Power outages always seem to come at the worst times, and can wreak havoc on both productivity and connectivity. And with remote or hybrid work becoming the norm, ensuring you have a stable power supply for your most crucial devices is now a priority. A UPS, or uninterruptible power supply, can be used to power your most important connected electronics during a power outage long enough for you to properly and safely shut them down. UPS's can also help protect your most sensitive electronics from power surges and voltage fluctuations.
In the event of a power outage, a UPS will let you save work on your PC then shut down when the power goes out, or safely turn off your stereo equipment. In some cases you can even use a UPS to keep your home Wi-Fi up and running for hours until power returns. We're taking a look at the best UPS's on the market to keep your devices up and running, and breaking down why you need one and how to pick one.
APC UPS 1000VA Sine Wave UPS Battery Backup
The right amount of power at the right price
The APC UPS 1000VA Sine Wave UPS is the most well-rounded of the bunch. Enough power for most situations and fairly priced for what it provides.
- Enough power to backup work PC
- User replaceable battery
- Clean power with sine wave
- Not enough juice for very high-powered PC rigs
The APC UPS 1000VA Sine Wave UPS is the best match for most household needs. With 600W of peak power this 1000VA line-interactive Sine Wave model can be counted on to provide clean power and emergency back-up power to a number of important household devices. This model can be used to power your home wireless router and modem, which assuming the power outage isn't wide enough to knock out local exchanges or network boxes, should keep your network up and running long enough to let people know what's going on.
The 1000VA is also great for your home entertainment setup, and has enough capacity for you to connect your flat screen TV, and any stereo equipment you may have to your UPS. Not only will this provide enough back-up power to properly shut these systems down in the event of an outage, but it also protects this equipment from power surges or fluctuations in the voltage coming through your outlets.
APC UPS 1500VA Sine Wave UPS Battery Backup
High-powered for your gaming PC
The APC UPS 1500VA Sine Wave UPS is a top of the line battery backup system capable of protecting and powering your gaming PC and setup, all while delivering clean power.
- Provides up to 900W of real power
- 10 outlets
- Expensive model
The 1500VA Sine Wave UPS from APC delivers up to 900W of peak power, enough to power most PC gaming rigs. Even if you're running a really high-end gaming rig on a 1000W power supply, you aren't typically drawing peak power, so you should be able to run your PC and at least one monitor on back-up battery supply long enough to save any work or game progress and then safely shut down. This APC model features ten outlets, of which six are supported by the battery back-up power supply, and all of which feature surge protection. In keeping with its premium design, this model provides a pure sine wave output, ensuring that your PC always receives clean and stable power.
This UPS is also a line-interactive UPS, meaning it's capable of automatically adjusting incoming voltage if it's too high or too low without having to switch to battery power. You'll also find two USB ports right on the front of the tower, one USB-C and one USB type A. This APC unit has a replaceable battery if consumers wish to do so themselves. According to APC their batteries last between three and five years depending on use and condition.
CyberPower PR3000LCD
Tons of power at a premium price
For your home server rack, super high-end editing or rendering PC rig, or priceless stereo setup, the CyberPower PR3000LCD is a top of the line UPS.
- Tons of power for every occassion
- Enough battery to backup lower power devices for hours
- Quite expensive
The CyberPower PR3000LCD is about as powerful as a tower style, plug-and-play, UPS can get. Delivering a whopping 3000VA or 2700W of peak power, the PR3000LCD is designed for some seriously high-end or high-powered setups. This could be a five figure gaming or editing PC rig, a five or six figure Hi-Fi stereo and vinyl setup, or crucial home medical equipment. Wherever you place the CyberPower PR3000LCD you'll need to have an electrician install a dedicated L5-30P plug and a dedicated breaker for the outlet that can handle at least 30 amps of continuous draw.
This is an ultra premium option to keep your lower powered devices running for hours or give your highest powered devices enough battery backup to safely shut down and save any work.
CyberPower EC850LCD
Enough power to stay connected
The CyberPower EC850LCD measures in at 510W of peak power and carries on board enough juice to keep your home wireless network up and running in the event of an outage.
- 12 outlets, six with battery backup
- LCD screen displaying battery capacity and current voltage
- Not enough power for large high-powered devices
The CyberPower EC850LCD is an affordable way to provide backup battery power to all the most essential devices in your home. At 850VA with 510W of power the CyberPowerEC850LCD can handle powering your wireless router and modem as well as most basic home office PC setups.
