I’m a thrifty person, sometimes to a fault. I’m a fan of thrift stores and garage sales, and love a good deal. I don’t care much about brand names or logos. I frequently buy off-brand and close out items… sometimes, even when I shouldn’t.

Early on in this project I decided to build my van’s electrical system in three stages. For the first stage I planned to buy either a Jackery or Bluetti battery for powering accessories and recharging devices, and charge it from my van’s 12v DC port while on the road. For stage two I plan to add solar panels to the roof of my van so that I can charge my battery when when I’m not driving. When or if I outgrow the capacity of the original battery unit, stage three involves adding additional batteries. Keep in mind that I don’t intend to live full time in this van; instead I hope to use it for overnight and weekend trips, and only need enough power to run things for a short period of time.

Although Jackery and Bluetti markets their devices as “solar generators,” that’s a pretty misleading (or at a minimum, confusing) term as they don’t generate any power and don’t require solar. If you’ve ever seen one of those small portable battery banks used to recharge USB devices like cell phones and tablets, you can think of these as larger versions of those. Unlike those devices which can easily be carried in a backpack or sometimes even a pocket, these devices look more like car batteries, with a carrying handle on top and various charging ports on the front. These units are heavier duty and, as one might expect, more expensive. These devices are measured in watt hours, which is literally a measure of how many watts the battery can store in between charges. Jackery, the leader of the market, charges approximately $1 per watt hour (Wh) for their units. (Jackery’s Explorer 300, which stores 293Wh, sells for $299.99 on Amazon; their Explorer 500 (518Wh) is $499.99.) Jackery’s closest competitor is Bluetti, who undercuts Jackery on price (their 718Wh unit sells for $569.99), but lacks Jackery’s reputation in regards to customer support and quality control.

That brings us to Imuto, a Chinese knock-off brand no one has ever heard of or frankly even knows how to pronounce. (Eye-moot-oh? Ee-mute-oh?) Imuto, who has been relatively successful in the USB power bank market, recently entered the “solar generator” market with a single model listed on Amazon — a monsterous power station with a capacity of 1,036 watt hours. I won’t bury the lead; the device is currently listed on Amazon for $699.99 along with an instant $300-off coupon, bringing the price down to $399.

Which is why I now own one.

Before I dive into the good and not-so-good features of Imuto’s portable power station, I want to touch briefly on watt hours and maximum watts. Again, watt hours are the total amount of watts a battery can store. The maximum wattage, however, refers to how much of that electricity you can get out the unit at any given time. In terms of milk jugs, watt hours are the size of the container (one gallon) while the maximum watts would be the size of the opening in the top of the jug. The Imuto stores just over 1,000 watt hours of energy, which means you can probably run a single small LED light for 1,000 hours, a 100-watt light bulb for 10 hours, or a compact microwave (rated at 600-800 watts) for a little over an hour. The Imuto has a maximum power rating of 1,000 watts, which means it can power anything that uses less than that. For example, you can’t power an 1,800 watt electric heater with this thing. Generally speaking, items that generate heat (like coffee pots) or contain motors (like power tools) draw the most electricity. Also, the unit’s 1,000 watt maximum capacity is for all devices connected to the unit combined. 1,000 watts is a lot of power, but it’s far from unlimited.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself. The Imuto shipped from Amazon and arrived in just a couple of days. The unit arrived in a box, which was packed inside another box, which was packed inside a third box. Inside the box inside the box inside the box, along with the Imuto, was a smaller, fourth box. That box contained several cables: a wall charger, a 12v car charger, a USB-C cable, and a weird male-to-male cable that I’ll talk about later. Also included was a waterproof bag (for storing cables) and a metal 12v adapter with two USB charging ports, one USB-A and one USB-C, which could be used with the Imuto or in any vehicle’s 12v port.

The first thing I noticed after removing the Imuto from its box was that this power station has a lot of ways for you to use its 1,036Wh of storage. The front of the battery features three DC ports, four USB ports, and three 120 AC ports. Of the three DC ports, only one is the standard “cigarette lighter/accessory” size most of us are used to seeing inside our vehicles (at least here in America). The other two are barrel-style ports (more on those in a bit). Of the four USB ports, three are USB-A (5v/2.4a) and the fourth is a bi-directional USB-C port (100w). The three AC ports function as standard 120 wall jacks. According to the Amazon listing the ports are “pure sine wave,” which should make them safe for use with sensitive digital (laptops) and medical (CPAP) devices.

