Product: Kennwood LiFePO4 Portable Power Stations
Model:
Condition: New
Kenwood Portable Power Station
Low maintenance with Automatic Power Supply System keeps the battery near full charge without constant plugging and unplugging, ensuring it’s always ready for use
Battery Management System provides first-class safety with advanced protection, enhancing battery efficiency and lifespan
Simple and fast charging allows hassle-free and efficient power replenishment for uninterrupted use
Convenient 4 types of outputs offer versatile compatibility for various devices and appliances
Foldable handle creates a small footprint for compact storage and easy portability, perfect for travel
High-contrast bright LCD ensures clear and easy-to-read display for real-time power monitoring
Toggleable LED light provides built-in illumination for added convenience in low-light situations
Instant power backup during blackouts automatically switches power supply to connected essential appliances for seamless operation
Compact and travel-friendly design with an AC adapter-less charging cable enhances portability for easy use on the go
You need to add realistic photos… Maybe a photo of my wife’s face when another “ meh” box shows up at our front door, inching her closer to filing for divorce papers. She told me to ask if you guys would sell a damn dishwasher tomorrow…. We actually need one of those.
I’m not sure how they’ll service the unit if it fails under warranty. When my JVC earbuds that I bought from meh failed, the made me send them in at my cost to their service center, then told me after they received them that they won’t repair them and will reimburse me the purchase price. Meh. So I was out the shipping cost… which if it is the case for these power stations, would be astronomical.
@AaronLeeJohnson Do you mean one of these models, or some other generic battery/inverter box? There have been so many of varying quality (I already have too many but considering this one).
Also yes Apple devices can tend to go to NotCharging mode if there is anything they don’t like about the cord or the source.
Just today my power utility cut power to quite a large area for much of the afternoon and later sent a very vague excuse out.
As a result of impacts to the energy delivery system, we were required to implement emergency grid protection outages in your area to prevent potentially catastrophic damage to the electric grid. Please know our team is working to address this issue as quickly as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause our customers and appreciate your patience.
We didn’t have storms at the time, though there was some serious weather up in Arkansas.
This kind of thing normally doesn’t happen here, and where it does happen, I believe it’s usually when it’s very hot and the grid is overloaded. But maybe I’m wrong on that.
All that’s to say that so far, today is the best chance you’ve had to get me to drop a few hundred bucks on a big battery pack. I’ll consider it, Meh.
@EvilSmoo There’s a 100% chance these units are rebadged, regardless of actual quality. This isn’t something the real Kenwood would make. (Are they still around in their original incarnation?)
@troy I suppose I should have said there is a 100% chance this device is not actually manufactured by the company originally known as Kenwood-Trio, in a similar way that Alien Shield is not actually manufactured by Bell+Howell.
(Rebadged in the sense that the Kenwood name has been applied to a product manufactured by another company, not necessarily that there is another identical device with another name on it.)
@EvilSmoo@PooltoyWolf These power stations are at this page on Kenwood’s website. Kenwood is part of JVCKENWOOD Corp. which is headquartered in Yokohama, Japan. The have a USA subsidiary in Long Beach, Calif. They’ve always, to my knowledge, been a Japanese company and have had an excellent reputation for good products. That being said, I too don’t know if these power stations are a rebrand, but based on the professionalism shown on their website, it seems to me like they aren’t. (Yeah, they have some English grammar errors, but that’s nothing new for them.)
I would have liked to have seen more than one review (on Crutchfield). I couldn’t find review articles at all. I did find that these power stations were announced in February 2024. It is a bit concerning that only a year later the only major retailer selling them that I could find is Walmart and they note that these are “sold and shipped by Mercatalyst.” It all comes back to Meh! Nevertheless, based on knowing the brand for about fifty years through my ham radio hobby and owning some of their equipment over the years, I think I’m going to take the risk and get one.
@EvilSmoo@ItalianScallion That last bit is just what I’m getting at. This power station is most probably a fine product, but I would be floored if it’s manufactured by the same folks who built your ham gear and my KR-830 receiver.
@EvilSmoo@ItalianScallion@PooltoyWolf Kenwood found out pretty quickly that these weren’t going to sell as well as they intended, but there is nothing wrong with them. We bought the entire remaining stock directly from Kenwood – because these hadn’t made their way too deep in distribution channels, that left us to be the only current seller (except for the solar panel on Amazon, which is linked in the Price Comparison).
