Head-to-head test
EcoFlow RIVER 3 PLUS vs Anker SOLIX C300 DC
Two batteries two watt-hours apart, and only one of them ends in wall outlets, which settles this page before capacity gets a word in.
Full profiles: EcoFlow RIVER 3 PLUS → · Anker SOLIX C300 DC →
Written by Wenny ZhengUpdated
Portable Power Tester, Station Arena Test Desk
Spec deltas
The SOLIX C300 DC has no AC outlets at all, so nothing with a wall plug runs on it. Not at 300W, not at any wattage, because that 300W is the total of its DC ports rather than an inverter rating. The RIVER 3 PLUS has three outlets and a real 600W inverter behind them. If you arrived here with a household load in mind, the comparison is already over.
Everything else about these two is close enough to be a rounding error. 286Wh against 288Wh, both LFP rated for at least 3,000 cycles, both landing near 243Wh and 245Wh usable once the flat 85% derate this site applies to every unit comes off the top. Capacity never gets to decide anything here.
So the page comes down to which side of the outlet line your gear lives on, and after that to what you carry: 10.4 lbs for the RIVER 3 PLUS at $259, 6.17 lbs for the C300 DC at $200. Take the RIVER 3 PLUS unless every load you own charges over USB-C or 12V, in which case the Anker is the better instrument rather than the cheaper compromise.
What the Numbers Reveal
Each conclusion stated first — the numbers behind it on one line, the full analysis below.
continuous output
That makes this an asymmetric bet rather than a close call. Buying the RIVER 3 PLUS and then discovering your gear is all USB-C costs you 4.2 lbs of carry and the gap in price. Buying the C300 DC and then discovering one item ends in a wall plug costs you the entire purchase.
SOLIX C300 DC: 0 AC outlets and no inverter, so its 300W is a DC port total across USB and 12VRIVER 3 PLUS: 3 AC outlets, a 600W inverter and 1,200W of surgeRIVER 3 PLUS also carries 2 USB-A, a 100W USB-C and a 12V car socket
Why it mattersIf you cannot yet list every device you will plug in, the RIVER 3 PLUS is the one that survives being wrong.
Add the two-way USB-C that refills the unit to 80% in about an hourB2 and the C300 DC needs no charging brick of its own: the same laptop charger fills the station and the laptop. For a photographer with four camera batteries and a notebook, that is one bag 4.2 lbs lighter and one cable instead of two.
SOLIX C300 DC: 4 USB-C ports rated 140W, 140W, 100W and 15W, plus 2 USB-ARIVER 3 PLUS: 1 USB-C capped at 100W, plus 2 USB-ASOLIX C300 DC weighs 6.17 lbs against the RIVER 3 PLUS at 10.4 lbs
Why it mattersIf nothing in your kit has a wall plug, buy the Anker and do not feel like you settled.
An EB300 doubles the RIVER 3 PLUS to 572Wh, which is 486Wh usable after the same 85% derate and clears a 320Wh night with room to spare. The C300 DC is finished at 288Wh and always will be. But that only matters above 288Wh, because the base RIVER is level with the Anker on capacity, so the first battery buys headroom rather than catching up.
CPAP Overnight asks 320Wh; the RIVER 3 PLUS falls 77Wh short and the C300 DC 75WhRIVER 3 PLUS is expandable: an EB300 takes it to 572Wh, an EB600 furtherA1SOLIX C300 DC is sealed at 288Wh with no expansion
Why it mattersPlanning to grow past a single night's use? Only one of these has a second chapter. If you are not, do not pay for the option.
solar input
The Anker's fast path was never the sun though. It is the USB-C brick already in your bag, about an hour to 80%B2, which means the solar gap only bites on the trip where a panel is the only power available. That is also the trip most likely to involve something with a wall plug.
RIVER 3 PLUS: 220W solar input for a 286Wh packSOLIX C300 DC: 100W solar input for a 288Wh packSOLIX C300 DC recharges to 80% in about an hour over two-way USB-CB2
Why it mattersDays off a panel: RIVER 3 PLUS. Nightly top-ups from an indoor outlet: the C300 DC refills faster than its solar spec suggests.
The specific dimensions that decide these two units — everything else is a tie.
What the Specs Don't Tell You
Selected because: Five cards fire here and the first one settles the page: the C300 DC has 0 AC outlets, so its 300W is a DC port total rather than an inverter rating.
