Dirt Cheap EcoFlow River 3 Review: The Perfect Holiday Gift or is it Overhyped?
Like the previous power stations in EcoFlow’s River series, the EcoFlow River 3 is marketed as a portable and budget-friendly power station that was designed to keep your essential electronics running on the go.
While EcoFlow has been making some pretty bold claims that sound really impressive, like the River 3’s ability to power a light bulb or Wi-Fi router for over 30 hours, we’d like to find out for ourselves if it actually delivers and lives up to this hype. To do so, we played around with it for a couple of days and put it through some performance tests.
And now that we have had this opportunity to check out the River 3 for ourselves, we’re here to break down the good and the bad about it, as well as whether or not we think it’s a solid, budget-friendly product, or just a waste of money.
What is the EcoFlow River 3?
The River 3 is the smallest in EcoFlow’s latest River lineup, which also includes the soon-to-be-released River Plus and River Max portable power stations. The original EcoFlow River was actually the brand’s first-ever product, so it’s nice to see them return to their roots with this release.
Just like the previous models, this version of the River is really lightweight, as EcoFlow designed it to be the perfect portable power companion. When we say it’s lightweight, we mean it. Weighing in at just 7.4 pounds, not only does it pass the Tiny Baby Lift Test, he could probably shot put it across the Atlantic.
Despite its lightweight and compact design, it packs a fairly decent 245Wh battery, as well as a 300W inverter, which EcoFlow claims can hit a 600W output due to its “X-Boost” feature (more on that dubious claim later).
Even at full price, this little thing comes in at a very budget-friendly $239. Keep in mind that $239 is the full price and we’ve already seen EcoFlow advertising it around $179. With Black Friday and Cyber Monday Sales already here, we’d be surprised if you had to pay over $200 for it. On top of that, we even have a couple of exclusive discount codes listed at the bottom of this article that you can use to bring that price down even more.
Overview of the Specs:
Now that we’ve provided a quick rundown of this latest entry to the River family, let’s take a look at the specs EcoFlow claims this thing delivers.
Battery Capacity: 245Wh
Inverter: 300W capacity, with the supposed ability to hit a 600W output with “X-Boost”— (*cough* B.S. *cough*)
Charging Inputs:
110W solar input
320W AC (EcoFlow claims it can charge through the AC input in under an hour)
Output Ports:
2x 120V AC outlets (one grounded, one ungrounded)
2x USB-A
1x 100W USB-C
1x 12V car port
For a budget-friendly, entry-level power station that is incredibly portable, these specs sound great, but does it perform as advertised? Let’s find out.
Performance Testing
While it may be priced at just a couple hundred bucks, we wanted to treat this little fella like any other power station we receive, so we put it through all of our standard testing, starting with a full efficiency test.
Efficiency Testing:
With its 245Wh battery, a nearly perfect power station with this capacity should be able to last roughly an hour while running a 245W load. With that said, it’s incredibly rare for any power station to get anywhere close to 100% efficient, as the inverter, display screen, cooling fans, and other internal mechanisms are going to draw power, reducing what can actually be used to meet the power requirements of the load.
Still, we wanted to see how efficient this thing is, so we fully charged the battery, then ran a 273W load—close to its inverter’s full 300W capacity. Running this load, the River 3 should have lasted about 54 minutes if it was 100% efficient, but it lasted 45 minutes, translating to an efficiency rating of just about 83%.
For such a small unit, an 83% efficiency rating is actually pretty good. Typically, anything above 80% gets a thumbs up from us, and small power stations tend to be less efficient, so this first test was a success.
Charging Speed Test:
EcoFlow claims you can fully charge the River 3 in one hour with a standard AC outlet.
In our first charge test, it took about 1 hour 20 minutes to charge the battery to 100% from being fully drained. Not great, but the unit was also really cold, so we fully drained the battery and decided to try again. Prior to this second test, we warmed the unit up, which allowed us to fully charge the battery in just 58 minutes, which is even less time than what EcoFlow advertises.
A full charge in less than an hour is really solid, even if the internal battery is this small. As for solar charging, we tested to make sure that it works, and it does. EcoFlow offers package deals where the River 3 comes with a foldable 45W solar panel, but we didn’t even bother testing this out, as it would take roughly 6 hours to charge the battery with a panel this small, even with perfect sun exposure.
The main takeaway is the fact that the 110W solar input works as advertised, even if it does take over three hours to charge the battery. It may be a good option for off-grid camping, but it’s nothing to get too excited about.
Testing the Surge Capacity:
When we intentionally overloaded the inverter, the River 3 handled a 350W load for about 10 seconds before shutting off. Bigger surges, like when we tested to see if it could handle the cycling of a full-sized refrigerator, caused an immediate overload, shutting it down almost instantly.
Look, we understand that a little unit like this was never going to be built for high-surge devices and appliances, but it’s good to know that it can handle a slight overload for a few seconds before shutting down. If you were to accidentally run it too hard, you have a few seconds to unplug something.
Still, it’s worth remembering that EcoFlow claims this thing can hit 600W with its “X-Boost” feature, and we have to say that seems like a huge exaggeration from our own surge testing.
Testing the Noise Levels:
EcoFlow advertises this thing as being whisper quiet, and true to their claims, the River 3 is practically silent. We pushed this thing to its absolute limits and we barely heard a peep out of it. If you’re looking for something small and quiet to run in your tent or on your desk while you work, the River 3 might be your ideal choice.
