What makes Roamer SMART5 the best lithium leisure battery?
Ever since bursting onto the scene in 2010, Roamer have led the market in terms of innovation. We were the first company to introduce a SEATBASE shape battery, the first to use cells that can be fast charged at sub-zero temperatures (the XTREME) and the first to use Active Balancing as standard (from SMART3). We introduced Victron integration and increased reliability with SMART4, and now with SMART5 we've raised the bar again with a market leading 12 year warranty and 12 years of Roamercare support.
Roamer SMART5 is our 5th generation of SMART lithium LiFePO4 leisure batteries and while it’s an iteration rather than a revolution, we’ve made big improvements in terms of features, build quality and reliability. This is now the most advanced, highest quality and best value lithium leisure battery on the market right now. A big statement we know, but one we can truly back.
"Just purchased my second battery from Roamer, a SMART4 460Ah. The latest series 4 is a real step forward with Victron Cerbo connection capabilities. I can't speak highly enough of the Roamer team, always looking to advance their products and keep their reputation for great customer service as good today as it has always been... Keep up the good work - well done."
So what's new with SMART5?
The biggest update with SMART5 is the transition from EVE cells to REPT. Roamer have always used Grade A matched LiFePO4 cells but our new direct relationship with REPT gives us access to the very latest premium LiFePO4 cells with higher energy density (190Wh/kg), longer life expectancy (up to 25 years or 8000 cycles) and additional safety certifications (IEC62619, UL1973 and UL9540A). This is one of the key reasons we've been able to extend our already market leading warranty from 10 years to 12.
We’ve also increased warranty to 12 years, added ECE R10 certifications, improved build quality, increased Bluetooth range and added a range of new integrations with Garmin, Simarine, BCA, Truma etc. Oh and we’ve even managed to reduce the price too!
The most FORGIVING drop-in lithium battery
With SMART5, we’ve introduced several features that help make upgrading an existing campervan or motorhome system a lot easier. Continuous Active Balancing allows you to charge with a wide range of voltages and use almost any existing lead acid battery charger without suffering from the cell over-voltage issues that can plague other batteries.
The new emergency mode feature allows you to recover a flat lithium battery without needing a specialist charger, and the new Sleep feature allows you to shut down the battery over winter with almost zero self discharge, while still allowing you to maintain your starter battery from solar or a trickle charger. Along with a range of compact and easy to install sizes, these features make the Roamer SMART5 the most forgiving and motorhome friendly battery on the market right now.
New INTELLIGENT Plug & play integrations
We added plug-and-play communication with Victron GX devices with SMART4 and of course, this also works flawlessly with our SMART5 range of lithium leisure batteries. What does this mean for you? Well, now you can now simply connect the supplied CANbus cable between your battery and a Victron GX device the battery information becomes instantly available to the Victron system. You can monitor the status of your battery from the touchscreen panel, via the Victron VRM app on the local network, or from anywhere in the world via the Victron VRM online portal.
We've also spent 12 months developing new BMS integrations with Garmin, Simarine, Savvyvan, BCA, Truma and many more. CANbus, LINbus and Bluetooth communication allows SMART5 batteries to link with pretty much any monitoring system on the market.
New battery models
SMART5 sees the introduction of two brand new models, the 144SMART5 and the 340SMART5. The 144SMART5 is a low profile battery in a DIN size case measuring 355mm L x 178mm W x 189mm H that fits perfectly under a seat or in a battery box. This is designed to be a drop in replacement battery for motorhomes, the case dimensions, built in brackets and standard battery post terminals allow you to swap your existing lead acid battery directly - no modifications needed. The 340SMART5 is a super compact battery that gives you 340Ah capacity and a high power 300A BMS in a case with footprint of only 386mm x 206mm. That's only slightly bigger than a 100Ah lead acid battery but with around 5X the useable capacity.
ACTIVE Balancing for perfect cell balance
Roamer introduced Active Balancing technology with their SMART3 range, and it's been a gamechanger, particularly for campervans, where irregular charging is common. By keeping cells in closer balance, Active Balancing prevents premature BMS shutdowns, ensures a longer battery life, and allows you to charge to 100% at any voltage from 13.8V to 14.6V (more advice on charging here). On the new SMART5 range we've moved the 2A Active Balancer onto the main BMS board instead of using a separate module. This improves reliability and also enables full control of the balancing process via the Roamer SMART app.
More POWER, when you need it
With the new SMART5 BMS, we’ve been able to increase the maximum continuous charge and discharge rate to a whopping 300A as standard and when you need a boost, you can now draw up to 450A for 30 seconds. That’s enough to power any 12V or 24V inverter with plenty left in the tank. We are finding more and more customers are cooking on electric in their campervans and boats and this higher power output makes Roamer SMART5 the go-to battery for gas free builds.
The most USER FRIENDLY smartphone app
We have been working very hard in-house to create and build a brand, new BMS App for our SMART5 LiFePO4 leisure batteries. We have listened to our community and worked with the pain points of existing BMS apps in the market to provide you with one which is intelligent, easy-to-use and reliable. No more clumsy, ugly BMS app designs - we want to make interacting with your lithium leisure battery as easy as possible with simple, user friendly design. Our brand new Roamer SMART Bluetooth app is available to download for iPhone & Android now.
Ultimate RELIABILITY and the right to repair
Roamer LiFePO4 leisure batteries are designed in the UK by our engineering team in Leeds. From the flexible copper busbars to custom steel compression brackets, every component is specified, CAD modelled, prototyped and engineered to meet our exact requirements. Along with our rigorous testing and quality control processes, the build quality of our batteries has allowed us to reduce warranty returns to an incredibly low 0.06%. Compared to the market average of 2.5% its clear that Roamer Batteries are simply built better.
We now use serviceable screw cases for our batteries and SMART5 batteries have a fully modular construction. Where others use tape and glue, we use engineered brackets and double bolted busbars. It’s actually possible to strip a Roamer SMART5 down to it’s individual components and put it back together again in less than 30 minutes. This makes it very easy to repair or upgrade, replacing a BMS takes less than 10 minutes and you could even do it yourself on the road if needed.
While others have tried to imitate us in terms of design and headline features, when you open the battery case you’ll immediately see why Roamer are different.
Grade A+ LiFePO4 Cells
Cell manufacturers provide basic gradings for their cells – either A,B or C. This is a general statement on quality relative to the batch, and different manufacturers have different scales. To make it even more confusing, many battery brands buy cells from distributors who set their own scales! This is like grading all the players in a football team from A to C without specifying the team. A grade A player for Man City is very different to a grade A player for Accrington Stanley!
Roamer specify grade A+ in their cells. This is our own term, used to highlight how we’ve gone beyond the simple grade A scale. When you see us refer to grade A+ cells what we mean by this is we’ve used ‘grade A’ cells from a top tier manufacturer (in SMART5 we use REPT), they are factory original cells bought directly from the manufacturer, they are less than 6 months old at the time of assembly, cells are matched based on internal resistance and capacity and serial numbers are logged for transparency and printed on test sheet and QR code label. So when you see us refer to grade A+, this is not just marketing speak - you know you are buying the best quality components possible.
12 YEAR Warranty & Roamercare
We are incredibly confident about the performance, longevity and reliability of our SMART5 Roamer lithium leisure batteries, we’ve given all of them a 12 year warranty plus free Roamercare for the full warranty period. When you buy from Roamer not only will you get the best lithium battery on the market, you will get the very best technical support. Our Roamercare includes an set-up call and unlimited technical support from our trained engineers, electrical system designers and battery technicians.
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