@EvilSmoo@PooltoyWolf Hey, thanks @troy, for the explanation. I get the not selling as well as they intended thing. There’s quite a bit of competition out there from brands that have a good reputation in that market. Just ordered one and am pairing it with the 200w Duracell solar panel. (Thanks for the link to the adapter cord!) Now I’ll have a great portable ham radio setup for power. Great price, by the way!
@troy I suppose I’m jaded in 2025, and just expected the Kenwood name to exist only as some inferior company’s IP like most of the other names of quality gear mfrs of the 20th century. Thanks for the clarification!
@djslack@troy Yeah, Kenwood is alive and well, making lots of communications equipment for both the commercial and amateur radio market, and car audio stuff.
How many hours of 100W solar power does it take to refill 806 watt-hour batteries?
At full sun and no losses, a smidge over 8 hours (806watt-hrs/100watts). You’ll need an unobstructed view of the sun and someone to adjust the panel every 20-30 minutes.
But there are losses and you won’t adjust it that often and you may not have full sun.
So assuming you adjust it for morning, afternoon and evening sun, probably most of a clear summer day, an entire spring/fall day, and 2-3 winter/rainy days. If you don’t adjust it at all, it might fully recharge on a clear summer day, probably needs more than a day of spring/fall, and several days of winter/rain
Just throwing it out there…
Wouldn’t it be cool to have a random Meh-rathon with absolutely NO ADVANCE NOTICE! With spontaneous IRK’s throughout the day!
@ArmchairGamer@ItalianScallion
Could you please provide a direct link to those?
I wasn’t able to find them by any search term I tried there.
Thank you in advance!
@dpease The answer seems to be “yes, but…” If you do a search for “how to use a portable power station as a ups” you’ll get a lot of links to answer the question. I found a couple of pages that I thought were especially useful here and here.
@dpease For things that don’t need absolutely uninterrupted power (like non-laptop computers)? No- there’s usually a short (very short by human terms, but too long by electronics terms) delay before they switch to battery power from line power so it would mean the device would lose power and (depending on how it works/how long the delay) shut down.
Now, for things that don’t need functionally uninterrupted power- like a refrigerator, sump pump, lights, etc? It will work just fine. We have a ‘solar generator’ hooked up such that it works in effect as a UPS for our sump pump- if the power goes out there will be a split-second delay before it will run off the battery, but it won’t really matter since it will still be providing power to the sump pump when it needs it (and as long as the battery lasts).
@dpease@PhysAssist, for me having a 200W panel is worth the extra cost (and size/weight) of the panel itself over either of the 100W panels, plus the cost of the adapter cable. At least the 200W panel doesn’t cost twice as much as the 100W panel!
@PhysAssist regarding the solar panels. Yes, the 200 watt panels will recharge the battery unit at nearly twice the speed of the 100 watt ones. (about 240w compared to 129w in best conditions). As the battery nears full capacity, you’ll lose the speed advantage, but the benefit of the LiFePO4 battery is this is a shorter period of time than the old technology.
The 700w battery unit looks like it max’s out at 200w of what’s sold as 12 volt solar panels. So while you could not likely put two 100 watt panels in series, you could probably hook up two 100 watt panels in parallel. (due to max voltage input limit on the battery device) So, IMHO, yes it’s worth the extra $45 to double the size of your panels.
@Ashyukun@dpease
Very nice analysis and exactly the use for which I was considering buying one.
As well as for providing [relatively] uninterrupted power for our internet and telephone modems and router- they can just reboot after a blip and we’ll be fine.
@dpease@PhysAssist Glad it was helpful! We got ours (a much larger one than this, since the sump draws a LOT of power) after our basement flooded when a storm knocked out the power during a massive storm while we were away from the house. A large battery pack/solar generator was the most cost-effective way to keep the sump working even if we lost power when away- we have a gas generator, but it a) only does any good if we’re there to start it and hook things up to it and b) can only be used during the day since it’s both unsafe and illegal where we are to run the generator overnight.
@Ashyukun@dpease@PhysAssist I’m curious about why it would be unsafe to run a generator overnight if the generator is sufficiently far away from house and you have carbon monoxide detectors in the house (which are probably required anyway), and why it would be illegal (noise, maybe?).
@txusa03 The Duracell solar panels are on Sidedeal here. Both the 100W and 200W ones looks like they’re available. The Kenwood solar panels on Meh seem to be available only if you also buy a Kenwood power station.
@BelleGunness@txusa03 What options are you referring to? I’m wondering if the options might be well worth it considering that competing power stations from Jackery, Bluetti, and Ecoflow are much more expensive even the ones with less capacity.