What We Liked and Disliked About the EcoFlow River 3
After really testing and using this little unit, we found quite a few things to like about it, as well as a few minor issues we wish EcoFlow would correct on the upcoming Plus and Max versions of it.
What We Liked
Let’s start out on a positive footing by talking about the many things we liked about the River 3 Power Station.
The Affordability and Portability:
As advertised, this power station is compact, lightweight, and highly portable. At under 8 pounds, we also really liked how easy it is to carry around, as well as how discreetly you’d be able to stow it away in a corner or closet for emergencies.
At such an affordable price, it’s an excellent entry-level option for those new to portable power solutions, as well as those looking to pick up a practical gift for someone else.
Plus, when you’re discussing the price point, you have to remember that EcoFlow is one of the top brands in the industry, so you’re not buying some junky product from a random, sketchy Amazon company. For under 200 bucks, we think it’s a steal.
The Unit’s Versatility:
For small emergency situations and blackouts, the River 3 packs enough power to charge up phones, run lights, and other essentials.
In fact, here at The Solar Lab, we keep an older River model plugged into our Wi-Fi router and security cameras, ensuring we stay connected during brief power outages. For a unit of this size, it’s an ideal option for basic UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) purposes.
For those who are just looking to bring a bit of extra power with them on off-grid camping trips, its small size makes it a really practical piece of equipment. Even if you just want to run some LED string lights, keep your Bluetooth speaker running, or charge your phone and other portable devices, it’s a low-cost item you can easily add to your camping pack.
The Silent Operation:
Unlike most EcoFlow power stations, which have a bit of a reputation for having loud cooling fans, the River 3 operates in near perfect silence, making it ideal for camping trips or indoor use.
The User-Friendly Design:
Another thing we really liked about this little unit is just how easy it is to use. Basically, it’s idiot-proof. All of the ports and buttons are conveniently located on either the front panel or the right-hand side panel, simplifying everything. That layout is also really practical for situations where you might want to tuck the River 3 away in a corner, on a shelf, or even in the trunk of your car, as you won’t have to stretch awkwardly to reach any of the ports.
The display screen is also really easy to navigate, while setup only takes a few seconds. This minimalist design makes it the perfect beginner-friendly option for those who are completely new to power stations and solar technology.
EcoFlow’s Honest Marketing:
EcoFlow advertised pretty much everything about this power station accurately, which should never be taken for granted. Far too many brands exaggerate what their power stations can do.
Even EcoFlow’s advertised runtime of 31 hours for a 3W light bulb isn’t far from the truth, which is really refreshing for an industry where advertised runtimes are almost always fake. In fact, when we tested this same claim out using a 3.6W bulb, it lasted for about 26 hours—close enough to call their claim an accurate description of the River 3’s abilities.
Everything else also worked exactly as advertised, including the pass-through charging feature for both solar and AC inputs. With that said, we still think “X-Boost” is little more than a fairly meaningless marketing term, but that’s a fairly tame gripe given its not one of EcoFlow’s main advertising points for this power station.
Where We Think the EcoFlow River 3 Falls Short
While it has a lot going for it, no product is perfect, so here are the faults we found with the unit.
The “X-Boost” Feature (It’s Just a Gimmick):
We have ragged on EcoFlow’s “X-Boost” mode ever since it was first featured on a power station. Basically, it doesn’t really work in real life.
According to EcoFlow, “X-Boost” allows the River 3 to double its inverter’s 300W rating and handle loads up to 600W by reducing the voltage. However, the result is an output that underpowers the devices it should be capable of running smoothly.
For example, a fairly demanding electronic device, like a toaster, might turn on, but it won’t be able to draw enough power to work as intended. In one of our tests, we used the River 3 to charge the battery in an older version of the River power station and it struggled to power it with consistent power, even with X-Boost mode fully enabled.
These types of tests once again proved that “X-Boost” is just marketing fluff, rather than a functional selling point.
The Limited and Cramped AC Outlets:
The River 3 only has two 120V AC outlets, and they’re a little too close together. Similarly sized power stations tend to have three of these plugs, and they also tend to be more spaced out.
When you’re trying to run bulkier or grounded plugs, the result is often an awkward and tight fit. EcoFlow tried to compensate for this by flipping the grounded outlet upside down, but it’s still a lot more crowded than it probably needs to be.
Lack of Additional Features:
The River 3 works great, but it’s fairly bare bones. Unlike its competitors, the River 3 lacks a built-in flashlight or a wireless charging pad—both features that would have made it more practical in emergency or portable scenarios.
This certainly isn’t unique to the River 3, as we’ve been begging EcoFlow to equip their power stations with some sort of emergency light for as long as we’ve been reviewing their products. For whatever reason, they just seem to hate built-in lights. What’s the deal, EcoFlow?
Our Final Verdict: Should You Buy the EcoFlow River 3?
The EcoFlow River 3 is a solid, no-frills power station that is perfect for light-duty use. At its core, it’s a highly portable, quiet, and affordable option for small-scale emergency use, camping trips, or basic off-grid work. At its rock-bottom price, we also think it would make an excellent Christmas, birthday, or Father’s Day gift.
With that said, it’s not without limitations, and features like “X-Boost” are more of a distraction than a benefit. If you’re looking for something a little bit bigger, the Anker F1500 or the PECRON E1500 might be more up your alley. We also counted down our top picks for the Best Small Power Stations of 2024, which is also well-worth checking out.
At the end of the day, for just $179 to $239, the River 3 is a bit of a steal, and you can’t really go wrong ordering one. Even if it’s just a backup to your backup power system, we’d say it’s well worth a couple hundred bucks.
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