Anker SOLIX F2000 (PowerHouse 767) Review
Dependable backup power for almost any device
Verdict
The Anker SOLIX F2000 provides dependable backup power for almost any household device, with enough storage to get even heavy duty appliances through a significant power cut. It’s big, and full of heavy batteries, but with robust wheels and a handle it’s surprisingly easy to lug around. That helps make the F2000 ideal for large camping groups, or to add heavy-duty mains power to smaller camper vans. With a range of charging options including solar, it could even keep you off grid for an extended period.
Pros
- Excellent range of ports and functions
- Rugged, smart design
- Useful app
Cons
- Big and very heavy
- It’s certainly not cheap
Key Features
- A heavy duty power stationThis large, heavy power bank provides USB and mains power to even the most demanding devices
- A good range of ports and functionsPlenty of highly specified output ports, together with multiple charging options
Introduction
If you’re after a fairly high-end power bank with the grunt to supply almost any device, Anker’s SOLIX F2000 should be on your list.
Previously known as the PowerHouse 767, the F2000 can store a whopping 2,048 watt-hours (Wh) of electricity – enough to power a dishwasher through a full wash cycle. With a peak mains power output of 2,300 watts (W), it’s able to cope with the power demands of almost any modern appliance.
The F2000 isn’t just about outright power. It’s designed for convenience and flexibility, with three UK-spec plug sockets, two USB-A ports, three USB-C sockets and two cigarette lighter-style car charging ports. Although it’s big and heavy, it comes with rugged wheels and a telescopic handle, so you can pull it around like a flight case. It also has a wide light bar to help light up your camping pitch, or dispel the gloom of a blackout.
You can recharge the F2000 from the mains, via a car adaptor, or through up to 1,000W of solar panels. Anker says that it’s built to last for 10 years, and it comes with a strong five-year warranty. That’s good, because at £2000/$2799, it’s a significant investment, although at the time of writing Anker was regularly discounting it by around £300/$400.
Design and features
- Rugged and smart, but heavy
- Great selection of ports and functions
- Thoughtful design and layout
The Anker SOLIX F2000 (PowerHouse 767) is closely related to the Anker SOLIX F1200 I tested in August, which is a very promising start. Like the F1200, the F2000 feels extremely sturdy, with large handles and a strong plastic body. Inside there’s a metal cage to hold the electronics and batteries. Importantly, these are lithium iron phosphate (LFP or LiFePO) cells. These are inherently more stable than standard lithium cells, and are less likely to experience thermal runaway which could lead to fire. They also offer a much greater service life than standard lithium-ion. Anker says the batteries will retain at least 80% of their capacity after 3,000 cycles, and it backs that up with a five-year warranty.
At 30kg, this power bank is about as heavy as I can lift comfortably, so its wheels are helpful, as is its telescopic handle, which acts like a big lever that reduces the effort involved. The wheels are quite sturdy, and happy to trundle around pavements – they even look like they’d make it across a lawn or campsite provided it wasn’t muddy. But while the F2000 is designed to work outside, it’s not splashproof, and it could overheat in direct sun.
The F2000’s outputs are arranged neatly on its front panel. Its three power sockets share a single on/off button, as do the two cigarette lighter type car sockets.
There’s a power saving mode to switch these sockets off when any connected devices stop consuming power – for example, once an e-bike finishes recharging. That said, they seemed very fussy – the standby power of my washing machine and tumble drier was enough to keep them from shutting down.
Having five USB ports doesn’t seem especially generous on such a powerful device, but Anker has at least favoured more powerful USB-C sockets over USB-A. The latter are each rated at 12.4W, while each of the three USB-C ports can deliver 100W to a compatible device.
This power bank’s excellent screen shows the battery status at a glance, along with the amount of power flowing into and out of the station. There’s an estimation of how long the battery will last when you’re powering equipment, or how long it’ll take to finish charging. However, you can also connect via Bluetooth and use Anker’s app, which adds more detail such as battery temperature.
The app also lets you switch the mains or car port sockets on and off, and set a timer after which they’ll shut down automatically. It’s a shame you can’t do something similar for the power input, as scheduling this would be a great way to automatically charge up the power station at a cheap overnight rate.
Like other Anker power banks, the SOLIX F2000 has a large, white LED strip light across the front panel. Here it comes with three different brightness settings, the highest of which can provide soft light to a decent-sized room in a power cut. There’s also an emergency mode, which flashes ‘SOS’ in morse code, should your off-grid experience not quite go to plan.
The SOLIX F2000’s 2300W mains output is more than a match for a modern washing machine, dishwasher, tumble drier or kettle. It’s even enough for a typical oven or air fryer, but it’s worth stressing that the 2300W total is spread across all three of the AC sockets – you can’t run a washing machine and kettle at the same time, for example.
With more than two kilowatt-hours (kWh) of stored electricity, a fully charged F2000 might power a washing machine for a couple of full cycles, or last long enough to get a single load both washed and dried in a heat-pump dryer. Alternatively it’s enough to power a small kitchen through a couple of meals. If you need an even longer lasting power supply, you can upgrade the F2000 with an extra battery for about £1000. This doubles its power storage capacity to 4048Wh, but its 2300W maximum AC output is unchanged.
