The HOMAVO BBQ2-2026 is a small charcoal grill on a cart with two wheels. According to the Amazon listing, you can use it as a freestanding grill or a compact tabletop grill, and it is said to suit balcony, garden and campsite. This review covers the version with a cover, part number BBQ2. It costs approx. €70 (Amazon page on 20.10.2026: €69.99) and is filed under our charcoal grills.
Our basis is thin, and that belongs at the start. We evaluated the Amazon catalogue, meaning the title, the seller’s bullet points, the catalogue fields and the product photo. We did not find a manufacturer page from HOMAVO, and no operating manual either. We have not had the grill in our hands, and we have not grilled anything on it.
An earlier version of this review gave specific temperatures, a burn time in minutes, cooking times for steaks and a number of portions. There is no source for any of these figures. They have been removed.
Box instead of kettle: what the product photo shows
In our price box the device is called a kettle grill cart. Amazon speaks of a charcoal grill and a grill cart, and no kettle is visible in the photo either.
It shows a black, box-shaped body with a likewise box-shaped hinged lid. On top of the lid sits a bar handle, and at the front a round thermometer. With the lid open you can see two levels: the main grilling surface below, and above it in the rear section a narrower rack, the warming rack. Two side shelves with support struts hang on the left and right of the body. The frame stands on four legs, the two on the right carry the wheels, and at the bottom a shelf connects the legs. Under the body at the front sits a front part with a bar handle. Whether this is the removable ash tray cannot be told for certain from the photo. Next to it on the right, the picture shows the cover.
Whether the side shelves and the lower shelf are part of the delivery is not stated in any bullet point. We assume they are, because they are mounted in the only photo, but we cannot prove it.
For the footprint, the catalogue helps only halfway. Converted, it lists approx. 107 cm height and approx. 44 cm length, and it is unclear whether length means depth. The third figure, a width of approx. 166 cm converted, does not fit any cart of these proportions. Catalogue dimensions for grill carts are in any case overall dimensions that include handles and folded-out shelves. A grilling area cannot be derived from them, and we do not calculate one.
On the 2-in-1 design, the seller writes only that the grill can be used “depending on the situation as a freestanding grill or compact tabletop grill”. How body and cart are separated, whether plugged or screwed, remains open.
In detail: ember distance, air supply and the lid thermometer
The seller describes three adjustable elements: a height-adjustable charcoal tray, two air vents and the lid with thermometer. The charcoal tray is said to allow “precise heat control”. What can be expected from this physically can be explained without having seen the grill.
The charcoal tray changes the distance between embers and grate. Heat reaches the food mostly as radiation, and that gets weaker with growing distance. If you raise the tray, the surface of the food gets hotter, and if you lower it, you cook more gently without taking out any charcoal. The same embers therefore give two ways to grill: close to the grate for sausages and thin meat, further down for vegetables or poultry pieces that take longer.
The air vents control something else, namely how fast the charcoal burns. Charcoal only glows with oxygen. More air means higher temperature and faster burn-down, less air throttles the embers and stretches them out. With the lid open, air reaches the charcoal from above anyway, so the vents work mainly when the lid is closed. Where the two vents sit, whether low on the body or in the lid, the photo does not show clearly.
With the thermometer, it is worth looking closely at what it measures. A lid thermometer records the air at its probe, that is, at the top under the lid. Directly on the grate, above raised embers, it is usually hotter than there. The reading is therefore useful as a guide for cooking with the lid closed, but it says nothing about the inside of a piece of meat. For poultry or a pork belly, we would add a probe thermometer.
The seller does not mention an indirect zone. For keeping finished food warm, the upper rack is intended: the combination of main grilling surface and warming rack is meant to allow several dishes to be prepared at the same time and finished ones to be kept warm.
Is 1 kg of charcoal enough for a barbecue evening?
For one round in a small group it can be enough, for a long evening with several courses you have to add more. Only the upper limit is documented, a burn time is missing. The note in the listing reads: “maximum charcoal quantity approx. 1 kg, please do not overfill”.
How long the fill lasts depends mainly on the fuel. Lump charcoal generally gets hot faster and burns down faster, briquettes take longer to glow through but hold the heat more evenly. For steaks and sausages after work the quick lump charcoal suits, for an evening with vegetables, chicken and seconds we would take briquettes. Our guide charcoal or briquettes explains the difference between the two fuels in more detail.
When adding more, the limit, as we understand it, applies to everything that lies in the tray at the same time. If half-burned embers are still in there, there is correspondingly less room for fresh charcoal. If you want to stay within the limit over an evening, add in small portions.
Cover, ash tray and two wheels
The cover is what sets this version apart from its sister. Otherwise the bullet points of both versions are identical, and in our price boxes this version is listed at approx. €70, the one without a cover at approx. €90.
According to the seller, rust protection comes from the powder-coated surface. A powder coating protects the metal underneath as long as it is intact. Where it chips or gets scratched, bare metal is exposed and can rust, and at edges and screw points that generally happens first. The cover keeps off rain and leaves. As a rule, you should only put it on once the grill has cooled down completely, and after a rainy day it is worth taking it off once so that no condensation stays underneath. What else comes with overwintering is in our guide winterising your grill.
