TogoPower Advance 650 Portable Power Station
Pros
- 500W max output that can power a variety of appliances through its two AC outlets and DC ports, the USB-A ports and USB-C PD port can also be useful for charging multiple devices
- Small size and easy to use with the presses of a buttons and a digital screen that shows battery/wattage status, as well as time remaining for the battery and recharge time
- Comes with an AC charger, car charger and a MC4 cable to recharge this power station via solar panel
Use coupon code TOGO650 at TogoPower.com for $30 Off
Portable power stations are at a great point because there is lots of competition in the space of portable power, which has caused many brands to improve their products. A few years ago, there were not nearly as many power stations. The available ones were too large and heavy for what they were offering; the available selection in terms of capacity and power output was minimal. Now though, the choice of power stations is broad, and you get to choose based on your needs, which saves you money and easier portability if you don’t need a power station with tons of power and need a mid-range one.
In this review, we’re taking a look at this TogoPower Advance 650 portable power station that offers a significant amount of power and portability and many ways to use it. TogoPower is one brand that is a great example of just how easy it is to choose from a selection of power stations to get what you need most.
Power
Power Capacity:
This TogoPower power station has a 634Wh power capacity, which is 171,351mAh in case that’s easier to understand just how much power you’re able to use. With its capacity, you can charge most phones to full power more than 30 times, and tablets and laptops can charge about 15 times. No matter what you’re charging, you can depend on this power station for days or even weeks if you’re not charging too much from it.
When it power appliances, it’s less about the power capacity of this TogoPower power station and more about the wattage of the appliance you’re using. If you’re looking to power low-wattage appliances in the 50W to 300w range, you can expect a few hours of usage from this power station. When it comes to powering a TV that takes 75W, you can expect to use the power station for 8 hours. Powering an electric duster that took 565W to run will have the power capacity last for about an hour or less. On the mid-range side, with powering a crockpot with a 270W power usage, you can expect a 2-hour runtime.
So when it comes to how long you can use the power station, it’s dependent on how much power you’re using, with more power usage meaning less time using the power station. We think this TogoPower’s 634Wh power capacity is plenty for what you’re paying for as it has the ports and the outlets for flexible usage.
Output Charging:
Using the TogoPower Advance 650 portable power station is incredible, and it stays that way as long as you know what it can and can’t power. This is not the most potent power station from TogoPower, but you can still utilize its features and power for many needs. At the front, you’ll find three sections; one section features two DC ports and one car port, the next has three USB-A ports and one USB-C Power Delivery port, and the final section has the two AC outlets.
Charging Ports
There are three USB-A ports and one USB-C Power Delivery port. Each USB-A port has a “QC 3.0” above them to signify that they feature Quick Charge, with the ports outputting 15W each. So the ports feature charging power lower than Quick Charge; otherwise, they would have an 18W output. We tested the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, LG G7, and a Galaxy A51; all these phones are Quick Charge compatible, and none of them could fast charge from the USB-A Quick Charge ports. 15W is still “fast” in standard charging terms, but it doesn’t quite hit that fast charging on phones.
The better news about the USB-A ports is that they all share a 54W max output so that you can use all the USB-A ports at their full power simultaneously.
The USB-C port is the most impressive because it has a 60W Power Delivery output that can fast charge most phones and tablets. The 60W PD output can also be used to charge most USB-C chargeable laptops, such as how we used the USB-C port to charge a Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 at its max charging speed. The original 65W charger with the Lenovo laptop gets the same charge rate as we did with this TogoPower 650 power station, which was 40W.
The selection of charging ports is good on this power station, but we had hoped for the USB-A ports to deliver 18W rather than 15W. The 60W USB-C port is excellent because it eliminates the need to use a wall charger with one of the outlets and frees them for other uses.
We were able to charge a Lenovo laptop while also charging three phones simultaneously.
DC Ports and 12V Car Port
The section that will likely be the least used on this power station and is the case with most other power stations is the DC port section.
Two 12V/10A DC ports can be used to power appliances or to charge devices such as DC chargeable laptops, provided that you have the compatible DC charging cable to use with this power station.
The 12V/10A car outlet may be more beneficial and accessible depending on what devices you own, and in our case, we’re able to use a tire pump with the car port. This adds another helpful facet to this power station, being able to refill your car tires with air if you’re stranded.