The first card under the table decides the page, and it is not close: no AC outlets on the C300 DC, so the fridge, the TV and the coffee maker never enter the conversation. Anker did not forget the inverter, it removed it. That is where the 6.17 lbs comes from, and it is why the 300W figure is a DC port total instead of something a wall plug could ever draw on.
The other four cards are quieter. A sealed 288Wh against an expandable 286Wh, a UPS mode rated no worse than 10ms on the RIVER 3 PLUS, 5 years of cover against 3, and a published 30dB maximum on one side with a blank on the other. Only the UPS line is likely to move you, and only if the thing you are protecting is a router rather than a night's sleep, because 243Wh usable bridges a flicker and not an outage.
Your Life, Your Pick
Selected because: Five of the seven load profiles include something with a wall plug, which the C300 DC cannot take at all and the RIVER 3 PLUS runs out of energy before finishing.
Six of the seven profiles here come back 'neither', which is the honest result for a pair of roughly 288Wh batteries and not a knock on either one. The RIVER 3 PLUS connects everything and then runs dry: 243Wh usable against the 1,645Wh an eight-hour blackout asks for. The C300 DC never reaches the energy question, because the loads in those rows have wall plugs and it has none.
The seventh row is the one that describes what these actually do. A 100Wh afternoon leaves both units at 41% used, with 143Wh and 145Wh still in the bank. Buy for that afternoon, not for the blackout, and you will be happy with either box.
Portability & Form Factor
Selected because: 6.17 lbs against 10.4 is what the DC-only design buys, and at this size it is the spec you feel every day.
weight
4.2 lbs sounds like nothing until it is the difference between a bag you sling over a shoulder and a bag you set down to open a door. 6.17 lbs is day-pack weight; 10.4 lbs is a deliberate carry. Reviewers call the RIVER 3 PLUS highly portable and at 10.4 lbs that is fairA3, but the Anker is in a different category of carrying.
What the extra weight buys is precisely the thing this page is about. The inverter, the three outlets and the 220W solar input all have mass. You are not carrying a bigger battery, you are carrying the ability to plug in a lamp.
Lifetime Value
Selected because: Both packs are rated for at least 3,000 cycles, so lifetime cost tracks price: 23 cents per lifetime kWh against 30, with 3 years of warranty against 5.
cost / lifetime kWh
Both packs are rated for at least 3,000 cycles, so lifetime is the same word for both units and cost per kWh is just price wearing a disguise: 23 cents against 30. Nobody should choose between these on that seven-cent spread.
The split worth noticing is the warranty, 5 years against 3, and EcoFlow offers no parts or service once it expires. That makes the term the whole of the promise rather than the start of it, on both sides. If you keep small gear for a decade, two extra years of cover is the only durable difference in this section.
Growth Path
Selected because: The RIVER 3 PLUS can add batteries from a 286Wh base; the C300 DC is finished at 288Wh, which only matters if you would climb past it.
solar input
Expansion is the RIVER 3 PLUS's one structural card and it starts level rather than ahead. The two base units hold the same energy within 2Wh, so the first battery is not closing a gap, it is opening one: an EB300 takes the RIVER 3 PLUS to 572WhA1, and the sealed C300 DC has no equivalent at any price.
That cuts both ways, and it is worth saying against our own pick. If your loads are what they will always be, you are paying for a socket you will never use, and the Anker is the cheaper unit with the same energy in it. Expandability only counts when you are actually going to climb.
Strengths & trade-offs
EcoFlow RIVER 3 PLUS
Strengths
- +Higher AC output
- +Longer warranty
- +Faster solar charging
Trade-offs
- –No major technical downsides compared to rival.
Anker SOLIX C300 DC
Strengths
- +Costs $59 less
- +Lighter by 4.2 lb
- +Larger battery capacity
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
The SOLIX C300 DC has no AC outlets, so the led lights and box fan in this scenario never plug in — it's a DC station for USB and 12V gear, and no wattage figure changes that, so capacity never gets a say. This is the wrong kind of unit for the job rather than a close call. The RIVER 3 PLUS doesn't have the energy either — 243Wh usable against 2,100Wh, 1,857Wh short — so neither route works.
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 of these is a blackout unit, and it is not close. The C300 DC has no AC outlets, so the fridge and the router in this profile never connect. The RIVER 3 PLUS connects all of it and then runs dry 1,402Wh short of the 1,645Wh the night asks for. What it buys you here is a bridge and a phone that stays alive, which is worth having. It is not what this row is testing.
