A Perfect Road Trip Companion.

70mai’s Hiker 400 power station makes traveling safer and more convenient thanks to a reliable battery, a powerful AC inverter, and a backup flashlight. To complete this great product, an always-on Bluetooth interface brings the station front panel to the user’s fingertips through a snappy mobile app.

Pros

• +Bluetooth low-energy
• +Quiet
• +Small and lightweight

Cons

• -External power adapter
• -NCM based battery

The 70mai Hiker 400 is what everybody wants in a portable power station. It is tiny, lightweight, and can easily fit in a backpack. The plastic case is tough and integrates a small handle. A single fan provides the necessary airflow for the unit, producing barely any noise during regular operation. The NCM battery is not the best available in terms of lifetime, but with a capacity of 378Wh, it has enough energy to charge a laptop over five times.

The technology behind the 400W inverter yields an efficiency of 74% and limits the amount of energy wasted as heat. A built-in Bluetooth low-energy interface controls the unit over a short distance, allowing turning on the built-in flashlight remotely, among other things. The device features four USB ports, but only one is Type-C. Two AC sockets complete the output section.

The 70mai Hiker 400 is available directly from the 70mai online store for $399, or $1.05 per Wh, a high number for an NMC-type power storage solution. It comes with a limited two-year warranty.

Testing the unit consisted of an initial discharge cycle followed by a complete charge. Input power over time when charging was recorded. The unit was again discharged using an AC load at full inverter capacity. The energy provided, in Wh, when compared to the initial charge, gives an idea of the overall efficiency of the power station.

70MAI HIKER 400: DESIGN

The unit ships with a 90W power adapter, a car charger, and a user manual. A curved handle at the top makes carrying the Hiker 400 around easy but renders storing the unit more cumbersome.

HIKER 400: SPECIFICATIONS

• Battery Chemistry: Lithium NCM
• Battery capacity: 378Wh
• Number of charge cycles: Over 1000
• AC output power: 400W, Surge to 800W
• DC output power: 254W
• Number of AC outlets: 2
• Number of DC outlets: 5
• AC inverter efficiency: 74%
• Number of power inputs: 3
• Fastest charge time: 4 hours
• Additional features: Bluetooth LE, Flashlight, ECO mode
• Weight: 3.9kg
• Volume: 7.7L
• Price: $399

A curved top also means losing the ability to place items like smartphones on a flat surface. The unit is well constructed with quality material. Four rubber pads on the bottom prevent the station from moving when cables are connected. The unit measures 22cm x 17.7cm x 19.7cm for a weight of 3.9kg.

The front panel holds the user interface. A high-contrast segmented LCD shows easy-to-understand information while reducing power consumption. The power gauge is displayed centrally. Input and output power and other measurements have a reasonable one-second refresh rate. Icons for Bluetooth, Eco-mode, and timer indicate what features are enabled.

Five push buttons control the unit. The Power and Function buttons are dual-purpose. A long press on Power will turn the unit on or off, while a short press on Function enables the Eco-mode. A long press on Function places the unit in Bluetooth pairing. The remaining three buttons activate electrical sockets or the flashlight. All push buttons light up when active.

The Hiker 400 supports three charging modes totaling 120W of input power. The most convenient charging method remains through the USB Type-C socket, but it takes four hours to complete. The Anderson and 5525 DC inputs both support 12V or 24V, which makes it easy to use a 100W solar panel. The supplied 19V 90W power adapter will take the longest time to charge.

The station provides four USB sockets. A single Type-C socket supports the power distribution mode of up to 100W. In addition, three USB-A sockets offer 5V for a maximum power of 18W. The other DC outputs are a 5521 and a carport, supplying the same regulated 13.6V supply at 10A. Two 120V AC outputs supply 400W under regular operation and can boost to 800W for short durations.

70MAI HIKER 400: IN USE

The 70mai mobile app, available for Android and Apple phones, enables the station’s remote control but requires registration. Installation of the Hiker 400 is easy thanks to clear on-screen instructions. Two icons representing the Bluetooth and smartphone modes appear on the LCD, indicating that the app is connected to the station. Turning off the station does not disconnect the Bluetooth.

With features such as an Economic mode and a power passthrough, the Hiker 400 makes the most out of its small footprint. In the Economic mode or Eco, the station turns off unused outputs after a predefined time. The power passthrough uses the DC input to power devices connected to the station, bypassing the Lithium battery and reducing its wear.

The power station was tested using programmable AC and DC loads to get its overall efficiency. Ideally, this should be 100%, but due to the heating of internal parts and using an active cooler, this number oscillates around 80%. The Hiker 400 earns a respectable 85% when using the DC output, which decreases to 75% in AC mode. The difference is explained by having the fan operating when using the AC inverter. The noise level of the fan at one meter is around 45 dB.

