An unexpected review of the EcoFlow Delta 3 Plus

If you haven’t noticed, the team at Unsealed4X4 has been busy reviewing the latest range of portable power solutions to hit the market recently. The plan is usually to load up the 4X4 full of fun new adventure gear we are lucky enough to get to review, and hit the road to “work” from a beautiful campsite by a river somewhere… and then sometimes the universe has different plans.

Last week, our house woke up to no power shortly before 7.00 am for a planned outage that i had forgotten about. After the usual morning scramble to get the kids out of the door and onto the bus, I started deliberating between having a cold shower and heading into the office or tethering my laptop to my phone until the power came back on. 

It was then that I remembered we had just installed the new ‘Delta 3 Plus Portable Power Station’ by EcoFlow into RV Daily’s – Are you rvSafe Amarok, and this was a perfect opportunity to review it. Truth be told, it was the perfect way to prove that a lot of the gear we adventurers have in the shed – can actually come in handy in home situations as well.

The EcoFlow Delta 3 Plus + 800w Alternator charger install

We installed the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus and the 800W Alternator Charger into our 2024 Volkswagen V6 Amarok Style. The alternator charger sits neatly under the rear seat, with wiring routed under the carpet for an easy set-up. We won’t cover the install process here as it will vary from vehicle to vehicle. However, if you want guidance, EcoFlow already has a few video walkthroughs worth checking out.

The EcoFlow Delta 3 Plus review begins

Okay, so this wasn’t the glamorous field test or product review we’d planned, but it turned into something even better, a genuine somewhat emergency-use scenario and an excuse to buy camping gear that doubles as home backup, just in case you needed one.

What we powered (In order of use)

Coffee machine

Peak Draw: 943W

The real MVP of the day. No coffee, no article.

Rinnai instant gas hot water system

Peak draw: 26W

We only needed the spark to start our instant hot water system, and it worked perfectly for the duration of the shower with no ongoing power usage. Not even a dent was made in the EcoFlow Delta 3 Plus for this part.

Hair dryer and straightener

Peak draw: 1184W

This one tested the upper limits of the unit, but it handled it without issue. Thankfully, it was a quick touch-up and not a full wet-hair blow dry, as I wouldn’t say it’s exactly designed for this purpose. That said, my wife was happy as she got to head into the office with no interruptions, so that was a win.

LED lamp

Peak draw: 5W

Used during the hair session for better lighting; however, this was a bedside lamp, so very low power and warm lighting. Perfect for a tent!

NBN modem and Netgear Orbi wifi router

Powered up fine, and fun fact, it turns out that when the electricity grid’s down, it seems the NBN is too. I didn’t think our exchange was close enough to be affected, but it was still interesting to test. Much like the hot water system, you don’t think about how these things work until you need to.

iPhone (Quad Lock stand)

This worked with no issues and the phone was charging fine.

MacBook Pro and Dell monitor (USB-C powered)

Worked flawlessly. The laptop charged to 100% via the monitor’s USB-C cable and the dual monitor worked as if it was plugged into mains power, sipping power as if it were free. I used this time for the regular Zoom calls, emails, and taking notes for this product test.

Peak draw (of work station items): 179W

EcoFlow App

I checked out the iOS version of the EcoFlow app during the test. It gave a clean, live readout of draw by outlet, time remaining at current usage, and battery level. It’s intuitive and makes monitoring power usage simple, but I didn’t spend too much time diving into the data at this point.

This test was more about reviewing the EcoFlow Delta 3 Plus in a real-world setting. I can say the download, install and connection to the Delta 3 Plus was a cinch and I highly recommend installing the app, which is available to both iOS and Android users.

Power consumption across the morning

• Starting charge: 53% (we were unprepared)
• End of power outage: 21%
• Power restored early: 12.12 pm (was meant to be 4.00 pm)
• Total runtime off-grid: about five hours

The EcoFlow Delta 3 Plus had no trouble keeping up. It ran every appliance we needed and gave us confidence we could stay productive and comfortable during an outage. I must say the only feeling of disappointment was when the power came back on early and cut my test short, but if the power had stayed off longer, we’d still have had enough juice left in the tank to finish out the day at this point of the test.

Charging on the Road

Expecting the power to be off for longer, and unsure how much juice I’d have left by lunch, I had already sent out a WhatsApp message to the local soccer Dads I knew would be keen to escape the blackout as well, plus I would get the chance to test charging up the Delta 3 Plus and brag about how lucky I was to keep working uninterrupted.

• Left home: on 21% charge
• Arrived at lunch: (4.6 km, 10 mins) on 38% charge
• Left lunch: on 69% charge
• Arrived home: on 83% charge

To my delight, the EcoFlow Delta 3 Plus kept charging while parked with the engine off, a function I hadn’t thought about before this test. The app showed 576w charging power and I had zero anxiety about this killing the battery thanks to our Invicta Hybrid Lithium Starter, which always keeps a reserve to guarantee the vehicle will start.

That said, the Delta 3 Plus can also run power back to the vehicle battery, effectively giving you a dual battery system with portability in any case. That’s obviously a big deal if you’re running power-hungry gear while parked.

Realistically, this means you can recharge your EcoFlow Delta 3 while driving, camping, or pulled over for a break. Simply add some solar into the equation and I would say you are rarely going to worry about power.

So, whats the verdict you ask?

Final thoughts

This wasn’t the field test we planned, but it was the one that mattered. The Delta 3 Plus with 800w Alternator charger handled a real-world situation without any fuss and provided a modern solution. 

We’ll still get it out into the wild soon and put it through its paces in proper off-grid conditions. But after this blackout test, it’s already earned its place in our setup.

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