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
This is the row where both units nearly get there and neither does: 320Wh asked, 243Wh and 245Wh usable, each about 75Wh short of morning. Three-quarters of a night is something you can plan around, not something you can sleep through unplanned. And if the machine plugs into a wall, only the RIVER 3 PLUS is in the conversation at all. It is also the only one of the two with a published noise figure, 30dB as a maximum under load rather than a quiet-mode floor, which starts to matter when the unit spends the night on the table beside your head.
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
The SOLIX C300 DC has no AC outlets, so the external monitor and router + modem in this scenario never plug in — it's a DC station for USB and 12V gear, and no wattage figure changes that, so capacity never gets a say. This is the wrong kind of unit for the job rather than a close call. The RIVER 3 PLUS doesn't have the energy either — 243Wh usable against 910Wh, 667Wh short — so neither route works.
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
The SOLIX C300 DC has no AC outlets, so the blender and led tv in this scenario never plug in — it's a DC station for USB and 12V gear, and no wattage figure changes that, so capacity never gets a say. This is the wrong kind of unit for the job rather than a close call. The RIVER 3 PLUS doesn't have the energy either — 243Wh usable against 670Wh, 427Wh short — so neither route works.
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
The SOLIX C300 DC has no AC outlets, so the mini-fridge, led lights and the rest in this scenario never plug in — it's a DC station for USB and 12V gear, and no wattage figure changes that, so capacity never gets a say. This is the wrong kind of unit for the job rather than a close call. The RIVER 3 PLUS doesn't have the energy either — 243Wh usable against 4,685Wh, 4,442Wh short — so neither route works.
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
Here is the row these two were actually built for, and they tie: a 100Wh afternoon leaves both at 41% used, with 143Wh and 145Wh still in the tank. Nothing in the energy figures separates them, so the decider is what you carried to get here, 6.17 lbs against 10.4 lbs, and whether anything you brought ends in a wall plug. Pick on the bag, not the battery.
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
Only the RIVER 3 PLUS can run this load — the SOLIX C300 DC has no AC outlets for the wall-plug gear in it.
$259 list · direct from EcoFlow
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 0–16.3hComfort & Convenience
Makes off-grid life actually enjoyablescale 0–3.2hHigh-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
September 19, 2026
Verdict: the EcoFlow RIVER 3 PLUS
Take the RIVER 3 PLUS if there is any chance a wall plug is involved, because it is the only one of the two with outlets: three of them, behind a 600W inverter with 1,200W of surge over it. It also covers most of what the C300 DC does, with 2 USB-A, a 100W USB-C and a 12V socket on the box, so as a single purchase it is the one that cannot be wrong about the kind of gear you own. Confidence stops at 6 because the C300 DC is not a lesser version of it. If your kit is a laptop, a phone and camera batteries, four USB-C ports with two of them at 140W beat one at 100W, and 6.17 lbs beats 10.4 in the bag you actually carry, for $59 less.
Editor-assigned confidence, based on cited owner research and spec analysis.
List prices as of September 19, 2026. The links below open EcoFlow's and Anker's current prices.
$299.00 · direct from EcoFlow
Last checked 16 days ago. Prices move — check before you buy.
Written by Wenny Zheng, Portable Power Tester · Station Arena Test Desk · Updated September 19, 2026
Black Friday · 38 days out
Price to beat:RIVER 3 PLUS $259
We have never seen it discounted, so any real cut would be a first.
Measured Data
Benchmark scores and the full spec record, side by side.
Benchmark scores
Not rated for both units (minimum threshold unmet): UPS, CPAP, Solar Generator, Tailgating.
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 3 PLUS rates 5.0/5 (99th percentile of 24 Personal-class units), and SOLIX C300 DC rates 4.4/5 (65th percentile of 24 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.
No Outlets, By Design
The C300 DC's 300W is the sum of its DC ports, not an inverter rating, and there is no inverter to rate: wall-plug gear never connects to it, at any wattage. That is a decision rather than an omission, and it is where the 6.17 lbs and the four USB-C ports come from. The RIVER 3 PLUS carries an inverter behind 3 AC outlets, so it plays on both sides of the line, at 10.4 lbs and the higher price. Work out which side your own gear lives on first. Everything else on this page is a tiebreak.
