly what was advertised. Whether you're gearing up for a camping trip, prepping for some RV adventures, or just looking for a reliable source of backup power for blackouts and emergencies, you want a capable unit that will provide you with power when you need it the most. 

As we’ll discover, the Anker F1500 might just be a power station that can do that. But is it really worth your money? 

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Introducing the Anker SOLIX F1500 Power Station 

Today, we're taking a deep-dive into the Anker F1500, a supposedly high-quality, versatile, and rugged power station. 

Anker, the brand behind the F1500, has a well-established track record for building solid power stations. In case you’re not familiar with their brand, Anker has been the number one mobile charging brand in the world for a decade now. While power stations aren’t exactly their main specialty, they’ve been pumping out high-quality phone chargers, power banks, and other mobile accessories for a long time now. With over 200 million units sold across 146 countries, it’s safe to say they know a thing or two about keeping mobile devices charged. 

But let’s be clear—at The Solar Lab, no brand gets a free pass. That’s why we put the Anker F1500 through its paces by running a few of our own tests on it. By the end of this article, you’ll have the lowdown on whether or not it’s worth buying.

By the way, if you decide you want to pick up the F1500 with a few solar panels, Shop Solar carries bundle offers that offer better value than Anker’s own site, where we think they really overcharge for solar panels. 

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Our Overview of the Anker F1500

If you’re completely new to the Anker F1500, here's a quick teardown of what this power station is offers: 

• Lightweight and Portable Design: Weighing in at 44 lbs, the Anker F1500 isn’t exactly a featherweight, but it’s manageable. Despite being a bit of a clunker, it passed our “Tiny Baby Lift Test”. Still, Anker might be exaggerating a bit when they say it’s a lightweight power station. 
• Impressive Battery Capacity and Lifespan: It sports a 1,536Wh lithium ion phosphate battery, rated for 3,000 cycles. Translation? You should be able to drain and recharge this thing daily for 10 years before the battery capacity drops to 80%. 
• Solid Output Power and Charging Capabilities: The Anker F1500 packs a 1,800W inverter with a 2,400W surge capacity. It is also supposed to charge from zero percent to full in about 1.5 hours when plugged into a regular AC wall outlet. With a 600W solar input rating, Anker claims it only takes about 2.5 hours to fully charge it with solar panels. 
• Serious Output Ports: Just from looking at it, this unit offers ports galore. With six 120V AC outlets, four USB-A ports, two USB-C ports, and a 12V car socket, we have to give it to Anker, this unit has things covered in the ports department. 
• A User-Friendly Display Screen and App: The F1500’s display screen is fairly straightforward, showing you just what you need to know. The app, however, is really impressive. With plenty of customizable features, it’s one of the most user-friendly power station apps we have come across. 

What About the Price? 

At a retail price of $1,199 (sometimes dropping to $850 during sales), the Anker F1500 is competitively priced for what it offers. But let’s dig deeper into what we like and don’t like before we make any real statements about the value you get with this thing.

What Did We Like About the Anker F1500? 

After we examined and played around with the Anker F1500, a few things stood out to us. Here are just some of things we really like about it from the start: 

• The Built-In Light: A power station designed for camping or emergencies without a built-in light is a huge oversight. Fortunately, Anker nailed this feature. During a recent blackout, we were stuck fumbling around in the dark with an EcoFlow River 2 Pro that didn’t feature any type of light. It sucked. Trust us, having a built-in light might seem like a gimmick, but it’s a game-changer. 

• Plenty of Output Ports: Most power stations of this size only offer three or four AC outlets. Anker went the extra mile by providing six. Whether you’re plugging in a portable fridge, some string lights, or other camping gear, you won’t be left wanting for outlets.

• Durable Design: Anker gave this thing a “unibody design”, meaning everything is contained within one single unit. This isn’t just for looks, it actually really contributes to the unit’s overall durability. We’re sure that’s how they were able to make it both drop-resistant and UV-resistant. What this means for buyers is the fact the unit is far less likely to crack or deteriorate over time, even if you leave it out in the sun for long stretches of time

• Fire-Resistant Design: This unit was also made to be flame and heat resistant, which is a nice peace-of-mind feature most brands overlook. While we don’t recommend testing this by dropping it in a fire, it’s good to know it’s designed to withstand a bit of heat.

