Head-to-head test
EcoFlow RIVER 2 vs EcoFlow RIVER 3
Both have left EcoFlow's store, so the only live question is which family you were shopping for: the RIVER 3 carried the better fittings on the same 300W bones, and the RIVER 3 PLUS and RIVER 2 240 are where those two roads now lead.
Full profiles: EcoFlow RIVER 2 → · EcoFlow RIVER 3 →
Written by Wenny ZhengUpdated
Portable Power Tester, Station Arena Test Desk
Spec deltas
Both of these have left EcoFlow's store, so this page can't hand you a winner to buy. EcoFlow now points RIVER 2 shoppers to the RIVER 2 240 and RIVER 3 shoppers to the RIVER 3 PLUS. What it can still do is tell you what separated the two, which matters if you own one, inherited one, or are staring at a leftover listing.
And what separated them was small. Same 300W inverter, same 600W surge, same 7.8 lb, same 3,000 cycles, same 110W of solar, same five years of cover. The RIVER 3 changed the parts your hands touch: a 100W USB-C port instead of 60W, and a switchover rated no worse than 20ms instead of 30ms. The RIVER 2 kept 11Wh more battery, 256Wh against 245Wh. It was a refit, not a new machine.
Neither one was ever a blackout box. Of our seven load profiles, both pass exactly one, the 100Wh afternoon off-grid, and both fail the other six together. If backup power brought you here, the successors aren't the answer either; you want a bigger class of station.
What the Numbers Reveal
Each conclusion stated first — the numbers behind it on one line, the full analysis below.
Capacity
So an owner of either has the same machine as an owner of the other. A RIVER 2 owner who swaps to a leftover RIVER 3 gains a port and 10ms of switchover, loses 11Wh, and buys a second unit that EcoFlow has also stopped selling. That's a sideways move into a dead end.
Both units: 300W continuous, 600W surge, 7.8 lb, 3,000 cycles, 110W max solar input, 5-year warranty, no expansionThe differences: 100W vs 60W max USB-C; switchover rated ≤20ms vs ≤30ms; 245Wh vs 256WhBoth have left EcoFlow's store, with the RIVER 2 240 and RIVER 3 PLUS named as successors
Why it mattersIf you own either one, keep it; the other one is not an upgrade worth paying for twice.
A laptop that wants more than 60W can draw straight from the RIVER 3's USB-C port without waking the AC inverter. On the RIVER 2 the same laptop tops out on USB-C and has to go to an AC outlet through its own charger brick. For a box this size, whose main job is laptops and phones, the port mattered more than the 11Wh.
RIVER 3 max USB-C output 100W; RIVER 2 max USB-C output 60WUsable energy after our flat 15% derate: 218Wh from the RIVER 2's 256Wh, 208Wh from the RIVER 3's 245WhBoth units cap AC output at 300W
Why it mattersIf you're shopping the successors for laptop work, the USB-C wattage is the first line to check on each one's own spec sheet.
These were device chargers, good at an afternoon of phones, a laptop and a fan, and that's the job the successors should be judged on too. Clearing the 8-hour blackout takes about 1,935Wh of nameplate capacity at the 0.85 derate, which is a different shelf entirely.
Afternoon Off-Grid needs 100Wh: RIVER 2 finishes with 118Wh to spare, RIVER 3 with 108WhCPAP Overnight needs 320Wh: RIVER 2 covers about 68%, RIVER 3 about 65%Tailgate Party peaks at 400W against a 300W continuous ceiling on both; 8-Hour Blackout needs 1,645Wh
Why it mattersIf an outage or a full CPAP night is why you're shopping, skip both families and look at a larger station.
The specific dimensions that decide these two units — everything else is a tie.
Your Life, Your Pick
Selected because: Both units pass one of seven profiles, the 100Wh afternoon, and fail the rest together, which tells you what either was ever for.
One pass, six fails, and the pass is the honest one. An afternoon off-grid at 100Wh leaves the RIVER 2 at 46% used and the RIVER 3 at 48%, which is a phone, a laptop top-up and a fan with room left over. That's the job these were built for, and either did it.
