UGreen PowerRoam GS1200 Review
A compact yet high capacity power station.
Verdict
With its 1024Wh capacity more than enough for most needs, and a useful carry handle, the UGreen PowerRoam GS1200 is a great power station for a camping trip or a day away. It’s very well-priced and has some clever features, including a 0% battery mode for emergency phone top-ups and light use.
Pros
- Great value
- High power output
- Can throttle power output to prevent overload
Cons
- Not expandable
Key Features
- CapacityThis power station has a 1024Wh battery inside.
- Power outputCapable of a nominal 1200W power output, the U-Turbo mode boosts this to 2500W.
Introduction
The UGreen PowerRoam GS1200 hits the sweet spot for portable power stations: it’s just about light enough to move around quickly enough, yet its 1024Wh capacity provides enough power to deal with the typical appliances that you’ll need when camping or away from a power socket.
Some neat features, including the best-designed solar panels I’ve seen and a clever 0% battery mode, make this a valuable tool for those needing to take a sizeable amount of power with them.
Design and features
- Single carry handle on top
At 12kg, it’s hard to describe the UGreen PowerRoam GS1200 as light, but given that it includes a 1024Wh battery, it’s not too heavy. More important is how well the weight is balanced and how the unit can be carried.
Here, a single handle runs over the top of the power station. That means the weight is evenly distributed below, making this power station relatively easy to grab and move around. Indeed, I found it easier to pick up and move than the similarly-sized Ecoflow Delta 2, which has two handles: one at the front and one at the back. I found that I had to carry the Delta 2 in two hands for maximum comfort; the GS1200 I could carry in one hand.
Built into a relatively small body, the UGreen PowerRoam GS1200 still covers all the essentials. There are dual 100W USB-C outputs, which are great for taking on a modern laptop or fast-charging a new phone or tablet.
There are also two 22.5W USB-A ports for fast-charging phones. Between these four ports, most families should be sorted when on the move.
Also at the front of the power station are the 12V car output and 10V/12V DC5221 outputs, capable of 120W.
A flashlight on the front is handy for illuminating the area in front of the power station, although, given the weight of the GS1200, not so useful if you want a torch that you can carry around.
Charging inputs are provided on the left-hand side of the device, secured under a flip-up panel. There are three available inputs: an AC kettle plug for mains charging; an XT60 solar input (up to 400W); and a car input.
Dual UK AC outlets are provided on the right-hand side. As the plugs have the earth pin facing each other, it’s possible that a power adaptor could obscure the other outlet. It’s clearly a space issue, but it would be better to have the plug sockets aligned vertically.
The separate outlets have individual switches to turn them on and off. It’s well worth switching the AC outlets off when not in use, as the inverter draws power while these are on.
At the front is a large, clear LCD showing the current battery charge as a percentage, plus the input wattage (and time to charge) and output wattage (and the remaining time the battery will last for). It’s nicely laid out and makes it easy to see, at a glance, the current state.
Flick on the IOT function, and the UGreen PowerRoam GS1200 can be remote-controlled via the app using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. From the app, you can get the same input, output and charge status information as the LCD shows. And the outputs can be turned on and off.
U-Turbo can be enabled using the app, which boosts the maximum AC output from 1200W to 2500W, which will be enough for most appliances.
I love the 0% Battery mode, which can be turned on when the battery reads as flat. It lets the flashlight run for up to seven hours and turns on the USB ports for emergency phone charging. For anyone that has ever been caught short, having enough residual power left to top up a phone is a brilliant tool.
There’s no option to expand GS1200’s capacity with additional batteries, as you can with the Ecoflow Delta 2. If you think you might need more power, that’s a restriction; if you can use what you’ve got, the GS1200 is cheaper than many power stations with the same capacity.
As with most power stations, the GS1200 can be used to pass through AC power from the mains, switching to battery power should the mains power fail. With a switchover time of 20ms, this isn’t a particularly fast UPS and isn’t ideal for critical servers or anything sensitive to power fluctuations.
