Today we review the VTOMAN FlashSpeed 1500 portable power station.
Our takeaway? It’s a nice size portable generator with plenty of outputs for your typical digital nomad. Keep reading to see our hands on tests to how it compares to others in its class.
Why Review Power Stations?
As our travels have slowed down over the last few years due to pandemics and high school/university chaos, we’ve camped more, and dome more local day trips and random home projects. This has lead to us experimenting with solar power and energy storage solutions, with a possible van life project somewhere in our future when our kids go off on their own adventures and it’s just Micki and I again.
Check prices for the VTOMAN FlashSpeed 1500 on their website.
Shop the VTOMAN FlashSpeed 1500 on Amazon.
The nice part about this quieter, travel-free time is that it’s given us a chance to test out a variety of portable power stations, and lets us see what makes one more ideal than the others firsthand.
So, stay with us as we personally check out the VTOMAN FlashSpeed 1500 with this real world, hands on review and discover everything it can do as well as what it can’t.
VTOMAN FlashSpeed 1500 Review
Coming in at 1548Wh, the VTOMAN FlashSpeed 1500 pure sine wave portable power pack should have enough energy to get most people through the day, whether they’re using it for camping, or working on a job site. It should have enough juice to even let you or blend smoothies (or a margarita) on the patio at the minimalist log cabin you rented for the weekend. (What, you don’t travel with a blender? How uncouth of you!)
Seriously though, the FlashSpeed 1500 is a nice blend of just enough power, but not too much as with these long life LifePO4 batteries, every extra Watt hour equals extra weight to carry. At 18.83kg (or 41.5lbs), this VTOMAN isn’t the lightest power pack we’ve seen, but it seems in line with others we’ve recently reviewed for its Wh to weight ratio.
While the FlashSpeed 1500 is primarily intended for loads under 1500W, it can actually handle certain devices up to 3000W with VTOMAN’s V-Beyond technology. While we’ve only tested it up to 1800W, the V-Beyond technology is primarily designed for resistive loads like coffee makers, space heaters, lights, toasters and even ovens.
We haven’t seen many other power generators touting this ability, but it’s a nice bonus if you find 1500W is on the smaller side, but don’t often use devices that exceed that wattage. That said, running it at these higher wattages is likely to drain the battery quickly.
VTOMAN FlashSpeed 1500 Charging abilities
One of the greatest strengths of the VTOMAN FlashSpeed 1500 is its quick-charge ability. At only one hour from empty to full, the FlashSpeed 1500 is one of the fastest charging portable power generators we’ve reviewed so far. Having tested it from empty to full, it really does take only take an hour or so to charge. For the record, we saw it pull up to 1620w with the included power cable when charging.
That said, this does come at the cost of loud fan speed noise when plugged in. The fan helps keep it cool while recharging and, while we don’t own a professional sound meter to get a more precise reading, when fully charging, we were often pushing over 70db with our phone only a foot from the fan.
However, no one is likely running it on the table like we were for this test. Also, its fan noise and not motor noise so outdoors it would get drowned out much quicker and even indoors the sound dropped off markedly even a few feet from the device.
Thankfully, once the FlashSpeed 1500 is fully charged, the fan noise does drop down to almost nothing. Even when using it to power other devices, it’s almost silent except when pushing it over 1000w. If you’re running a device over that threshold, the fan (and the resulting noise) will likely be noticeable. Hopefully you’re blending drinks by this point and not caring regardless.
No Power Brick on the VTOMAN FlashSpeed 1500
Another really nice thing about the FlashSpeed 1500 is the lack of a huge power brick when charging. It just uses a straight power cable, which fits nicely into the top mounted compartment of the device. This makes transporting the power station easier, plus there’s less danger of losing the power brick or forgetting it at home accidently. (Something we’ll never admit to having done…)
We actually go back and forth on not having a power brick is always a positive. If you’re primarily recharging by solar and there’s no power brick, then that means the power brick is incorporated into the power station itself, which adds both extra weight and size to the device. So, when lugging it around, rather than leaving the power brick at home or in the car, you carry that extra weight with you. Conversely, if you primarily charge the device via the wall plug, having no extra parts is a huge plus regardless of the additional bulk.
VTOMAN FlashSpeed 1500 Solar Power
Speaking of solar, the VTOMAN FlashSpeed 1500 battery powered solar generator can handle 400W of solar input at a time. When combined with plugging it in via the wall, that can drop your recharge time down to 45 minutes, which is ludicrously fast for a device this size.
While we’ve seen plenty of these with lower total solar input and lately a few with a lot more, the truth is 400W is a solid amount for a power generator of this level. Those running more solar wattage than this are likely using it to power larger installations, which likely means they need more Wh than this device can produce, short of coupling it with the additional battery.
Oh yeah, did I mention you can double your total Wh to 3096Wh with the VTOMAN FlashSpeed 1500 Extra Battery? We don’t have the extra battery so can’t say for sure how well it works with this device, but we’re guessing it works just fine and is cheaper than buying another full system. It can also be recharged simultaneously with the power station.
While it does increase the overall price, it might be an option for you if you feel you need more Wh than the standard 1548Wh this VTOMAN provides. It can be bought later if you feel you need it.