• Seriously User-Friendly App: Anker crushed it with the smart app. From adjusting screen brightness to controlling the output remotely, the app is intuitive and packed with useful features. Imagine sitting in your tent, and being able to turn off the kids’ lights with just a tap on your phone. That feature alone could sell the unit to some parents! 

Our Performance Tests: How Did it Actually Stack Up? 

No review would be complete without some cold, hard data. Here’s how the Anker F1500 performed in our tests: 

Efficiency Testing: 

We ran a 1,585W load on the F1500’s 1,536Wh battery. In theory, it should have lasted 58 minutes, but it only ran for 42 minutes, giving it about 73% efficiency. This is decent, but definitely not impressive—most units hover between 80-90% efficiency. 

Charging Speed Tests:

With a 1,000W AC input, it took about 1 hour and 50 minutes to charge the battery from completely empty to full—just about what we expected. Can’t complain there. 

Surge Rate Testing: 

The F1500’s 2,400W surge capacity held up. We were able to run a 2,300W load for about 10 seconds. This is actually really impressive for a relatively small unit, and indicates that the F1500 can handle brief power spikes without shutting down. 

Volume Level Test: 

The F1500 is neither silent nor excessively loud—it’s about average. You’ll hear it running, especially if you’re right beside it, but it’s definitely not going to drown out your campsite conversations. If you’re using it at home, it probably wouldn’t even be an issue if you were using it to supply power in the same room you were in. 

Testing Solar Input: 

We tested the F1500 with an Anker 400 W Solar Panel, which worked pretty well, pulling in about 340W on a moderately sunny day. However, hitting the full 600W input it's rated for might be tricky depending on your solar panel setup. 

Pass-Through Charging Test: 

Yes, the Anker F1500 supports pass-through charging, meaning you can charge the unit while it’s actively powering your devices or appliances—a must-have feature in our books. It’s also a feature that shouldn’t be taken for granted, as plenty of power stations don’t support it. 

What We Didn’t Love About the Anker F1500 

• No Expandability: Unlike some of its competitors, the Anker F1500 is not expandable. If you outgrow the battery capacity, you’ll need to purchase an entirely new unit rather than just adding expansion batteries. This might not be a dealbreaker if you size your unit correctly from the start, but it’s definitely something to consider. We always like the option to quickly increase battery capacity down the line. 
• Really Pricey Solar Panels: Anker’s pricing for solar panels is, frankly, way too steep. Pairing the F1500 with a single 250W panel on their website costs an additional $750! That’s crazy for a single solar panel. As we mentioned earlier, if you want to pick up solar panels alongside the F1500, we highly recommend checking out Shop Solar, where you can find much more affordable bundles with equally effective panels.

Our Final Thoughts: Is the Anker F1500 Worth It?

So, is the Anker F1500 actually worth your money? If you’re in the market for a portable power station with solid performance, a durable build, and a user-friendly app, we’d say the Anker F1500 is a strong contender. It’s well-suited for camping, overlanding, and basic emergency backup power. We also can’t deny that it’s fairly priced.

However, if you’re looking for something expandable, or something a little more powerful, you might want to consider other options—or at least shop around for better deals on bundles.

In the Anker lineup, if you need something smaller, check out the Anker C800X Power Station. It’s a more compact unit with some cool features like built-in lights, making it a great choice for less demanding power needs. Best of all, it’s way cheaper.

On the other hand, if you’re thinking about something more powerful, we’d say skip the Anker F2000 and go straight to the Anker F2600, or even the monster Anker F3800. With wheels, a suitcase handle, and a 30-amp plug, the F2600 is perfect for more extensive setups, like small trailers or RVs.

At the end of the day, the Anker F1500 is a solid power station that we believe does exactly what Anker promises. It might not have all the bells and whistles, but it gets the job done reliably and effectively. Plus, the price point is actually really reasonable for what you get.

Overall, it gets a thumbs up from us here at The Solar Lab! 

🛒 Pick Up the Anker F1500 

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