The CPAP night is the near miss: 320Wh wanted, about 68% covered by the RIVER 2 and 65% by the RIVER 3. Your machine quits in the small hours on either. The tailgate fails differently, on a 400W peak against a 300W continuous ceiling that both share, so it's the inverter saying no rather than the battery running dry. When two units fail every big row in lockstep, the row is talking you out of the size, not into one of the two.
What the Specs Don't Tell You
Selected because: Switchover, noise disclosure and warranty are the three cards that fire, and they hold most of the real difference between two near-identical boxes.
The switchover card is the only one with a direction. Both are rated as ceilings, no worse than 20ms on the RIVER 3 and no worse than 30ms on the RIVER 2, and both describe a unit that lets the load blink before it picks it up. A router or a monitor shrugs at either. A desktop PC with unsaved work is the case where the shorter ceiling earns its keep, and neither is a lab-measured guarantee.
Noise is murkier than it looks. The RIVER 3 publishes 30 dB, and EcoFlow's RIVER figures are a maximum reached at high charge or discharge wattage, not a quiet-mode floor. The RIVER 2 publishes nothing at all, so there's no figure to compare it against. Owner reports point the expected way, with the RIVER 2 described as louder under loadA1 and the RIVER 3 as the quiet oneB1, but that's directional, not a measured gap.
Runtime: Will It Power Your Gear?
Selected because: Usable energy is 218Wh against 208Wh after the derate, a gap the USB-C port matters more than.
Ten watt-hours is the whole runtime story: 218Wh usable from the RIVER 2 and 208Wh from the RIVER 3 once the derate comes off the nameplate. That's a rounding error, not a reason to own one over the other.
Where the energy goes matters more than how much there is. A laptop on the RIVER 3's 100W USB-C port pulls from the pack directly. On the RIVER 2, anything past 60W goes to the AC outlet and its own brick, so the bigger battery gives a hungry laptop the clumsier route to its watt-hours.
Growth Path
Selected because: Neither unit expands and neither is sold new, so the only growth path left runs through the successors.
Both are sealed: 256Wh on the RIVER 2 and 245Wh on the RIVER 3 is what each holds and always will. That was never a flaw in a box this size, since each was a finished product at a fixed capacity rather than a base unit missing its add-on.
It matters now only because neither can be bought new. If the reason you were looking at a RIVER was to start small and grow, the RIVER 3 PLUS is the member of the family EcoFlow lists as taking an extra battery, and that is the one to read up on. Neither unit on this page gives you that road.
Strengths & trade-offs
EcoFlow RIVER 2
Strengths
- +Larger battery capacity
Trade-offs
- –No major technical downsides compared to rival.
EcoFlow RIVER 3
Strengths
- Solid all-rounder with standard specs.
Trade-offs
- –No major technical downsides compared to rival.
Will It Power Your Gear?
Scenario math and per-appliance runtimes, modeled from the spec record.
Scenario verdicts
We ran the math on seven real-world scenarios. Here's which unit survives your actual life.
SCN-01 · 2 nights · needs 2,100Wh
Weekend Camping
Two nights off-grid with essential comfort
Neither unit
Neither unit covers this scenario's 2,100Wh: the RIVER 2 comes up 1,882Wh short (about 10% covered), the RIVER 3 1,892Wh (10%). This is well outside what either unit is for; the right answer here is a larger station, not a choice between these two.
Battery budget usedlower = more headroom
LOAD Phone Charger 15W×6h · LED Lights 40W×8h · Box Fan 75W×14h · CPAP Machine 40W×16h
SCN-02 · 8 hours · needs 1,645Wh
8-Hour Blackout
Keep the essentials running through a night without power
Neither unit
Neither unit covers this scenario's 1,645Wh: the RIVER 2 comes up 1,427Wh short (about 13% covered), the RIVER 3 1,437Wh (13%). This is well outside what either unit is for; the right answer here is a larger station, not a choice between these two.
