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UniFi UPS Tower Review: A Handy Backup Battery for a Home Ubiquiti Network

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Ubiquiti today announces its latest addition to the UniFi ecosystem, the UniFi Uninterruptible Power Supply, which includes two hardware units, the UniFi UPS-2U and UniFi UPS Tower.

The former is a rackmount unit designed for a business network, and the latter is a desktop unit made for the home.

This brief review is based on my week-long experience with the UPS Tower, which is now available. If you opt for the UPS-2U, slated to be available later this month, expect a similar experience. Besides their form factors and power capacities, the two are practically the same.

Here’s the bottom line: The UPS Tower is an excellent battery backup, worth its $159 price tag for anyone needing those extra precious minutes for the system to shut down properly in the event of a power outage. For those with a UniFi network in need of such a solution, it’s a must-have.

Ubiquiti UniFi UPS Tower front
The Ubiquiti UniFi UPS Tower features a large on/off button with a ring status LED on the front and an array of LED lights to indicate the battery percentage—it’s full as shown here.

Ubiquiti UniFi UPS Tower: An Ethernet-managed smart UPS

Out of the box, the UPS Tower looks like a typical UPS. As the name suggests, it’s a, well, tower device with two arrays of ten three-prong (technically, NEMA 5-15R) electrical outlets on the back. All of them feature power surge protection, and five are also linked to an internal battery to deliver backup power when needed.

What makes the Tower different from many other UPSes is that it comes with a network port, allowing it to be managed via a network connection, rather than a USB port like most others.

Connect this port to the network, and you can manage it as a network device, allowing its power status to be accessible to multiple devices within the same network. That’s the key point that differentiates the UniFi UPS Tower from USB-based UPSes, of which the power status (battery vs. Online) is known to only a single USB-connected device.

The UPS Tower features a built-in Network UPS Tools (NUT) server, allowing it to work seamlessly with any NUT-enabled third-party device, such as a NAS server or computer. Additionally, when used in a UniFi network, it’ll work as a UniFi device, similar to a UniFi switch or a UniFi camera, eliminating the need for its NUT server.

As mentioned, the UPS Tower and UPS-2U serve the same purpose: like all UPSes, they provide extra time for connected devices to power down correctly during a power outage. How much time, you might wonder? That depends on the number of connected devices, but when used at full capacity, you can expect at least a couple of minutes.

The table below shows the differences between the UPS Tower and the UPS-2U.

Ubiquiti UniFi UPS Tower sockets
The Ubiquiti UniFi UPS Tower features 10 protected power outlets and a network port, allowing it to be converted into a UniFi device.

Ubiquiti UPS Tower vs. UPS-2U: Hardware specifications

Ubiquiti UPS TowerUbiquiti UPS 2U
UPS TowerUPS-2U
Dimensions288 x 99 x 280.5 mm
(11.3 x 3.9 x 11″)
442.4 x 300 x 87.4 mm (17.4 x 11.8 x 3.4″)
Weight8.17 kg (18 lb)14 kg (30.9 lb)
Enclosure MaterialPolycarbonate and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene blendGalvanized steel
Form FactorDesktopRack mount (2U)
WeatherproofingIP20
ManagementEthernet
Networking Interface1x 100/10MbE port for network connection
2x GbE ports for surge in/out
Power1x OVC II AC in: NEMA 5-15P,
5x Battery backup/surge protection: NEMA 5-15R,
5x Surge protection: NEMA 5-15R
1x OVC II AC in: NEMA 5-15P,
4x Battery backup/surge protection: NEMA 5-15R,
4x Surge protection: NEMA 5-15R
Capacity1,000VA/600W1,440VA/1,000W
TypeLine interactive
Input Voltage Range89—145V AC
Power Method1x TN system, 120V AC, 12A Max., 50/60 Hz
Nominal Input Voltage120V AC
Output Voltage120V AC
Frequency RangeAC mode: 50/60 Hz ±5 Hz (Auto sensing) Battery mode: 60 Hz ±1 Hz
AC Voltage Regulation±10% (Battery mode)
Transfer Time6 ms typical; 10 ms max. (Battery mode)
Wave FormSimulated sine wave (Battery mode)
Battery Type1x Lead Acid 12V, 9Ah2x Lead Acid 12V, 9Ah
RuntimeFull load: 2 min
Half load: 7 min
Full load: 2.3 min
Half load: 8 m
Battery Charging Time6-8 hours recovery to 90% capacity
Overload (Online Mode)110% 5 min go to fault 120% go to fault immediately
Overload (Battery Mode)110% shutdown in 5 sec, 120% shutdown immediately
Short Circuit Protection (Online Mode)Breaker, 250V AC, 15A
Output Short-Circuit CurrentIpeak 334.8A Irms 68.2AIpeak 348.0A Irms 115.1A
Ambient Operating Temperature and Humidity0 to 40° C (32 to 104° F)
0 to 95% noncondensing
Operating Altitude3,000 m (1.9 mi)
Status LEDOff: device not turned on
Flashing white: initializing / factory default,
Steady white: waiting for adoption,
Steady blue: device adoption and working, Flashing blue: battery mode,
Alternating white/blue: firmware upgrading, Rapid flashing blue: locate,
Steady red: warning,
Flashing red: low battery
Battery Indicator LEDAll off: 0%
(1) Steady blue: battery 1—19%,
(2) Steady blue: battery 20—39%,
(3) Steady blue: battery 40—59%,
(4) Steady blue: battery 60—79%,
(5) Steady blue: battery 80—100%
None
Release DateOctober 7, 2025October 2025
US Launch Price
(Buy now!)
$159$279
Ubiquiti UPS Tower vs. UPS-2U: Hardware specifications

