Growatt VITA 550 vs Allpowers R1500

Side-by-side on the specs that decide it — surge, capacity, runtime and price.

Both models' specs verified against manufacturer listings · Last updated July 29, 2026

The short answer

Growatt VITA 550 costs $300 less. Whether that gap is worth closing depends on what you need to run.

Allpowers R1500 holds 114% more energy (1152Wh vs 538Wh), so it runs the same load proportionally longer.
Allpowers R1500 has 1800W more surge headroom (3000W vs 1200W) — that decides whether a fridge, pump or AC compressor will actually start.
Growatt VITA 550 is 19.9 lb lighter (17.6 lb vs 37.5 lb).
Allpowers R1500 is rated for 3,500 cycles vs 3,000 — meaningful if you cycle it daily.

⚠️ Before you buy

Neither of these will start a sump pump or well pump — both surge below the ~3,400W those motors need. If home backup with pumps is your use case, look at higher-surge models instead of either of these.

Growatt VITA 550

A tidy half-kWh unit with fast charging and a 1,200W surge that lets it start small appliances a 600W rating wouldn't suggest.

Best for: Campers who want fast charging and a bit of surge headroom at half a kWh.

Where it falls short:

538Wh is weekend-scale
3-year warranty

Allpowers R1500

A well-priced 1.1kWh with a real 1,800W output and fast charging, a common budget pick for home backup starter kits.

Best for: First-time backup buyers who want 1,800W output cheap.

Where it falls short:

37.5 lb for 1.1kWh
Not expandable

Spec	Growatt VITA 550	Allpowers R1500
Price	$399	$699
Capacity	538 Wh	1152 Wh
Continuous output	600 W	1800 W
Surge output	1200 W	3000 W
Battery	LiFePO4	LiFePO4
Rated cycles	3,000	3,500
Weight (lighter wins)	17.6 lb	37.5 lb
Max solar	300 W	700 W
Recharge time (faster wins)	1h	1h 20m

Runtime head-to-head

Appliance	Growatt VITA 550	Allpowers R1500
Refrigerator	7.6 hrs	16.3 hrs
Mini fridge	14.5 hrs	31.1 hrs
Chest freezer	5.7 hrs	12.2 hrs
CPAP machine	11.4 hrs	24.5 hrs
Sump pump	❌	❌

Growatt VITA 550
Price → Allpowers R1500
Price →