Battery budget usedlower = more headroom
LOAD Fridge 150W×8h · Router + Modem 20W×8h · LED Lights (4 bulbs) 40W×6h · Phone Charger 15W×3h
SCN-03 · 8 hours · needs 320Wh
CPAP Overnight
Sleep therapy without interruption — the #1 medical use case
Neither unit
Neither covers the night, though both come close enough to plan around. The profile wants 320Wh; the RIVER 2 gets about 68% of the way and the RIVER 3 about 65%. Good for a nap or a short power cut, not for the whole night.
Battery budget usedlower = more headroom
LOAD CPAP Machine 40W×8h
SCN-04 · 8 hours · needs 910Wh
Remote Workday
Full work day off-grid without power anxiety
Neither unit
Neither unit covers this scenario's 910Wh: the RIVER 2 comes up 692Wh short (about 24% covered), the RIVER 3 702Wh (23%). This is well outside what either unit is for; the right answer here is a larger station, not a choice between these two.
Battery budget usedlower = more headroom
LOAD Laptop 60W×8h · External Monitor 30W×8h · Router + Modem 20W×8h · Phone Charger 15W×2h
SCN-05 · 4 hours · needs 670Wh
Tailgate Party
Game day power for the crew
Neither unit
Neither, and on power rather than energy. The load peaks at 400W and both stop at 300W continuous, so no amount of charge would have saved it. This row is about inverter size, and these two share the same one.
Battery budget usedlower = more headroom
LOAD Blender 400W×0.5h · LED TV (55") 80W×4h · Bluetooth Speaker 15W×4h · Phone Charger (×3) 45W×2h
SCN-06 · 24 hours · needs 4,685Wh
Van Life Daily
A full day of mobile living — the ultimate endurance test
Neither unit
Neither unit covers this scenario's 4,685Wh: the RIVER 2 comes up 4,467Wh short (about 5% covered), the RIVER 3 4,477Wh (4%). This is well outside what either unit is for; the right answer here is a larger station, not a choice between these two.
Battery budget usedlower = more headroom
LOAD Mini-Fridge 150W×24h · Laptop 60W×4h · Phone Charger 15W×3h · LED Lights 40W×5h · Fan 75W×8h
SCN-07 · an afternoon · needs 100Wh
Afternoon Off-Grid
Phones and a speaker at the park, beach, or campsite — the small-unit job description
Either unit
Both clear it, and easily. A 100Wh afternoon leaves the RIVER 2 at 46% used and the RIVER 3 at 48%, so neither is close to empty when the sun goes down. At 7.8 lb apiece the bag weighs the same either way; this row is a dead heat, and it's the job both were built for.
Battery budget usedlower = more headroom
LOAD Phone Charger (×2) 30W×2h · Bluetooth Speaker 10W×4h
The Load Test
RUNTIME = (Wh × 0.85) ÷ LOAD
None of the scenarios above exactly yours? Build it. Toggle what you'd plug in; both units are tested against the combined draw.
Essentials
Comfort & Convenience
High-Draw Appliances
Test duration
8h
Continuous draw
205W
Projected runtime
Dead heat — both run this 205W load for roughly 1.1h. Pick on price, weight, or ports.
Planning for more than this? Describe your whole setup and get it sized →
Modeled from the spec record — same math as the tables below. Methodology
Runtime by appliance
Real-world runtime estimates for common appliances, modeled at 85% inverter efficiency.¹
Essentials
The basics you need runningscale 0–14.5hComfort & Convenience
Makes off-grid life actually enjoyablescale 0–2.9hHigh-Draw Appliances
These reveal the real limits¹ Runtime = (capacity × 0.85) ÷ appliance watts. Within each group, all bars share one time scale (the group's longest runtime), so lengths are comparable across appliances; identical runtimes collapse into a single blue/orange bar. Actual runtime varies with battery age, temperature, and simultaneous loads — see methodology.
