Harbor Freight has come out with a new Predator 350 watt portable power station and two new solar panels. Let’s check them out below.
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Predator 350 Watt Power Station 294 Wh Capacity
Portable power stations are larger versions of power banks with larger capacities and more wattage and besides the usual USB ports also sport AC 120V ports to run things like appliances. How strong of an appliance depends on the stated wattage on the unit. This Predator 350 Watt Power Station features 350 watts of output (running Watts) and 700 starting watts.
Watt’s (yes, pun intended 😂) the difference between running watts and starting watts? Good question, certain appliances and power tools have a large wattage spike at the point when they turn on. That’s the starting watts. And as the continue running, the wattage dips down to their running wattage which is lower than the starting watts. Let’s say you run a fan that uses 350 watts to run but has uses 600 watts at the point of start up.
If a power station was rated for 350 watts but couldn’t handle any more, that fan would overload that power station and it would throw in the towel before it ever got started.
Portable power stations are excellent for those instances when you need power on the go like camping.
And also during emergency situations when the power gets cut off abruptly. 350 watts doesn’t sound like much but there’s a lot of stuff that isn’t power hungry that it can run such as lights, laptops, TV’s, light duty fans, and low power appliances such as CPAP machines.
This bad boy can run up to 6 devices at once with 3 USB ports (1x USB-C & 2x USB-A), a 12V DC outlet, and two 120V AC outlets featuring pure sine wave. The USB ports put out a max 12W each for the USB-A ports, and 100w for the USB-C port. With a total system 350 watts total power output.
This power station also features a nice color display to give you plenty of relevant usage info such as battery remaining, watts out, and even time left till empty.
This Predator portable power station can be charged various ways, with AC power, car 12V DC, USB-C, and solar power. This means that in addition to the regular means of grid power, you can also charge this guy off grid by using your vehicle and also solar panels on the go.
The rated capacity is 294 wh (watt hour) which is slightly higher for it’s category. There are plenty of other brand name portable power stations in this class and they are around the 300 watt output category, so it appears this Predator model has them beat. Not necessarily as other models particularly those from Anker and Ecoflow have some tricks up their sleeves. Some like the Anker Solix C300 though advertising 300 running watts have a feature called SurgePad which can allow you to run appliances up to 600 running watts.
Ecoflow has a similar feature as well and their Ecoflow River 2 doesn’t even bother bother advertising it’s base running watts and goes straight to their boosted running watts at 600, which it does using their X-Boost tech. Sure, the Predators 700 running watts might appear like a bigger number than 600 but they don’t mention if it can sustain this wattage for extended periods. The other brands do.
Another feature that might matter to some are the fact that the Anker and Ecoflow have Bluetooth connectivity with the matching cell phone app so you can check out relevant usage info on your mobile device. This Predator model doesn’t have this feature. It appears Harbor Freight was focused solely on competing with the Jackery brand of portable power stations, but to be honest, Jackery is a bit behind in features when compared to Anker and Ecoflow.
Charging Methods and Charge Speed
Charging speed is another thing to look at. The Predator model charges as fast as 2 hours with AC plus USB-C. This appears you need to use both to get this speed but they don’t elaborate. Also if you only use USB-C by itself to charge, it will take you 3.5 hours to charge the Predator and as long as 4.1 hours when using AC alone. Anker’s model charges as fast as 50 minutes to 80 % charge and the Ecoflow charges to 100% in just 1 hour. The Jackery takes 2 hours, which again the Predator copied and pasted.
Now lets move onto pricing. We know that Harbor Freight has historically been known for their much lower and much more affordable prices than the competition. Sure, you paid less but the quality was less as well. That’s changed in recent years with them improving quality greatly while still maintaining an edge when it comes to price. They advertise this Predator 350 model at $279.99 which is less than the comparable Jackery model at a list price of $299.99 (Harbor Freights words not mine at the time of writing).
