The Best Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) Brands

What are the best Uninterruptible Power Supply Brands? What makes an Uninterruptible Power Supply good, and what should you be expecting from a good UPS experience?

I’ll be discussing all of that and more in the article below, so stick around and read in chronological order with me, or skip around with the Table of Contents below at your leisure. Either way, let’s get into it!

What is an Uninterruptible Power Supply?

An Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is also called a backup battery.

A UPS serves a backup battery role in case of a sudden power outage, preventing your PC from shutting down before you’re able to save your work, close your game, etc.

A UPS is an ideal pick for anybody who wants clean and stable power delivery to their PC.

What Makes an Uninterruptible Power Supply Brand Good?

Pricing For Wattage and Features

Ideally, you will be getting a fairly priced Uninterruptible Power Supply for the wattage and features you are being offered.

While there aren’t many UPS manufacturers to begin with, the ones who do exist are relatively good at keeping others in check pricing-wise, so this isn’t usually a huge concern due to the level of market concentration in the UPS market.

Narrowing down to the best brands is also why this article exists!

Warranty Policy

Another important factor to consider when comparing brands is their warranty policies. Brands that have unreasonable warranty policies or are otherwise very difficult when doing customer support definitely don’t belong on this list.

Before I talk too much about warranty policy— and I will for each brand later— I need to talk about battery lifespan in general, though.

Battery Lifespan

So, most uninterruptible power supply batteries will actually die after 3 to 5 years of use. This is about as often as you want to replace your own UPS battery, since the entire point of it is keeping your power delivery stable.

Your UPS should also blink some lights or have some other way of warning you about the battery needing a replacement.

What Makes an Uninterruptible Power Supply Good?

Wattage For Your Setup’s Needs

Whenever you’re shopping for an Uninterruptible Power Supply, one of the main things you’ll want is enough wattage to power your PC.

However, UPSes are sold with labeling in VA instead of Watts— so a 1500VA UPS actually supports a maximum of 900 Watts, for example.

It’s important to know the power consumption you can expect from the rest of your PC build before buying or considering an Uninterruptible Power Supply.

If you don’t already know this information, we’ve written a full article on how to check your PC’s power consumption that should help!

Source: Outervision

Software Support For Automated Shutdown and other Tasks

Many uninterruptible power supplies actually have software features as well, beyond being simple backup batteries that keep your PC running after it’s turned off.

Most UPSes these days allow you to plug a USB cable into your main PC from one of them.

That cable and some Control Panel software result in your PC having the UPS to fall back on to shut it down if it loses power and you aren’t around to use it.

Cheap and entry-level UPSes may not have software support or proper powerline monitoring. I recommend against these devices.

Clear Status Display

Ideally, your PSU should have some kind of clear status display. If there aren’t any screens, there should be indicators on the device itself (like blinking lights) that are clearly visible to the end user.

A USB connection to the PC is a good way to communicate with the user as well, but shouldn’t be the only way a PSU can communicate.

The Best Uninterruptible Power Supply Brands

1. CyberPower Systems

• Established Since: 1997
• UPS Warranty Length: 3 Years

CyberPower Systems is one of the most well-known providers of Uninterruptible Power Supplies, to both consumers and enterprise customers.

CyberPower Systems (not to be confused with CyberPowerPC) has been operating in the United States since 1997. They’ve had time to become a mainstay in Uninterruptible Power Supplies, and it’s a position they’ve earned and maintained for quite a while.

CyberPower Systems also target a lower price point on their Uninterruptible Power Supplies than APC does, even with all the high-end bells and whistles enabled. This might make CyberPower a better choice for your money.

2. APC

• Established Since: 1981
• UPS Warranty Length: 2-3 Years

APC was founded in the United States in 1981, and is another prominent Uninterruptible Power Supply brand.

APC is probably the most well-known provider of UPS devices in general, known for providing premium UPS units for about as long as they’ve been in business.

Besides UPS units, APC is also deep into air conditioning, data center hardware, server hardware, and other enterprise-facing solutions

If you want the best UPS units and don’t mind spending extra compared to CyberPower and other competitors, APC may just be your best bet.

3. Liebert Corporation

• Established Since: 1965
• UPS Warranty Length: 2-3 Years

Another brand in the UPS arena is the Liebert Corporation, founded in the US in 1965.

Liebert operates primarily in server and enterprise spaces making cabinets, rack mounts, and cooling equipment. And of course, Liebert makes Uninterruptible Power Supply units for both consumers and its enterprise clientele.

Liebert is a lesser-known UPS brand than CyberPower and APC (the industry leaders by a considerable margin), but is regarded to be of similar quality. If the price is right, a Liebert UPS may be your best choice!

Which Uninterruptible Power Supply Brand Is Best?

Truthfully, I think they’re all pretty good! The nature of the UPS landscape means there aren’t many competing brands, and the ones that do exist have largely standardized the current set of expected features, warranty lengths, and so on.

The best uninterruptible power supply brand is going to be whichever one is selling the best UPS for your rated capacity and price point.

It will most likely be CyberPower, APC, or Liebert, but the specific answer will depend on the day you’re reading this article. Feel free to fire off in the comments section below if you need help considering specific UPS models!

FAQ

How Long Does a UPS Battery Last?

As covered earlier, a UPS battery has a maximum lifespan of about 3 to 5 years. This is according to both APC and general consensus from the rest of the community.

How Long Does a PC UPS Last?

A PC’s UPS can actually last past the death of its first battery if you promptly replace the first one after it dies.

If you replace the battery whenever necessary, a UPS can last about ten years.

It can be a surprisingly long-time investment if you’re willing to replace your battery, but if you don’t do battery replacements you might end up replacing the entire unit every 3 years.

What Is The Run Time of a UPS System?

Whenever your UPS backup battery kicks on when your system loses power, the amount of battery time is going to vary considerably based on the size of your UPS and the load of your system.

However, most UPSes are made to store at least 15-30 minutes of charged battery to allow you to wrap up whatever you’re doing and save your work before shutting down your PC.

What Is The Best Kind of Power Supply To Get With a UPS?

Ideally, you want to get a highly efficient Gold or Platinum type of Power Supply with a UPS.

Improving your power efficiency will reduce the strain on your UPS unit.

For more information on Power Supplies, I recommend Jerry’s extended Power Supply Guide so you can find an appropriate PSU for you and your builds’ needs.

Over to You

And that’s all, for now!

I hope this article clarified what the best Uninterruptible Power Supply brands are and gave you an educated head start before you consider buying one of these machines.

Having lost one of my old PCs to an unfortunate power surge, I’ve been a long-time fan of UPS units and have actually used one each from APC and CyberPower without any issues. I feel pretty comfortable recommending these brands in this article.

If you have any other questions about UPSes or PC hardware in general, please feel free to ask them in the comments section below! Especially if you need help picking out hardware, me or another CGDirector Team member will be happy to help you.

You can also try the CGDirector Forum for longer-form discussions with other Enthusiasts and Experts, of course.

Until then or until next time, happy computing! And remember: a UPS is best from a reputable brand, don’t bother with an AmazonBasics model.