Charging and solar
- Charges to 80% in 50 minutes
- Up to 400W solar input
Charging via a mains cable, the UGreen PowerRoam GS1200 can reach 80% of its capacity in just 50 minutes, taking 90 minutes to reach full power. Measuring the power output from a mains socket, the UGreen PowerRoam GS1200 took 1141Wh of power to charge the 1024Wh battery: that’s 110% of the capacity for charging, which is pretty efficient.
Alternatively, the UGreen PowerRoam GS1200 can be charged with up to 400W of solar input. Solar panels can be from anywhere, connecting via the XT60 input on the side.
UGreen sells its own 200W solar panels (£339.99 each), which are brilliantly designed. They fold up and clip together, with handles for easy carrying. Unfolded, the 200W panels have kickstands at the back to keep them stood upright.
They also have a feature I’ve not seen elsewhere: a solar indicator. Line the shadow of the dot up with the centre of the circle, and you know that the panels are in the ideal location to maximise charging.
UGreen provides a splitter cable in the box so that two panels can be connected simultaneously to reach the 400W maximum input. Of course, the strength of the sun plays a part. At its best, I could get around 290W on a bright day; on a cloudy day, I was lucky if I could get 30W to 50W. Ultimately, it depends on where you’ll go and what you want the system for. If you’re often away from a power socket and travel in the brighter months of the year, then solar is a useful tool.
Performance
- Can automatically throttle power output
- Works with devices up 2500W
- High efficiency
I tested the UGreen PowerRoam GS1200 with a variety of devices, ranging from a projector to an electric heater. What’s impressive about the UGreen PowerRoam GS1200 is that when U-Turbo is turned off, the power station can throttle the power output. I plugged in a Dreo Solaris Slim H3 electric heater and put it on maximum heat mode, which exceeds the maximum output. Rather than tripping out, the GS1200 just supplied a lower amount of power.
With U-Turbo turned on, the GS1200 will trip out if the power draw exceeds the maximum, as happens with other devices.
Running the heater on its middle power mode (around 1kW of draw), I found that the UGreen PowerRoam GS1200 could deliver 0.857kWh of power, which is an 83.69% efficiency: that’s about spot on, as the system is rated at 85% efficiency when using AC (this is down to the inverter converting DC power from the battery to mains AC power).
The UGreen PowerRoam GS1200 is rated to last 3000 charge cycles until the battery has reduced to 80% of its capacity, thanks to its LiFePO4 battery technology. That means that in 3000 charges, the GS1200 will hold around 3072kWh of power.
Given the price of the power station, that works out to a storage cost per kWh of around 26p per kWh – that’s cheaper than the EcoFlow Delta 2 and the Jackery Explorer 1500 Pro. Only the Dabbson DBS2300 is considerably cheaper, as it has a longer life of 4000 charge cycles.
The UGreen PowerRoam GS1200 will continue to work past its 3000-cycle limit, just with the battery capacity diminishing. However, comparing like-for-like between different models gives a useful comparison.
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Should you buy it?
You want a lot of power and great value: 1024Wh is enough capacity for most uses, and the long number of charge cycles make this an excellent choice.
You want to expand capacity: If you want to add more batteries in the future, check out a rival system.
Final Thoughts
Balancing capacity and power output against size and weight, the UGreen PowerRoam GS1200 hits a nice point.
Well-priced and very capable, this is a great value and long-lasting power station for those that want power on the go. If you want expandable power, the EcoFlow Delta 2 could be a better choice, although the UGreen PowerRoam GS1200 is better value for those that don’t care about upgrading.
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.
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FAQs
This power station has a 1024Wh battery, which can’t be expanded.
When the battery hits zero, 0% mode can be enabled which uses reserve power to run the flashlight for up to seven hours or charge a mobile phone.
Full specs
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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.