Sealed at 288Wh vs Expandable From 286Wh
The C300 DC is complete and sealed at 288Wh; the RIVER 3 PLUS can add batteries. Before reading that as a win, note where it starts. The two base units hold the same energy within 2Wh, so a first expansion battery buys headroom above 288Wh rather than closing a gap. If you would genuinely climb past a single night's use, the RIVER 3 PLUS is the only unit here with a route. If you would not, the expansion port is a line on the spec sheet you will never spend money on.
Only the RIVER 3 PLUS Lists a UPS Mode
The RIVER 3 PLUS can sit between the wall and your gear and hand it to battery when the grid drops — rated ≤10ms — quick enough on paper that desktop PCs and routers should ride through, treating that as the rating it is. Worth it for a router or a modem — not a CPAP: at 243Wh usable it can bridge the flicker but cannot run the night. The SOLIX C300 DC's spec sheet lists no UPS mode, so anything plugged into it rides an outage only as far as your reaction time.
Warranty: 5 Years vs 3
The RIVER 3 PLUS is covered for 5 years against the SOLIX C300 DC's 3 years. An underrated factor if you're keeping this unit for years.
One Published Number, One Blank
EcoFlow lists 30dB for the RIVER 3 PLUS and Anker lists nothing for the C300 DC, and the distance between those two states is not a distance in loudness. Read the 30dB carefully too: on the RIVER series it is a maximum reached at high charge or discharge, not a best-case quiet-mode floor, so light loads sit under it. For a bedroom or a CPAP that makes the RIVER 3 PLUS the only unit here you can hold to a figure, and the C300 DC the one you would want to hear before committing.
Full record above — the Test Desk pick is the RIVER 3 PLUS.
Check RIVER 3 PLUS price →or check the SOLIX C300 DC priceOwnership 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
Cost per delivered kWh
│ warranty ends · Reaching the cycle rating means ~80% capacity remains — degraded, not dead.
Analyst note
The SOLIX C300 DC wins on both sticker price and long-term value. At $0.23/kWh over its lifetime, it's meaningfully cheaper to own. Clear value winner. 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.
Brand trust
EcoFlow
Ecosystem
EcoFlow runs the deepest catalogue in portable power, 12 to 15 models across DELTA Pro, DELTA 3 and RIVER 3, plus panels and smart home panels. That matters here for one reason: the expansion batteries that make the RIVER 3 PLUS growable are part of that catalogue rather than an accessory afterthought.
Support
US-based phone/email/chat support (1-800-368-8604). Experiences are polarized — many report hassle-free prepaid-label replacements, but others report long waits and refurbished units sent for new claims. Pro tip: buying from Costco or Amazon gives you a stronger return safety net.
Community
Largest community in the space — Reddit r/Ecoflow_community (~31K members), multiple Facebook groups, and an official community forum
App experience
Rated 4.6/5 iOS (~8,400 ratings) · 4.2/5 Android (~17,000 ratings)
Unique strength
Fastest-charging technology (X-Stream), deepest product ecosystem, and most active innovation cadence. At the top of the range sit two whole-home paths: the TITAN line, one 5 kWh unit that grows to 30 kWh, and the DELTA Pro Ultra platform, which stacks batteries and inverters further — flagship paths, not line-wide features.
Worth knowing
EcoFlow offers no parts or service out of warranty, so the 5-year term is the whole of the promise rather than the start of it. The company also tested app subscription paywalls in early 2025 before backlash paused the plan, which is worth knowing if the app is part of why you are buying.
Anker
Ecosystem
7-8 SOLIX portable power stations across C-series (compact) and F-series (flagship), plus the X1 home energy system
Support
US-based support. Historically known for incredible no-hassle replacements, but recent reports describe AI-driven support agents giving generic responses and complex return logistics for heavy units (hazmat shipping). The Anker brand reputation is still strong, but SOLIX-specific support quality is trending down.
Community
Moderate — active Reddit (r/Anker, r/AnkerSOLIXCommunity) and growing. Benefits from Anker's massive consumer electronics brand awareness.
App experience
Rated 4.5/5 iOS (~1,100 ratings) · 4.3/5 Android
Unique strength
Parent brand trust from Anker's consumer electronics dominance. InfiniPower technology for long cycle life. Strong $/Wh value in the mid-size and larger units — the S2000, F2600 and C1000 are among the better buys per watt-hour in the catalog.
