EF ECOFLOW TRAIL 300 DC Portable Power Station, 288Wh LiFePO4 Power Bank, 300W DC Output, Compact Solar Generator for Camping, Travel, and Emergency Power

I had always been a big supporter of Goal Zero and Jackery, but when I got a chance to buy and review EcoFlow's excellent Delta Pro not too long ago for our vacation home, I became a fan of the company's products. The Delta Pro's features genuinely wowed me at the time because neither Goal Zero nor Jackery had anything comparable. I had since bought and recommended the Delta 2 and River 3 series, though was not as impressed with them as they were comparable to the competition. I was curious to see how the Trail 300 would do.The Trail 300's 288Wh battery capacity - how long something can run for - means that it is lower capacity than their Delta and Delta Pro models, but comparable to the River product line. Such small sizes are generally used for day trips to recharge phones, drones, and laptops a few times and were not designed for home power backup or appliances, such as rice cookers or table saws. My use cases include powering my home internet modem and router (so I can continue working off my laptop during an outage) and to use my 12V mini rice cooker when camping. Then for the rest of the evening, it is used to charge my phone and illuminate the area with camp lights.Instead of using Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC), the Trail 300 uses Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) like its more powerful Delta and Delta Pro siblings. There are significant differences between both Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery chemistries that I will detail later.Some tips to keep in mind while reading my review:- How much energy a battery can store is measured in Wh (Watt-hours), and how much power is used or produced in W (Watts).- EcoFlow, Goal Zero, Bluetti, and Jackery power stations can be used while simultaneously charging themselves.CHARGERThe biggest shortcoming I want to point out with the Trail 300 is the lack of a power adapter. You will have to supply your own. Every power station I had purchased in the past came with one -- perhaps the company is trying to save a little money due to rising inflation costs, or it is trying to reduce waste. Either way, you will need to get one. My recommendation is to buy a "140W USB-C Charger" from Anker or EcoFlow. Add a second 140W, and you can charge at 280W (140W x2) and be done 1.1 hours. If you get a less powerful one, that will still work -- it will just take a lot longer to recharge the battery.BATTERY TECHNOLOGYThere has been a lot of debate on whether Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) or Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) is better. Both are Lithium-ion batteries. Goal Zero and Jackery used NMC for a long time and only recently switched to LiFePO4 (what EcoFlow and Bluetti had been using for some time). Why use LiFePO4 today? They hold some important advantages over NMC:- Safer, less volatile, and thus cheaper to manufacture- Charge cycle: 2000-5000 (10+ years)-- NMC: 20-25% capacity loss after every 500 cycle (6-10 years for up to 2000 cycles, after which capacity is vastly diminished)-- EcoFlow claims 3500 cycles before dropping to 80% of original capacity and 6500 to 50%. Each year, this number increases quite a bit as battery technology improves further- Usable in more extreme temperatures (-4F/-20C to 176F/80C). NMC: only 140F/60C max-- Check with manufacturer for your battery to be sure- Holds 350-day charge. NMC: 300CAUTION: Lithium-ion batteries do NOT like to remain discharged at 0% for prolonged periods of time. If you let your battery stay at 0% for too long, you may not be able to charge it again without specialized equipment.CONTINUOUS VS PEAK OUTPUTIt is important to understand the difference between Watts and Watt-Hours. How much power is used or produced is measured in Watts, and how much energy a battery can store is calculated in Watt-Hours. See the "Calculations" section below for more details.How much energy a battery can store is measured in Wh (Watt-hours), and how much power is used or produced in W (Watts).Trail 300 offers purely battery output (no AC output). It does so at up to 140W of DC per port for a total of 300W. So, peak and continuous output ratings that I usually cover in power station reviews become less important for the Trail 300.CALCULATIONSThe below calculations are rough ESTIMATES as conditions, battery quality, and age can vary. [SORRY: I had to shorten my original review by a LOT (including many calculations) so it could fit here on Amazon.]Time to Charge This 288Wh Power Station- Calc: Hours to charge battery = Battery capacity (Wh) / Input Wattage-- As battery approaches 75% full, the input charge will increasingly be slowed down to prevent overcharging- AC Wall: 140W @ 2.1h [288 Wh / 140W]- AC Wall with 2x 140W chargers @ 1.1h [288 Wh / 280W]- 12V Car Charger-- 120W @ 2.4 hrs (at 10A, if car supports it)Charge Time with Solar- Calc: Hours to charge battery = Battery capacity (Wh) / (Panel Wattage x [0.5 or 0.75])-- In a perfect lab, solar panels charge at the listed wattage-- Expect to only receive 50-75% on a good, sunny day (ie. 75W – 113W for a 150W panel), depending on panel's age, component quality, and weather- 200W solar panel: as fast as 1.92 hours [288Wh / (200W x 0.75)]- Underproduction: If a panel is not making enough, adding extra ones can generate a higher, combined output- Overproduction: If the panels make more than the maximum the power station charge port can take, only the max will go throughWatts Used/Produced by a Device- Calc: Watts used or produced by device = Voltage x Amperage- Vacuum with 120V @ 9.5A uses 1,140W- Solar panel with 12V @ 10A can produce up to 120WIdeal Battery Power Station Size- Calc: Battery capacity (Wh) = Watts used by device x Hours needed for / 0.85-- 10-15% of power is lost during power conversion- 45W car fridge needed for 8 hours: Minimum 424Wh power station (45W x 8 / 0.85)FINAL THOUGHTSEcoFlow thoroughly impressed me with their Delta Pro power station and quickly added the company to my list of recommended battery providers. Their newest Trail 300, a LiFePO4 product, does not offer anything fancy except dual-port USB-C charging at 140W each, allowing the battery to be full in about 1 hour. The Trail 300 is light and compact, making it ideal for day trips and easy carry.