70MAI HIKER 400: THE COMPETITION

Portable power stations capable of less than 1000W used to be rare, their primary purpose being as an emergency power source on the road or at home. The Hiker 400 is ideal for this situation with its small volume and lightweight. The battery chemistry works down to -10 degrees Celsius, making it hard to use on cold winter days.

The Bluetti EB3A is the power station to beat with a price similar to the Hiker 400. Equipped with Bluetooth, it lacks an Anderson input, which limits the type of solar panel it can work with, and more importantly, the battery is limited to 268Wh.

70MAI HIKER 400: FINAL VERDICT

The Hiker 400 provides good battery capacity and inverter power in a small volume. The unit’s versatility is on full display thanks to the Bluetooth low-energy connection. It is an excellent feature since the device rarely loses connection with a paired smartphone. The well-designed mobile app also stands out with no bugged functionality. At 75% in AC mode, the system’s overall efficiency is what one can expect at this price point.

The battery chemistry could be better, but an NMC type still provides at least two years of full capacity, even with daily charge and discharge cycles. Although we liked the passthrough feature, it could have been better as the power is limited to 120W. Having an external power adapter is also something competition tries to avoid as it means an extra item to carry around.

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The Kia Seltos has been among the most popular cars in its category in India, since its launch in 2019. The mid-sized urban SUV is just as well suited to city driving as on the highway, but what has truly worked for the car in India is its feature-heavy approach to the market. Various features such as Kia Connect (previously known as UVO) and autonomous safety tricks built into the car have helped set the Kia Seltos apart from the strong competition in the segment.

Kia has now unveiled the 2023 facelift for the Kia Seltos, which comes with further improvements to the already rich feature set of the car, along with a new premium ‘X-line’ trim, and improved engine and transmission options across variants. I had a chance to drive the new Kia Seltos and check out the features during a drive from Nagpur to the Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, and here are some of the key highlights of Kia’s new mid-sized Seltos.

kia seltos 2023 first impressions matte black KiaThe Kia Seltos (2023) X-line comes in a new Matte Graphite colour and finish

Kia Seltos (2023) price in India, variants

The Kia Seltos (2023) is priced from Rs. 10.90 lakh to Rs. 19.99 lakh rupees (ex-showroom) in India, depending on the variant. The price depends on the engine, transmission, and trim options, with variants ranging from the entry-level HTE trim to the new top X-line, which is the only one available in the new Matte Graphite colour. Other colour options include the new Pewter Olive, along with various other glossy metallic colours.

Available in Petrol, Diesel, and Turbo Petrol variants across trims, you can also choose between different transmission options, including manual, iMT (clutchless manual), and three automatic variants such as CVT, torque converter, and DCT. Some variants also have manual override through paddle shifters. For my drive, I had the Kia Seltos (2023) GT-line with the Turbo Petrol engine in Pewter Olive, which comes with all major safety and tech-related features.

Kia Seltos (2023): Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) wants to take care of you

With a renewed focus on safety, the Kia Seltos puts its ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) at the forefront of its feature offerings, apart from having six airbags and disc brakes on all four wheels as standard across all variants. ADAS is available in various cars at different levels ranging from 0 (no automation) to 5 (full automation), and the Kia Seltos slots in at ADAS Level 2, which is able to offer some level of hands-off automation and control.

This being the first time I drove a car with any level of automation, I found the experience a little bit scary at first, with the ADAS functionality somewhat controlling the car for me in certain situations, which was a bit eerie. There are 17 functions that utilise ADAS on the Kia Seltos (2023), most of which you’ll hope to never have to see put to use, such as forward collision warning and forward collision assistance.

Other ADAS features were showcased in safe test environments during the drive, while some of the smaller inclusions could be constantly seen at work during the few hours I drove the Seltos. All of this is backed by a 360-degree camera system, which provides clear views all around the car, functioning while driving as well as in slow-moving situations such as when parking.

In the safe testing environments, trained Kia drivers demonstrated how the car would autonomously apply brakes, issue loud audio warnings, or autonomously counter-steer in situations where a collision was imminent, either with another car or even in situations where a door was opened while a vehicle was approaching along the side.

kia seltos 2023 first impressions inside

There are two 10.25-inch displays in the Kia Seltos – one for the infotainment system, and the second for the digital instrument cluster

I personally was able to see features such as lane-keep assist, blind-spot collision assist, and smart cruise control in action myself while driving. On multi-lane highways with well marked lanes, the Kia Seltos (2023) managed to maintain its lane much of the time, occasionally prompting me with physical feedback to make minor steering corrections. The fully-digital instrument cluster displayed the blind-spot clearly when indicating left or right, while the cruise control managed to vary its speed based on that of the car ahead of me when needed.

