Ubiquiti is definitely known for taking somewhat boring devices and making them very cool in their own right. Think about how they have made their access points, power distribution units, switches, and other gear extremely cool with lots of capabilities at the same time. Now, it looks like they have officially entered the power protection game with a new line of their own UniFi-branded UPS units.
This seems to be really just a natural progression of devices that they already have. Think about the devices in their lineup like their networking products, cameras, access control, and even EV chargers. Now they’re adding uninterruptible power to the mix. Most of us have been using third-party UPSs for years. I think the biggest draw here is that these new UPS units integrate directly into the UniFi Network application. This means you’ll be able to see power status, battery health, and runtime information. And this will be shown right along with your switches and access points.
There are two models launching out of the gate. The first is a rack-mounted UPS-2U, rated for 1.44 kVA. It has eight outlets, surge protection, and a field-replaceable 216 Wh battery. The second is a smaller UniFi UPS Tower. This is more of a desktop or compact unit meant for a single switch, access point, UniFi Dream Machine or your workstation. Both models will show up in the UniFi dashboard automatically and can pair with UniFi storage devices like the UNVR for coordinated shutdowns during power outages.
Ubiquiti also mentioned that these units will include built-in Network UPS Tools (NUT) server support. That means you can use them to send status data to other systems and not just UniFi gear. I think this is a nice touch for those running home labs, Linux servers, or NAS boxes outside of the UniFi ecosystem and who want to integrate with open-source tools they may already be running. According to the blog, this is just the beginning of a full lineup of UPS products. Higher-end models with pure sine wave output and lithium-ion batteries are in the worksa. These will be aimed at larger setups and enterprise environments.
The integration angle is what’s really interesting here. Most UPS units are standalone appliances with basic USB or SNMP monitoring. Having something that’s plug-and-play within the UniFi controller could be a big win for small business and home lab users who want visibility for their power protection. This will be possible without the complexity of managing separate power software, etc. You’ll be able to see which devices are running on backup, track remaining runtime, and monitor events like brownouts or surges in real time.
Of course, a few questions still remain in my mind. Runtime will depend heavily on the load and that 216 Wh battery doesn’t sound huge, so we’ll need to see a real-world test of the unit. It’s also not clear to me whether the output is pure sine or stepped approximation. This definitely makes a difference for sensitive equipment and much of our sensitive gear these days.
Pricing for the units:
- UPS-2U: $279
- Unifi UPS Tower: $159
Still, it’s exciting to see Ubiquiti finally enter this space. Power protection is a natural fit for them. I think having a UPS that just “shows up” in UniFi Network could simplify things for ones running their gear in a rack or home lab setup. If they follow through with their roadmap for higher-capacity and lithium models, this could theoretically end up being one of their most useful new product lines.
You can read their official announcement that is now live on their blog here: https://blog.ui.com/article/introducing-uninterruptible-power
What do you all think? Is this something you’d add to your rack, or do you still prefer sticking with known UPS brands for now?