Undoubtedly, Cyber Power Systems Inc, also known as CyberPower, is one of the most renowned brand names in IT power management products. The company was founded back in 1997 and has been exclusively focused on the development and marketing of IT-related power products ever since. Naturally, UPS systems are the company’s primary focus, but the company also produces other power-related equipment, such as power distribution units, solar-power inverters, or even mobile accessories, with availability varying by region. In fact, CyberPower is quite unique in that respect: due to its large size, CyberPower is one of the very few companies that have a true international presence, with similar power products available across the globe.

In today’s review, we are looking at one of CyberPower’s most popular consumer UPS systems, the VP1600ELCD 1600VA (EU). A similar version of the UPS is also available in the US with a 1500VA power rating (CP1500AVRLCD) and, obviously, different power outlets. This particular design by CyberPower is very popular globally due to its very high power rating coupled with its low retail price – a price that even competes with imported products of questionable quality. How does it perform though? We will soon find out.  

We should note that the AC conversion circuitry of UPS platforms differs depending on the region in order to cope with the different voltage and frequency, therefore there always are slight power differences between otherwise similar platforms depending on the input voltage, with the 120V versions usually being 5-10% less powerful.

The CyberPower ValuePro VP1600ELCD 1600 VA UPS

The CyberPower ValuePro VP1600ELCD UPS comes in a simple cardboard box, with thick packaging foam pieces protecting the rather heavy unit.

Inside, we only find the necessary AC power and USB cables, as well as a basic quick-start guide. There is no extensive manual or media with the software, which has to be downloaded online.

The CyberPower ValuePro VP1600ELCD is a rather typical tower-style UPS with an LCD screen at the front. It measures only 355 mm deep, 100 mm wide, and 281 mm tall (14 in × 3.9 in × 11 in), making it an extremely compact unit for that high of a power output. Less powerful models of the same series are shorter, with the least powerful being just 227 mm (8.9 in) tall. An LCD screen covers nearly half of the unit’s faceplate.

Once turned on, the LCD screen will display a summary of the unit’s load and battery capacity, as well as the estimated runtime with the current load and battery status. It stays off most of the time and the user needs to press the display button momentarily in order to turn it on. Pressing the display button again cycles through more information, such as the input/output voltage and frequency, the load in VA and Watts, and the exact charge of the battery.

At the rear side of this particular model, we found five power plugs. Four are for battery backup and one is for surge protection only. As we are testing the EU version, the plugs are Schuko (EU) plugs. Similar versions of the same unit are available with nearly all regional plugs and CyberPower also retails two versions (120V and 230V) with IEC plugs. The US version of the unit has a total of twelve available plugs (six connected to the battery, six just for surge protection).

This particular design offers two host data connectivity options: USB and Serial. Although a serial port is redundant for any home user nowadays, it still remains a necessary option for legacy systems or proprietary equipment that does not have a modern PC at its core. There is also a non-destructive circuit breaker and an Ethernet surge protection path (input-output plugs). An experienced eye will notice that something is missing and that is a cooling fan. Despite the considerable power output of the UPS and it having a fully functional AVR (automatic voltage regulation) mode, CyberPower designed this unit to rely on passive cooling alone.

The front fascia needs to be removed in order to access the battery compartment. It is held by two screws at the bottom side of the unit and can be easily pulled off when these are removed. Once removed, the user can see the two batteries of the unit, one horizontally at the bottom and one vertically secured above it. The plastic retainer must be removed in order to remove the top battery. If the batteries need to be replaced, the yellow wire must be transferred to the other set of batteries.

We found two Leoch 12V 9Ah batteries in the unit, connected in series (24V 9Ah output). Leoch is a Chinese battery manufacturer that is among the largest on the planet, and whose products are typically considered to be of fairly good quality. Their batteries are commonly found in consumer-grade UPS units.

Splitting open the UPS, we can see a massive transformer secured at the bottom of the plastic body. The circuitry board is attached to the top. There is no cooling fan and only a few vents allow for natural air circulation – this design is clearly not meant to be overtasked. The sizable transformer should be capable of handling a few minutes of heavy load but it would be a grave mistake to modify the batteries in order to increase the autonomy of this UPS.

The power circuitry is simplistic and greatly outdated by today’s power electronic standards. The relays are supplied by Golden Relays, a reputable manufacturer. The capacitors are a mix of Su’Scon and Jamicon, well-established companies whose products are considered just above mediocre.  

Eight CS3205 B8 MOSFETs generate the output when the unit switches to its batteries, creating a fundamental inversion circuitry. These particular transistors are not old but are designed to be cheap and relatively reliable, with mediocre performance characteristics.

Testing

The basic electrical figures of the CyberPower ValuePro VP1600ELCD 1600 VA UPS are quite good – unexpectedly so, in fact. The transfer times are exceptional, with the unit requiring less than 4 ms to switch while fully loaded. The RMS voltage and frequency output look to be extremely close to the expected 230V/50Hz output. There are minor frequency variations but these are exceptionally small.

Our load testing reveals that CyberPower’s running charts are quite accurate. The runtime is well over two hours with a load of 50 Watts, a little over 10 minutes with a load of 500 Watts, and slightly less than 2 minutes with the UPS fully loaded. In theory, the UPS can hold a lightly loaded typical PC for over than half an hour. These times are great considering the UPS also lacks any active cooling. These figures are achieved with the batteries fully charged while they are still brand new.