@txusa03 I ordered one, so I looked for that info too. I couldn’t find the country of manufacture on Kenwood’s webpage for these power stations, or in Kenwood’s online manuals, or in the product page on Crutchfield’s website (the only place, it seems, that was selling them before Meh bought the remaining stock), or in the PDF manual Crutchfield has on the product page. The only hint I can offer is that Kenwood, actually JVCKENWOOD, is a Japanese company.
Specs
Product: Kennwood LiFePO4 Portable Power Stations
Model:
Condition: New
Kenwood Portable Power Station
Kenwood 100W Portable Solar Panel
Kenwood 700 Watt Portable Power Station
Kenwood 600 Watt Portable Power Station
Kenwood 100 Watt Portable Solar Panel
What’s Included?
OR
OR
OR
Warranty
3-Year Kenwood
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Apr 14 - Tuesday, Apr 15
Those po batteries. Just sitting around waiting to be used.
@yakkoTDI i don’t need this, because i already have a Po Life.
@phendrick @yakkoTDI Went to a place that had Po Boy sandwiches, but they were pretty expensive.
@pmarin @yakkoTDI Poor boys are the customers after ordering.
https://randazzokingcake.com/blog/the-history-of-new-orleans-favorite-sandwich-the-poboy
You need to add realistic photos… Maybe a photo of my wife’s face when another “ meh” box shows up at our front door, inching her closer to filing for divorce papers. She told me to ask if you guys would sell a damn dishwasher tomorrow…. We actually need one of those.
@Num1Zero
Prolly gonna be seeing that face at our domicile soon as well…
You shouldn’t put this where the sun don’t shine.
@phendrick How do I use it at night?
@phendrick @yakkoTDI So, not safe in a basement, a room without windows, a coffin, or a tornado shelter?
@werehatrack @yakkoTDI See “cow” for similarity.
Except my BlendTec draws over 1000 watts. Neither of these are rated for that load.
@ciabelle don’t breathe in that dust
@ciabelle @dwightk Will this power bank blend?
User Manual for the 700W model: https://manual2.jvckenwood.com/portable-power/manual/bn-rk800/en/#
I’m not sure how they’ll service the unit if it fails under warranty. When my JVC earbuds that I bought from meh failed, the made me send them in at my cost to their service center, then told me after they received them that they won’t repair them and will reimburse me the purchase price. Meh. So I was out the shipping cost… which if it is the case for these power stations, would be astronomical.
I one time plugged an Iphone into one of these chargers, and it flipped out, didn’t want to charge it at all.
@AaronLeeJohnson Do you mean one of these models, or some other generic battery/inverter box? There have been so many of varying quality (I already have too many but considering this one).
Also yes Apple devices can tend to go to Not Charging mode if there is anything they don’t like about the cord or the source.
Hi, your link to crutchfield says it’s for an 806 watt, 700 Wh; the listing says 700 W, 806 Wh. Can you please clarify?
@Superllama7 Per Kenwood these are 700W/806Wh. Crutchfield got it a bit wrong there.
@troy thanks!
Just today my power utility cut power to quite a large area for much of the afternoon and later sent a very vague excuse out.
We didn’t have storms at the time, though there was some serious weather up in Arkansas.
This kind of thing normally doesn’t happen here, and where it does happen, I believe it’s usually when it’s very hot and the grid is overloaded. But maybe I’m wrong on that.
All that’s to say that so far, today is the best chance you’ve had to get me to drop a few hundred bucks on a big battery pack. I’ll consider it, Meh.
I can’t find Kenwoods reviewed anywhere. Maybe it’s a rebrand of something else?
What’s also important, is how long it can maintain power. Sometimes they don’t provide what they claim, or as long as they claim.
At least they didn’t call it a generator, that’s always just dumb.
@EvilSmoo There’s a 100% chance these units are rebadged, regardless of actual quality. This isn’t something the real Kenwood would make. (Are they still around in their original incarnation?)
@PooltoyWolf 100% is pretty bold. I could not find a clone of this mold with reverse-image Google-Fu, so now I challenge you!
@troy I suppose I should have said there is a 100% chance this device is not actually manufactured by the company originally known as Kenwood-Trio, in a similar way that Alien Shield is not actually manufactured by Bell+Howell.
(Rebadged in the sense that the Kenwood name has been applied to a product manufactured by another company, not necessarily that there is another identical device with another name on it.)