Conclusion
October 5, 2026
Verdict: the RIVER 2
Neither of these is the buy, because neither is sold by EcoFlow any more: the RIVER 2's place in the range has gone to the RIVER 2 240, and the RIVER 3's to the RIVER 3 PLUS. As machines they were near twins, sharing a 300W inverter with 600W surge, a 7.8 lb body, a 3,000-cycle pack, 110W of solar input and a five-year warranty. The RIVER 3 had the better fittings, with 100W USB-C against 60W and a switchover rated no worse than 20ms against 30ms; the RIVER 2 holds 11Wh more. None of that settles a purchase now. If you own one, keep it, since the other does nothing yours can't. If you're shopping, the comparison you actually need is between the two successors, checked on their own spec sheets.
Editor-assigned confidence, based on cited owner research and spec analysis.
Written by Wenny Zheng, Portable Power Tester · Station Arena Test Desk · Updated October 5, 2026
Measured Data
Benchmark scores and the full spec record, side by side.
Benchmark scores
Not rated for both units (minimum threshold unmet): UPS.
Full specifications
ᵈ Derived: price ÷ rated capacity. See the data behind our comparisons →
Comparison ToolAdd more power stations, side by sideOpen Tool →How these numbers are produced
Numeric verification
Every figure on this page traces to our spec database or arithmetic on it — no estimated numbers.
Owner claims
Statements about owner experience are cited to published reviews — see Sources & Research Notes below.
Runtime model
Runtime = (rated capacity × 0.85 inverter efficiency) ÷ device wattage. Solar recharge estimates assume panels deliver 70% of rated output. Cold weather, battery age, and stacked loads reduce real-world results.
Power Score
Computed from 14 published spec dimensions, weighted per use-case bench. Higher is better; a unit must meet a bench's minimum threshold to be rated.
See the full weight table and data sourcing on our methodology page →Class ranking (the star rating)
Each unit's star score is a category ranking, not customer reviews — no buyer opinions feed it. We score every station on size-independent quality (value, output, portability, endurance, ports, warranty, and more), then percentile-rank it against the other units in its capacity class, so a class-leading compact unit and a class-leading whole-home unit can both earn 5★. Here, RIVER 2 rates 3.9/5 (38th percentile of 25 Personal-class units), and RIVER 3 rates 4.1/5 (50th percentile of 25 Personal-class units).
How the class ranking is computed →Test Notes & Caveats
Hidden gotchas and advantages we spotted that you won't find on the product page.
Switchover: no worse than 20ms vs no worse than 30ms
Both are rated ceilings, not lab results, and both describe a unit that lets the load blink before catching it. The RIVER 3's tighter rating is the safer bet for a desktop PC; a router, modem or monitor is fine on either. If the thing you're protecting can't tolerate any blink at all, neither is the right tool.
Warranty: the same five years on both
Both carried a five-year warranty, so coverage never split them. With both now out of EcoFlow's range, the useful check is the one on a leftover listing: make sure the unit is sold new with the maker's warranty, not as open-box or refurbished, where the terms can differ.
Noise: one published figure, and it's a maximum
The RIVER 3 publishes 30 dB, and EcoFlow's RIVER figures mark the loudest point under heavy charging or discharging, not a quiet-mode floor. The RIVER 2 publishes nothing, which leaves no number to hold it to. That isn't proof it's louder; it's a gap in the spec sheet worth filling with hands-on reports if the unit will sit near your bed.
Ownership Analysis
What happens after you buy — true cost of ownership, brand trust, and growth potential.
Lifetime value
Service lifeyears at one full cycle per day
Lifetime energy delivered
│ warranty ends · Reaching the cycle rating means ~80% capacity remains — degraded, not dead.
Analyst note
Neither is sold new any more, so there is no price left to work a cost per kWh from, and what either costs you now depends on the used market. The hardware comparison still holds: over its rated life the RIVER 2 delivers about 768 kWh and the RIVER 3 about 735 kWh. One thing to know reading the table: both carry the same 3,000-cycle rating, so the lifetime rows are sticker price and capacity in disguise — the wear horizon is identical and decides nothing here.
