Higher end analyzing chargers do more than just discharging, e.g. IR tests to help track health and match cells, and fine charging control to help prolong life, e.g. lower charge termination voltage, programmable storage voltage, lower currents for tiny cells, higher currents for big cells, CV phase on discharge, programmable software control, etc.
I don't have time for any of that. I literally need lights that run and batteries that charge. My cheap D4 will tell me when a battery is done, and it has. I drop them off for recycling and replace.
If I charged as a hobby or just had to know actual mah, maybe. What I need is lights that run as long as they can and lights that can bring the yard to life at night or light them dark corners in barns impossible to see with daylight blasting in from every window or crack.
I will know if a battery is good when it runs as as long as I need. I don't trust a charger to tell me I'll be good to go. As it is, I've learned some lights prefer certain batteries and some batteries prefer different lights or electronics. My eneloop and energizer NiMH run everything perfect except my FRS radios. Even the worst alkaline run them best but they hate any rechargeables. A charger couldn't have told me that. I have a 70~ lumen 1 AA energizer hard case that runs half the time on an eneloop than my 1L-1AA runs at twice the lumens. It loves the energizer 2300mah AA though. My charger can't tell me that.
I just need charged batteries and my low dollar D4 runs almost daily 4-8 hours charging batteries for everything around the house. It's perfect for someone who only has time to do a discharge in actual use. My simple Panasonic smart NiMH charger runs regularly too and it only has a green light per slot, kinda slow but dead reliable.
It all all boils down to why you need a battery charged for me. I don't need to know actual mah or a charger that discharges for me. I do that at a pace fast enough to run chargers regularly.
Dont get me wrong, I want to have all them features, but I need my time for other things and them things discharge batteries well enough for me. The low dollar D4 fills up batteries just fine for my needs. Actual use tells me when I need to dump them (the D4 tells me too). I don't need to compile data and compare to new battery stats to tell me a battery is on the way out. I'll buy new batteries and enjoy a few brews while the new cells charge
If you can't tell yet, I don't hobby charge lol.