I hope that it does! I’m certainly not saying that it’s better than Allpowers (I haven’t done enough research to be able to make such a statement), but VTOMAN is more or less competing in the same price segment as Allpowers, so it might be worth looking in to them.
The fact that VTOMAN has extra/seperate battery packs for their existing power stations, doesn’t mean that you have to also buy those, but I like the idea that when you find out that the current capacity of your power station turns out to be insufficient, you’re able to expand it (and keep using the system you already have), instead of having to buy another/different bigger capacity power station. And if you end up with a power station + extra (capacity) battery pack, you always have the choice to only take the (more compact) power station with you in case you know that it has enough capacity, but when you know you need more capacity, you can also bring the extra battery pack. If you would have 1 (very) big power station, you would have to haul that around, even when you don’t need all that capacity.
By the way: Ecoflow offers the same kind of options/system, so that is also a plus for them. (There are also a lot of brands that don’t offer this ‘option’/system.) Again, you don’t have to an extra battery pack from the start, but to me the idea of having the option of extending the system you’ve already invested in, in case it turns out you do need more capacity, feels like a good idea.
While I’m talking about Ecoflow anyway; Ecoflow is a more established/wellknown (and premium, in a good way) brand. From what I’ve heard/read over the years it seems that they make really solid and well functioning products. I’ve got no personal experience with it, but the impression I get is really good.
The reason I personally would prefer an LiFePO4/LFP system over a ‘regular’ Li-ion power station (based on 18650 batteries for example), is that they are more suited for (fully charged) longer term storage (with little self-discharge), also a bit more resistant to lower/cold temperature and they can handle way more charge/discharge cycles before they reach the ‘80% (of original) capacity’; so if you use them quite often, they should hold their capacity longer than ‘regular Li-ion’. Besides that, they are (way) safer/less likely to cause potential problems (explosion/fire, for example) than regular Li-ion based battery packs/power stations. The only downside of power stations with LiFePO4 batteries, is that they have lower energy density than Li-ion batteries (so a bit more weight than a Li-ion power station with the same Wh capacity) and normally also a bit more expensive ‘per Wh’ than Li-ion power stations. (LiMnFePO4/LMFP batteries partially solve those ‘downsides’ of the current LFP batteries, but are not widely used yet.)
But as others have stated, and @Mandrake50 mentioned in more detail, make a lot of calculations of what you actually want to power with a power station and for how long, but also how many appliances/devices. It might turn out that you already quickly drain your power station.
Personally, the reason I’ve bought the Allpowers R600 (299Wh) power station, is that it was cheap enough (on sale) at that moment and therefore worth it for taking a (entry level) look if it was something I would like/can use and maybe later on decide to invest more in a proper/bigger power station/back up system, with the current smaller system still being a useful “power bank” for USB devices, etc.
On a side note: currently there are some sales on Aliexpress for the Tallpower V2400 power station (2160wh, LiFePO4 batteries), which is the lowest priced 2000+wh power station I’ve seen on Aliexpress over at least the past 6 months. Besides the fact that I haven’t checked reviews/experiences about it, those really low offers (around € 475,-, possible coupons not included), they are shipped from EU warehouses, so (probably) don’t apply for outside the EU. But if you would be willing to buy from Aliexpress, it might be worth looking/searching if they also have similar offers on that power station for your region. Potentially an attractively priced (entry level) 2000+wh option.
