Is The Ryobi 800-Watt Power Inverter Any Good?

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Taking power off-grid can be a challenging proposition. There are all kinds of ways to power your campsite with electricity, with batteries, power banks, solar panels, and generators, if you’re preparing for a big trip. These types of tools and tech are also useful to keep on hand during a power outage, but some of them can be quite expensive. They aren’t the only options available, though. Power inverters are useful tools that can take the electricity from your existing batteries and convert it into AC power that you can use for your other devices.

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Ryobi currently sells an 800-Watt Power Inverter that promises to do just that. This device is able to convert the power from a 12V car adapter, a car battery, or even Ryobi’s own 18V batteries into a stable flow of AC electricity that can be used straight from the inverter. Though it’s worth noting that the inverter is only able to produce 800 watts when using a car battery as its source, the 12V adapter and 18V battery produce 120 watts and 300 watts, respectively. Even so, this tool has caught the eye of several fans of the brand.

But you might want a bit more information about exactly how good this inverter actually is before heading to your local Home Depot to pick one up for yourself. One of the best ways to determine the quality of any product is to start by taking a look at its listed specifications and then seeing what the device’s owners have had to say about it. That way, you can get a better idea of how useful it actually is and what you can expect from its real-world performance.

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Let’s start by taking a look at the device itself. The Ryobi 800-Watt Power Inverter is not one of the company’s pure sine wave inverters, but it is able to take power from a 12V car port, a 12V car battery, or an 18V Ryobi One+ battery and convert it into a stable current. Ryobi states that this can be used to, “Power or charge multiple devices and small appliances such as phones and laptops using the 12V car adaptor (up to 120 watts of output), fans and lights using an 18V ONE+ lithium battery (up to 300 watts of output) and even TVs and slow cookers using a car battery (up to 800 watts of output). Charge a phone up to 6 times or even run a 32″ TV for up to 2 hours with just (1) 18V ONE+ 4Ah lithium battery.” This makes it a useful device for camping, tailgating, or simply being able to power basic devices from the comfort of your car.

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The inverter has two standard USB Type-A ports, one USB Type-C port, two 120V AC outlets, and one 12V car power port for plugging in devices that you wish to power. This gives the user a reasonable amount of flexibility in terms of the number and type of electronics that they wish to plug in. The kit also includes alligator clamps for connecting it to a car battery, a 12V car adapter, and mounting brackets for those who want to make it a permanent fixture in their vehicle.

Getting a handle on the promised specifications is important, but it’s also good to take a look at what the people who have already bought the product have to say about it. The Ryobi 800-Watt Power Inverter has an aggregate score of 4.8 out of 5 on Ryobi’s own website, 4.4 out of 5 on Amazon, and 4.4 out of 5 on Home Depot, with 91% of customers stating that they would recommend it. The inverter was regularly praised for its basic functionality, its overall build quality, and its compactness, though there were a few reviewers who seemed disappointed when they realized that they could only get 300 watts of output from Ryobi’s batteries and that they would need to hook the inverter up to a car to get the full 800.

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“I just got this 800-watt inverter and I’ve been playing around with it to see what it will power and for how long,” said one reviewer. “I’m really happy with it. The AC power can run an oscillating fan if need be. The passthrough DC USB ports can keep my phone and tablet topped up in an emergency. And if I need more wattage I can hook it up to my car battery or a deep cycle for more run time and extra wattage!”

“I thought that I would use it mostly on long car trips to power my laptop, but since I can use a Ryobi ONE+ battery to power it I have found multiple uses for it,” said another. “I find that it is great to power a work light or a soldering iron especially when working in an electrical/wiring closet or other construction site before power is run to the building.”

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