Worth knowing
Anker carries real trust from its consumer-electronics side and a history of no-hassle replacements, but SOLIX support quality has been sliding from that standard, and firmware updates have removed features without warning. On a sealed unit with a 3-year term, support is where the brand risk sits.
Analyst note
Buying the RIVER 3 PLUS is partly buying into a catalogue: the outlets, the UPS mode and the expansion path are all things EcoFlow keeps building on. Buying the C300 DC is buying one finished object, which is the cleaner deal in its own way, because you either want a 288Wh DC station or you do not. The brand only re-enters that story if something breaks.
Growth path
RIVER 3 PLUS
EXPANDABLESupports EcoFlow expansion batteries, so you can add capacity later without replacing the base unit — useful if your needs may climb past 286Wh.
Accepts up to 220W of solar. Limited to a single portable panel.
Adequate ports for most setups, but heavy users may want a power strip.
Expansion batteries are EcoFlow-specific. You're investing in the EcoFlow ecosystem.
SOLIX C300 DC
FIXED CAPACITYFixed at 288Wh, with no expansion — so size it for your needs up front rather than planning to add capacity later.
Accepts up to 100W of solar. Limited to a single portable panel.
Adequate ports for most setups, but heavy users may want a power strip.
Realistic full solar rechargeat 70% of rated panel output — see methodology
Analyst note
Don't read the RIVER 3 PLUS's expandability as a straight win here: it starts at 286Wh, below the SOLIX C300 DC's 288Wh, so a first expansion battery largely buys back capacity the SOLIX C300 DC already includes. It only pulls ahead if you'd grow past 288Wh — short of that, the SOLIX C300 DC's larger fixed capacity is the simpler value.
What Owners Report
Patterns from published owner reports and long-term reviews — every claim cited to its source below.
EcoFlow RIVER 3 PLUS
The field record on the RIVER 3 PLUS is review coverage rather than long-term ownershipA0, and it is consistent on three things: the expandability, the quiet and the carry. Sub-30dB operation gets called genuinely remarkable, quieter than a libraryA2, which lines up with the 30dB EcoFlow publishes for the RIVER series as a maximum under load rather than a best-case floor. At 10.4 lbs it is described as highly portable and as a small unit that will briefly run a coffee maker, microwave or space heater on X-BoostA3. Briefly is the operative word at 243Wh usable.
The 3,000-cycle LFP pack is put at roughly ten years of everyday use before capacity drops to 80%A4, and both the 600W inverter and the 220W solar input are double the base RIVER 3'sA1. Nothing in the ledger reports a failure or a firmware regression. Nothing in it is two years old either.
“286Wh base, expandable to 572Wh (EB300) or 858Wh (EB600), with a genuine 600W inverter (1,200W X-Boost) and 220W solar input — twice the inverter and solar of the base RIVER 3.”
Sources
ecoflow.com · bestgeneratorsolar.com · thepowerpick.com · storagereview.com · phonearena.com · greenreviewshub.com
Anker SOLIX C300 DC
The C300 DC's record is thinner and mostly reviewer-sourced, with one entry drawn from owner reviews behind itB0B3. What it says is that the trade works: owners praise the portability and find 288Wh enough to refill a phone and a laptop several times over, run a fan for hours, or power a small light setupB3. The design is described as deliberately dropping the AC inverter to stay near 6.2 lbsB1, and as being for travellers charging devices rather than running appliancesB4.
Two details from the ledger are worth checking against your own gear. The two-way USB-C that refills the unit to 80% in about an hour, and a 12V car socket alongside the 2 USB-A and 4 USB-CB2. Our spec record leaves the 12V field blank rather than recording a zero, so treat that socket as reported and not confirmed. If a 12V cord is how your CPAP or your cooler would connect, verify it on the box before you buy.
“A 288Wh unit that ditches the heavy AC inverter to focus on DC power, keeping it very light at about 6.2 lbs.”
Sources
the-gadgeteer.com · forbes.com · androidpolice.com · batteryessence.com · bestbuy.com · campingsolar.us
Sources & Research Notes
Every owner claim in this report is traceable to a published source. The bracketed references above resolve here.
