Power outages can prove troublesome in this digital age where everything is connected to a power source. With an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), you can configure your home and/or office to remain online for a few precious minutes longer and safely shut down various hardware. As well as using a battery source for devices to remain live through outages, a UPS can also act as an intermediary between you and the grid and provide additional protection. Here are my top picks for UPS.

Our top UPS picks in 2023

The CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD is a 1500 VA / 1000 W uninterruptible power supply with pretty much all the bells and whistles for most consumers, particularly homeowners and small offices. It's powered by an SLA battery pack and has 12 NEMA 5-15R sockets with 6 connected to the battery and inverter. The remaining six are surge-protected, making this UPS an ideal replacement for an extension lead, as well as the means to keep systems operational through outages. The 1000 W load limit allows for a powerful desktop PC to be connected and protected with the battery backup.

The LCD panel on the front of the unit shows information on the battery, current load, and other system metrics. To keep mobile devices topped up, CyberPower included USB-A and USB-C ports, as well as four RJ45 ports on the rear with a USB-B and serial for connecting the UPS to various devices. The USB-B cable can prove useful for informing devices such as a NAS to safely shutdown should power be interrupted or the battery be nearing depletion. The CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD is not cheap, but it has the capacity, performance, and connectivity for a compelling UPS in the office or at home.

APC's BX1500M is our second recommendation for the best UPS for the home and small office. This is a 1500 VA and 900 W battery-powered unit with a total of 10 NEMA 5-15R sockets with 5 of them hooked up to the SLA battery itself. Three RJ45 ports are present, alongside two coaxial connections for hooking up various hardware. Having a load limit of 900 W makes this an excellent choice for an office with a few devices connected, including a PC (or two) and networking infrastructure. This limit is also good for mid-tier gaming PC builds that shouldn't require more than 600W from the wall.

One of three RJ45 ports can be used for USB & serial to facilitate communications between the UPS and a client device, such as a NAS. Backed by a three-year warranty, APC is a solid brand when it comes to electrical equipment and this 1500 VA unit would be able to keep a few devices up and running for up to an hour with just 100 watts drawn.

Seeking something slightly more affordable, we'd recommend the CyberPower ST900U, which looks more like a traditional extension lead with 12 NEMA 5-15R sockets. Six of these are connected to the battery that can handle loads up to 900 VA and 500 W. This should be enough for less powerful systems, but you may encounter issues regarding load for playing PC games. It's better suited to game consoles, TVs, "normal" desktop PCs, and networking equipment. The USB-B port can be connected to a PC or NAS to let it shut down gracefully and two USB-A ports are good for charging portable devices.

The CyberPower CP750LCD is a good-value UPS for a small home office with eight NEMA 5-15R sockets, four of which are connected to the SLA battery. With a maximum load of 750 VA and 420 W, you won't be able to connect much more than a standard, low-power desktop PC, a printer, and maybe a router and small monitor to the UPS. This is reflected in the price, costing less than $100, but the UPS manages to pack some more advanced features, such as an LCD panel for displaying some UPS-related information.

The three RJ45 ports and single USB-B port are also a nice touch, allowing the unit to be connected to a PC or a NAS and inform the device to safely shut down before the battery depletes. Overall, this is a good UPS for the price and can happily keep you online when working from home for a good few minutes.

Amazon makes its own UPS and the Amazon Basics UPS 600VA is a good choice for those wanting to keep some devices alive during grid power loss. It's about as basic as a UPS comes with no display and no ports for connecting devices. On the flip side, it does have eight NEMA 5-15R sockets and four of them are connected to the battery. The low load capacity means this UPS shouldn't be used with desktop PCs, but rather less power-hungry devices such as an aquarium pump, router, and other networking equipment.

It's also worth noting that this UPS will not automatically restart itself after a power outage and fully depleted battery.

The Shanqiu FX 5-48 Pro is an interesting recommendation here as it's not technically a UPS whereby you can connect a desktop PC or some other appliance. There aren't any NEMA 5-15R sockets at all, but in their place are two PoE RJ45 ports, a USB-A port, and DC-out. All of these are connected to the internal Lithium-ion battery pack, so you could think of this as a portable power bank for mobile devices that has been transformed into a UPS for networking equipment, such as access points, phones, and even cameras. With a capacity of 10,000 mAh, the FX 5-48 Pro will be able to charge multiple phones and keep a network connection online for some time.