@EvilSmoo @PooltoyWolf These power stations are at this page on Kenwood’s website. Kenwood is part of JVCKENWOOD Corp. which is headquartered in Yokohama, Japan. The have a USA subsidiary in Long Beach, Calif. They’ve always, to my knowledge, been a Japanese company and have had an excellent reputation for good products. That being said, I too don’t know if these power stations are a rebrand, but based on the professionalism shown on their website, it seems to me like they aren’t. (Yeah, they have some English grammar errors, but that’s nothing new for them.)
I would have liked to have seen more than one review (on Crutchfield). I couldn’t find review articles at all. I did find that these power stations were announced in February 2024. It is a bit concerning that only a year later the only major retailer selling them that I could find is Walmart and they note that these are “sold and shipped by Mercatalyst.”
It all comes back to Meh! Nevertheless, based on knowing the brand for about fifty years through my ham radio hobby and owning some of their equipment over the years, I think I’m going to take the risk and get one.
@EvilSmoo @ItalianScallion That last bit is just what I’m getting at. This power station is most probably a fine product, but I would be floored if it’s manufactured by the same folks who built your ham gear and my KR-830 receiver.
@EvilSmoo @ItalianScallion @PooltoyWolf Kenwood found out pretty quickly that these weren’t going to sell as well as they intended, but there is nothing wrong with them. We bought the entire remaining stock directly from Kenwood – because these hadn’t made their way too deep in distribution channels, that left us to be the only current seller (except for the solar panel on Amazon, which is linked in the Price Comparison).
@EvilSmoo @ItalianScallion @troy That’s kind of amazing!
@EvilSmoo @PooltoyWolf Hey, thanks @troy, for the explanation. I get the not selling as well as they intended thing. There’s quite a bit of competition out there from brands that have a good reputation in that market. Just ordered one and am pairing it with the 200w Duracell solar panel. (Thanks for the link to the adapter cord!) Now I’ll have a great portable ham radio setup for power. Great price, by the way!
@PooltoyWolf @troy Like what Kodak is now doing with their name as well?
@troy I suppose I’m jaded in 2025, and just expected the Kenwood name to exist only as some inferior company’s IP like most of the other names of quality gear mfrs of the 20th century. Thanks for the clarification!
@EvilSmoo @ItalianScallion @PooltoyWolf @troy
You bought all of their power stations?!
When people talk about buying power, they’re usually talking about something else.
/showme rich meh people buying power
@djslack @troy Yeah, Kenwood is alive and well, making lots of communications equipment for both the commercial and amateur radio market, and car audio stuff.
Wait, they aren’t being sold in pairs??? HOW CAN THIS BE?
@werehatrack Two for Thursday?
Whats the average time to charge the pack with the included solar panel
we talking weeks or months?
@dwightk
How many hours of 100W solar power does it take to refill 806 watt-hour batteries?
At full sun and no losses, a smidge over 8 hours (806watt-hrs/100watts). You’ll need an unobstructed view of the sun and someone to adjust the panel every 20-30 minutes.
But there are losses and you won’t adjust it that often and you may not have full sun.
So assuming you adjust it for morning, afternoon and evening sun, probably most of a clear summer day, an entire spring/fall day, and 2-3 winter/rainy days. If you don’t adjust it at all, it might fully recharge on a clear summer day, probably needs more than a day of spring/fall, and several days of winter/rain
Just throwing it out there…
Wouldn’t it be cool to have a random Meh-rathon with absolutely NO ADVANCE NOTICE! With spontaneous IRK’s throughout the day!
So, are these compatible with the sidedeal.com solar panels? Any adapter needed?
@ArmchairGamer On the page for the Duracell solar panels, Meh has kindly provided a link to an adapter cable on Amazon for $14.
@ArmchairGamer @ItalianScallion
Could you please provide a direct link to those?
I wasn’t able to find them by any search term I tried there.
Thank you in advance!
@ArmchairGamer @ItalianScallion
never mind- i saw the one below.
/showme raging numerical conjurer
The rage is in her mind, @mediocrebot?
OH MY GOD THEY SACKED GLEN!!!
could I use this as a UPS?
@dpease The answer seems to be “yes, but…” If you do a search for “how to use a portable power station as a ups” you’ll get a lot of links to answer the question. I found a couple of pages that I thought were especially useful here and here.
@dpease The Kenwood website says no:
@dpease @ItalianScallion
Thanks for the information, but your first link doesn’t show a url for my Chrome browser.
The second one worked fine.
