Disclaimer: Redodo sent this product to us for free for a review. That does not affect our opinion about the product. In this article, we list both what we like and dislike. Read more about this here.
The Redodo 12V 165Ah Bluetooth LiFePO4 Battery
Today, I’ll be reviewing a battery from Redodo, a brand I haven’t covered before.
They sent us their Redodo 12V 165Ah Group 31 LiFePO4 battery, which sits at the top of the Group 31 lithium category in terms of capacity.
Most Group 31 lithium batteries top out at 100Ah or 140Ah, so the 165Ah in this one makes it stand out.
Check price at Redodopower.com
I’ve thoroughly tested the battery to ensure it meets or exceeds its listed specifications and ratings.
Let’s start with the specifications before I present the test results.
Redodo 12V 165Ah – Specifications & Features
Battery Cells
The LiFePO4 cells used in this battery are prismatic cells. LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate) is the chemistry I prefer to see in any deep-cycle lithium battery because it lasts significantly longer than the Li-ion cells found in most consumer electronics.
A key feature of any quality LiFePO4 battery is low-temperature protection, which prevents charging in temperatures below freezing (32°F/0°C). This is crucial because LiFePO4 cells are sensitive to charging in cold temperatures.
Here are the safe temperature ranges:
- Charging: 32°F to 122°F (0°C to 50°C)
- Discharging: -4°F to 140°F (-20°C to 60°C)
- Storage: 14°F to 122°F (-10°C to 50°C)
Charging, discharging, or storing the battery outside of these temperature ranges can cause permanent damage.
Note that it does not have built-in heating.
Ratings – Ampere hours (amp hours) and watt-hours
The battery is rated at 165Ah, providing 2112Wh at 12.8V. That’s 65% more energy than a standard 100Ah lithium battery in the same Group 31 case.
The maximum continuous charge and discharge current is 165A, which is higher than most batteries in this class. Many competitors use a 120A or 150A BMS. That means a continuous output of up to 2112W, which is enough to run high-draw appliances like a microwave or an air fryer.
As with any battery, the state of charge varies based on several factors, but here are some approximate voltage-based estimates from the manual to gauge the battery’s charge level.
| State of charge (%) | Voltage (V) |
| 0 | 10 to 12 |
| 25 | 13 to 13.15 |
| 50 | 13.15 to 13.2 |
| 75 | 13.3 to 13.33 |
| 100 | 13.33 and above |
The recommended charge current is 33A.
Safety features with a built-in BMS
BMS stands for Battery Management System, a critical component in any battery as it safeguards the cells during charging and discharging.
In this model, Redodo advertises 20+ protections built into the BMS. The big ones are overcharge, over-discharge, overcurrent, short circuit, high and low temperature charging, and high and low temperature discharging.
The battery is also UL 1973 certified and IEC certified, which is something I always like to see. It means the design has been independently tested against recognized safety standards rather than just the manufacturer’s word.
Bluetooth and smart features
This is where the 165Ah Smart model separates itself from the cheaper, non-Bluetooth Redodo batteries.
There’s Bluetooth built-in that connects to the Redodo app on your phone.
Once paired, you can see real-time data from the battery:
- Voltage
- State of charge (%)
- Time to empty/full
- Charge and discharge current
- Input/output watts
- Cell temperature
- Cycle count
For me, this is one of those features that sounds gimmicky until you actually live with it. Being able to glance at your phone and see exactly how much capacity is left, rather than guessing from the voltage at the inverter, makes a real difference when you’re managing power off-grid.
Cycle life
According to Redodo, this battery is rated for 4,000+ cycles at 100% depth of discharge (DOD), with longer life if you only discharge to 80% DOD.
That means the battery will still keep a usable percentage of its original capacity after thousands of cycles.
As always, real-world lifespan depends on charge and discharge rates, temperature, and how often you actually run it down to empty.
Expandability
It supports a 4S4P configuration, meaning you can wire four sets of batteries in series and four sets in parallel, allowing for a total of 16 batteries. This setup would create a 48V battery system with up to 33.8 kWh of total capacity.
For a 12V system, such as in an RV, you’d need to use a parallel configuration to increase the amperage without altering the voltage.
As always when combining several batteries, it’s important to use the same type with the same model, capacity (Ah) and BMS.
Design and what’s included
The battery case is made from flame-retardant ABS plastic and has an IP65 rating. That means it’s in a dust-tight case and can handle low-pressure water jets from any direction.
It features a detachable strap on top for easy carrying and transport.
The battery comes with two M8 bolts and a manual.
Size and weight
The battery weighs 33 lbs (15 kg) and uses a Group 31 case measuring 13 by 6.8 by 8.5 inches (33 by 17.2 by 21.5 cm).
That’s roughly the same footprint as a standard Group 31 lead-acid battery, which is the whole point. It’s a drop-in replacement size-wise, but with a lot more usable energy and a fraction of the weight.