The Liebert PSI5-1500RT120LI is an expensive UPS, but not quite as outlandishly priced as the AP SMT3000RM2UC. That's largely because of the maximum load this UPS can support, coming in at 1500 VA and 1350 W. This is good for even an enthusiast PC build or some servers in a cabinet. Liebert made it so this 2U UPS can be used in either application with included rail and stand brackets, allowing for it to be used as a tower UPS.

Six NEMA 5-15R sockets are available on the rear and all of them are hooked up to the Lithium-ion battery. There are also two RJ45 ports and a single USB-B port, the latter which can be used to communicate with a PC, server, or NAS.

The APC SMT3000RM2UC is a very powerful UPS indeed. Priced accordingly, this unit is capable of handling up to 3000 VA or 2700 W. This makes the UPS ideally suited for office or server room use. Multiple desktop PCs or rackmount machines can be connected to the internal SLA battery pack and continue running through power outages for upwards of an hour, depending on load. It's largely overkill for what most people would use a UPS for, but it's a good choice for those with numerous sensitive systems that need to be shut down gracefully.

On the rear of the UPS are six NEMA 5-15R and two NEMA 5-20R sockets. One of the two RJ45 ports can be used for connecting the UPS to the network, while the second can inform devices when to shut down. A USB-A port is also at hand to carry out this task. APC even allows the UPS to be managed using its cloud platform, which is a great feature to have for when using more than one unit at a single location. Whether you have a few servers or some storage devices to keep online, the APC SMT3000RM2UC is a premium power supply with an enticing feature set.

How to choose the best UPS

It's possible to spend as little as $50 or as much as $3,000 (if not more) on a UPS, but it all comes down to what you wish to have protected from power outages. The more powerful the desktop PC and number of devices you wish to connect to the battery, the more expensive the UPS will need to be to handle the additional load. Our favorite UPS is the CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD with ample capacity, plenty of sockets and ports for connecting all your hardware, and an LCD panel to showcase all the important UPS-related information. It's a little pricey, but is well worth it when considering how much your equipment is worth.

FAQ

Q: What is an uninterruptible power supply (UPS)?

A UPS is essentially a smart extension lead with a few power outlets and an internal battery. Depending on the outlet configuration of the UPS, some may be simply surge protected while others may be protected and connected to the battery, which allows anything plugged in to continue drawing power from the battery even if the grid goes down. The internals of the UPS will quickly switch supply from the grid to the battery in the event of power loss without user input, allowing you to remain online to safely shut systems down.

Q: Why a UPS is great for a PC and networks

When power is lost to a device, it's forcibly shut down. This results in data loss and potential damage to components. A UPS acts as the middle man, allowing supply to remain, so a system like a desktop PC can be safely shut down, work (or gameplay) saved, and hardware protected. For networks, such as a router and/or switch, having a UPS in the mix can maintain a connection to the outside world for hours with enough battery capacity. This allows the use of laptops and other devices without relying on congested mobile networks.

Q: How much UPS capacity do you need?

You've learned more about a UPS and decide to purchase one for your home, but how much capacity do you require? Uninterruptible power supplies are listed with wattage (W) and volt-amps (VA), though wattage is arguably more important as it's easily used to check against equipment such as a PC. Generally, the higher the wattage, the higher the volt-amps so as long as you buy a UPS that can handle everything you wish to be kept online during outages, you'll be good to go. Neither W nor VA can be exceeded by connected equipment, else the UPS will sound an alarm and shut down.

When calculating how much wattage you'd require the UPS to support, it's worth bearing in mind what you plan on connecting to the battery loop. A game console, TV, and a router could be hooked up to a 300W UPS with little issue, whereas a high-end gaming PC, monitor, and router may require a rated load capacity of 1000W.

• 300W: Video game console and TV.
• 500W: Desktop PC and monitor.
• 800W: Mid-range gaming PC and monitor.
• 1000W+: High-end gaming PC and monitor.

It's easy to work out how much power your PC can draw by looking at the PSU capacity and what internal components you have installed. Most gaming PC builds will likely draw less power than 700W, unless using the most advanced graphics card available. The RTX 4090 alone can draw up to 450W. Throw in the motherboard, processor, drives, monitor, and other accessories, and you can quickly hit 900W. By calculating how much your PC and monitor can draw under load, you'll be able to pick the correct-sized UPS.