However a quick search and I found the Jackery Explorer 300 model at $259 regular price and with a $90 coupon. This makes the pre coupon price of the Jackery $20 cheaper than the Predator however once you factor in the coupon, the Jackery is $110 cheaper than the Predator. Also the Anker and Ecoflow comparable models are considerably cheaper than the Predator at $239 ($299 list) and $157 ($219 list) respectively and yet are better featured although with slightly less rated Wh capacity of 288 wh and 256 wh respectively.
No doubt Harbor Freight made a solid product that I’m sure will please their regulars, however a savvy shopper that compares specs and features might find this Predator model a bit lacking in certain areas and the higher price doesn’t actually make too much cents here (pun intended). Though the price isn’t that far off and nothing a simple price drop or coupons can’t fix. I hope that Harbor Freight is quick on the drawing board designing their Gen 2 models to compete with the Anker and Ecoflow models as those in my opinion are the ones to get in this category, particularly because of their boosted watt running feature and much quicker charging and better price points.
MNFR Features List:
- 350 running watts of continuous power with 700 starting watts of AC output
- Run as many as 6 devices at once using the 2 AC outlets, 1 USB-C outlet, 2 USB-A outlets, and one 12V DC outlet
- High-efficiency maximum power point tracking (MPPT) solar controller for fast solar charging
- Battery Management System (BMS) with double-protection design prevents overheating, overcharging, and overloading
- Pass-through charging allows your devices to run while the power station is charging
- Clean, super-quiet operation with no fumes for inside or outside use
- Pure sine wave inverter power for sensitive AC electronics
- Easily connect PREDATORâ„¢ and most major brands** of solar panels with the included solar charging cable
- 5 charging methods: solar, car, AC, USB-C***, or combination of AC and USB-C
Predator 100 & 200 Watt Super Lightweight Foldable Solar Panels
Portable power stations are great options for powering your devices off grid. So solar panels make the perfect pairing so you can charge your power station on the go. Harbor Freight has already been selling solar panels however they’re pretty low power panels so it makes sense that their new Predator branded solar panels go big with two new models.
As shown in the Predator 350 power station, here is their 100 watt folding solar panel. This solar panel uses two larger panels.
And here is their 200 watt folding solar panel. This model uses 4 larger panels and both models fold up and have handles for easy transport and storage. Harbor Freight calls them super lightweight panels so shouldn’t weigh much.
The panels also feature legs in the back to help them stand up a bit so you can angle them towards the sun and also come with storage bags.
The 100 watt panel is priced nicely at $129.99 and the 200 watt panel is priced nicely at $229.99. Sure you can get similar wattage solar panels for less but from no-name brands making the Harbor Freight Predator models considerably lower priced than name brand panels of the same wattage.
Predator 100 Watt Super Lightweight Foldable Solar Panel Specs
- Super lightweight at just 10.75 lb. for easy portability
- Foldable design for convenient setup and storage in tight spaces
- Adjustable kickstand to position panel at optimal angle for maximum sunlight absorption
- Durable ETFE-laminated construction for use in rugged environments
- IP65 rated against water and dust to withstand harsh weather conditions
- 2 mounting spikes for securing the panel in windy environments
- Integrated storage pouch for cables and accessories
- Easily connect to PREDATORâ„¢ and other major brands of power stations with included MC4 and 8 mm barrel plug (7909) adapters
- Fully recharge the PREDATORâ„¢ 350 Power Station in 3 hours*, recharge the PREDATORâ„¢ 600 Power Station in 4 hours*
Predator 200 Watt Super Lightweight Foldable Solar Panel Specs
- Super-lightweight at just 18.25 lb. for easy portability
- Foldable design for convenient setup and storage in tight spaces
- Adjustable kickstand to position panel at optimal angle for maximum sunlight absorption
- Durable ETFE-laminated construction for use in harsh environments
- IP65 rated against water and dust to withstand harsh weather conditions
- 3 mounting spikes for securing panel in windy environments
- Durable carry case for easy transport and storage for cables and accessories
- Easily connect to PREDATORâ„¢ and other major brands of power stations with included MC4 and 8 mm barrel plug (7909) adapters
- Fully recharge the PREDATORâ„¢ 350 Power Station in 3 hours*, recharge the PREDATORâ„¢ 1200 Power Station in 6 hours*
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