Recurring owner themes
- Expandable capacity, doubled inverter and solar over the base RIVER 3, remarkable sub-30dB quiet, and light weight are the praise. [RIVER 3 PLUS · 3 entries]
- Light DC-only design (no AC inverter), fast USB-C charging, and good port selection for device charging are the highlights. [SOLIX C300 DC · 3 entries]
- A1
“286Wh base, expandable to 572Wh (EB300) or 858Wh (EB600), with a genuine 600W inverter (1,200W X-Boost) and 220W solar input — twice the inverter and solar of the base RIVER 3.”
ecoflow.com / bestgeneratorsolar.com — RIVER 3 Plus review · 2026 · [positive]
- A2
“Sub-30dB operation is genuinely remarkable — quieter than a library and than most refrigerators.”
thepowerpick.com — RIVER 3 Plus review · 2026 · [positive]
- A3
“Weighs about 10.4 lbs and is highly portable; a small-format station that grows with you, able to briefly run a coffee maker, microwave, or space heater.”
storagereview.com / phonearena.com — RIVER 3 Plus review · 2026 · [positive]
- A4
“LiFePO4 rated for 3,000 charge cycles — around 10 years of everyday use before capacity drops to 80%.”
greenreviewshub.com / bestgeneratorsolar.com — RIVER 3 Plus review · 2026 · [positive]
- B1
“A 288Wh unit that ditches the heavy AC inverter to focus on DC power, keeping it very light at about 6.2 lbs.”
the-gadgeteer.com / forbes.com — SOLIX C300 DC review · 2026 · [positive]
- B2
“Offers 2 USB-A and 4 USB-C ports plus a 12V car socket; two-way USB-C with PD 3.1 recharges the unit to 80% in about 1 hour.”
androidpolice.com / batteryessence.com — SOLIX C300 DC review · 2026 · [positive]
- B3
“Owners praise its portability and capacity — enough to charge a phone and laptop several times, run a fan for hours, or power a small light setup.”
bestbuy.com owner reviews — SOLIX C300 DC / C300X · 2026 · [positive]
- B4
“A DC-focused design with app integration and solar support — best for modern travelers charging devices, not running AC appliances.”
androidpolice.com / campingsolar.us — SOLIX C300 DC review · 2026 · [mixed]
Research compiled September 19, 2026.
What Owners Actually Report
Drawn from 30 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 3 PLUS
50 claims from 22 comments · 44 from owners · 14 with figures
- UPS switchover
- 7 · 48% negative
- Price & value
- 4 · 0% negative
- App & firmware
- 7 · 54% negative
- Inverter & surge
- 4 · 43% negative
- Expandability
- 3 · 0% negative
What owners complain about
River 3 Plus overloaded with error 502 on a hotpot drawing only 345W of its 600W rating.
Inverter & surgemeasuredowner9 agreedsource →
Testing gave only 85-87% of the rated 286Wh through AC before the unit hit 0%.
Runtimemeasuredownersource →
AC outputs kept shutting off, dropping from hours to every 15 minutes.
UPS switchovermeasuredownersource →
What owners praise
10ms cutover means his modem, router and computer never blip.
UPS switchovermeasuredowner34 agreedsource →
Bought it for $219 at Costco plus a $58 100W folding panel.
Price & valuemeasuredowner43 agreedsource →
With X-Boost on, the same 600W hotpot runs and boils water, so the feature has a real use case.
Othermeasuredowner9 agreedsource →
Anker SOLIX C300 DC
12 claims from 8 comments · 10 from owners · 5 with figures
- Solar input
- 4 · 100% negative
- Runtime
- 2 · 0% negative
- Charging
- 2 · 39% negative
- Other
- 1 · 0% negative
- Size & weight
- 1 · 0% negative
What owners complain about
28V input ceiling blocks a 25.6V LiFePO4 bank, which can reach 29.2V fully charged.
Solar inputmeasuredowner4 agreedsource →
Says the C300 DC has no pass-through charging and just cycles between 98% and 100%.
Charging7 agreedsource →
DC5521 plugs with poor tolerances have heated up at 5A; wishes it used XT60 throughout.
Build qualityownersource →
What owners praise
BiPAP with heated hose and humidifier at 80% used 47% of the 288Wh pack over 5 hours of sleep.
Runtimemeasuredowner5 agreedsource →
Can be charged over USB-C at up to 140W, which he thinks is fantastic.
Chargingmeasuredownersource →
His favorite unit: small, transportable, very efficient on 12V and charges well off solar.
