(Last Updated On: September 10, 2023)

If you’re considering buying a power station, you’re lucky because the market is progressing. There are many brands to choose from; power stations are transitioning to using LiFePO4 batteries, which can get many more charge cycles, better built and designed power stations, and most are getting app compatibility, too. One of the most remarkable features that a power station can have is expandable battery capacity. This lets you own a base power station, and you can expand battery power later on.

I’m reviewing the Bluetti AC60 power station and its compatible B80 expandable battery in this review. The AC60 is unique, with a great expansion option and an IP65 water resistance rating; however, let’s look closer.

What you get in the Box with the AC60 and the B80

What you get in the Box with the AC60 power station is an AC charging cable, a car charging cable, an MC4 to DC7909 solar cable, a grounding screw, a fuse, and the manual. You get the expansion cable and the manual in the Box with the B80.

Battery Capacity

The AC60 power station has a 403Wh battery capacity, and let’s be honest, this is not a high capacity at all. That is why you can expand the battery capacity if needed. What matters most to me is the capacity efficiency that a power station has; that is why I ran a DC and an AC capacity test to see how much power I could pull from the unit.

I used a load tester for my DC capacity test and ran it from the AC60’s car socket outlet from 100% to 0%. The load tester pulled about 120W, and after about 3 hours, the AC60 was fully depleted. I ended up with a 347Wh battery capacity, which gave me about 86% DC capacity efficiency, which is very good.

For the AC capacity test, I connected the Bluetti B80 extra battery to the AC60 power station; I could have run an AC capacity test from the AC60 only, but I’m going to go ahead and say that it would have been around 86% DC capacity test.

With the AC60 and the B80 combined, the total capacity reaches 1209Wh. With the AC60 and the B80 combined, I powered a mini heater until the battery capacity depleted fully from the AC60 and the B80; the heater I was powering for this AC capacity test was pulling about 500W. Ultimately, I had a 1050Wh AC capacity, which gave me about 86% battery capacity efficiency. So, I ended up within the same battery capacity efficiency as the DC capacity, and I would say the AC capacity efficiency is excellent.

So, in terms of the runtime of the AC60 power station, that will depend entirely on what you want to power from it and if you are using an expandable battery. You will have less than an hour of runtime if you’re solely using the AC60 and a 500W heater. While having one B80 extra battery connected will have a 500W heater run for about an hour and a half. Then, if you have two B80 batteries connected to the AC60 power station, that totals 2015Wh, which can make a 500W appliance last for about four hours.

So, just using the base AC60 won’t last too long on the capacity side if you’re using anything over 200W, so it’s best to stick to lower-wattage appliances if you’re using the AC60.

Also, when it comes to the LiFePO4 batteries used by the AC60 power station, you can get 4,000+ charge cycles and maintain 80%+ battery capacity efficiency.

Output Power

On the output side, the Bluetti AC60 has two AC outlets, a single USB-C port, two USB-A ports, and a cigarette lighter port.

I did not have any appliance to test with the cigarette lighter port, but the load tester that I used to run the DC capacity test was able to pull 120W, as the port is rated for 12V/10A.

The charging ports on the AC60 are good because it has a 100W Power Delivery USB-C port and two 15W USB-A ports. I pulled nearly 100W of Power Delivery from the USB-C port to recharge my Excitrus power bank. The B80 expansion battery has a car socket outlet, a 100W Power Delivery USB-C port, and a USB-A Quick Charge port.

The two AC outlets on the AC60 are rated to output 600W of Pure Sine Wave. However, this can be increased to 1200W if you use the Power Lifting feature via the Bluetti app. I could easily run a 500W mini heater via the AC60 along with the B80 connected until the two were fully depleted of capacity.

For the Power Lifting Mode, I used a larger heater that pulled about 800W when it was on its low setting, and the AC60 was able to power the heater with no problems. I could even power the heater on its high setting, which usually pulls around 1300W, and the AC60 could still power it.

Recharging the AC60

There are three options to recharge the Bluetti AC60: you can use the included AC charging cable and car charging cable, or you can opt for using a solar panel.

AC recharging will be the fastest way to recharge the power station, and you can change the recharge rate via the Bluetti app. In its Silent mode, the AC recharging has a 160W recharge rate, the standard mode recharges the unit at about 300W, and the Turbo mode recharges the power station at 600W, which can recharge the AC60 alone to full power within just an hour.

Car recharging maxes out at 100W, and the Solar recharging max speed is 200W. Also, the AC60 has a UPS feature, which worked very well when I powered a heater with the power station while AC recharging the unit. I pulled the AC cable, and the heater continued to be powered from the power station.

Size and Weight

The AC60 power station is pretty small, with a length of 11 inches, a width of 8 inches, and a height of 9 inches. The B80 has a length of 11 inches and a width and height of 8 inches. The AC60 weighs 20 pounds, and the B80 weighs 21 pounds. There are handles at the top of two units for easier portability.

The AC60 power station is as simple as any other Bluetti power station, with a screen showing the remaining battery capacity, estimated runtime, output, and input wattage. All the output ports can be found at the front. However, there is a wireless charging pad at the top. The battery expansion ports can be found on the left side of the AC60 and to the right, where you’ll find the input ports.

The AC60 is compatible with Bluetti’s app, which lets you control the power station remotely, view stats in real-time, and give you control over the Power Lifting feature.

To connect the B80 expansion battery to the Bluetti AC60, you can use the included expansion cable with the B80 battery. You connect one of the cables to the AC60 and the other end to the B80, and just like that, the two devices are connected, and you have more battery capacity available to use with your AC60 power station.

IP65 Water Resistance

One of the biggest features of the Bluetti AC60 power station is its IP65 water resistance. This means that rain and water splashes can get on the AC60, and it will not be damaged. This cannot be said about most power stations.

	Bluetti AC60 Power Station Specs
Battery Capacity	403Wh (18Ah)
Battery Type	LiFePO4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate)
Life Cycles	3,000+ Cycles to 80% Original Capacity
AC Outlets	2 × 120V/5A 600W In Total
USB-C *1	100W
USB-A *2	5V/3A (15W)
Car Socket Outlet	1 × 12V/10A (Car outlet, regulated.)
Wireless Charging Pad	15W
AC Input	600W
Car Recharging	100W
Solar Recharging	200W
Size	11.42in × 8.07in × 9.21 inches
Weight	20 Pounds

Conclusion

Overall, the AC60 power station is a neat unit with expandable battery options and can be a great portable power source outdoors due to its IP65 water resistance. The 600W max output is a little low, but it can get the job done if it fits your powering needs, and if not, you can always use the Power Lifting mode that kicks it up to 1200W.