Charging
- Charge from mains, car, or the sun
- Maximum 2200W input
- Very fast charging, even while providing power
You can charge the SOLIX F2000 from mains electricity, from a vehicle, or from solar panels. Of these, car charging is the most straightforward: the F2000 comes with an adaptor that supports charging at up to 120W. While that’s good to have, you’d need to drive for more than 17 hours to charge a fully exhausted battery.
This power station’s solar charging support is comprehensive. You can plug a single portable solar array into the XT60 socket at the rear, or use the supplied adaptor to chain up to five 200W arrays. In ideal conditions, you’d need only a couple of hours to fully recharge the battery, potentially making this a very versatile off-grid power supply – provided you can afford and have space for all the solar panels.
By default, the F2000 recharges from the mains at up to 2200W, which is enough for a full recharge in just over an hour. However, you can use the app to select power levels down to just 200W. That’s obviously slower, but it could be very useful if you’re camping and only have access to a low-power electric hookup, or you’re trying to store limited spare energy from a home solar system.
The F2000 has a bypass circuit, which means you can continue to use its outputs while it’s charging from the mains. It’ll only take a maximum of about 2.6kW from its mains input, though, so connecting up an AC load of more than about 400W will reduce the maximum rate at which the battery can charge. I should also stress that the AC Recharging Power setting limits only the recharge speed, not the overall power flowing into the F2000. Set it to 750W, for example, connect up a 500W load, and the F2000 will draw 1250W from the mains. If you are on a connection with limited power, remember to unplug the power station before running a high-power device.
Anker says that in a power cut, the F2000 will switch entirely to battery power within 20 milliseconds. While that’s not as fast as some dedicated uninterruptible power supplies, it was quick enough to keep all of my office equipment running without a glitch. One thing to note is that there’s no alarm or data link function, so you’ll need to keep an eye on the charge level to avoid a sudden shutdown when the battery’s empty.
Performance
- Rock-solid power output
- Good efficiency, especially over USB
- Loud fans on heavy load
We always subject power banks to harsh tests, but the F2000’s high specifications meant that it got a particularly rough ride.
I began by confirming it could power my washing machine, which it comfortably could. It supplied more than 2200W over about 5-10 minutes during the water heating phase, with the cooling fans stepping up as needed. From a full charge, it had enough power for two 40℃ washes, and still reported about 30% charge left over.
After realising that none of my domestic appliances presented the F2000 with a challenge, I found something more heavy duty. My electric car recharges at about 2.3kW from a standard plug socket, so I fully recharged the power bank, plugged the car in, and watched the F2000 carefully for the 52 minutes it took for its battery to run out of charge.
Although operating near its full rated power, the F2000 seemed untroubled throughout, with its batteries only reaching 41℃ by the end of the test, and its case only warming a little near the top rear air output.
I measure the amount of power it takes to fully recharge a power bank, and how much it’s able to provide at various loads. I found it took slightly less energy to recharge the F2000 at its fastest setting, with a full recharge taking 2323Wh compared to 2419Wh at the 200W setting.
As with all power banks, the F2000 was less efficient supplying mains electricity than power over USB, as the inverter needed for the former uses a bit of energy itself. It supplied 1705Wh during my EV test, and 1641Wh over the course of a medium-duty test where it was providing around 200-300W. Only on my lightest test, powering a 30W air purifier, was it disappointing, managing just 834Wh over the course of nearly three days – that’s only about 41% of its rated battery capacity.
I tested the F2000’s USB efficiency using a constant 60W load, and measured a total output of 1790Wh – 87% of the battery’s rated capacity. Taking this, and the best charging efficiency, I calculated an excellent ‘round trip’ efficiency of 77%. The best round-trip efficiency using the AC output was still a decent 73%.
We try to indicate a power station’s value by dividing its cost by the amount of electricity it can store in its lifetime. The SOLIX F2000 is rated for at least 3000 cycles, equating to an incredible 6.144 megawatt hours. At full price that’s a competitive 32.5p for every kWh stored, or 28p/kWh if you manage to buy it when discounted to £1700.
Not bad, but the Dabbsson DBS2300 is even cheaper per kWh of storage, as it supports more charge cycles and has higher-density batteries.
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
You need heavy-duty, portable power: The F2000 is robust and impressively stable
You have lighter needs: This power station is best for demanding applications
Final Thoughts
Many power banks are inefficient under a light load, but the F2000 was particularly disappointing, supplying less than half of its rated battery capacity. This caveat aside, however, this is a thoroughly excellent product, clearly engineered to deliver high loads over a long period without overheating or becoming unstable.
If you live in an area with frequent blackouts, or you want a simple onboard power system for a smaller boat or camper van, the SOLIX F2000 could be perfect, particularly as it’s easy to transport. However, if you can do with a less-portable system, the Dabbsson DBS2300 is a great alternative.
How we test
We test every battery station we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
We test with a variety of devices to see how long the battery will last.
We test different charging methods to see how quickly the battery can be topped up.
You might like…
FAQs
It’s officially rated at 2048 watt-hours (2.05 kilowatt hours). We got a maximum of 1.79kWh from a full charge.
How long each charge lasts depends on what you’re trying to power with it – it could be as little as an hour, or it could last several days.
The device itself feels very well built, and uses long-lasting LFP batteries. Anker says it’ll last 10 years, and it comes with a five-year warranty.
Full specs
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
