(NEW) BALDR Portable Power Station 330W | 288Wh

This is the second time I had to update my review in just a few weeks. I keep discovering the things I originally complained about were my own fault. I changed the rating to 5 stars because all the features work as advertised and it's a nice package for the price. I'll go ahead and mention I'm pretty new to solar 'generators' and my first one was a Jackery 240 which spoiled me a little and some of my misunderstanding of the Baldr 330 is because I assumed it would behave similarly, but there is an important difference. Like the Jackery, the Baldr has little buttons to turn on which plugs you want to use (12v, USBs, AC), but unlike the Jackery the Baldr has a master power button that is clearly marked as such. It took me a while to catch on to how important it is to always turn off the main power if not in use. I thought the battery was consistently losing its charge to the tune of about 6% each day when unused -- and more importantly I thought it was turned off because I knew I'd hit the power button -- but turns out plugging in the solar panel to top it off turns it on again. So each day of non-use, I was begrudgingly topping off what it lost from the previous day and returning it to storage only to find the same problem the next day. Even if you just turned the power button off a second ago, and wait several seconds for an audible beep, if you plug it into a power source it comes right back on. I thought it was just the display waking up, like the Jackery, but it's the main power. Now that I'm constantly aware of this, it's holding its charge perfectly. If I store it at 100% and make sure it's completely off, it stays at 100% until I need it! Another thing I'd complained about was the USB-C port seemed to stop working and this was one of the main selling points for me over its Jackery equivalent... but again, there was no fault with the unit, only with my understanding. I was trying to charge my macbook which I read somewhere it can't do, but my laptop at rest tends to pull 16w which this USB-C port is rated for, if I understood correctly. When in use, my laptop pulls 45w but I wasn't trying to use it on the Baldr, just recharge it at rest. The thing that really threw me off is that it worked a few times at first! The laptop made the "charging" sound when I plugged it into the USB-C. But after a couple of initial successes, it no longer showed any signs of being plugged in and the Baldr screen showed no outgoing power. Using the AC adapter/port worked fine, but I really didn't want that clunky adapter occupying the only AC plug on the unit. So I found a work around. I'm now using high-capacity portable battery packs that I plug into the USB plugs on the Baldr while the Baldr is charging on the solar panel. In theory my solar panel has USB ports and should be able to charge the portable battery packs directly but it seems to take longer that way; I'm not sure why. So I let the Baldr charge the extra battery packs while it's recharging on solar. Seems to work fine; I can get everything topped off again on a good sunny day. A third thing I'd complained about was the wireless charging didn't seem to work unless it's directly connected to power, but I discovered it's the case on my phone causing that problem. It seems the case is causing just enough resistance that it doesn't get the power unless there's an incoming stream. I finally noticed this because I my regular wall charger (plugged into a wall outlet) that acts up sometimes and I have to move the phone around to just the right position for it to pick up power. It dawned on me it wasn't both chargers having problems, it's my phone case. With all that cleared up, here are my original pros and cons lists, but with the cons corrected. What I like about this unit: + size and weight are better than expected. It has a sturdy feel without being heavy or bulky. The handle has a rubber grip on it which makes it extremely comfortable to carry. + charges easily from my solar panel; speed of charge varies depending on weather, obviously, but the recharge time seems about the same as my Jackery 240. (I haven't actually measured, though.) + display screen is good. It shows the battery percentage, the incoming power, and outgoing load. There's nothing more I would ask for on the display. + USB-C port is handy; it eliminates need for extra adapters + the light bar has come in far handier than I expected. I use it more than I thought I would. What disappoints: - fan kicks on more often than I expected (i.e. more often than my Jackery 240). It startled me the first few times because I thought it was overheating, but now I've just accepted the fan runs a lot. - the display screen doesn't go to sleep; it just stays on until you turn off the main power button. Sometimes the first click isn't enough and I have to try again. It makes an audible beep several seconds after turning it off... I'm not sure why the delay. - charging the unit turns the display screen back on whether you want it or not, and because it doesn't go to sleep, it will keep draining some of the power until you manually turn it off again. Conclusion: Baldr 330 has a great set of features for its price and performs mostly as expected. I wish the display screen functioned better, but I have no regrets about the purchase and might consider buying another in the future. It's probably a great entry point for getting into solar/off-grid power.