Also to note, the VTOMAN FlashSpeed 1500 can only support the single extra battery and more can’t be daisy chained to give even longer run times. It also doesn’t change the default 1500W power limit, just the run time.
VTOMAN FlashSpeed 1500 Ins and Outs
The FlashSpeed 1500 comes with numerous outputs including 4 standard USB A outputs (3 at 5v/2.4A and a single quick charge), 2 USB C ports which are PD100W (so can even direct charge your new laptop), 3x 110v 1500W ports (with 3000W surge capacity), 2x 12v 20A DC5521 output ports (5.5mm x 2.1mm, which will work with many CPAP devices)and a single 12v 20A car lighter port which is quite handy if you happen to own an electrical 12v cooler or a 12v pump for filling up your SUP or inflatables like we do.
For inputs, the VTOMAN FlashSpeed 1500 has the 110V one hour quick charge we’ve already touched upon, as well as the standard Anderson style plug for accepting up to 400W of 30 to 60V solar power. There’s also a DC 12-20V input that can handle up to 200W of input.
A nice bonus is that you can use all three (solar, wall, and DC input) at the same time to charge it from zero to 100% in 45 minutes! We tested it with a 200W solar panel at the same time as the wall plug and can confirm that it charges fast.
An interesting addition of the FlashSpeed 1500 is the ability to jump start your car. While there is no information in the included manual about these ports, it’s a cool addition I haven’t seen on power stations of this size and hope to find more information about it later.
Finally, the FlashSpeed 1500 includes a large rear LED light that has three different brightness levels, a strobe light and SOS function. The LEDs make for a great light around the campsite at night, when tailgating to games with the crew, or more boringly, working later at night.
What does the FlashSPeed 1500 come with?
In the box, you get the FlashSpeed 1500, a manual, some VTOMAN stickers, the power cable, a car lighter port cable, a USB C to USB C cable as well as a traditional USB A to USB C cable.
VTOMAN FlashSpeed 1500 UPS and Downs (see what I did there, lol?)
One of the nicer features of the FlashSpeed 1500 is that all the output ports also support pass-through charging. This is a great bonus as you can leave your device plugged into the power generator while topping it up and even use the FlashSpeed 1500 as an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)in case of electrical power failure.
The VTOMAN FlashSpeed 1500 as a UPS
The advertised drop time of 10ms (16ms is what a typical ATX computer PSU is rated for), this should keep any device you have plugged into it running nicely even when the house power shuts down. While not every battery power station has this, it’s definitely a big plus for having it around the house in case of emergencies.
One of the negatives about using it as a UPS is that the fan runs occasionally as the unit needs to top itself up. I would never recommend it in the bedroom for this reason, but in an office it’s not intolerable and reminds me of loud bathroom fan.
Charging Protection and Lifespan
As to charging protection, the FlashSpeed 1500 itself includes 10 kinds of charging protection from over charge protection to over discharge protection as well as the important over current protection. With the newer LiFePO4 battery, you also get 3000+ cycle life charges (that means empty to full) before it gets down to 80% of its original capacity).
How long can the FlashSpeed 1500 last?
In short, you can charge this thing every day for 8.5 years and it will still likely power you through the day. If using it only on weekends or in the summers, you could literally get over 25 years of use with this. If you also couple it with a solar panel, all that power can be free.
VTOMAN FlashSpeed 1500 Review Summary
We can see why the VTOMAN brand is popular with the van life crowd. The FlashSpeed 1500 is easily stackable and the top features a nice little holder for the cables. It doesn’t include a wireless charging pad. You can also power most electrical tools or a blender for a delicious smoothie.
At 1500Wh, the VTOMAN FlashSpeed is a nice blend of size to weight to power ratio, however if you’re looking for longer run times you can add the extra battery. Those hoping to power larger devices for longer may want to check out one of VTOMAN’s larger offerings, though.
The power generator itself is sleek and has nice carrying handles. All the inputs and outputs are in the front so they’re easy to access and see. Display seems bright and the buttons to turn on the various outputs seem to press nicely. We do miss the included App and Bluetooth support some other power stations include, however it’s not a game breaker for us.
We did find it quite loud when wall charging so that’s a negative, but thankfully it quiet downs once it reaches full power. It would be nice to have a slower eco/quiet mode option for wall charging if not in a rush, but that one hour total charge time is tough to complain about. It’s fast and perfect if you’re out camping and need to give it a quick top up someplace if there’s a place to do so. Otherwise, solar takes only six hours or so at 400W.
When being used, the fans are audible, but not annoyingly so, and still quieter than a traditional gas generator even when the fans come on at higher wattages. This means you could easily use it all day in a campsite and not annoy all your neighbors. It also doesn’t get that loud when charging up via solar, so that’s an extra star for free power abilities right there.
VTOMAN FlashSpeed 1500 Price
It seems that there’s always a sale on the VTOMAN, which we really appreciate!
See the price on the VTOMAN website.
Disclosure: VTOMAN provided a FlashSpeed 1500 for evaluation purposes, however they had zero input into this review.
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The post VTOMAN FlashSpeed 1500 Review first appeared on The Barefoot Nomad.