UniFi UPS Tower: Simple setup

You can use the UPS tower in the same way you would any UPS unit. Specifically, plug it into the power source, then plug the devices you want to protect against electrical surges into the five outlets (numbers 6-10) on the right. Plug the devices you want to have battery backup into the outlet on the left (1-5), and that’s it.

UniFi UPS Tower detected via UniFi Network
Once plugged into a UniFi network, the UPS Tower is automatically detected by the UniFi Network applications and can be adopted via a single click like any other UniFi device.

As long as the plugged devices don’t use more than their max output capacity, which is 600W in the case of the UniFi UPS Tower, everything will work as intended. When a power outage occurs, the UPS will beep to notify you, allowing you to turn off battery-backed-up devices in an orderly manner.

However, if you don’t want to have to attend to these devices manually, the Ethernet-managed notion of the UPS comes into play.

First, connect the Tower to the network via its network port. After that, in a non-UniFi network, set up a connected device with the NUT server—a process not covered by this review—and it will automatically shut down itself when a power outage occurs.

If you use the UPS Tower with a network hosted by a UniFi console, which is its intended usage, things are much more intuitive.

For one, the Tower is recognized by the UniFi Network application of the UniFi console, just like any UniFi device. After that, you can “adopt” it via a single click.

After that, you can manage the Tower via the web user interface of the UniFi Network app or the UniFi mobile app. Additionally, connected UniFi devices that require battery backup automatically “know” what to do in the event of a power outage, giving you peace of mind.

Ubiquiti UniFi UPS Tower: Reliable performance, runs hot

For this review, I’ve used a UPS Tower for over a week with a UniFi network hosted by a UCG-Fiber with a few UniFi PoE switches, and a UNAS 2. I was happy with it.

In my experience with PoE switches, I’ve found that many generic UPS devices are incompatible due to the nature of PoE. For example, I encountered an issue using the Enterprise 8 PoE with a few off-the-shelf UPSes—the switch would randomly shut down or restart.

For testing, I used the same switch and three others—Pro XG 8 PoE, 8-Port Flex 2.5G PoE, and Zyxel XS1930-12HP—simultaneously with the UniFi UPS Tower, and all have been problem-free for over a week. It appears that this UPS can handle PoE power senders (PSE), which tend to draw power at varying rates, more effectively than others.

UniFi UPS Tower dashboardUniFi UPS Tower features a built in NUT server
The UPS Tower features a built-in NUT server and offers a range of options that can be managed via the UniFi Network application’s user interface.

The nature of UPS is that you hope you’d never need to resort to its battery backup or surge protection functions—it’s like an insurance policy—and during my trial, there were indeed no surges or power outages. However, when I unplugged it from the power source, all protected devices behaved accordingly. And that’s all that matters.

On the downside, it’s worth noting that the UniFi UPS Tower became warm, if not hot, quickly after being plugged into power and remained that way. It wasn’t burning hot, but it was enough for me to ensure it wasn’t too close to other devices.

Heat is never a good thing, nor is it new when it comes to Ubiquiti’s equipment. We’ll have to wait and see how it pans out in the long term, and I do intend to keep using the Tower for the foreseeable future. I’ll update this review if anything noteworthy comes to light. In the meantime, judging from other UniFi hot-running devices, such as the UDM or the U7 Pro Max, I’d say this is not a significant concern.

Ubiquiti UniFi UPS Tower's Rating

8.3 out of 10
The Ubiquiti UPS Tower
Performance
8 out of 10
Features
8.5 out of 10
Design and Setup
8.5 out of 10
Value
8 out of 10

Pros

Ethernet-managed, with simple adoption and intuitive interface/options, via UniFi network

Ten protected outlets with reliable performance

Built-in NUT server

Cons

Runs hot

A bit bulky

Conclusion

The Ubiquiti UniFi UPS Tower (as well as the UniFi UPS-2U) is not a must-have piece of hardware. However, if you live in an area with unstable power and have mission-critical hardware, especially those of the UniFi family, it’s an excellent power backup option, providing you with the much-needed peace of mind. Consider it today!

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1 thought on “UniFi UPS Tower Review: A Handy Backup Battery for a Home Ubiquiti Network”

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  1. Hi Dong,

    The comment about PSEs is interesting.
    I have an Eaton 9e1000i online UPS for the past 2 years, and I never had any issues with it. Maybe this has to do with the load I have on it (running at around 33%), but looking at its graph, it never goes above 37%.
    Besides a Synology NAS, it continuously feeds a UDM SE, USW Pro XG 10, USW Pro Max 16, and through them an E7, U7 Pro XGS, U7 Pro Max, U7 Pro, flex minis and a handful of cameras.

    Reply

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