For input, the Imuto features two ports — a single barrel-style port, and the previously mentioned bi-directional USB-C port. Included with the device are two charging cables for the barrel port: a big brick-style 90w power adapter for charging the unit from a wall, and a 12v cable that allows you to recharge the unit inside your car while driving. Charging the unit with solar panels (not included) would also use the same port. Many Jackery, Bluetti, and other similar devices support charging from multiple sources simultaneously, and while technically the Imuto supports charging from two sources at the same time, one of the two has to be USB-C. The Imuto claims to be able to handle up to 300w incoming while charging, but the only way that would be possible is by charging from a 200w solar panel and a 100w USB-C charger simultaneously. When using only one of the unit’s charging cables, the large battery charges much more slowly. My initial charge of the battery, from 0% to 100% using the included wall charger, took approximately eight hours.

Note that the Imuto contains a traditional lithium ion battery and not a newer LiFePo4 one. While lithium ion batteries aren’t exactly dinosaurs, they definitely represent the previous generation of battery technology. Newer LiFePo4 batteries are more efficient, have a longer lifespan, are physically lighter, and don’t overheat. They’re also more expensive, which explains why a bargain unit like the Imuto doesn’t use them. Imuto claims this power station can be recharged “500-1,000 times” which, while less than a LiFePo4 battery, still means if one were to completely deplete and recharge the battery twice a week, it could potentially last for five to ten years.

For me, one of the device’s selling points were its three 12v ports. 12v devices are typically more economical in terms of power consumption, so being able to use those instead of traditional 120AC ports is a big plus. Unfortunately, two of the unit’s three DC ports are a barrel-style adapter of a relatively uncommon size. While Amazon is overflowing with 5.5mm x 2.1mm cables, the Imuto uses the much less common 6.5mm x 1.4mm size. (In all fairness, this is the same size used on multiple Jackery devices and other units.) Prior to the unit’s arrival I ordered 20 cables from Amazon (10 male/10 female) that I intended to use to connect various 12v devices, but once the unit arrived I was disappointed to discover they would not fit into the battery’s ports. While the 20 cables I ordered from Amazon cost $8.99, the price of a single 6.5mm to 5.5mm adapter cable there is $13.99. I found one less expensive (without Prime shipping) and others on eBay.

While discussing the port’s odd size online, the one included cable I could not figure out a use for finally clicked. Along with the other cables, Imuto included a single 6.5mm (male) x 5.5mm (male) cable adapter inside the box. The odd size of the ports is annoying, but not insurmountable.

I currently have two concerns regarding the Imuto power station. The first is that I’m not sure how accurate the readouts are in regards to the battery’s current capacity. I’ve only performed a few minor tests around the house, but it seems like the reported levels are a little “off”. Sometimes it takes a few cycles for these things to completely calibrate, and I’m hoping that’s the case here. My other concern is in regards to the company itself. Imuto is new to the power station market, so no one knows how well built this device is or how it will hold up to the bounces and vibrations of van travel. I would have fewer concerns if this were a less expensive or disposable item like a small power bank or a charging cable, but it’s not. Without Amazon’s instant coupon this unit lists for $699.99, which is a lot of money to invest in an unknown brand. According to the manual the unit comes with an 18-month warranty, but how realistic is that? If the device fails, will I be mailing a 30lb box to China for repair work? And what happens after that? I don’t suspect this thing contains many “user serviceable parts” inside. With the coupon, $399.99 puts the device at a price point I’m willing to gamble with. If it truly lasts five or ten years, I will have gotten a great deal. If it doesn’t, well… the dice don’t always roll in your favor.

I haven’t taken my Imuto with me out on the road yet, but have performed several tests around the house by charging several smaller items and powering one big one. I was able to charge my iPhone with it using a USB-A cable and my iPad using the USB-C connection, and both worked as expected. For my biggest test, I connected a dorm-sized microwave to the Imuto and attempted to warm up a cold slice of pizza. The Imuto reported the microwave drew 915 watts, and brought the slice of pizza to a scorching sizzle with no problem. If there’s any wonkiness in regards to how the Imuto charges itself or other devices, I haven’t encountered it yet. If or when I do I’ll update my review. Until then, I’m going to cross my fingers and hope that Imuto’s power station is everything it claims to be.

ADDENDUM

While writing this review, Jeff Wagg, the host of Built To Go! A #Vanlife Podcast, generously answered several of my power-related questions. Another follower of Jeff’s and vanlifer (“Balboa”) purchased an identical Imuto unit the same day I did. His device does not appear to be putting out the same number of watts as mine. I’m not sure what this means, other than Imuto may have some quality control issues with their devices. So far mine is working as advertised, but as with any expensive electronic device, buyers should thoroughly test their device and validate that it performs as it should before the return window closes.