AFERIY Nomad1800 Pro Portable Power Station Review

It has been a couple of years since I reviewed a portable power station, which is unfortunate, as demand for solar power and batteries has increased massively over the last couple of years, largely fuelled by the cost of living and plug-in solar. I suspect EcoFlow will be prioritising its plug-in solar solutions, such as the EcoFlow Stream Microinverter, and whole home battery solutions.

While portable power stations have less appeal for cost of living problems at home, they remain incredibly useful and popular, especially for alternative living arrangements such as van lifers or narrowboaters. Many also offer UPS functionality, so they work as an excellent backup solution for important electronics like servers, routers and other networking gear.

Aferiy is a new brand to me, but it has a comprehensive range of battery solutions, including portable power stations, plug-in solar batteries and a 5kWh all-in-one whole home battery with a built-in 120A MPPT solar charge controller.

The company recently sent me the Nomad1800 Pro, also sold as the P180 Pro, to review. It is a 1024Wh power station with an 1800W output, available for just £419, undercutting many of the more established brands such as EcoFlow, Jackery and Bluetti.

Specification

The warranty is listed as up to 7 years, made up of a standard 2 year warranty plus an additional 5 years if you register the unit on Aferiy’s website. As Aferiy is still a newer name in this market, registering for the extended cover is worth doing.

Expandability

You can increase the battery capacity with either the P180 Pro-B Expansion Battery, which has a 1024Wh capacity and costs £359, or the P280-B Expansion Battery, which has a 2048Wh capacity and costs £649.

Up to four expansion batteries can be added to the base unit, taking total capacity to 5120Wh. Other reviewers who have tested the expansion battery report that the connecting cable needs a reasonable amount of clearance behind the units when they sit side by side, which is worth bearing in mind if you plan to store this in a tight cupboard or a van locker.

Design

The Nomad1800 Pro has a boxier, more utilitarian look than the curvier designs used by EcoFlow and Anker. One side is dominated by orange-trimmed vents housing twin cooling fans, with the Aferiy logo embossed beneath them. The opposite face houses a colour information display, a floodlight with steady, flash and SOS modes, and a physical power button that lacks the tactile feedback of some rival units.

At 35 x 22 x 26.3 cm and 11.64 kg, the footprint is comparable to other 1kWh-class power stations, though its boxy shape means it does not carry quite as comfortably by the single top handle as the rounder designs from EcoFlow and Jackery. Build quality is functional rather than premium: the plastics feel solid enough for day to day use, without quite the reassuring density of some pricier alternatives.

Ports / Outputs

All nine outputs are split across the front and rear panels and can be toggled independently using the DC ON/OFF and USB ON/OFF buttons, a handy way of conserving battery if you only need one type of output at a time.

The front panel carries the 12V/10A car socket, two 12V/3A DC5521 barrel ports, the 20W and 140W USB-C ports, and the two 18W USB-A ports, alongside the display, floodlight and power button.

The rear panel houses the two UK three-pin AC sockets, rated at a combined 1800W, along with an overload protection reset switch and a manual AC Input Regulator switch that caps mains charging at either 500W or 1000W. Underneath a small flap sit the XT60 solar input, an expansion battery port, and a standard IEC C13 mains input, the same connector used on most desktop PCs and monitors, so you are not tied to a proprietary cable if the one supplied in the box goes missing.

Charging

I briefly tested solar charging with a 460W panel, but the timing was against me: late afternoon and overcast, so I only saw around 100W of input, well short of the panel’s rated output or the Nomad1800 Pro’s 500W solar input limit. That is down to the British weather rather than the unit itself, and Aferiy’s own figures suggest a full charge takes around 2 hours given a genuine 500W of sunlight.

Mains charging was more conclusive. Plugged in via the included IEC C13 cable, the AC input climbed to the full 1000W within about a minute and held there for most of the charge. Aferiy quotes around 1.5 hours for a full charge at 1000W, and combining AC and solar input, up to a maximum of 1500W, brings that down to around 1.3 hours. Other reviewers have recorded similar results, with one measuring a 30 to 100 percent charge in around 38 to 40 minutes on mains power, and another timing a full charge from empty at around 70 minutes.

One feature worth highlighting is the physical AC Input Regulator switch on the rear of the unit, which lets you cap mains charging at 500W or 1000W without opening the app. This is useful if you are charging from a limited supply, such as a campsite hook-up or a shared household circuit, where tripping a breaker is a real risk.

Performance / Output

For USB charging, one of the two USB-C ports is rated at up to 140W of Power Delivery, a genuinely useful figure for a power station at this price. The only device I own that can push anywhere near that is my Anker 737 Power Bank, which accepts up to 125W, and the Nomad1800 Pro delivered that figure without issue. The equivalent EcoFlow model with a 140W USB-C port, the DELTA 3 Plus, is priced at around £700, so having that same charging speed here for under half the price is a strong selling point.

For the AC output, I tested the unit with a Breville kettle rated at 3000W. The Nomad1800 Pro cannot deliver that much power on paper, but rather than refusing to run it, the display showed an output of 1804W and the kettle worked, just more slowly than it would from a mains socket. This is similar to the EcoFlow X-Boost feature I tested on the EcoFlow DELTA 2, where the inverter regulates the output voltage down to let higher-rated appliances draw whatever power is available, rather than cutting out completely. It is a useful safety net for anyone who forgets to check an appliance’s rated wattage before plugging it in, though it will not run everything at full speed. Heating appliances such as kettles or hairdryers will simply take longer to finish the job.