Two AC Outlets
As a whole, this TogoPower 650 power station has a 500W max output and a 1000 Peak output that, once it reaches, will automatically turn off after a few seconds. We’re making this clear because it’s unlikely you’ll reach the 500W max output using the DC or charging ports. When it comes to using the AC outlets, though, this is where you’ll be using most of the power.
With the 500W ceiling, you are limited in the appliances you can power with this power station, but you have to know what you want to power if you are going with this one. Also, your choices of appliances that you want to power aren’t too limited.
We used this TogoPower Advance 650 to power an electric duster, a Samsung TV, two different stand mixers, a crockpot, and an electric insect zapper.
One of the stand mixers was a KitchenAid one, and another was from the brand called Acekool. The KitchenAid stand mixer used about 130W of power at the highest setting and would offer 4 hours of usage. The Acekool stand mixer used about 250W, and the power station could power it for 2 hours.
The Samsung 32″ TV that we powered has a 75W power usage that this power station could run for 8 hours.
Suppose you want to serve food outside and prevent insects from directly going towards your food. In that case, you could power an electric insect zapper and a crockpot simultaneously from this power station. That’s what we did; with the crockpot being set too high, it used about 270W, and the insect zapper used about 10W, which made the power station use a total of 280W and could run for 2 hours.
The most powerful appliance that we used with this TogoPower Advnaace 650 was an electric duster that used up to 565W and could be powered for 1 hour. Powering the electric duster showed just how impressive this TogoPower portable power station is because it powered it beyond its standard 500W output. However, TogoPower stresses that you should not go above its 500W max output and there is overload protection that will automatically turn off the unit after a few seconds.
This TogoPower Advance 650 is the definition of a mid-tier power station. You can still power many appliances with it but can’t go all out with powering high-wattage ones such as full-sized blenders, microwaves, or power tools. However, you can power a mini blender that uses 500W. You are getting flexible and wide-range usage from this power station as long as you know what you want to power, and the plus side is that you have two outlets to use.
Input Charging:
Recharging this power station can be done in three ways you can use AC charging, car charging, or solar charging. The box includes an AC charger, a car charger, and an MC4 cable connector that you can use with a solar panel. Solar panels from TogoPower are sold separately.
We tested all the recharging methods in our case, with the AC charger being the fastest way to recharge this power station at 100W. However, we think the AC recharging should be much faster than 100W as the power capacity is too high for such a slow recharge rate. The car charger recharged the power station at 50W.
Design
Size and Weight:
This is not a large power station, but it does have a bit of hefty weight. This TogoPower Advance 650 has a length of 11.4 inches, a width of 7.9 inches, and a 7.8 inch heigh; it weighs 15 pounds.
It’s not a large power station and can quickly be taken on a road trip, to the beach, camping, hiking, fishing, and any other places you may want to travel in your car; it won’t take up much space. The 15-pound weight isn’t heavy, but it’s heavier than lower capacity power stations, and it’s nowhere near as heavy as high capacity power stations where you’d have to brace yourself to lift them.
You can hold this power station for quite some time without getting tired, and the large handle at the top helps with the ease of portability. Its weight also makes it easy to place the power station from one spot to another without hassle.
Functional Components:
Using this power station is easy, and TogoPower has excellent design skills. First, to the side of the power station is where you’ll find an LED flashlight, and there’s another LED flashlight on the handle; the power button for the flashlights can be found on the handle. Press the power button once to turn on the side flashlight, hold it down to activate SOS mode, or press the button again to turn on the handle flashlight. The design of having a flashlight built into the handle isn’t something that we’ve seen before, and in this case, it can be beneficial for specific needs.
Also, at the top is where you can find the wireless charging pad. Once the power station is on, you can place any wireless charging compatible phone on top, and it will charge.
The rest of the functional parts of this power station are at the front. At the front is where you’ll find the digital screen, charging ports, DC ports, outlets, and the power button.
To must turn on the power station via the red power button at the front, and that turns on the LED screen that shows the remaining power capacity, and shows the wattage input/output, as well as the time you have left to use the power station or time until it’s done recharging.