As mentioned earlier, it was a bit nerve-wracking when these features first started working for me, since I haven’t typically been used to my car acting on its own, even if it’s for my safety. That said, I got used to most of it soon enough, and to be fair, I continued to have primary control over the car at all times, with it only providing faint feedback through the wheel. That said, the Driver Attention Warning chimes every 15 minutes telling you to stop for coffee which got tiring very quickly.

Kia Seltos (2023): Kia Connect, voice commands, and big screens

Kia Connect is something I’ve tested previously on the Kia Sonet when it was still called Kia UVO, and things have improved a fair bit since then. This is mainly because of the large 10.25-inch touch infotainment system lining up next to the equal-sized digital instrument cluster. These two together give the Kia Seltos quite the futuristic look and feel, apart from putting a whole lot of information about the car within easy view.

While you have the option to connect your smartphone via USB for Apple CarPlay or Android Auto UI and functionality, you can just as easily rely on the Kia Connect system. The car has a fully connected system, relying on its own data connection to work with functions such as voice commands, detailed mapping for navigation, and more. I was able to navigate to major points of interest and give voice commands reliably, even in relatively remote areas such as the Pench tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh.

For music, you can connect various devices either through wired or wireless connections, with the Kia Seltos (2023) sporting a Bose speaker system on the variant I was driving. Sound quality was expectedly decent even over a Bluetooth connection, and there were also some interesting ambient soundtracks preloaded onto the Kia connect system for quiet, peaceful listening.

The Kia Seltos (2023) now comes with a 1.5L turbo petrol engine option, offering 158bhp and 253Nm of torque, and mated to an optional DCT automatic gearbox

The Kia Connect app also lets you view data about the car such as fuel range, status, and location, apart from remotely staring and stopping the car even when you aren’t sitting in it. Other tech-focused features include full diagnostics for the car and the ADAS features which can be controlled through the screens, navigation set up through the smartphone with instructions sent to the car, remote climate control, and a handy air purifier built into the car to ensure you’re breathing clean air when in the Seltos.

The voice commands work to control most car functions, such as opening the panoramic sunroof, navigating to specific locations and points of interest, turning on or off the air conditioning, and opening or closing the windows, among other things. There were occasions where I had to repeat myself, but the voice commands usually got it right. Notably, these work not only in English, but also in bilingual (Hindi with English), with commands such as ‘sunroof kholo’ or ‘AC band karo’ working reliably.

Kia Seltos (2023): How is it to drive?

The Kia Seltos (2023) is available in three different engine variants, with different transmission options linked to specific variants. I had the new turbo petrol variant for my test drive, which is the most capable in terms of brake horsepower and torque output, making it the most powerful of the three variants. This was mated to an automatic seven-speed dual-clutch transmission (DCT), with paddle shifters offering a manual override for the occasions where I wanted to take some control.

The car is fairly capable and responsive in both city and highway conditions, thanks to the smooth and easy shifts from the DCT gearbox. It was also fairly responsive to throttle variations, and managed to set itself up well even on inclines such as hilly roads, where automatic transmissions sometimes feel sluggish and out of sorts. The manual override was a nice option to have, but even when overtaking on the highway, I rarely ever felt the need to invoke it; simply putting my foot down sent the message, and the Kia Seltos managed to deliver enough power both in the city and on the highway.

All of this is handled smoothly, with the Kia Seltos (2023) feeling almost sedan-like in the ride it offers. When cruising at around 70-80 kmph on the highway in seventh gear, the Seltos was at its absolute best, offering a smooth ride with the low revs ensuring good fuel efficiency. The DCT gearbox is nimble enough to quickly switch up as needed, setting me up quickly for lane changes and overtaking as needed.

Final thoughts

Car safety is an increasingly important factor in purchase decisions for buyers in India, and the Kia Seltos (2023) promises a lot more of that thanks to its ADAS Level-2 feature set. Apart from protecting you from potentially serious accidents, the Seltos is also well set up to prevent even small and typically avoidable incidents, thanks to its impressive 360-degree camera setup and various assistance features such as lane keep assist and blind-spot assistance. Some ADAS features such as Driver Attention Warning were a bit bothersome, but you can disable the various ADAS features as per your preferences.

Technologically, this is among the best cars in its price segment right now, representing the future of connected driving and giving drivers a taste of the future in the form of minor automation aimed at making the overall driving experience safer and easier. Features such as voice controls for car functions and navigation, as well as the Kia Connect app and interface for vehicle diagnostics, make the experience a lot better.

All of this is backed up by a great driving experience on the whole. That said, with such a wide price range across variants of the Kia Seltos, you’ll have to make sure you pick the variant that actually has everything you need. The well-equipped variants cost considerably more than the basic ones; the top-end X-line variants cost nearly twice as much as the entry-level variant.

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