WEN and Honda’s conventional generators boast a ton of power if you’re not too worried about bulk. The WEN 56475 offers 4,750 watts of surge power and 3,750 watts of running power. The Honda EM4000S is rated for 4,000 watts of surge power, but the engine boost allows it to produce up to 5,000 watts for 10 seconds. It can also put out 3,500 watts for as long as there’s gas in the tank.
If you’re looking to use one of these generators for backup power at home, the Honda has a distinct advantage: runtime. The massive 6.2-gallon fuel tank allows it to run for fully 16 hours at a 50% load. The WEN generator can only run for 11 hours at the same load.
Another important difference is that the Honda generator sports a 125-volt/250-volt 30-amp outlet. That allows you to power extremely heavy-duty appliances. The WEN has two 30-amp outlets to match the Honda, but neither of them supports 250-volt power. Instead, one is RV-ready, making this generator a bit more friendly for road trips.
Both generators come with electric and recoil starters to improve ease of use. However, only the WEN model includes a digital multimeter so that you can monitor power consumption and remaining runtime.
Once again, Honda has WEN beat when it comes to noise reduction. The Honda EM4000S is impressively quiet for a conventional generator, producing between 61 and 63 dB of noise. The WEN is louder as soon as you turn it on, at 67 dB, and it’s more than 10 times as loud as the Honda generator when you pull all of the available power from it.
The difference in size and weight between these generators reflects their different intended uses. The WEN generator is relatively small and lightweight, at just 112.5 pounds, which is nice given that it seems designed for larger RVs. The Honda is mounted on wheels for mobility, but it weighs in at more than 200 pounds – so, it’s better suited for use at home with large appliances than for road tripping.
It’s important to note that the Honda generator comes with a warranty that’s fully two years longer than the WEN warranty. However, this also stems from a huge disparity in pricing. The Honda costs roughly $2,400, compared to a very affordable $415 for the WEN generator. Ultimately, though, the choice between these two generators may rest more on how you plan to use it than on the price difference.