Best Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) in 2024

If you’ve spent hundreds of dollars on a desktop PC or gaming console, then there’s no doubt that you want to avoid the costs that come with power cuts. Of course, there are also big implications for small businesses or those who have built servers that simply can’t afford sudden power shortages. What we’re getting at here is that for a variety of use cases – whether it be a home PC or something more business-orientated – an uninterruptible power supply can be an incredibly important purchase. 

To put it simply, the sudden loss of power to a PC or home working system can be pretty catastrophic, especially if you’re working on a creative project, complex equations, or even upholding a business. Luckily, in order to prevent that, some great innovator came up with the uninterruptible power supply – a handy little tool that acts as a backup generator when you’re experiencing a power cut or a power shortage. It’s basically a backup battery for when you’re not getting electricity from your mains.

There are many uninterruptible power supply options to choose from on the market, and if you’re a first time buyer, it can be hard to know what to look for. In this article, we’ve boiled down the best of these options to five strong top selections. Whether you’re using a low-power laptop, a console, a high-end gaming PC, or anything in-between, one of our recommendations should suit your budget and your needs. We’ll walk you through each of the main specs listed, and help you make the right selection for you.

Products at a glance

How we picked the best UPS

At PCGuide we know power – yes we keep things switched off when not in use –  and we know how underserved so many technology users are. So we’ve picked the best options for a range of use cases, drawing on our in-depth topic knowledge of both power supplies and PCs in general to separate the chalk from the cheese and outline a selection of top picks from across the board.

You may want to keep your laptop, tablet, or phone charged in an emergency or power-cut, or to keep playing on your console or PC ins a similar situation. As different devices have different power supplies, we’ve opted for a mix of the best UPS options to reflect this. How? By using our own knowledge and personal experience of units, as well as looking at prices and features and their requirement for specific users. So what follows is a considered and varied list of best UPS devices, which should sort you out in a pinch.

Our top picks

If you refuse to settle for anything less than the best, the APC Back-UPS PRO 1500VA is the right uninterruptible power supply for you. Its 1500VA/900W capacity should be more than enough for any modern gaming PC, as well as any monitors, TVs, speakers, or any peripherals you have plugged into it.

In addition to the crazy-high capacity of 900W, you also have stellar build quality and software. As the “Pro” in its name implies, this is a UPS intended for professional use, and it shows in its features and quality. All of the most important features are here: USB interface, great quality, great capacity, and a built-in LCD display to monitor your UPS.

We really only have one downside of note for this unit: its high price. This is the most expensive unit on this list and is the highest-end UPS available to consumers. If you have truly high-end hardware, though, this is worth every penny. What’s an extra ~$170 to protect $1,000+ in hardware?

What users say

As our top pick, it’s no surprise that the APC Back-UPS PRO 1500VA is highly rated on Amazon too, with 78% of users giving it that golden 5 star rating. In particular, users like the value that this UPS offers, as well as its security features and how easy it is to install. One user mentions that they would consider this unit an excellent “all-in-one solution that’s worth every penny” that protects your electronics from under or overvoltage conditions. As we discussed earlier though, some buyers have mentioned that it has a tendency to get a little noisy when it’s charging.

Next up is the APC 650VA Back-UPS unit. The 650VA here translates to 390W, which makes it ideal for full console + TV setups, as well as low-power PC setups.

In terms of PCs, you aren’t likely to be able to use this with budget gaming PCs. Even when their real wattage requirements are lower than the 390W target of this unit, you still face the issue of power supplies with low efficiency. Unless you’ve calculated your max wattage to be 350W or lower and you’ve invested in a 400W PSU with 80+ Gold Certification or better, you probably shouldn’t use this with a budget gaming PC.

Where this UPS will come in handy is as a unit for low-power PCs and consoles. Many prebuilt HTPCs and office PCs, for instance, will have much lower wattages than the 390W target required by this unit. The gaming console with the highest power consumption (the PS4 Pro, at 310 Watts) also leaves generous room for a medium-sized HDTV to share the battery backup on this unit.

What users say

As you can tell from its dimensions, the APC 650VA Back-UPS is a much more compact UPS compared to others: and this is one thing that users on Amazon liked about it in particular. One user states that the unit does what it’s supposed to do “with grace, simplicity, and intelligent design and forethought” – how’s that for a compliment? However, similarly to the unit above, there are quite a few comments that pick up on the noise levels, with one user mentioning that there is an intermittent beeping “which occurs when the device is not connected to a power source”.

This has over twice the total power capacity as the previous entry on this list. With a modern gaming PC, the 815W wattage is far beyond anything the PC should actually consume… so long as your PSU has a respectable power efficiency and isn’t larger than 800W, of course. (For reference: a modern high-end PC with an i7-9700K and RTX 2080 Ti should consume no more than 375 Watts of power before overclocking.)

All the extra wattage here should be suitable for a fully-fledged gaming setup. That means a large TV, speakers, or multi-monitor setup should all be within this UPS system’s capabilities, so long as you aren’t pushing its maximum with your PC by itself. The built-in display will also serve as a great way to measure your power consumption in real-time, so you know for a fact whether or not you’re pushing this UPS too far for its own good.

In terms of battery life and software features, CyberPower offers quality up there with the best in the industry, including APC. Plus, you also have the added benefit of voltage regulation with this unit, which should come in handy in areas with particularly poor or inconsistent power.