For cleaning, the seller names removable grill grates, in the plural, and a removable ash tray. Both are said to allow “quick and easy cleaning”. What material the grates are made of, chrome-plated, enamelled or stainless steel, remains open, and whether a wire brush is fine depends on that.
The cart is moved on two wheels. On weight, it says only that it is light.
These three alternatives are worth a look
| Model | The difference | Price | Our rating | Choose this one if |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOMAVO BBQ2-2026 with cover (this one) | Freestanding and tabletop grill on wheels, cover included, max. approx. 1 kg charcoal | approx. €70 | 7.6 | you want to grill standing up and leave the grill outside under the cover |
| HOMAVO charcoal grill 2-in-1 | the same bullet points, but without a cover | approx. €60 | 7.4 | your grill stands under a roof or in a shed after grilling anyway |
| Weber Go-Anywhere charcoal | pure tabletop grill without a frame, grate 42 x 26 cm, 6.78 kg | approx. €95 | 8.3 | you mostly grill on the go and want documented dimensions |
| LotusGrill G340 | Tabletop grill with fan (battery or USB), grate Ø 32 cm | approx. €179 | 8.8 | you want to grill on the balcony with little smoke and can spend more |
The prices are guide values from our price boxes and change constantly. The rating is our editorial assessment from the data comparison; we did not measure anything on any of the four grills.
When the HOMAVO fits and when another grill does
The first question is the one about the cover. If your grill stands in a garage, a garden shed or under an overhang after cooling down, you pay for something you do not need. Then the sister without a cover is enough for you. In our price boxes, though, it is listed at approx. €90 and this version at approx. €70, so compare both prices before you buy. If the cart stays on the terrace all year, you take this version.
Next comes the question of where you mostly grill. In the table above, the two HOMAVO are the only freestanding grills, while the Weber and LotusGrill are pure tabletop grills. If you mostly grill at the table, on a picnic or at the campsite, our comparison favours the Weber Go-Anywhere. In our price box it costs approx. €95, the HOMAVO approx. €70, and for the Weber the grate size and weight are documented. It has no frame to stand on.
On a balcony with neighbours above and beside you, we would think about the LotusGrill G340. Its fan runs on battery or via USB, and the grate measures Ø 32 cm. It is also a pure tabletop grill and is listed in our price box at approx. €179, the HOMAVO at approx. €70. In our rating it is at the top of these four with 8.8. Whether charcoal is allowed at all where you live is covered by our guide grilling on a balcony.
Last, the documentation. For the HOMAVO, grilling area, weight, material details and a manual are missing. If you need these figures to plan, for example because the grill has to fit on a narrow balcony, that is a real reason for one of the other three. If you do not yet know which design suits you, you can click through the grill finder.
Safety and care without a manual
Because there is no manual, there are no manufacturer instructions here. What follows are general rules for charcoal grills that apply regardless of model.
Charcoal is burned outdoors only. Embers release carbon monoxide, a gas you can neither smell nor see. A charcoal grill therefore never belongs in a flat, a garage, a tent, an awning or a caravan, not even for burning down after grilling. When camping, this is the most important point of all.
For lighting, you use a chimney starter or solid firelighters, never methylated spirits, petrol or other liquids. The grill stands level and firm, with distance from the house wall, awning, parasol and hedge. Children and pets keep away as long as there are embers in it.
Ash can still smoulder long after grilling. It is disposed of only once completely cold, ideally in a metal bucket and not in the organic waste bin.
What the manufacturer does not state
These details are missing from the Amazon listing, and we did not find a manufacturer page or manual where they might be stated:
- Grilling area of the main grate and warming rack in centimetres
- Weight in kilograms, as a freestanding grill and as a tabletop grill
- reliable external dimensions and the working height in freestanding use
- Material and material thickness of body, lid, grates and frame
- Material and dimensions of the cover
- Measuring range of the lid thermometer
- Maximum temperature, heat-up time and burn time
- Number of height settings on the charcoal tray and how it is adjusted
- Position of the two air vents
- complete scope of delivery, tools and time needed for assembly and conversion
- Warranty terms, spare parts, origin and registered office of the manufacturer
- Information on minimum distances and on use on a balcony
Online there are retailer listings for the “HOMAVO BBQ2” with specific grate dimensions and a different height. They contradict the Amazon catalogue, and no manufacturer source stands behind them, so we do not adopt them.
Who is it suitable for?
The HOMAVO suits people who grill standing up on a terrace or in the garden, want to leave the grill outside under the cover and would also like to take it on an outing without the cart. Anyone who grills like that gets everything the seller describes in one box with the version with a cover.
It is the wrong choice for hosts who regularly cater for larger groups, and for anyone who needs to know before buying what they are getting. The model designation ends in 2026, and we did not find any history of the model or the brand. Anyone who values replaceable grates is buying into uncertainty here.
