The CAME-TV Dual Battery Charger, Power Inverter & Power Strip is not only an inverter, capable of converting one or two 14.4V V-mount batteries into AC output, but it also features multiple interfaces for easy connection to different devices. Additionally, it serves as an efficient battery charger, capable of simultaneously charging two V-mount batteries. Even without batteries, it can be used as a power strip.
The Dual Battery Charger & Power Inverter & Power Strip is the follow-up to the CAME-TV Pure Sine Wave Power Station with Dual Battery Charging that I reviewed back in mid-2022.
Devices like these can come in very handy and power solutions are often not appreciated or given enough attention because they aren’t as exciting as cameras or lenses. Having what is essentially a dual V-mount battery charger with a host of other powering features makes a ton of sense if you are traveling.
So what’s new?
CAME-TV Dual Battery Charger, Power Inverter & Power Strip 
Original CAME-TV Power Station
Appearance wise it doesn’t look any different from the original. Below you can see what has been changed and/or improved:
- The USB-C output is now 65W
- The power adapter is now integrated inside the unit, so it now just comes with a cable and not a separate power adapter
- When plugged into an AC outlet, it can output without having V-mount batteries attached
Overview
The Dual Battery Charger, Power Inverter & Power Strip features a variety of output options.
There are also two AC sockets that can take any AC power connector type in the world. This means you can use it to not only charge batteries but also to power lights, wireless video transmitters, monitors, etc. This is very handy if, for instance, you have lights that can’t be run via a battery, but can be run via mains power. You can simply use V-lock batteries to power the light remotely.
Above you can see all of the available inputs, outputs and features. I would have preferred to have seen more USB-C outputs rather than regular USB-A outputs as far more devices these days use USB-C.
On location, you could plug the Dual Battery Charger, Power Inverter & Power Strip into a mains outlet and charge your V-lock batteries as well as your laptop, phone, drone batteries, etc.
There is a small storage compartment at the bottom of the Power Charger. You could use this to keep charging cables, etc.
You need to be aware that the total load power is not more than 220W regardless of the batteries that you use. By using higher capacity batteries you will provide longer run times, but the output the inverter can provide will not increase.
Charging batteries
To charge V-lock batteries you use the dedicated 16.9V, 4A charger and connect it to the DC/IN interface. If you press the screen button once, it will display the current battery capacity status.
The attached batteries will begin charging automatically and the screen will display the charging status. Now, as it is a 4A charger you will only get 2A (in the real world it is actually slightly lower than this) on each channel when charging two batteries at once. Even if you are just charging a single battery you are limited to 2A. This does mean that the charging isn’t particularly fast.
You can charge most V-lock batteries using the device.
When you are charging batteries the unit makes a ton of noise. There is nothing worse than having a battery charger in a hotel room when you are trying to sleep that has noisy fans. The fan noise is certainly this product’s Achilles heel. I will talk more about this further down in the review.
Using the Power Inverter
Once you have one or two batteries attached you can use the Power Station as a power inverter. If you press the display screen button once the current battery capacity information and output interface information with be displayed.
I like that the power station’s AC outputs can use any power plug in the world. This is handy because you may have devices that have different power plugs on the end of them.
You can press the USB/DC switch button once and the 4x USB interface and the 2x DC interface will then be enabled to output power. To turn them off you press the USB/DC switch button again.
The DC 12V 3A interface and the two D-tap outputs work independently and you don’t need to turn the USB/DC on for them to work.
AC Inputs On 
AC Inputs Off
If you press the AC switch button once, the 2x AC sockets will then be able to output power. The output voltage will be displayed on the screen. To turn the AC outputs off, you simply press the AC switch button once more.
Something that the new version of CAME-TV power station can’t do, that the old one could, is to be able to change the AC inverter from 110V to 220V, or vice versa. With the new version, you are limited to purchasing either a 110V version or a 220V version. The reason CAME-TV made this change is because of safety reasons. On the previous version, CAME-TV discovered that some customers forgot to switch back from 220V to 110V and ended up causing damage to the device
Not being able to switch between 220V and 110V is not ideal if you are traveling between different countries that have different power systems.
Optimal performance is achieved with two fully charged batteries. Uneven voltages may cause the inverter to prioritize the higher-voltage battery while waiting for the other to reach a sufficient level for simultaneous operation. Each inverter side features 9A current protection to safeguard battery health.
Exceeding 9A on either side will automatically trigger the automatic protection feature and will disable the output. To reset, you simply power off the unit, remove any batteries and devices plugged in, and restart the Power Station.