The only real downside with a UPS like this one is its high price, but if you truly want to protect your tech investment it’s worth every penny.

What users say

As you can tell from the photos, this unit is pretty easy on the eye (as far as UPS’s go), so it’s no shock that users on Amazon praised the CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD for its appearance: while one user comments that it’s a “nice, small, and compact” unit, another mentions that “a reliable, feature-rich, and well-designed product that provides essential protection for my electronics”. However, that’s not to say that its performance wasn’t complimented either – “its blend of performance, features, and value is unmatched”.

If you’re looking for a computer battery backup, then you’re in luck; we’ve finally reached a UPS good enough for desktop PC usage.

As you may or may not know, most actual PC power consumption is well under 400W, even with high-end components. Modern PCs especially have low power requirements– my own PC at max load shouldn’t ever exceed 310 Watts, for instance. With an 80+ Gold-certified PSU, that means I should be consuming a maximum of ~370W, with a fair 50W remaining for my monitor and peripherals. Not bad, right?

Well… that is a little bad, actually. At least, it is bad if I were to be running my system at max load when my power goes out, since I would be dangerously close to meeting my maximum threshold. My PC is actually pretty old, though– what about a newer gaming PC?

Looking at our gaming PC build, these parts combined should never consume more than 250W. With an 80+ Gold Efficiency PSU, that’s about 300W of maximum power consumption. This leaves roughly 120W of power free for peripherals and a monitor, which is a much safer range to be working within.

You’ll want to calculate the exact power draw of your desktop PC to be sure, but any modern midrange gaming build or prebuilt PC should fall well under the limitations of this PSU.

In addition to the high-enough-for-proper-desktops wattage, you also have the added benefit of better software, auto-restarting functionality, and even a nifty little LCD panel to work with.

Things to consider in the best UPS options

Why you need a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply)

As the name implies, an uninterruptible power supply is just that: uninterruptible. This means power surges, blackouts, brownouts, and any other power-related problems won’t result in your UPS going offline. The UPS will only turn off if its battery is emptied, it’s turned off manually, or it is physically destroyed by an outside force. Otherwise, these machines are built to be durable and to resist even the worst power conditions.

The purpose of an uninterruptible power supply is to protect whatever is plugged into it. For a PC user, this means your PC and your monitor. For a console gamer, this means your console and possibly your TV, though you can safely turn off modern consoles using only the power button, unlike with desktop PCs. This same logic can also be used for non-PC or non-console devices, like Smart TVs or media players.

In the case of electronics, especially “smart” electronics like a PC, console, or smart TV, clean and consistent power is integral. With power surges or outages, you risk damaging or destroying the entire system, especially in the case of a power outage. If you’re also using your PC for important work, a sudden power outage can result in all of that work being lost.

To protect your likely expensive investment, an uninterruptible power supply is integral. This applies especially to areas that suffer from frequent power outages, particularly rural areas, extreme climates, or places with bad power grids.

In order to buy the right UPS, however, you’ll need to make sure that some basic requirements are met. The most important of them is wattage, which we’ll explain just below.

Wattage is the most important factor to consider when buying a UPS. The UPSes we’ve listed all come with VA and wattage ratings. You don’t need to worry about VA– it’s a different measurement for the same thing, and we’ve included the wattage ratings for each of the UPSes we have listed above.

To get a better idea of what you need, we’ll list common wattage ranges below.

• 200W – Enough to power a gaming console and a PC monitor or small (sub 30-inch) TV.
• 400W – Enough to power a gaming console and a large TV, or a desktop PC with a standard PC monitor.
• 600W – Enough to power a budget gaming PC and a standard PC monitor.
• 800W – Enough to power a midrange gaming PC and a standard PC monitor. Depending on PSU efficiency, possibly a larger TV.
• 1000W+ – Enough to power a high-end gaming PC and, depending on PSU efficiency, a larger TV.

As a PC user, you’ll always want to opt for a UPS with a wattage matching your PSU, with at least 50W extra power for a standard monitor or small TV. Higher-efficiency power supplies will also come in handy here, since PCs rarely need to pull 100% power load from their PSUs.

If you’re building a PC, and this is part of your building process, take a look at our power supplies guide as well.

Warranty

Note: If your battery dies after your warranty period has passed, you won’t get a free replacement. You’ll need to buy it instead.

Your warranty is fairly important here– be sure to register your UPS properly!

Your warranty will cover both your battery and the uninterruptible power supply unit itself. If either fails within the specified warranty period, you’ll be entitled to a replacement from the manufacturer. A 3 year warranty is standard, and this warranty period corresponds to the battery life expectations for your standard UPS battery.

What is a UPS?

The acronym UPS stands for Uninterruptible Power Supply. Essentially, if the power goes out, your devices shouldn’t do. This allows you to shut down and save work or turn devices off safely.

As such, UPS devices are rated for power (the amount they can supply) and LCD models will advise how run time they have in them too.

How do I connect to my UPS?

An important factor to consider when buying an uninterruptible power supply is its software.

Every uninterruptible power supply we’ve listed provides the software you can use to monitor the UPS. If you’re a PC user, this software can also be used to automatically shut down your PC once the UPS power backup battery life is low, which is especially great if you aren’t around to turn off the PC yourself. Aside from this basic functionality, higher-end software will also provide superior monitoring and control features.

In terms of interface, a USB interface is standard. You’ll see a USB interface for every UPS on this list, with the exception of a model that also offers serial connectivity.