@dpease @ItalianScallion
…or anyone else with some acumen in this area of knowledge!
Also, given the Duracell panels are $129 for 200 watts at 22% rated efficiency, vs. $100 for 100-watts at 23% rated efficiency:
Is it worth the extra $45 and hassle to buy one of those, and the adapter from Sidedeal and Amazon?
Will it charge the bank any appreciably faster than the 100-watt one that can be bought with it?
Could both panels [1 each from Kenwood and Duracell] be used at the same time to speed up charging?
Inquiring minds want… etc…
Thanks again in advance.
@dpease For things that don’t need absolutely uninterrupted power (like non-laptop computers)? No- there’s usually a short (very short by human terms, but too long by electronics terms) delay before they switch to battery power from line power so it would mean the device would lose power and (depending on how it works/how long the delay) shut down.
Now, for things that don’t need functionally uninterrupted power- like a refrigerator, sump pump, lights, etc? It will work just fine. We have a ‘solar generator’ hooked up such that it works in effect as a UPS for our sump pump- if the power goes out there will be a split-second delay before it will run off the battery, but it won’t really matter since it will still be providing power to the sump pump when it needs it (and as long as the battery lasts).
Sorry @dpease. I must not have copy-and-pasted the link correctly. Try this one.
@dpease @PhysAssist, for me having a 200W panel is worth the extra cost (and size/weight) of the panel itself over either of the 100W panels, plus the cost of the adapter cable. At least the 200W panel doesn’t cost twice as much as the 100W panel!
@PhysAssist regarding the solar panels. Yes, the 200 watt panels will recharge the battery unit at nearly twice the speed of the 100 watt ones. (about 240w compared to 129w in best conditions). As the battery nears full capacity, you’ll lose the speed advantage, but the benefit of the LiFePO4 battery is this is a shorter period of time than the old technology.
The 700w battery unit looks like it max’s out at 200w of what’s sold as 12 volt solar panels. So while you could not likely put two 100 watt panels in series, you could probably hook up two 100 watt panels in parallel. (due to max voltage input limit on the battery device) So, IMHO, yes it’s worth the extra $45 to double the size of your panels.
Hope that helps.
@Ashyukun @dpease
Very nice analysis and exactly the use for which I was considering buying one.
As well as for providing [relatively] uninterrupted power for our internet and telephone modems and router- they can just reboot after a blip and we’ll be fine.
@beachhead
it does, so THANKS!
@ItalianScallion
I appreciate your thought process and I concur.
Thanks!
@ItalianScallion
That was actually me, and thanks for re-posting it.
@dpease @PhysAssist Glad it was helpful! We got ours (a much larger one than this, since the sump draws a LOT of power) after our basement flooded when a storm knocked out the power during a massive storm while we were away from the house. A large battery pack/solar generator was the most cost-effective way to keep the sump working even if we lost power when away- we have a gas generator, but it a) only does any good if we’re there to start it and hook things up to it and b) can only be used during the day since it’s both unsafe and illegal where we are to run the generator overnight.
@Ashyukun @dpease @PhysAssist I’m curious about why it would be unsafe to run a generator overnight if the generator is sufficiently far away from house and you have carbon monoxide detectors in the house (which are probably required anyway), and why it would be illegal (noise, maybe?).
cant find any sidedeal on solar panels, is it out of stock on sidedeal?
@txusa03 It’s linked in the “Our Take” section:
@txusa03 The Duracell solar panels are on Sidedeal here. Both the 100W and 200W ones looks like they’re available. The Kenwood solar panels on Meh seem to be available only if you also buy a Kenwood power station.
Oh man, this just got more expensive with the add-ons…I just opened up a can of worm for myself. Thanks Whisper lol
@txusa03 there are purchasing options that include the solar panels
@BelleGunness @txusa03 What options are you referring to? I’m wondering if the options might be well worth it considering that competing power stations from Jackery, Bluetti, and Ecoflow are much more expensive even the ones with less capacity.
A lot of info being discussed…if I missed it please excuse me. Where is this item made?
@txusa03 I ordered one, so I looked for that info too. I couldn’t find the country of manufacture on Kenwood’s webpage for these power stations, or in Kenwood’s online manuals, or in the product page on Crutchfield’s website (the only place, it seems, that was selling them before Meh bought the remaining stock), or in the PDF manual Crutchfield has on the product page. The only hint I can offer is that Kenwood, actually JVCKENWOOD, is a Japanese company.
Where’s the phonograph?!?!?!
/giphy kenwood home stereo
