Growatt Vita 550 – small power station for on the go

2023-07-11 13:34:00

Power box in practice Growatt Vita 550 – small power station for on the go

The Growatt Vita 550 is elegant and unobtrusive.

© stern

The Vita 550 is handy, small and has long-lasting batteries. Boxes with around 550 watt hours of storage are too weak for craftsmen, but they are suitable companions for leisure.

Growatt is in with a box, the Infinity 1500, a few months ago entered the market in Germany. Now the range is being expanded – we have chosen the “small” Vita 550. The range of power boxes is growing, and the market is correspondingly confusing. Even if the name “Growatt” means little to the layman, the company is not a newcomer. Growatt has long been active in the energy sector in the field of solar inverters and storage. 500 engineers work in development. Power boxes and solar bags are a relatively new business field. Interesting for customers who prefer to buy from a real, large company. The Infinity 1500 was convincing right from the start and did not have to hide from the top dogs in the segment.

Special requirements

Die Vita 550 is a much smaller device than the Infinity 1500. Its capacity is 538 watt hours, 230 volt devices can be operated with 600 watts, 1000 watts are also possible via boost. These small boxes are not all-rounders like the boxes in the 1500 or 2000 watt class, into which you can plug (almost) all 230 volt devices and which also have enough memory to run these consumers for a while. Smaller boxes like the Vita 550 are only suitable for specific applications. But that doesn’t mean they are worse. The lower performance is offset by the advantages of the smaller format, the lower price and the lower weight. The Vita 550 weighs 8.16 kilograms, a box from the 2000 class around 24 kilograms. So it’s much more mobile. The power supply is easily sufficient for a laptop, smartphone, LED lights and radio. You can also recharge the batteries of a drone with it. The Vita 550 is certainly not enough for a hammer drill. Accordingly, Growatt also advertises with an angler who does not want to do without electricity when fishing.

Power boxes Growatt Infinity 1500 – high-end station of autonomous power supply

01.03.2023

The box is a cuboid with gently rounded corners. The handle is recessed in the upper part and does not protrude. It is 31 centimeters long, 21 centimeters deep and 20.5 centimeters high – all values ​​​​measured. The processing is top – as with most boxes. The Vita is gray and anthracite. In addition to the rubber feet, there is another rubber insert on the top as slip protection. The box is splash-proof, but you shouldn’t leave it out in the rain because of the ventilation slots alone.

Top processing

We liked that the connections were only distributed on two sides. The display and outputs are at the front, the inputs are behind a flap on the right-hand side. The box can be pushed into a corner to save space. That doesn’t sound so important, in practice, boxes that also have connections at the back and need the appropriate distance there are annoying. Another special feature is the integrated headlight.

The weight of 8.16 kilograms is convincing, also because the Vita 550 uses the heavy but long-lasting LiFePO4 batteries. It should take 3,000 full cycles for the box to reach 80 percent of its capacity. For a hobby device, this can be translated as “forever”.

The Vita 550 offers two 230 volt sockets for connections. The car output with 12 volts, two DC 5521 sockets, two USB-A, one USB-A fast charging (18 watts) and a powerful USB-C output with 100 watts – the whole set. It is charged with 230 volts or an XT60 input. It takes up to 240 watts, from solar or from the vehicle connection. It also accepts 24 volts for car plugs. With such a small box, the charging times are always short, with the 230 volt socket it takes 1.6 hours, with solar 2.5 hours until the box is full.

Uninterruptible power supply

In addition to the long-lasting battery cells, the box has another feature that is rather unusual. It can be used for an uninterruptible power supply. Then 230 volts go in and the box usually just passes the mains current through it. But if there is a power failure in the network, the box kicks in. Given the size of the box, you cannot secure huge consumers, but you can operate the pumps in the aquarium in this way. The box can be controlled with an app, but you don’t have to install the app.

As described above, every buyer needs to know whether such a box fits their needs. We liked the compact design, the small box is handy and easy to carry and store. The material is high-quality, it looks robust and is still comfortable to hold. The connections are more than sufficient. A powerful USB-C output is a must these days. We also liked that the automotive cord can draw 240 watts from a 24 volt system. But this is only an advantage if you move a truck, cars work with 12 volt systems. The Vita 550 moves on a level with the River 2 Max from EcoFlow, after all the technical top dog in this segment. The values ​​of the two boxes differ in the details, but these differences should hardly have any effect in practice.

The official price of the Vita is 599 Euro, one should pay attention to discount and coupon campaigns. Established brands and newcomers will fight hard for market shares in 2023. Accordingly, aggressive discounts are piling up. Unfortunately, boxes of this size do not fall under the devices that are exempt from sales tax.

On the Growatt page the box will be offered at the market launch with a discount of 50 euros.

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