APC UPS 1500VA UPS Battery Backup and Surge Protector, BX1500M Backup Battery Power Supply, AVR, Dataline Protection

Overall good UPS. I have purchased several of the same models. I use them for my computers and also my home theater system (amp, TV, PS5, subwoofer), and other electronics. However, all my APC units have the same defect in the self-testing mode or during a power outage at the house. Although, the defect during self-test is infrequent. Sometimes during self-test, unexpectedly the unit's alarm starts making a racket. I look at the display panel icon which indicates the battery is completely depleted. The first time this happened, I turned off everything connected to the UPS because I thought it would suddenly cut the power to them because the UPS thinks the battery was dead. The same issue could happen if there is a power outage at my house and the UPS switches to the battery power. After, I unplugged the UPS from the wall and cycled the power button off and on, the mysterious "problem" with the "failed" battery was self-corrected. The battery icon then showed it was fully charged: it had gone from full discharge to fully charged in an instant! Now that I know about this defect, when the alarm goes off and the panel indicates the battery is dead: I mute the alarm and leave my equipment on that is connected to the UPS. (There is no a power outage at my house.) It is a false alarm. In about 24 hours, the UPS mysteriously corrects itself and behaves normally. I can disconnect it from the wall socket and my stuff works fine and the battery level shows that it is fully charged but of course starts to show the remaining time left to depletion. UPDATE: June 2026 All of my APC UPS units have stopped functioning properly after about five years of use. I tested each one by swapping batteries, and the results showed either weak batteries or failure in the UPS hardware itself. For the APC units that still appear to operate, I chose not to purchase new OEM batteries. Instead, I invested in the GOLDENMATE 1000VA/800W Lithium UPS Battery Backup and Surge Protector, and it has proven to be a clear improvement over the older sealed lead‑acid APC models. When I pull the power plug from the wall mains to simulate a power outage, the GOLDENMATE provides noticeably longer runtime and keeps my equipment powered flawlessly. The APC units—when they were still functioning correctly—could do the same, but for a shorter period. The GOLDENMATE is also roughly half the weight of the APC SLA‑based units, which makes handling and placement easier. I hope this modern Lithium Iron Phosphate battery pack UPS will last longer and be less trouble‑prone than the APC brand.

UPDATE: After talking more with customer support, they sent a replacement unit which has none of the problems my first one did. I still need a bit of gaffer tape to cover up the lights from the buttons, but other than that, it's perfect. APC customer support was helpful and communicated clearly. The original review follows: I STRONGLY recommend you get the gift wrapping instead of going with standard shipping in the original box that shows what is inside. The unit is about half the size of a PC tower and is it ever heavy. I'm impressed with the packaging being minimal, recyclable, and yet sturdy. The battery was easy to take out and turn around the right way to get the unit working. The sockets on the back are pretty close together and I'm only able to fit three plugs in the five sockets (computer equipment tends to have big plugs). When the unit is on, the screen turns off with inactivity, but the three buttons remain illuminated. When the power went out, I couldn't figure out how to turn off the screen and it remained on using up a small amount of battery. I had some issues with the unit, but the manufacturer is quick to respond (4 min from my first question) and worked me through some troubleshooting. I've been using this brand for years and I'm always impressed with their service. But this brings us to the parts I don't like about it. I live in a semi-rual part of Canada, and our island has more trees per km of electrical line than anywhere else in North America - or so the power company tells us every storm season. 6 months of the year is storm season and I felt it would be nice to have something to protect my PC better than a regular surge protector. I had hoped the battery backup would even out the electrical current but it doesn't. Even at high sensitivity, the light plugged into the battery backup still flickers when the neighbour is welding or using heavy equipment. It also makes some noise that most people probably wouldn't hear but are obvious if I'm trying to sleep in the same room as the machine. If I turn the unit off at night, it thunks when clicking back and forth to the battery backup due to inconsistent power from the mains... even though it is turned off, my computer is getting a flash of power when the unit makes this switch. I've given up keeping it off and used some black gaffer tape on the glowing buttons. On the whole, I feel this isn't what I expected. I got it with the idea that it would even out the issues with my local power supply quality - but these same issues seem to bother the UPS just as much as they bother the computer and lights. What it does best is to be a battery backup and I'm glad I got the larger size because if the storm is strong enough to knock the power out for more than a few days, it's too cloudy to use my solar panel to charge my gadgets. This will do the trick nicely.