Companion App

The Aferiy app, branded AF-P180PRO in my testing, gives Bluetooth and Wi-Fi remote control over the power station, including separate toggles for AC, USB and DC output, control over the floodlight’s steady, SOS and flash modes, and a live diagram showing which inputs and outputs are active. There is also an Energy Management section, where you can set a discharge lower limit, useful if you want to keep some charge in reserve for backup power, and an AC charging upper limit for when the unit is being used as a UPS.

A separate Charging Limit menu covers AC silent charging, scheduled AC charging, the DC input type (with a dedicated PV mode for solar panels), and a maximum charging current setting. These are sensible, practical controls that cover most of what a home or leisure user would need on a day to day basis.

Several other reviewers have singled out the Aferiy app as the weakest part of the ownership experience, citing clunky navigation and unfinished layouts, and the interface does look basic next to the more polished apps from EcoFlow, Anker or Jackery. In my own use it worked reliably enough for the core functions of monitoring charge level and toggling outputs, but do not expect the more advanced automation and scheduling options that some rival apps now offer.

UPS Functionality

As I am not much of a camper or an outdoor person, the UPS functionality is probably one of the more useful features of this power station for how I intend to use it. My networking equipment uses around 1kWh per day, so longer term I am hoping to use the Nomad1800 Pro to load shift, charging the battery during off-peak hours and running the equipment from the battery during peak hours, with the added benefit of built-in UPS protection during a power cut.

Aferiy claims the Nomad1800 Pro can switch to battery power in under 10 milliseconds. For most electronics that is fine, but for sensitive computer equipment a transfer time of no more than 5 milliseconds is generally recommended, so this will not suit every setup, particularly servers with strict uptime requirements.

For my initial tests, I ran my desktop PC, router and CityFibre ONT from the power station and manually switched off the wall socket to simulate a power cut. All three devices stayed online throughout, with no dropouts or reboots, a promising start, even if it is no substitute for genuine long-term testing during a real outage.

Price and Alternative Options

The Aferiy Nomad1800 Pro is available directly from Aferiy and is listed at £699 RRP but discounted to £419. I suspect this is a permanent discount rather than a limited-time offer, and at the time of writing there was an additional £10 off available on top of that.

Adding a 1024Wh expansion battery takes the price up to £798, with the option to expand to a total of 5120Wh, which would cost £1,875 in total. The P180 Pro-B Expansion Battery (1024Wh) by itself costs £359, or there is the larger AFERIY P280-B Expansion Battery (2048Wh) for £649.

Looking at EcoFlow, the competing options are the DELTA 3 at £649 and the DELTA 2 at £549, with a 1024Wh expansion battery for the DELTA 3 priced at £549.

For Anker Solix, there is the Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 at £599, with no expansion battery currently available for that model.

Bluetti has the Elite 100 V2 Portable Power Station priced at £469, again with no expansion battery option.

Jackery has the Explorer 1000 Plus at £549, with a 1264.64Wh expansion battery for £399, and the newer Explorer 1000 v2 at £899.

On price alone, the Nomad1800 Pro undercuts every one of these, in some cases by a wide margin. It also matches the 140W USB-C charging speed of pricier rivals such as the EcoFlow DELTA 3 Plus, and the AC Input Regulator switch is a feature I have not come across on any of the competing models. Where it loses ground is brand recognition and app polish. Aferiy is a newer name in a market still dominated by EcoFlow, Jackery, Bluetti and Anker, and buying into a less established brand always carries a slightly higher degree of risk around long-term support and firmware updates, though the option to extend the warranty to 7 years by registering on the official site does go some way to offsetting that concern.

Overall

The Aferiy Nomad1800 Pro is a strong value proposition. A 1024Wh, 1800W power station with a 140W USB-C port, a genuine IEC C13 mains input, a physical AC input regulator switch and UPS functionality for £419 undercuts every established competitor I have compared it against, in some cases by a considerable amount.

It is not without its rough edges. The app is basic next to EcoFlow’s or Anker’s, the power button lacks a satisfying click, and the build quality, while perfectly functional, does not have the reassuring density of pricier alternatives. None of these are dealbreakers on their own, but taken together they are a reminder that Aferiy is still a newer name in this market, and the lower price does come with some compromises compared with the bigger brands.

For anyone who wants a well specified power station for camping, van life, or as a home UPS and backup for networking equipment, and who does not need the polish of a more established brand, the Nomad1800 Pro is worth serious consideration. If you already own accessories tied to the EcoFlow or Jackery ecosystem, or you value a slicker app experience above outright value for money, one of the pricier alternatives may suit you better. For everyone else, this is one of the better value options currently available in this category.

I am James, a UK-based tech enthusiast and the Editor and Owner of Mighty Gadget, which I’ve proudly run since 2007. Passionate about all things technology, my expertise spans from computers and networking to mobile, wearables, and smart home devices.

As a fitness fanatic who loves running and cycling, I also have a keen interest in fitness-related technology, and I take every opportunity to cover this niche on my blog. My diverse interests allow me to bring a unique perspective to tech blogging, merging lifestyle, fitness, and the latest tech trends.

In my academic pursuits, I earned a BSc in Information Systems Design from UCLAN, before advancing my learning with a Master’s Degree in Computing.

I’m proud to share that Vuelio has consistently ranked Mighty Gadget as one of the top technology blogs in the UK. With my dedication to technology and drive to share my insights, I aim to continue providing my readers with engaging and informative content.

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