Growth path
RIVER 2
FIXED CAPACITYFixed at 256Wh, with no expansion — so size it for your needs up front rather than planning to add capacity later.
Accepts up to 110W of solar. Limited to a single portable panel.
Limited ports. You'll likely need a power strip or splitter.
RIVER 3
FIXED CAPACITYFixed at 245Wh, with no expansion — so size it for your needs up front rather than planning to add capacity later.
Accepts up to 110W of solar. Limited to a single portable panel.
Limited ports. You'll likely need a power strip or splitter.
Realistic full solar rechargeat 70% of rated panel output — see methodology
Analyst note
Neither of these is sold new any more, so there is no growth path to buy into on either side. If you already own one: the RIVER 2 is fixed at 256Wh and the RIVER 3 is fixed at 245Wh. As a purchase decision, expandability isn't the question here.
What Owners Report
Patterns from published owner reports and long-term reviews — every claim cited to its source below.
EcoFlow RIVER 2
Field coverage on the RIVER 2 is thin and almost entirely comparative, drawn from review sites and EcoFlow's own comparison material rather than long-running owner threadsA0. What there is agrees: it's the proven budget unit on the same core platform as the RIVER 3, with the same 300W output and LiFePO4 chemistryA2, and a reasonable pick for indoor use where the money is tightA3.
The recurring complaint is noise under load, reported as noticeably louder than the RIVER 3, with the same source noting the RIVER 2 has no published dB rating to hold that againstA1. Reviewers also list what it lacks next to its replacement: weather sealing, the faster UPS switchover and the quieter runningA3.
“Shares the same core platform as the RIVER 3 — 300W output, LiFePO4 chemistry, and roughly 60-minute fast charging — and remains a popular, proven budget small-format unit.”
Sources
backuppowerhub.com · ecoflow.com · versus.com
EcoFlow RIVER 3
Coverage of the RIVER 3 is uniformly favorable and uniformly comparative, from review sites and EcoFlow's own material rather than long-term ownersB0. The quiet is the headline, with EcoFlow's sub-30 dB claim repeated approvingly wherever the two are lined upB1, and IP54 weather sealing plus the faster switchover named as the other reasons it was the pickB2B3.
Hold one piece of that coverage loosely. It describes the RIVER 3 as holding more capacity and weighing less than the RIVER 2B4, and a lighter, more compact buildB2. The spec sheet says otherwise: 245Wh against 256Wh, and 7.8 lb on both. The recommendation pointed the right way on fittings; the reasoning about battery and weight did not.
“The RIVER 3 operates under 30 dB — EcoFlow calls it 'whisper quiet,' quieter than a library — one of the most significant upgrades over the louder RIVER 2.”
Sources
backuppowerhub.com · ecoflow.com · rv.com · versus.com
Sources & Research Notes
Every owner claim in this report is traceable to a published source. The bracketed references above resolve here.
Recurring owner themes
- The RIVER 2 is the older, cheaper unit on the same core platform — reasonable for budget indoor use but louder and less refined than the RIVER 3. [RIVER 2 · 2 entries]
- The RIVER 3 improves on the RIVER 2 across the board — quieter (sub-30 dB), IP54-rugged, faster UPS, more capacity, lighter, and cheaper — a rare strict upgrade. [RIVER 3 · 3 entries]
- A1
“The RIVER 2's spec data doesn't include a specific dB rating, and owner reports suggest it's noticeably louder under load than the newer RIVER 3.”
backuppowerhub.com — EcoFlow RIVER 2 vs RIVER 3 · 2026 · [negative]
- A2
“Shares the same core platform as the RIVER 3 — 300W output, LiFePO4 chemistry, and roughly 60-minute fast charging — and remains a popular, proven budget small-format unit.”
ecoflow.com / versus.com — RIVER 2 vs RIVER 3 · 2026 · [positive]
- A3
“For strictly indoor use where every dollar counts, the RIVER 2 is still a reasonable choice — but it lacks the RIVER 3's refinements like waterproofing, faster UPS, and quieter operation.”