Review And Test Results
What I Like
A huge amount of capacity for a Group 31 case
In a full capacity test at a 20A discharge rate, I measured 167Ah, which exceeded the rated 165Ah.
Getting 2 kWh of usable energy out of a single Group 31 battery is impressive. To match this with 100Ah lithium batteries, you’d need two of them wired in parallel, and to match it with lead-acid, you’d need three or four batteries plus the weight and wiring that comes with them.
The Bluetooth app actually works
I’ve used a few different battery apps over the years, and not all of them are good. The Redodo app paired easily and the data refresh is quick enough to be useful.
Not only that, but the design of the app feels modern and up-to-date.
Being able to check the state of charge from inside the RV instead of crawling into the battery compartment to look at a shunt meter is a small thing, but very convenient.
The 165A Continuous Output
Most Group 31 lithium batteries I’ve tested cap out at 100A or 150A continuous. The 165A BMS in this one means you can actually pull the full 2 kWh out at a 1C rate, and that opens up running heavier loads from a single battery, things like microwaves, induction cooktops, or a small RV AC unit.
At 180A, the BMS reacted and shut off the charging, which is what you want to see. After about 30 seconds, the BMS reset and allowed charging again.
So much lighter than the lead-acid it replaces
Lead-acid batteries are notoriously heavy, while LiFePO4 batteries are much lighter. This one weighs 33 lbs, and to get the same 2 kWh of usable energy from lead-acid you’d be looking at three Group 31 AGM batteries pushing close to 200 lbs total.
Weight matters, especially when it comes to RVing.
The durability of LiFePO4 batteries
I’ve already mentioned the cycle life of a LiFePO4 battery like this, but it’s worth emphasizing again. Not only are these cells more durable than lead-acid, but they also outlast the more commonly used Li-ion cells.
The low-temperature charging protection worked as advertised in my testing.
What I Don’t Like
No built-in heating
While low-temperature protection is a valuable feature, the lack of built-in heating limits the battery’s usability in extended freezing conditions.
You can still discharge the battery, but charging it in such environments becomes more challenging. For full-time cold-weather use, you’d either need to add an external heating pad or step up to a model with built-in self-heating. You can view other battery models by Redodo here.
If you never camp in sub-freezing temperatures, this isn’t something that is going to matter to you.
Group 31 footprint
It’s a Group 31 case, which is a standard size, but it’s still not a small battery. If you’re considering using it in your RV or van, be sure to check that the dimensions will fit your battery storage space or battery box before ordering.
The battery compartment in our small Class C RV is not large enough to store two of these, but one is doable.
Conclusion
The Redodo battery performed as expected, and I didn’t run into any issues during my testing. I have only had it for a couple of weeks, so I can’t say how it’s going to perform over time or confirm the advertised cycle number, but it comes with a 5-year warranty in case it doesn’t perform as expected.
I recommend it to anybody looking to upgrade to lithium, specifically if you only have space for one battery but want it to be powerful enough to be paired with a 2000W inverter.
Tip
If you want to upgrade the battery in your RV, make sure your converter is compatible with lithium batteries. We upgraded to one by PowerMax that works great.
Read this article for more information on that specific converter and how to install it.
Why a 165Ah Battery Might Make More Sense Than a 100Ah for RVers
Most people shopping for a lithium battery focus on capacity, and that makes sense. More amp hours mean more energy stored, which translates to longer runtimes between charges.
But there’s another spec that gets overlooked, and that’s the BMS amp rating. That number controls how much power you can actually pull out of the battery, and it can be the limiting factor whether or not you realize it.
A standard 12V 100Ah lithium battery usually has a 100A BMS. At 12.8V that works out to a continuous output of about 1280W. That sounds like plenty until you add up what you’d actually want to run through an inverter in an RV.
Take a 2000W inverter as a common example. If you’re trying to run an air fryer that draws 1700W, the inverter has to pull roughly 150A from the battery once you factor in inverter inefficiency. A 100A BMS is going to trip well before that air fryer finishes cooking.
You’d be looking at your battery monitor showing 80% state of charge and still getting cut off because the issue isn’t capacity, but its output limitations.
This catches many people off guard. They size their battery bank by amp hours, install a 2000W inverter to handle the kitchen appliances they want to run, and then can’t figure out why everything keeps shutting down even though the batteries say they’re nearly full.
That’s where the 165A BMS on the Redodo 165Ah changes the math. With 2112W of continuous output, it can actually support a 2000W inverter. You can run an air fryer, a microwave, or a coffee maker without the battery cutting out on you.
The way I think about it: with a 100Ah lithium battery you’re often output-limited by the BMS before you’re capacity-limited by the cells themselves. With the 165Ah, you’ve got headroom in both directions.
For RVers who want to actually use 120V kitchen appliances off-grid without firing up the generator, that output rating matters just as much as the amp hour count.
