The EU3000IS from Honda and the 75531i from Champion are dueling 3,000-watt inverter generators. Power delivery is almost the same between the two generators, with just a 100-watt edge for the Champion model.
Honda went all out to make their 3,000-watt offering a premium generator. The unit is packed with a massive 3.4-gallon gas tank, which allows you to run the generator for 20 hours at a 25% load or nearly a full day of work at its rated capacity. On top of that, it comes with an electric push-start in addition to a backup recoil starter. The only thing that’s missing from this generator is a digital hour meter.
The Champion generator is a bit more bare bones. There’s no electric starter, and the 1.6-gallon gas tank limits you to just an eight-hour run time at a 25% load. That’s problematic, since you’ll be constantly refueling if you need to run the generator anywhere close to its rated power output. The main advantage to this generator is that the 120-volt, 30-amp twist-lock outlet is designed to be RV-ready. While the Honda unit has a similar outlet, you’ll need to purchase an RV adapter separately.
The Honda generator also blows its Champion competitor out of the water when it comes to noise production. This generator is insanely quiet – it produces just 50 dB of noise at a 25% load, making it hardly louder than the EU2200i while delivering significantly more power. The Champion generator isn’t excessively loud, at 58 dB, but it’s louder as soon as you turn it on than the Honda EU3000IS is at full power.
The only major complaint that users lodge against the Honda generator is that it’s too premium, and not portable enough as a result. The generator is quite heavy at over 130 pounds, and yet Honda didn’t build it with a decent set of wheels on the bottom. You’ll almost certainly need two people to lift and carry it. The Champion generator, on the other hand, weighs just 84 pounds, comes with easy to grab top handles, and has a set of integrated wheels.
If you’ve got the money for it, the EU3000IS leads the 3,000-watt inverter generator class in terms of quality and features. Portability can be an issue, but it’s easy to overlook in favor of how quiet this generator is. The Champion unit is hamstrung by a small fuel tank, but it’s a solid unit if you don’t mind frequent refueling stops.