Fan Noise
When I tried using the AC outputs, unlike the previous version where the unit remained silent for quite a while before the fans kicked in, on the new version, the fans came on straight away and stayed on.
This is the same case if you are charging the batteries or using the USB-C output.
Above you can see how noisy the fans are. I have shot this around 50cm from the front of the power station.
The reason the fan noise is louder is because CAME-TV has now integrated the power supply, instead of using an external one. By doing this you generate more heat and the fan needs to have a higher rotation speed to ensure the heat dissipation is done correctly. According to CAME-TV they selected the best silent fans on the market, but in order to ensure heat dissipation, they must have a high rotation speed. This means that the noise is louder than before.
What are the maximum AC & DC Output Configurations?
This can be a little tricky to remember so I have listed the maximum output based on whether you are using an AC input or not and whether you have batteries attached.
If you have two V-mount batteries attached the maximum output you can get is 220W AC or 180W DC. If you want to use AC and DC at the same time the maximum output combined is limited to 220W.
If you have two batteries attached and an AC input you can output 220W AC and 180W DC at the same time.
Build Quality
The build quality of the CAME-TV Dual Battery Charger, Power Inverter & Power Strip is ok, but I did find that there was a section at the bottom that didn’t line up correctly.
It weighs around 1.4 kg / 3.08 lbs.
I like the carry handle and that it has integrated feet so you can place it down on the ground.
Real World Use
I liked using the Power Station and it came in handy for a lot of situations, especially if you travel a lot.
The ability to charge or power lights remotely in the field or charge up devices in a moving vehicle between locations is something that shouldn’t be overlooked.
From 2x V-lock batteries, I was able to power my laptop, run an Odyssey 7Q+, charge my iPhone, charge two Sony NP-F batteries, and charge 4x AA batteries without any issues at all.
As another test, I was also simultaneously able to charge and run 2x Nanlite PavoTube II 30X tube lights.
I wanted to also check the claimed maximum output of 220W, so I hooked up a Godox AT200BI KNOWLED Air Bi-Color LED Tube Light (4′) to see if it would work. This light draws 210W. Now, The light did turn on, but then it turned off after about 5 seconds. Now, here is the issue, if you have two V-lock batteries attached regardless of their capacity, the voltage difference between those two batteries needs to be within 0.1V otherwise you can’t get the max. output. I then did the same test again using two fully charged batteries that were the exact same capacity and model, in this case, the CAME-TV 99Wh batteries. I was able to power the Godox light at 100% output. However, I tried to do the same exact test with two bebob 150Wh batteries that were both fully charged and I couldn’t get it to work.
The reason why some batteries may or may not work is that some brands of batteries have set protocols, and you can only use their own protocols, and in some cases, only their chargers. CAME-TV recommends using 99Wh or higher-capacity batteries. Something to be aware of though, is that smaller batteries can have lower current protection thresholds, increasing the risk of overcharging or overcharging. The CAME-TV Mini99c has a max output of 168W, while with some other 99Wh batteries the max output cannot exceed 99W.
The other bug that I found is that if I hot-swapped in a higher capacity battery than the one I was previously using, the display would show that the battery was attached, but it wouldn’t show me the remaining capacity, it would just show 0%.
If I turned the device off and then on again I was able to see the capacity of the battery.
I like that you can put any sized V-lock battery on the power station. I was running it with a SWIT PB-C420S 420Wh battery and in an emergency or other situation where you don’t have access to mains power you can power devices for long periods of time.
I love the integrated flashlight and in emergency situations, you could also use the Power Station to charge your laptop or phone as long as you have some V-lock batteries.
As I mentioned earlier in the review, the fan noise is way too loud for my liking. When charging batteries or using the AC or USB-C outputs it is super loud. You wouldn’t want to have it anywhere near where you were recording audio and you wouldn’t want to be charging batteries at night in a hotel room as you wouldn’t be able to sleep.
I make it a habit of always carrying a reasonably long extension cable with me so I don’t need to place chargers or powering devices too close to where audio is being recorded for this very reason.
It is a reasonably nice jack-of-all-trades powering solution that comes in handy, especially when you are traveling. It isn’t perfect, and there can be some quirks with the order in which you turn things on, and the fan noise is way too loud, but for the most part, it is a decent solution.
Price & Availability
The CAME-TV Dual Battery Charger, Power Inverter & Power Strip is now available for $298 USD.