I wanted a small portable battery to bring on vacation to charge our small electronics, tablets and phones. The last 2 hotels we went to have outlets that were either not working or the outlet sockets were damaged. Also, I was interested in this battery over other batteries because it's solar compatible, which would be handy for camping trips where I can't recharge it through the wall outlet.🔋This EcoFlow battery I ordered came precharged to 28%, which I could use right out of the box. The battery was well packaged with thick cardboard fitting for protection during delivery. This battery does not come with a charger cable. I have a Chromebook 45w charger cable that I used to charge it. According to the battery screen, it will take approximately 4 hours to fully charge from 30% to 100%. I am sure the charging time would be shorter with a faster cable charger. 🔋The battery is very compact and lightweight. It weight only 5.6 pounds and measure at 3.8" x 6.2" x 6.4". 🔋It has 2 USB-C, 2 USB-A, and an car port outputs. We are a family of 4 so it's great that we can all charge our phones at the same time. The car port output was able to power my small car refrigerator when needed. I was able to charge my 3 electronics while charging the battery (which I wouldn't recommend doing it but I did it just for testing purposes).The battery doesnt make any noise whether it's in the charging mode or when I use it to charge my electronics. The Jackery Explorer 1000 Pro and Litake 300 batteries I currently have produced loud fan noises whenever I charge them. It is nice to have a battery that is silent when in use.Overall, I am very happy with the battery due to its lightweight small size, noise free, good performance, and easy to read display.

I bought this Ecoflow Trail 300 specifically to power my portable fridge which I keep in my minivan at all times. The fridge usually draws power directly from the van but I wanted backup power for when I need to shut off the van to run errands, have lunch, etc. The Ecoflow Trail 300 is absolutely perfect for my needs! It’s compact, light, and can power my portable fridge set at zero degrees for over 5 hours! I know you can easily look up the specs on this thing but I just thought I’d include some real-world pictures and experiences. The power bank came 25% charged right out of the box. It took about 2.5 hours to fully charge from 0% using my Anker Nano II 100W charger. Apparently, you can hook up two chargers to the Ecoflow Trail 300 and charge it even faster!It is very light and compact probably due to not having A/C output. It doesn’t take up much room in the trunk next to the fridge and hardly weighs anything! It’s also silent. There is a handle strapped to it that is actually very comfortable. I like when companies put more thought on the little things like this.The display shows input/output wattage, percent charge remaining and use time remaining. When you charge it, the time remaining switches to time until fully charged. Basically every port acts as input and output depending on what is plugged in and the display changes accordingly. It displays only the information that you need—no more no less. Nothing is wasted and you can get the information you need at glance. This is one of those products that just works as intended and doesn’t get in your way. I’ve come to really trust the Ecoflow brand and they have another hit in their hands with this Ecoflow Trail 300 power bank. Highly recommended!

The chargers does not come with the device! It does show some option I think that can add it, but it never occurred to me that a charging element wasn't there. I ended up, after receiving the device, ordering the charger for another $26+ . All other ecoflow I ordered had chargers. Not happy.