Christophe Delpuech has been here from the very start, in 2011, and it is an understatement to say he knows the portable power market inside out. In charge of purchasing and sales, he is the first link in the chain: he decides which products make it into the catalogue and which never will. Needless to say, his opinion carries weight, and a manufacturer does not easily sell him a marketing pitch.
His method is known to the whole team: every charger, portable power station or generator he considers listing goes through a punishing test, pushed to the limit of its capabilities. Repeated charges, borderline power draws, behavior once the battery is warm, real accuracy of the advertised watts: Christophe looks for the gap between the spec sheet and reality, because that is always where the nasty surprises hide. With more than 75 product tests to his name, he has developed a rare instinct for spotting, within minutes, a device that will not live up to its promises.
His favorite line, repeated to the brands' sales reps, sums up the spirit of the house rather well: we don't want your best-seller, we want your best product. It is his buyer's choices, demanding and sometimes unpopular with suppliers, that guarantee the coherence of the catalogue and the trust of readers. The same filter applies on Au Frais, where he steers the selection of portable and fixed air conditioners as well as air purifiers with the same uncompromising eye.
Married and a father of two, Christophe recharges his own batteries out in nature: a tireless hiker, especially attached to the Gorges du Tarn, where he often tests in real conditions the runtime of a power station or a cool box during long family outings. A fairly logical way, for him, to check that a product holds up far from any power socket.
A pure storage module for the SolarFlow 2400 AC hub, with no solar input of its own: 2880 Wh per unit, stackable to 17.28 kWh, but tied to a hub Zendure has already replaced in its active lineup with an incompatible module.
Published on September 8, 2026 by Christophe
Rather than bolting on yet another inverter, the Hoymiles HiBattery 1920 AC plugs in behind whichever one is already installed on the balcony, regardless of brand, and stores only the surplus. Its 11.52 kWh expansion ceiling and simple setup rank among the best in the segment, but the unit is entirely useless without a compatible inverter already in place.
Published on September 8, 2026 by Christophe
The Genius2X2 charges and maintains two batteries at once, each on its own 2A circuit, in a housing lighter than the Genius5 despite doing the work of two chargers. Its IP60 rating, with no water protection at all, sits awkwardly next to the boat and RV use cases the manufacturer highlights for it.
Published on September 8, 2026 by Christophe
An inverter generator that genuinely delivers 1600 W continuous (2000 W for two minutes) at a contained price, but whose official sound power level of 91.6 dB(A) largely contradicts the ultra-quiet image suggested by its own marketing.
Published on September 7, 2026 by Christophe
The Genius10 doubles the Genius5's current and climbs to 230Ah, with a genuine charge profile per chemistry, lead-acid and lithium alike. Its fixed 10A output, with no lower step, turns into a poor match for a small motorcycle battery.
Published on September 7, 2026 by Christophe
10000mAh, 37Wh on the box, but a real-world return that drops to 68-76% over an extended trip in the mountains: the Sunslice Gravity 10 delivers on part of its capacity promise, not all of it. Its simultaneous triple port at 18W, built-in LED torch and Fusion Flex solar ecosystem set it clearly apart from its direct rivals, but its charging speed looks dated against the 2026 market.
Published on September 7, 2026 by Christophe
A rugged petrol generator that genuinely delivers its 2600 W continuous rating, but whose guaranteed sound power level of 96 dB(A) means choosing the right setting matters.
Published on September 7, 2026 by Christophe
The Battery Tender Plus keeps a simple promise, set by the manufacturer itself: recharge a lead-acid battery, then hold it there without ever overcharging it, backed by a 10-year warranty unmatched in its category. Its real-world availability, though, varies sharply once you step outside North America.
Published on September 7, 2026 by Christophe
Under its 150 g carbon fibre shell, this 10,000 mAh power bank delivers 32 Wh in real use, but the 20 W and 18 W of its two ports drop to 15 W as soon as both are used at the same time.
Published on September 7, 2026 by Christophe
Out of its cell's 18.5 Wh, Varta's own documentation declares a usable output capacity of 14.8 Wh, and the technical datasheet caps the USB-C port at 12 W, well below the up to 15 W headline used on the packaging.
Published on September 7, 2026 by Christophe
Efficiency that settles at 83% under heavy load, peak power held beyond its own promise, and a record expansion up to 10752Wh, but a fan that's clearly audible past 1000W and a manufacturer page that gets its own expansion battery wrong.
Published on September 6, 2026 by Christophe
2048Wh of LiFePO4 expandable to 8192Wh and mains charging that beats its own 90-minute claim, but a 75% efficiency figure and overheating under sustained 2400W loads that set this model apart from the rest of the Pecron range.
Published on September 6, 2026 by Christophe
Updated on July 29, 2026