This level of peak power would allow you to save your work and safely shut down your PC, then once your PC is off the CyberPower UPS could continue powering your wireless network from quite some time until power is restored. The price point of this UPS backup also makes it an attractive option.
Amazon Basics Standby UPS 400VA
Cover the bare essentials
Amazon Basics offers its own UPS at 400VA with 255W of power, which is enough to cover those absolute essentials.
- Great price
- Six outlets
- Outlets are close together
- Only enough power for one or two essential devices
The Amazon Basics Standby UPS 400VA provides just enough power for some low-power essential services, such as keeping your home's Wi-Fi network up and running in the event of a power outage. The Amazon Basics UPS is a standby UPS, meaning that when the power is on, power is simply being passed straight from the outlet through to your devices with the battery backup only kicking on in the event of a power outage.
Should you find yourself on battery backup with this model, it's important to note that this UPS does not use pure sine wave, but rather a simulated sine wave when powering your devices via the battery backup. This is perfectly fine for all but the most sensitive electronics devices.
What is the best battery backup UPS? The bottom line:
For the great majority of consumers who care about their electronics, particularly the work from home crowd, the APC UPS 1000VA Sine Wave UPS is the best overall option. As a line-interactive UPS delivering sine wave power, this model serves to protect your most sensitive electronics while delivering enough peak power for most applications.
If your needs are less work related and the downsides of losing power are less dire, you may still want a smaller and more basic UPS to at least keep your home wireless network up and running in the event of a power outage. Budget friendly choices like the Amazon Basics UPS or the CyberPower EC850LCD would be a good choice for those consumers.
Uninterruptible power supply's come in a great variety of battery capacities and total power output, addressing a wide variety of needs. At the high-end of the spectrum a model like the APC UPS 1500VA fits the bill for protecting and backing up those top-shelf electronic devices with clean sine wave power.
APC UPS 1000VA Sine Wave UPS Battery Backup
Do I need a UPS?
While a wide spectrum of consumers could benefit from an uninterruptible power supply in their homes, there are some circumstances under which it's an absolute no-brainer. If you have a high-end gaming PC rig or a Hi-Fi stereo setup that has thousands of dollars in equipment, then it's highly recommended to use a UPS as part of your setup, though you'll need one that can handle that sort of peak power.
You'll also want a UPS if you work from home, as the potential of losing what you're working on could prove a greater cost than the price of a properly powered UPS for your system. Additionally, if your home is known for frequent power outages, power surges, or brownouts, then you'll certainly want a UPS for your most important devices or at least for your home network.
What do the different kind of UPS's mean?
There's a lot of lingo around uninterruptible power supplies, and they mostly refer to how power is delivered to your devices from the UPS. There are basically two power states that your UPS could find itself in, and those are providing power to your devices when the power to your home is on, and powering your devices during a power outage.
There are three basic types of UPS's labeled by how they deliver energy from a powered outlet to your devices. The most basic type is a standby or offline UPS. These UPS are usually the cheapest options and simply pass power from your outlet to your device without doing anything in between. It is standby in the sense that the UPS does not actually perform any function unless the power goes out.
The next kind is a line-interactive UPS, which is capable of adjusting the voltage coming from the outlet in the event of voltage that is too high or too low. This helps provide more stable voltage to your more sensitive devices, though a line-interactive UPS achieves this without using the backup battery.
Finally, there are on-line or double conversion on-line UPS's. These are constantly powering your devices from battery power via the use of an inverter. This allows for zero transition time for energy in the event of a power outage since your devices are already powered via the backup battery. When the power is on, the battery is of course keeping its charge from your powered outlet.
What is sine wave?
Electricity delivered from your home outlets takes the shape of a sine wave, and a UPS with a Sine Wave capable inverter will deliver the same kind of energy to your devices with the same oscillation as comes from your outlets. This type of waveform is compatible with almost all devices but is especially necessary for more sensitive electronics. UPS's that offer pure sine wave are typically top of the line and fall on the more expensive end of the pricing spectrum. More affordable models use what's called modified or stepped sine wave which uses a cheaper inverter to mimic a pure sine wave in a more affordable way. This approximated wave form is good enough for most basic electronics, but isn't what you'd want for your most precious high-end devices.
How did we pick these UPS models?
There are a ton of UPS brands and capacities available on the market, and we selected the best of the best for this guide. APC and CyberPower are two of the most trusted brands in the UPS space, and we selected models from each that cover the most use cases per model. Each of the models we selected have been vetted for solid reviews, reliability, and even personal use among our team.