Lithium batteries have taken over the world, and rightly so; they bring a number of benefits to the power storage game!
As such, over the last few years, the battery market has become veritably saturated with the LiFePO4 blueprint.
A few brands have started to rise above the others in the crowd and are starting to gain strong followings.
One such brand is Power Queen with their 100 Ah battery, an affordable alternative to the often extortionate up-market LiFePO4 offerings.
Sounds great, right? But we’ve all been stung before by cheap batteries, so should you trust Power Queen, or is it best to save a bit longer and choose something with a higher price tag?
Well, that’s exactly what I wanted to find out, so I picked the 100 Ah Power Queen battery up and put it through its paces. Read on and all shall be revealed.
Power Queen Lithium (LiFePO4) 100 Ah Battery At A Glance
The Power Queen 100 Ah LiFePO4 battery is an affordable option for those looking for reliable lithium power on a budget.
It’s also relatively portable, making it a shoo-in for boating/fishing adventures, RV rambling, or simply keeping your smartphone juiced.
Power Queen LiFePo4 100 Ah Battery: Pros & Cons
No time to check out my full review? Here’s the abridged version.
REVIEW
Power Queen LiFePo4 100 Ah Battery
Pros
- Performs to advertised output spec (and then some)
- Very reasonable price tag
- Durable enclosure (likely water-resistant)
- Top-notch build quality
- Short circuit, overcharge, undercharge, and overheat protection works wonderfully
- 10-year shelf life
- 4000+ cycle life
- Prismatic cells to boost lifespan and durability
- Relatively portable
Cons
- No cold charge protection
Where Can I Purchase The Power Queen Lithium Battery?
Buyer’s Guide
Output & Capacity
I picked up the 12.8 V, 100 Ah Power Queen, but this battery design is available in a bunch of different outputs, so if you like what you hear in this review but need something larger or smaller, you can get it.
So, what does “12.8 V, 100 Ah” actually mean in terms of kilowatt hours?
Those familiar with the conversion equation will already know it works out to 1.28 kWh, which is great for the price… if the battery performs:
As soon as the Queen arrived at my doorstep, I had my tester ready to have a peek at the output, just to make sure the battery was up to scratch before I took things any further.
It managed to pull 101 Ah right off the bat, so I was very happy indeed.
Power Queen advertises a 1280 Wh capacity for this battery, and thus for, I have no reason to dispute that. It really does perform to spec!
Shelf Life & Cycle Life
With a 10-year shelf life, you can get a heck of a lot of use out of this lithium unit, but there’s a cap of 4000 charge cycles, so if you use it all the time, you’ll no doubt see a slightly reduced lifespan.
10 years is pretty typical for a LiFePO4 battery, but 4K cycles is never a given, so Power Queen picks up points on this front.
Charging
I clocked in a full recharge at little over 5 hours, which is pretty much exactly what Power Queen claims is attainable with their 100 Ah LiFePO4 battery.
Compared to a couple of other comparable batteries I own, this is remarkably quick.
The fast-charge technology genuinely makes a difference, so if you use batteries often, the Power Queen design can eliminate downtime and save you some precious hours.
Cell Technology
If you go snooping under the hood of this battery, you’ll eventually reach four prismatic cells, which may seem inconsequential, but this cell technology could well be the reason that Power Queen were able to produce such a reliable battery at such a low price point.
Prismatic cells have a few benefits over their cylindrical counterparts. They have a longer service life, they’re far more stable, and they’re cheaper to produce!
Portability
One of the things that drew me to this battery is its portability. Granted, it’s not as suited to adventure as some of the solar power stations from Bluetti and Goal Zero, but the folks over at Power Queen haven’t neglected the portability factor either.
Weighing only 24.25 lbs, it’s not in any way a burden to pack or transport, even by hand, as it actually has an incredibly robust carrying handle.
Just a strip of strong plastic, it’s not the comfiest handle in the world, but a lot of equivalent batteries from competitors don’t have any handles at all.
Thermals & Weather
Before you consider this lithium battery, you should know that it doesn’t have cold-charging protection.
If you plan on charging it in sub-zero conditions, you’ll need to find a way to warm the battery up first, or keep it warm to begin with.
On the other hand, it does provide protection at the other end of the thermal spectrum.
An internal gauge keeps tabs on running temperature and acts as a kill switch if things get out of hand during discharge.
To put this component to the test, I popped the top, initiated discharge, located the gauge/kill switch, and heated it with my heat gun.
After roughly 10 seconds of heat, the kill switch kicked in and shut operation down, so no issues there.
It’s also worth noting that I had a really hard time getting the lid off the battery due to the high-strength silicone used to seal it.
There was so much of the stuff, I’d guess that this battery’s internals may be a little water-resistant (but not waterproof).
Build Quality (What’s Under The Hood?)
As I continued my review of the Queen, I first encountered firm foam padding strips glued to some rigid sheets that formed a box around the prismatic cells.
The sheets themselves were held together with a strong tape.
The foam packed out the unit nicely, and made it so there was no give in the enclosure for rattling around — everything was firmly in place!
Removing the outer sheeting, I reached even more foam strips filling out the gap between the cells and the outer sheets.
Again, everything was secure, with no give for rattling or shifting.
All the balance leads were screwed firmly down and covered with silicone to ensure they couldn’t pull backwards and away from the unit — Awesome… but I wasn’t satisfied yet.
Next, I wanted to check the short circuit protection, as the BMS is inarguably the most critical safety facility of any battery. If it doesn’t work… bye-bye battery!
Thankfully, as soon as I hit it with the voltage, sparks flew, and the output cut to zero, ensuring the safety of the battery, so it was another win for Power Queen.
Durability
It’s not like I’m going to be throwing this thing around for the sake of this review, but as far as I can tell, it’s about as robust as batteries come, especially at this price point.
The enclosure is solid as a rock, and as I said earlier, the lid was sealed tight with tons of silicone, and all the sensitive parts were packed with foam, eliminating rattle and providing a significant amount of impact protection.
The use of the more robust prismatic cell technology also bolsters the resilience of this Power Queen unit.
Combine the physical strength of this battery with the excellent failsafe protocols, and you’ve got a product that won’t cop out when things get a little turbulent on your boat, in your RV, in your garage, or wherever you choose to use it.
Compatibility
100 Ah is a good start, but if you’ve got some more intensive power storage tasks in mind, you’re almost certainly going to need a lot more muscle, but not to worry, as Power Queen batteries can be chained in series or parallel (4s/4p).
This means you can stay inside the Power Queen ecosystem and expand your power bank as and when you need to, but there is a ceiling output of 400 Ah. Of course, once you reach that point, you could simply start assembling a second battery bank.
The Final Verdict
Despite the reasonable price tag, the Power Queen 10Ah lithium battery is one of the most impressive I’ve seen in terms of build quality and reliability, so I’m more than happy to recommend it to anyone interested in a spot of portable power.
The absence of cold weather charge protection is an obvious drawback, so if you live in a particularly cold climate and you’re planning on taking your battery out and about, perhaps this isn’t the one for you.
I’d also like a cozier handle, but I’m just over the moon it came with one at all; besides, I’ve made a few additions to the handle to pad it out a bit, and now it’s comfortable as can be.
All in all, I’m really happy with the Power Queen, and I’m pretty certain you will be too!
I Give the Power Queen 12.8V, 100 Ah Lithium Battery 4.6/5
