MPPT controller: How brand-conscious should I be?

[wgerstmyer]

Hi all,
Lost my old boat and with it my simple 30 amp Newpowa MPPT controller. I had a simple solar charging system, 2 100 watt panels (went up to 2 before our trip to the Bahamas), 300 ah of batteries, plug and play with the cabling, which had the positive at one end of my 5 batteries and a negative at the other.
Really only the fridge took any power, lights are all LED and charging phones , the occasional use of a blender off the inverter, and only had to use the Honda 2200 generator 6 days in 3 years (persistent cloud cover each time).
The new boat has no fridge hooked up so I’m using a 2019 ARB portable 70 liter fridge which seems to cycle about the same as my old Adler Barbour on a 5.5 cf fridge.
My needs are still the same, are there real benefits to a Victron or name-it controller or is the basic unit out there going to be just fine? I’ll likely jump the amperage limit up in case I go to more panels. Thanks in advance for your responses, Will

[mvweebles]

Where VIctron really shines is when it's integrated into an entire system (Inverter, MPPTs, shunt, monitoring, etc.). Gives a lot of data.

EPEver MPPT controllers have a decent reputation and are quite a bit less expensive than VIctron, plus have decent LED readout on a screen on their case. Here's a 30-amp (390-Watt) model for $90 (US), less than half the equivilent Victron with Bluetooth. Some of the EPever models are white-labeled to Outback, another well-respected brand.

https://www.amazon.com/EPEVER-Contro...605075097&th=1

Personally, I would avoid Renogy even though they have attractive pricing. When tested, many of their products do not deliver their rated specs; and some professionals have noted an above-average failure rate/DOA which has been my experience (I just replaced a DC-DC charger after 15-months of service; and I have other DOA Renogy kit including a 1500W inverter). Definitely not worth the risk for me.