backuppowerhub.com — RIVER 2 vs RIVER 3 recommendation · 2026 · [mixed]
- B1
“The RIVER 3 operates under 30 dB — EcoFlow calls it 'whisper quiet,' quieter than a library — one of the most significant upgrades over the louder RIVER 2.”
backuppowerhub.com / ecoflow.com — RIVER 2 vs RIVER 3 · 2026 · [positive]
- B2
“Over the RIVER 2, the RIVER 3 adds IP54 waterproofing, a faster UPS switchover, a 2x runtime mode, and a more compact, lighter form factor.”
backuppowerhub.com — RIVER 2 vs RIVER 3 · 2026 · [positive]
- B3
“Recommended as the better buy for most in 2026 — for camping, van life, or home UPS backup, where durability and noise matter, the data consistently favors the RIVER 3.”
backuppowerhub.com / rv.com — RIVER 3 review · 2026 · [positive]
- B4
“Holds more capacity and weighs less than the RIVER 2 while costing less, making it effectively a strict upgrade on the same platform.”
ecoflow.com / versus.com — RIVER 2 vs RIVER 3 · 2026 · [positive]
Research compiled October 5, 2026.
What Owners Actually Report
Drawn from 48 comments on independent review channels — not from retailer reviews, which skew to the first week of ownership. Each line is our summary of one commenter's claim, linked to the original. We record what they said, including where it contradicts the spec sheet.
EcoFlow RIVER 2
37 claims from 27 comments · 30 from owners · 11 with figures
- Runtime
- 10 · 38% negative
- Price & value
- 5 · 20% negative
- Solar input
- 3 · 3% negative
- App & firmware
- 3 · 39% negative
- Durability
- 2 · 100% negative
What owners complain about
Used as a DC UPS it averaged well over 10W to deliver 5W to a cable modem.
Idle drainmeasuredowner6 agreedsource →
Display reads 0W output until roughly 15W is drawn; a 2W night light shows nothing.
App & firmwaremeasuredowner2 agreedsource →
His River 2 and Glacier both died blinking and non-functional just after warranty expired.
Durabilityowner4 agreedsource →
What owners praise
RIVER 2 pulled 120W from a 100W third-party panel over four days in a van.
Solar inputmeasuredowner15 agreedsource →
Ran router, PoE switch, NAS, modem and a NUC through two outages, cameras up about 2 hours.
Runtimemeasuredowner4 agreedsource →
River 2 plus a 100W panel is exactly the emergency-only setup he wanted and works great.
Price & valueowner31 agreedsource →
EcoFlow RIVER 3
35 claims from 21 comments · 30 from owners · 9 with figures
- UPS switchover
- 5 · 47% negative
- Price & value
- 6 · 17% negative
- Runtime
- 2 · 0% negative
- Warranty & support
- 6 · 73% negative
- Other
- 2 · 100% negative
What owners complain about
Accepts 80V-170V before switching over, which he calls poor for a home-office UPS.
UPS switchovermeasuredowner34 agreedsource →
Surge protection is only 150J, so he keeps it behind an older UPS's surge-only port.
Othermeasuredowner34 agreedsource →
Screen showed jumbled alphanumeric symbols, and the returned unit came back with Wi-Fi disabled.
Durabilityowner6 agreedsource →
What owners praise
Kept router and switch alive about 4 hours per charge during the 5 day post-Milton outage.
Runtimemeasuredowner38 agreedsource →
Happy sticking with their RIVER 3 units at $169 each.
Price & valuemeasuredowner45 agreedsource →
Works awesome as a UPS for Starlink router, switch and camera through rural spikes and outages.
UPS switchoverowner38 agreedsource →
Claims are weighted by how specific they are, whether the commenter owns the unit, and how many readers agreed. Comments that mention a product under a rival's review count for more, because the commenter had no reason to be there. This is what buyers report, not our test results — for measurements we ran ourselves, see the methodology.
Who Should Buy Which
Buy the RIVER 2 if you…
- →You own a RIVER 2 and wondered whether a RIVER 3 was the upgrade. It isn't: same 300W inverter, same 110W of solar, same 3,000-cycle pack. Keep yours and spend the money elsewhere.