Took a little time to setup as I'm using a smaller one for my Home Lab Network and this one for my daily Computer. Using NUT (Linux), I got both securely on the network and running smoothly with full readouts on both. Came already fully charged and ready to go immediately. Works great, no problem with the beeps, solved plug spacing by using small extension connectors. Really great value for the money and solid security against power outages and fluctuations. Smaller in size than you would think too but plenty powerful! Update: In my area storm outages are a pretty common occurrence, hence this became a true necessity not merely a convenience. Since purchasing it, setting it up and running live, we've had two outages for a short period of time (each) and last night quite a few blips (power fluctuations that didn't cut anything off). My network stayed up throughout it all perfectly (I run it 24/7/365), I was actually on my computer (only run as needed) when the second incident happened and it performed to 100% satisfaction. Lights went out, my computer and network both stayed running through it and I remained connected to internet also. That was the real-world test I needed. I'm a simple home user with a pretty good setup because I rely on it for daily use and learning. As a 40+ year computer user and enthusiast I stayed with APC because of their reputation, quality and reliability as well as my experience with their products. I bought my first APC back in mid 1990's and it was equally as functional and reliable even back then. For me it's tried and true. This (recently) was my first journey into building and running a full Home Lab setup so I chose to spend a little extra money to insure it's reliability and it's already paid off. It's very satisfying that I know when I walk out the door I can come home to a guaranteed working complete system everyday. I know when I push the computer's power button I WILL be on the net!

The APC-UPS is for me an absolute necessity to protect my Apple MacPro workstation, Apple 22 inch monitor, colour printer, film scanner and internet cable modem from power surges, brownouts from low hydro voltage and even sudden or intermittent power failures. This unit will protect your valuable electronic gear from sudden voltage swings and from electrical storms too. UPS stands for Uninterrupted Power Supply... and that's what it does - powers your gear when the local hydro fails. Example: Here in Montreal, we have had 4 power failures in 2023, one a mini ice storm with no power for 64 hours. The APC-UPS allowed me to continue working on my computer, write posts on twitter and even make phone calls with the modem wifi connection. Depending upon the power draw of your equipment, the built in battery pack will last from 20 to 30 minutes! So if you're working on a project, writing an email or using Photoshop, you can save your files and safely close down everything, without a single loss of any files. The flip from local hydro power to your battery backup is instantaneous, so fast that my computer did not detect the sudden local power loss, though I noticed because all my lights went out! The audiovisual industry and corporate IT departments use these same APC-UPS units to protect their gear. This is the second APC-UPS I have owned. I retired the first one purchased in 2007 after 15 years of use, because the replacement battery was 75% of the cost of buying a new one! This newest unit uses the latest technology and bonus - comes with a 3 year warranty. The massive and heavy internal sealed battery typically lasts from 3 to 5 years. At least that was my experience with my first APC-UPS. The second battery lasted 7 years! My newest APS-UPS has run flawlessly since November 2022 even though, as I said, there have been four power failures. I highly recommend this product. Cheers! Frederic in Montréal.

I’m happy I didn’t pay much attention to other reviews of this product. I’ve owned several APC BackUPS devices over the years. Once, I was persuaded to buy another brand (Cyber), but it turned out to be a disaster; the manufacturer even refunded my money without asking for return of the product. This time, I did my homework thoroughly. I researched this product and others carefully to make the best decision I could possiblye make. So many reviews on Amazon made me doubt their accuracy and veracity that I started to wonder if they were written by someone trying to sell something else. I noticed a lot of complaints about the noise (like a 2840Hz buzz and constant clicking of relays). So, I decided to buy this item mainly because of my past experience with APC (Schneider Electric). In short, this UPS is my silent hero. It just sits there on my desk doing exactly what it’s supposed to do, and it’s completely silent and doesn’t make any false noises. It even passed the test of two power outages (unplugged for a few minutes) by providing perfect power to all connected devices and smoothly and quietly returning to full operation when the power was restored. I’m not trying to sell anything. I don’t need the aggravation. I’m just an 82 yo man who retired well and believes in being honest. This product has every feature that I need and none that I don't. It is an excellent value. I like it well enough that I am going to purchase a unit for each of my two grandchildren in college.