Battery Output Waveform - 5% load

The CyberPower ValuePro VP1600ELCD 1600 VA is a unit with a “modified sine wave” output. What that means is that the output will not be close to the standard sine wave that we receive from grid, but an approximation of it. This approximation typically is a ladder wave with a few steps. The better the circuitry design, the more the steps, thus the better the approximation to a true sine wave output. Depending on the manufacturer and cost of the product, designers will make the corresponding effort to simulate a true sine wave as much as possible.

As expected from a UPS at this price point and with such a high power output, the output quality while on battery backup is quite poor. It does not even resemble a sinewave – it is but a two-step square wave that ultimately produces a 230 V RMS output. There is a momentary peak at the front of the second step, which is extremely high but also very short. The peak-to-peak voltage of this waveform is over 1000 V due to these peaks but they are too short to cause any kind of damage.

 
Battery Output Waveform - 50% load (left) / 100% load (right)

As is the case with such designs, the circuitry of the CyberPower ValuePro VP1600ELCD 1600 VA adjusts the timing of the MOSFETS to maintain a stable output. The output waveform shifts greatly as the load increases but it basically always remains a two-step square wave. The RMS voltage value of the output always remains stable at 230V.

Battery Output Waveform - 20% load, 3 second period

One undesirable effect we noticed regarding the output of the CyberPower ValuePro VP1600ELCD 1600 VA is that the output is not perfectly stable over time. Every 1.5 second or so, the output voltage is slightly boosted, reaching up to nearly 1200V peak-to-peak for less than 100ms. It does not really affect the RMS output of the unit over time but the instability of the timing circuitry on a brand-new unit is peculiar.

Once turned off, there is no voltage on any of the outputs of the UPS. The parasitic power draw of the UPS when the batteries are charged is extremely small, at less than 1.5 Watts when the LCD is also turned off.

The Software

CyberPower supplies the PowerPanel Personal software package for free. It is a simple but functional software package that can adjust the basic functions of the UPS and logs its events. Note that the Personal version of the software is PC-based and will only record events locally. For example, if installed on a new computer, the number of events will be zero regardless of how much time the UPS has previously been in use. Those that would like to keep track of events across multiple systems and/or after system upgrades, CyberPower offers paid cloud-based solutions.

The software performs quite well for event recording - as long as the system is powered on. It records the number and the length of all electrical faults and also monitors the AVR. It also calculates and displays the energy consumption of the UPS and its connected devices across a user-defined time period. Users may also enter their region and the kWh price for the UPS to calculate the monetary cost and estimated CO2 emissions of the energy used.

Weekly timing schedules can also be programmed into the UPS, allowing the powering of equipment only for a certain time period every day. This option can be an effective energy-saving measure for workspaces and areas where the connected equipment is supposed to operate only within a certain range of hours every week.

The software supports local notifications of faults, but it can also be set to send an email on major events. Users can also disable the audible alarms of the UPS itself – a handy feature for homes, especially shared and/or family homes. Finally, users can adjust the AVR threshold limits. It is worthwhile to mention that the narrowest limits are greater than ±25% of the expected 230V output, so this is not a device that can help regulate the voltages going in to very sensitive equipment.

Conclusion

CyberPower has a very wide range of products, all meant for different needs. The ValuePro VP1600ELCD 1600 VA UPS (or CP1500AVRLCD for the 120V markets) is an effort by CyberPower to provide a very cost-effective but powerful solution for homes and small businesses.

In terms of quality, the CyberPower ValuePro VP1600ELCD 1600 VA is better than what we would expect from a product of this price range. The design is simplistic and greatly outdated, but the components used are of above-average quality, ensuring long-term reliability. However, its AC output while running on batteries is very poor and will greatly stress modern electronics, generating harmful harmonics in the process. Modern equipment has measures against this and will tolerate it for short periods of time but prolonged/frequent use would not be a good idea.

One very important characteristic of this UPS is its cooling, or, to be percise, the lack of it. It is a very rare sight for a UPS with this kind of power output, even more so for models that feature an AVR. The side effect of this design choice is that CyberPower’s engineers, rightfully, had to broaden the limits where AVR kicks in by a lot. This it to prevent AVR from interfering unless it absolutely has to, otherwise the unit would overheat. It can handle the stock battery runtime but does heat up a lot if needed to run on batteries for more than a few minutes. This means that the UPS is essentially running at the upper limit of its design capabilities; building the unit with a higher capacity battery (or upgrading/expanding the stock battery) is all but impossible, as anything more would lead to the transformer heating up so much that it would literally melt through the plastic body.

Otherwise, given the lack of a fan, the UPS will always be completely quiet while powered by an AC outlet, and only a subtle humming noise will be audible while it is running on battery power (aside from its alarm beeper of course if it is not disabled). The humming noise is due to the electromechanical vibrations of the transformer, which are caused by the very poor AC waveform generated by the inverter. If theoretically this unit could generate a true sinewave output, it would always be completely inaudible.

On paper, everything about this UPS series seems positive. It has a peak power output of nearly 1000 Watts, it is completely silent, the AVR does not require switching to battery power, the battery runtime is fair, it comes from an established manufacturer, and retails for less than €199/$185. However, there are practical limitations. The power output, while it is running on batteries, is poor and definitely not good for sensitive electronics and devices. That, combined with the lack of any active cooling, immediately suggests that this UPS is meant to combat the occasional electrical fault and short brownouts. For home and office users in areas where the electrical grid is generally stable, it is an exceptionally cost-effective choice. Just keep in mind that it is not a product designed for areas where electrical faults are frequent and significant, or where very sensitive/critical equipment needs to be protected.