Otherownersource →
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 3 PLUS if you…
- →You own one thing with a wall plug and you know which thing it is: a CPAP with a wall brick, a small TV for the tailgate, a laptop with a barrel charger. Three outlets and a 600W inverter is the entire reason to be on this side of the page.
- →You want something sitting between the wall and the router. The UPS mode is rated no worse than 10ms, a ceiling rather than a measured result, but the C300 DC lists no such mode at all.
- →Your refill is a panel. 220W against 100W for the same size pack cuts about three hours of strong sun down to about an hour and a half.
- →You might grow. An EB300 takes the RIVER 3 PLUS to 572WhA1 and the Anker has no path past 288Wh.
Buy the SOLIX C300 DC if you…
- →Your kit is USB-C end to end: phone, laptop, camera batteries, a headlamp. Four USB-C ports with two at 140W is a better bench than one at 100W, and you will never miss outlets you were not going to use.
- →You carry it on your back. 6.17 lbs against 10.4 lbs is the difference between packing a unit and planning around one.
- →You top up indoors. About an hour to 80% over USB-CB2 means the station is full before you have finished unpacking.
If neither fits
Anyone shopping for an outage, and anyone furnishing a van. Both units land near 243Wh usable, while the eight-hour blackout profile with a fridge and a router in it asks 1,645Wh, close to six times what either holds, and the van-life profile asks 4,685Wh. If that is the job, you are shopping in the wrong size class and no amount of port counting fixes it. Come back to this page for the day pack, not the house.
The Bottom Line
Take the RIVER 3 PLUS. Not because it is the better battery, since the two are two watt-hours apart and both rated for at least 3,000 cycles, but because it is the one whose mistake is survivable. Get it wrong and you have carried 4.2 lbs you did not need. Get the other one wrong and you own a 288Wh battery that cannot reach the thing you bought it for.
The exception is real though, and it deserves the last word: if you can look in your bag and see nothing but USB-C, the C300 DC is the better tool and the cheaper one, and four ports to one is not a small difference at the end of a day when three devices are dead. Everyone else, and everyone who is not sure yet, wants the outlets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers drawn from the spec record and cited owner research.
Can the Anker SOLIX C300 DC run a CPAP machine?
Not if your CPAP plugs into a wall. The C300 DC has no AC outlets, so a wall-plug machine has nothing to connect to. Some CPAPs ship a 12V DC cord and a ledger entry describes a 12V car socket on the unit, but our spec record leaves that field blank, so confirm the port and the cord before you count on it. Either way, neither unit covers a full night here: the profile asks 320Wh and both land about 75Wh short, roughly three-quarters of the way to morning.
Will the EcoFlow RIVER 3 PLUS run a refrigerator?
It will start one. The blackout profile's 150W peak has 1,200W of surge sitting over it, so startup is not the problem. Duration is: 243Wh usable against the 1,645Wh that profile asks for leaves it 1,402Wh short. Treat it as a bridge for a fridge, not a night of one.
Which one is better for charging a laptop and camera batteries?
The C300 DC, clearly. Four USB-C ports against one, two of them at 140W where the RIVER 3 PLUS's single USB-C tops out at 100W, and 6.17 lbs against 10.4 lbs to carry. It is also the cheaper of the two by $59. The RIVER 3 PLUS will do the same job with fewer ports and a bag you notice.
Is the RIVER 3 PLUS expansion battery worth it?
Only if you would go past 288Wh. The base unit holds 286Wh, so the first battery buys headroom rather than catching the Anker: an EB300 takes it to 572Wh, an EB600 further. Above a single night's use that is the only route on this page, since the C300 DC is sealed. Below it you are paying for an option you will never exercise.
Which is quieter, the RIVER 3 PLUS or the SOLIX C300 DC?
Only one of them has a published figure, so the honest answer is that you cannot compare them on paper. EcoFlow lists 30dB for the RIVER 3 PLUS, and on the RIVER series that number is a maximum reached at high charge or discharge rather than a quiet-mode floor, so light loads sit under it; reviewers call sub-30dB operation remarkable. Anker publishes nothing for the C300 DC, which is missing data and not evidence of noise.
Where to buy
EcoFlow RIVER 3 PLUSPick
$299.00
$299.00 · direct from EcoFlow
Last checked 16 days ago. Prices move — check before you buy.
Anker SOLIX C300 DC
Sold on Amazon · today’s price is on the listing
Prices may vary by retailer and are subject to change.