- →You liked the RIVER 2 for what it was, a small AC-and-USB box that lives on a shelf and charges off the wall. EcoFlow's store now sends that buyer to the RIVER 2 240, which it presents as the same unit with a slightly smaller battery. Read its own spec sheet before you buy.
- →You want the bigger of these two batteries for an owner's reasons. 256Wh against 245Wh is a real but small edge, and with neither expandable, it's the capacity you keep.
Buy the RIVER 3 if you…
- →You own a RIVER 3. Nothing on this page is a reason to replace it with a RIVER 2, which gives up the 100W USB-C port and the shorter switchover to gain 11Wh.
- →You wanted the RIVER 3 for its 100W USB-C port or its shorter switchover. The RIVER 3 PLUS is the smallest RIVER 3 EcoFlow still sells, so it's the place to look, but confirm both figures on its own spec sheet rather than assuming they carried over.
- →You wanted a RIVER that can grow later. Neither unit here expands; the RIVER 3 PLUS is the one EcoFlow lists as taking an extra battery.
If neither fits
Anyone shopping for blackout backup, a full CPAP night, a camping weekend or van life should close this tab cheerfully. The 8-hour blackout profile wants 1,645Wh, and the larger of these two delivers 218Wh after the derate; clearing it takes about 1,935Wh of nameplate capacity, which is 1,645 divided by 0.85. The tailgate profile fails on a 400W peak that a 300W inverter can't hold, so capacity never gets a say. Those buyers want a larger station, not either RIVER family's smallest member.
The Bottom Line
Neither of these is the buy, because EcoFlow sells neither. As machines they were twins on a 300W inverter, 3,000 cycles and 110W of solar, and the RIVER 3's whole lead was a 100W USB-C port and a shorter switchover, which mattered most for laptops and desktops, against 11Wh the RIVER 2 kept.
So own whichever you have and stop comparing. If you're buying, the RIVER 3 PLUS and the RIVER 2 240 are the live descendants, and the port that decided this page is the first line to check on theirs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers drawn from the spec record and cited owner research.
Are the EcoFlow RIVER 2 and RIVER 3 discontinued?
Yes, both have left EcoFlow's store. EcoFlow points RIVER 2 shoppers to the RIVER 2 240 and lists the RIVER 3 PLUS as the smallest RIVER 3 it still sells. If you find either original at a retailer, confirm it's sold new with the maker's warranty rather than as open-box.
Is the RIVER 3 an upgrade over the RIVER 2?
In the fittings, yes: 100W USB-C instead of 60W, and a switchover rated no worse than 20ms instead of 30ms. In battery terms, no. The RIVER 3 holds 245Wh to the RIVER 2's 256Wh, on the same 7.8 lb body with the same 300W inverter, the same 3,000 cycles and the same five-year warranty.
Should I replace my RIVER 2 with a RIVER 3?
No. Both are rated for 3,000 cycles, which is about 8.2 years of daily cycling, and both run the same 300W of AC off the same 110W of solar. A swap buys you a faster USB-C port and a shorter switchover, costs you 11Wh, and lands you on a second unit EcoFlow no longer sells.
Can either one run a CPAP all night?
No. Our overnight CPAP profile draws 320Wh, and after the derate the RIVER 2 covers about 68% of it and the RIVER 3 about 65%. Either works as a partial-night bridge, not as a whole night of therapy.
Is the RIVER 3 quieter than the RIVER 2?
Probably, though not by a number you can compare. The RIVER 3 publishes 30 dB as a maximum under heavy charge or discharge, and the RIVER 2 publishes no noise figure at all. Owner reports describe the RIVER 2 as louder under load and the RIVER 3 as quiet, which is a direction rather than a measurement.
Where to buy
EcoFlow RIVER 2
Left EcoFlow's store
EcoFlow RIVER 3
Left EcoFlow's store
Prices may vary by retailer and are subject to change.