Once the power station is on, you can then press the power button of any of the sections on the power station, including the DC, USB, and AC sections. Once you press the power button on a section, the button light turns green to indicate that it’s powered and ready to use. To turn off a section, press the button again.
Build
Structure and Material:
The Advance 650 power station is well built with a strong structure. It’s primarily made of plastic with a few rubber parts, but other than that, there’s nothing to provide substantial shockproofing. This power station can withstand bumps and hits while traveling within your car, but we recommend being careful about dropping it from a high height as it can be damaged from that.
There is slight water resistance because all the ports have a rubber covering that can prevent water from entering them; water resistance only works if you’re not using the ports. Overall though, we recommend keeping this power station away from water.
Tech:
This power station has internal fans that turn on over a certain wattage amount to keep the unit cool and take care of the heat generated. Also, once you go over the maximum 500W output for some time, it automatically turn off.
Reliability
With this being a mid-range power station, you’re going to be getting mid-range to high reliability because you should already know what you’re going to power with it before getting it.
It can power smaller appliances within the 500W range, covering more appliances than you think, such as mini-fridges, TVs, mini blenders, crockpots, stand mixers, and other devices. To make this power station even more reliable, it has three USB-A ports and one 60W USB-C Power Delivery port that can be used to charge most USB-C laptops. You likely won’t use the DC ports very much, but they’re there if needed. However, we did find a use for the car port with a tire air compressor pump.
The box includes the AC charger, car charger, and an MC4 solar charging cable, so you’re already getting two ways to recharge the power station. You can’t recharge it via solar unless you have a solar panel and that’s not included in the box.
Summary:
Power:
Charging power is plentiful when it comes to power stations, and that is no different here, with this Advance 650 being able to charge phones, tablets, and laptops numerous times. If all you’re doing is charging, this power station can last weeks.
Powering appliances within the 500W range gives many options for utilizing the power station. You are not getting the same more comprehensive range of options for higher capacity and more robust power stations, but 500W is enough for many appliances as long as you know what you want to power with it.
Design:
It’s small for a power station and has a 15-pound weight that is manageable to carry and move around quickly when needed. It’s easy to use with controls being at the front with the main power button giving access to section power buttons to operate the power station. The LED screen provides helpful info such as remaining power capacity, wattage output/input, and the remaining time for power usage and recharging time.
Build:
This power station has a strong build that can withstand bump and hits, and it can fall over, but it doesn’t have so much protection as being dropped onto the hard ground from a high height. So it’s not very shockproof. It’s slightly water-resistant within covers for the ports when you’re not using them, but we highly advise keeping this power station away from water, as it still has vents for the internal fans to push air out from.
Reliability:
The reliability of this TogoPower portable power station depends on whether you find its power capacity and 500W max output enough. So please look at what you wish to power with it and decide. In our case, we were able to power many appliances flawlessly. We found that this 500W can power many devices, although not very powerful, such as power tools or microwaves.
| TogoPower Advance 650 Portable Power Station Specs | |
|---|---|
| Power Capacity | 634Wh / 171,351mAh |
| Lifecycle | ≥500 cycles to 85% |
| 2 AC Outlets | 120V, 60Hz, 500W (1000W peak) |
| 1 USB-C Power Delivery Port | 5V/9V/12V/15V/20V|3.0A (60W) |
| USB-A Ports | 5V/9V/12V|3A (54W Max) |
| 12V Car Port | 12V/10A |
| DC Ports | 12V/10A |
| Size | L11.42 x W7.91 x H7.87 inches |
| Weight | 14.9 pounds |
Conclusion:
This TogoPower Advance 650 is a balanced power station that can keep your devices charged for days and power most appliances for many hours. The 634Wh power capacity can keep phones charged for weeks, and the same can be said about tablets or laptops, depending on how much you’re charging them. Its 500W max output can power a relatively wide range of appliances, but we recommend checking what appliances you want to power first before choosing the Advance 650; that said, we were impressed with what we were able to power.
The Advance 650 is the complete package for being a mid-range portable power source.
Since 2016, Usman has flourished as an independent tech journalist, reveling in the evaluation of diverse tech gadgets, with a particular fondness for charging technology to ascertain product performance. Besides his journalistic endeavors, he helms the Charger Harbor YouTube channel, where he extends his tech insights to a broader audience.