The Anker F3800 Power Station has been one of the standout portable power stations in 2024. While there’s no doubt that this unit offers some pretty impressive specs and features, we wanted to make sure that it actually lives up to the hype for ourselves.
To do so, we put the F3800 through a series of our own rigorous tests to determine exactly what it can and can’t handle. If you’re unfamiliar with the Anker SOLIX F3800, make sure you check out our earlier video review: Anker F3800 – I Think Anker Just KILLED the Competition. It provides a detailed overview of the unit and what it was designed for.
For now, let’s just get straight into the testing and results!
Before diving into the more intense tests we ran it through, let's start with some baseline assessments to get a clear picture of the Anker F3800’s capabilities:
The F3800 comes equipped with a built-in 3,800Wh battery. To check the internal battery’s efficiency, we put it under a 5,100W load, which is just under the limits of the F3800’s 6,000W inverter.
Theoretically, it should have lasted for about 44 minutes. In reality, it powered through for 37 minutes, translating to an efficiency of around 84%. While 84% isn’t perfect, it’s actually not too bad.
We plugged the F3800 into a standard 120V AC wall outlet. According to Anker, it should have fully charged in about 2 hours and 25 minutes, but it actually completed the charge in just 2 hours and 35 minutes, exceeding expectations. It might just be ten minutes, but that’s definitely worth highlighting!
One of the most impressive things about the F3800 is its 6,000W inverter, which is supposed to have a surge rating of 9,000W, so we wanted to push the inverter to its limits.
During our test, it only sustained an 8,000W load for about 2 to 3 seconds, while a 7,200W load lasted roughly 10 seconds. Not the strongest showing, but not terrible either. With a 9,000W surge rating, we figured it would be able to sustain these spikes for longer without powering down.
Here's where the F3800 faced some real challenges. While it has the potential to hit a 2,400W rate of solar charging, hitting that number is nearly impossible due to the way Anker designed the F3800. We’ll discuss the solar charging issue in more detail later.
The F3800 has the ability to support pass-through charging for its solar input. Basically, this means you can draw power to run an appliance or charge a device while simultaneously charging the F3800’s internal battery with solar power. We tested it and it works!
In situations where you’re off-grid, this is a really useful feature. However, the F3800 doesn't support pass-through AC charging, which is a huge letdown. If you're trying to run something from one of the onboard plugs while the unit is charging via AC, you’re out of luck.
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Now that we’ve covered some of the more baseline tests that we ran the F3800 through, we can get into the results of our more practical tests. For these, we tried to see how the F3800 would handle the demands of more real-world scenarios involving everyday appliances and tasks.
Another one of the standout features you get with the F3800 is its dedicated 50-amp output, which could be useful for tradesmen and DIY enthusiasts needing a power supply for demanding power tools, like drills or even a welding machine. It also has a standard generator L14 plug, which is ideal for connecting to a transfer switch.
To test these, we started by running a fridge and a freezer—no surprises there, the F3800 handled them effortlessly. The real test was to see how many appliances we could run at the same time. With a microwave, toaster, coffee maker, and a double burner running on an electric stove all going at once, the F3800 actually performed pretty well.
With that said, we felt we were pushing it to the limits when we tried it with the oven and stove top combination. For example, running the microwave, brewing coffee, and toasting two bagels only used up about half the F3800’s capacity. However, when we added a double burner into the mix, the F3800 started to show signs that it was struggling.
With the oven set to 350°F, you could still run the microwave, toast a bagel, and brew a pot of coffee, but adding any more high-demand appliances would push the unit to its breaking point and force it to shut off.
This actually is pretty reasonable though. If you are planning on running your entire kitchen on a single F3800, just try to keep timing in mind. Maybe just wait a minute or two for your toaster before you preheat the oven.
Next, we moved the testing to the garage, which is where the F3800 really started to shine. Rather than just seeing how it would handle a bunch of different appliances at the same time, we checked it with various high-demand scenarios:
Let’s circle back to the F3800’s solar input issue. The unit has two solar input ports, each within a 32-60V range, and a 25A Max. The problem lies in the fact that Anker designed this unit around their own brand of foldable solar panels, which are relatively low in amperage.
If, like most people, your solar array is built with standard solar panels, it’s almost impossible to get the full 2,400W into the unit without exceeding either the voltage or amperage limits.
For example, most of the 200W panels we use here at The Solar Lab are around 25V and 10A. The best we could achieve when we connected them to the F3800 was 1,200W, which is far below the unit’s potential. It’s an issue we just wish they considered during the design phase. We get that Anker wants people to use their solar panels, but it’s really annoying knowing a power station is capable of handling a high solar input, but just can't do it for such an arbitrary reason.
Despite having some limitations, especially with solar input, the Anker F3800 Power Station is still a really impressive unit.
In the right situations, it performs exceptionally well. This is particularly true when it comes to holding its own in demanding environments, like a garage or workshop. While it may not have wowed us in every one of our tests, it consistently delivered solid performances, proving itself to be a really practical and reliable portable power solution.
The F3800 may not be perfect, but it definitely holds its own in the increasingly crowded world of portable power stations!
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Shop Solar: https://shopsolarkits.com
Use Code: THESOLARLAB for $101 Off Your Order