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What are the best UPS (uninterruptible power supply) units under or around $100?

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The Best 1 of 5 OptionsWhy?

5 Options ConsideredPriceSurge protection (surge suppression)UPS topology
Excellent
APC BE425M
180 JStandby
APC BX850M
1103 JLine Interactive
APC BGE70
120 JStandby
APC BGE50ML
340 JStandby
Tripp-Lite AVR750U
420 JLine Interactive
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Excellent

APC BE425M

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Andris Pelcbergs
Francisco
Bryan
Top Pro

Great value for low-powered desktops

•••
This is an extremelly money-efficient UPS for desktop computers with relatively low power requirements. A single workstation up to 225W can be protected for just under $50, which is great if you’re planning to buy a set of UPS systems for several computers.
Francisco
Top Pro

Provides enough backup power time to save all data and properly shutdown your system

•••
It has enough battery capacity to let you use a 225W system for approximately six minutes after a power outage. This should give you enough time to save your data and appropriately shut down the machine, preventing a potential loss of hours of work.
Francisco
Top Pro

In case of UPS failure, APC refunds your loses

•••
APC has a lifetime $75,000 equipment protection policy, meaning the company guarantees to refund your equipment should their UPS fail to protect it.
Francisco
Top Pro

Protects your system from short voltage surges

•••
This UPS provides enough protection for short voltage surges, absorbing 180 Joules of energy before failing permanently. It can deal with pretty much all standard network voltage surges, although it’s not intended to be used in environments with consistently bad voltage supply.
Francisco
Bryan
Top Pro

Adequate output power for common, low-power systems

•••
This UPS is rated at 225W, which may seem insufficient at first. However, a business desktop computer requires only about 150W of power to run. Adding a common 24W monitor would result in a total of approximately 174W of power consumption, leaving you with a safety margin of 50W.
Francisco
Top Con

Incapable of running demanding systems

•••
The APC BE425M’s low power rating makes it unsuitable for high-power systems, including pretty much any gaming machine. This UPS is for advanced users who carefully measure their system’s total power output to maximize cost efficiency.
Francisco
Top Con

It outputs a square wave, which decreases power efficiency and can lead to premature failure

•••
This UPS produces a square wave output, and not a simulated sine wave. Feeding square waves to computer's PSU usually results in loss power efficiency and, in some cases, can lead to premature failure. Nevertheless, the majority of PSUs available on the market can tolerate square waves. Make su...
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4 Other Options Considered

APC BX850M

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Francisco
Top Pro

Can be controlled via a computer

•••
It can be plugged to a computer via USB and, this way, controlled or configured via the operating system. Users can do operations like schedule an automatic shutdown.
Francisco
Top Pro

Easy to monitor

•••
The BX850M has an LCD display for quick stat monitoring. It gives out info such as current voltage, battery time remaining or load.
Francisco
Top Pro

Batteries are easy to replace

•••
If there's ever a need to replace this unit's battery, a replacement battery is quite easy to find online. As for the replacement operation itself, it's very simple and requires virtually no technical knowledge: you just need to remove the battery cover, take out the battery, unplug the...
Francisco
Top Pro

Good for domestic or small office workstations

•••
This unit's 510 W power and surge protection up to 1103 J make it a good option for protecting most home electronic equipment and even some office-level devices, if they are not too demanding.
Francisco
Top Con

Not all outlets have power backup

•••
Despite having a total of 8 outlets, all with surge protection, only 4 of them have power backup.
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APC BGE70

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Francisco
Top Pro

Extremely long battery life

•••
This UPS will supply power for a 75W system for approximately 22 minutes, during an electrical outage. In the common use scenario where this unit is used to provide backup power to a standard20W network router, it can power it for as much as 90 minutes.
Francisco
Top Pro

Light and compact design makes it easy to place neat networking equipment

•••
This UPS is quite small both in terms of size and weight, making it easy to place near your networking equipment. It also has side wall mounts that can be handy, since most networking equipment tend to be mounted on walls.
Bryan
Francisco
Top Pro

Decent surge protection

•••
With a surge energy rating of 120 Joules, it adequately protects networking equipment during a short power surge. This unit is not designed to be exposed to continuous and frequent brownouts and voltage spikes, but will be fine with the occasional voltage spikes/brownouts.
Francisco
Top Con

Insufficient power for uses other than protecting network equipment

•••
This UPS is rated at 75W, which is enough for networking equipment, but insufficient for even a basic desktop computer. The APC BGE70 will easily supply plenty of power to a Wi-Fi router and still have room for a 24-port gigabit switch or any other low-power networking equipment, but not more than...
Francisco
Top Con

No network line protection

•••
Even though the BGE70 is designed for network equipment, it lacks network line protection capabilities. As voltage surges can occur on either power or network lines, you need to use a separate UPS with network line protection if you want to ensure total surge protection.
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APC BGE50ML

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Francisco
Top Pro

Can be used as a mobile power bank

•••
Designed to be an on-the-desk UPS, you can undock the battery pack easily when going on trips, then dock it back for charging once you get home. Keep in mind that taking the battery out of the device will turn the UPS into a simple surge protector, leaving your equipment vulnerable to power outage...
Francisco
Top Pro

Remarkably long on-battery life of 33 minutes at full load

•••
Unlike other UPS units, this one has an unusually long on-battery life of 33.2 minutes at its maximum load. In the event of a blackout, you can still power your modem/router and access the internet for 30 more minutes using other devices like mobile phones and laptops.
Francisco
Top Pro

Quickly charges mobile devices

•••
Its 2.4A USB port is perfect for charging smartphones and tablets with large battery capacities quickly. It also has two additional 1.0A USB slots for charging other devices.
Francisco
Top Con

Very expensive for its features

•••
Costing $89.57, this UPS is quite expensive. For the same price, you can buy a similarly-useful APC BGE70 and a decent USB powerbank and still have money to spare.
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Tripp-Lite AVR750U

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Bryan
Francisco
Top Pro

Affordable automatic voltage regulation solution

•••
In terms of hardware and electrical design, a line-interactive UPS (with automatic voltage regulation) is considerably more expensive than a simple standby UPS (without automatic voltage regulation). For around $88.89, a line-interactive UPS is quite a bargain. Line-interactive topology allows the...
Bryan
Francisco
Top Pro

Great value for money

•••
This UPS combines features such as automated shutdown capabilities, automatic voltage regulation and network line protection in an affordable $88.89 450W UPS. At 5.06 Watts/USD, it’s also one of the most efficient solutions with this feature set.
Francisco
Top Pro

Provides protection from surges via network lines

•••
This UPS supports data line protection. This way, the connected systems are protected from power surges that can potentially come from those connections.
Francisco
Top Pro

Supports automatically saving data and shutting down

•••
If your computer is running on this unit's battery and it's almost empty, the automated shutdown function enables all data to be saved and for the system to shut itself down.
Francisco
Top Con

Lack of an interface hinders control and monitoring

•••
The unit only has a basic ON/OFF switch and two LED indicators. While it might be seen as a cost-cutting measure, even a simple LCD interface would have greatly increased the functionality of the UPS.
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30 Community Recommendations

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