Power outages, surges, and brownouts can all wreak havoc on your electronics, and while a good surge protector can definitely help, a solid battery backup will keep your gear safe from surges, condition the power as it comes in, and keep your gear running until you can turn it off safely in case of an outage. This week, we're looking at five of the best, based on your nominations.


Five Best Surge Protectors Update: We asked our readers this same question in 2017, so click here to see the updated results. Read more

Earlier in the week, we asked you which battery backups and UPS (uninturruptable power supplies) were the best, whether because they hit the price-to-performance sweet spot, offered remote management features that let you power down your gear even when you're away, or just really get the job done. Here's what you said, in no particular order:


What's the Best Battery Backup/UPS? Power outages and surges suck, but if you really want to protect your gear, a good battery backup… Read more

The Cyberpower 1350 (specifically, the CP1350AVRLCD) is a mini-tower, 810 Watts/1350 VA UPS that features a helpful LCD display on the front to give you visual cues to the device's health, battery charge, load capacity, and if there are any current issues or faults on the line. It packs 8 outlets (4 battery+surge, 4 surge), and is well designed for home theater setups, computer workstations, and it's slim enough to fit behind or under a desk. It also features USB and Serial connectivity, protection for Ethernet, coax, and telephone lines. The included software will shut your devices down gracefully in case of an outage. Speaking of connected equipment, the 1350 also comes with a three year warranty, and a $500,000 connected equipment guarantee in case a power surge or other fault damages your gear on its watch.

Those of you who nominated the 1350 (and some other Cyberpower models) praised their longevity and their price-to-performance ratio. Some of you noted that Cyberpower's software leaves a lot to be desired, but overall the equipment is solid and those of you who use them love them. If you want one, they'll set you back $140 at Amazon.



APC is a juggernaut in the UPS market, and a number of you just nominated "anything APC," which kind of echoes that point. The Smart-UPS 1500 actually comes in two flavors; the LCD-packed, home-user friendly SMC1500 at $307, and the slightly older but beefier-battery carrying SMT1500, which is a more pricey $470. The major difference, as this thread explains is that the SMT1500 has a higher capacity battery that will keep your gear running longer than the SMC1500, which trades a fatter battery for an expansion slot and a better LCD. Both models are 900 Watts/1500 VA units, pack 8 battery+surge protection outlets, and both have displays on the front to help you check on line health and battery status. Both feature remote management features and remote shutdown, bundled software that will power down your devices for you, and two year warranties. Keep in mind though that while these can be used for desktops and home entertainment systems, they're designed for household-wide, server, and other broad uses, so there's no data line protection for ethernet, coax, or telephone lines. Both are also covered under APC's $150,000 connected device warranty.


The specific nominations for the Smart-UPS 1500 line highlighted its flexibility and sheer number of ports—one of you noted that you use it to protect all of the gear in your home office, and you have it installed elsewhere in the house so you don't have to hear its fans. It's also worth mentioning that both of these models are (stepped) sinusoidal models, as opposed to some of the newer square wave units, which is important depending on what devices you plan to connect it to—if you want to connect your UPS to a computer or a NAS, it's not much to be concerned about, but if you're plugging it into appliances or other heavier-duty gear, you'll care about this.


If you're only interested in protecting one workstation and its equipment, or you just don't want to spend hundreds upon hundreds to protect a couple of devices, the APC Back-UPS 650 may be a good option for you. It's flat and designed more like a thick power strip with a replaceable battery inside. It's a 390 Watt / 650 VA unit, and features 8 outlets (4 battery+surge protection, 4 surge protected) in a package small enough to sit beside your desk or just underneath it. Like other APC models, it packs data line protection for Ethernet, and pairs with the manufacturer-included software that will shut your computers or other devices down in case of an outage. The 650 also packs a three year warranty, and is covered by APC's connected equipment warranty up to $75,000.

Those of you who nominated this model were aiming for something perfect for a home office or just a couple of workstations, but was also budget friendly. The 650 is definitely that—you can pick one up for $77 at Amazon right now.



If you need a little more juice for your home office or home entertainment system, the Back-UPS Pro 1000 offers a step up from APC's flat, power-strip like units to a mini-tower much like the Cyberpower we mentioned earlier (albeit a little less powerful). The Back-Ups Pro 1000 is a 600 Watt/1000 VA UPS that features 8 outlets (again, 4 battery+surge protection, 4 surge protection only), data line protection for Ethernet and coax lines, an LCD display on the front that displays battery status, line health, and any other pending issues. Like other APC units, it also tries to shut your gear down gently if there's an outage, and will protect them from power surges as well. It's covered under APC's $150,000 connected device warranty.

Those of you who nominated the 1000 praised the design and the utility of the LCD in a desktop model that's easy to keep an eye on. You also noted that it's a great model that offers great protection at a decent price, but is still aimed directly at workstations and home entertainment systems. You can grab one for $122 at Amazon.



Unlike Cyberpower and APC, which focus their marketing and manufacturing efforts at individual buyers, IT departments, and home users looking to protect their gear, Powervar directs its efforts at businesses and companies looking for battery backups, surge protectors, and power line conditioners to keep their electronics running smoothly in any environment. While initially nominated by an electrical engineer who distributes Powervar products to businesses (thanks KOC!), a number of you rallied to the cause and pointed out that Powervar's models offer superior line conditioning to many other units on the market. The GTS is actually a series of products ranging from 250 VA to 600 VA, and all of them offer true isolated, sinusoidal power.

The kicker with Powervar's products though is that they're targeted exclusively towards businesses, so you'd have to jump through some hoops to get one of your very own. To our knowledge, they're not available for retail sale, so if you want one, you'll either have to get in touch with Powervar to see what they can do for you, or snag one secondhand from a current customer.


Now that you've seen the top five, it's time to vote for the Lifehacker community favorite:


No honorable mentions this week, since we've covered all of the bases above. A few other APC models made it into the nominations as well, but these were the most popular, easily.


Have something to say about one of the contenders? Want to make the case for your personal favorite, even if it wasn't included in the list? Remember, the top five are based on your most popular nominations from the call for contenders thread from earlier in the week. Don't just complain about the top five, let us know what your preferred alternative is—and make your case for it—in the discussions below.

The Hive Five is based on reader nominations. As with most Hive Five posts, if your favorite was left out, it's not because we hate it—it's because it didn't get the nominations required in the call for contenders post to make the top five. We understand it's a bit of a popularity contest, but if you have a favorite, we want to hear about it. Have a suggestion for the Hive Five? Send us an email at tips+hivefive@lifehacker.com !