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UPS units

DIGITUS DN-170075, line-interactive at 1500 VA and 900 W, with a runtime tied to a load in watts vs APC Back-UPS BE850G2-GR, 850 VA with no watt figure anywhere on the page

Can you size a load against a page that publishes only volt-amperes?

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One of these pages answers the question a UPS purchase turns on, and the other does not. The DIGITUS DN-170075 publishes 1500 VA and 900 W as separate quantities, names its topology and its classification, and quotes 36 minutes at a stated 120 W load. The APC Back-UPS BE850G2-GR publishes 850 VA and no figure in watts at all, on a listing of one bullet.

DIGITUS DN-170075 line-interactive uninterruptible power supply with four Schuko sockets

DIGITUS DN-170075, line-interactive at 1500 VA and 900 W, with a runtime tied to a load in watts

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≈ £215 / 160 €

APC Back-UPS BE850G2-GR 850 VA uninterruptible power supply with eight Schuko sockets

APC Back-UPS BE850G2-GR, 850 VA with no watt figure anywhere on the page

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≈ 110 €

Line by line

Compared on DN-170075, line-interactive at 1500 VA and 900 W, with a runtime tied to a load in watts Back-UPS BE850G2-GR, 850 VA with no watt figure anywhere on the page
Topology Line-interactive, with automatic voltage regulation stepping a low or high supply through a transformer instead of calling on the battery Not published — neither how the load is fed nor what happens the instant the mains stops; no arrangement is read here from the name of the range
Stated classification Class 2 – VI, naming a voltage-independent arrangement under the standard covering these units Not published — no code appears, and no topology for such a code to describe
VA rating 1500 VA 850 VA — apparent power, and the only power figure on the page
Watt rating 900 W, published as its own quantity and not folded into the rating beside it Not published — the 850 VA is apparent power and is not a substitute for it
Stated runtime at a named load Up to 36 minutes at a 120 W load, the time and the load in the same sentence Not published — neither a time nor a load, so there is nothing to attach a figure to
Output waveform Not published — nine bullets and none says whether the output on battery is a sine wave or a stepped approximation Not published
Socket count Four Eight, counted as a single group
Socket type Schuko, given as CEE 7/7; which of the four stay live on battery is not said Schuko, with surge protection mentioned; how many of the eight carry the battery is not stated
Battery type Not published — protections are named, the voltage, capacity, count and chemistry are not Not published — no voltage, no amp-hour figure, no chemistry
Battery replaceability Not published — the batteries are described as built in and nothing says whether the pack is reached by the owner Not published
Communication port USB Type-B and RS232, cables in the box, with software for Windows, Linux and macOS that shuts a machine down and sends an alert Not published — USB Type-C and Type-A charging ports are named, which deliver power rather than carrying the state of the unit to a computer

A tick means one listing published something the other did not, or published a better figure. It does not mean the product is better, and the column is not a score out of anything: a maker who says less loses lines here without losing a comparison. The two verdicts below are where the page is settled.

Which one, for whom

Buy the DIGITUS DN-170075, line-interactive at 1500 VA and 900 W, with a runtime tied to a load in watts

The DN-170075 is the best documented power unit on this shelf and it is not close. It publishes both ratings and keeps them apart, names its topology and its classification code, and quotes a runtime against a load in watts — which makes it the only runtime here anyone can check against real equipment. It gives up the socket count, four against eight, and says nothing about its waveform or its battery.

Buy the APC Back-UPS BE850G2-GR, 850 VA with no watt figure anywhere on the page

The BE850G2-GR has eight Schuko sockets and one bullet. There is no figure in watts anywhere on the page, which means the number a load is actually sized against is missing; 850 VA is apparent power and does not stand in for it. The USB sockets it names charge a phone, they do not tell a computer to shut down. If eight outlets is the requirement, it meets it; nothing else on the page can be planned around.

The questions that come up before an order

Can I work out the watts from 850 VA?

Not from this page. The relationship between volt-amperes and watts depends on the power factor of the unit, which this listing does not publish. Makers that state both print both, as the DIGITUS page does with 1500 VA and 900 W. Applying a rule of thumb here would put a number on the site that the maker never published, and this site does not do that.

Why does the runtime row matter so much?

Because a runtime with no load attached to it cannot be used. Thirty-six minutes at 120 W tells you what a small server or a router and a modem will get. A backup time quoted with no load named tells you nothing you can plan a shutdown around, and a page with neither tells you less still.

The full reviews

  • UPS units

    DIGITUS DN-170075, line-interactive at 1500 VA and 900 W, with a runtime tied to a load in watts

    1500 VA · 900 W · line-interactive, class 2 – VI · 36 minutes at a 120 W load · transfer of 2 to 6 ms · 4 Schuko CEE 7/7 sockets · USB Type-B and RS232 · waveform and battery not published

    The one listing of the eight to quote its runtime against a load in watts, and the one to publish a classification code beside its topology, on a page that then says nothing about its waveform or its battery.

    Best for: A small rack or a desk running a machine and a monitor, where a runtime at a stated load and a serial port count for more than a published waveform.

    ≈ £215 / 160 €

    Check price on Amazon Read the review
  • UPS units

    APC Back-UPS BE850G2-GR, 850 VA with no watt figure anywhere on the page

    850 VA · no watt rating published · 8 Schuko sockets · surge protection named · USB Type-C and Type-A charging ports · topology, waveform, runtime and battery not published

    An eight-hundred-and-fifty volt-ampere unit with eight sockets and a single bullet, whose page carries no watt figure, no runtime, no waveform and no description of the battery.

    Best for: A desk with a great many plugs, bought by someone who will ask for the watt rating and the runtime chart before anything is connected behind it.

    ≈ 110 €

    Check price on Amazon Read the review

Every price named in a summary was read on the date that review carries. What a shop asks today is shown beside the product, and it moves.