Status for 2018

[size=+3]Status for 2018[/size]



This year I have published a review nearly each day. I have generally published more in equipment categories than previous, this means more test equipment, especially multimeters.
I have also made some small improvements to the website, this includes parameter tables with popup pictures for more categories.

To keep up to date on my reviews it is a good idea to check the "Last additions" section on my front page, it will list the last couple of reviews/test/articles I have done, just below it there might also be information about good offers, coupon codes, etc. for stuff I have just reviewed (When present it will be from the dealer that gave me the review item).



[size=+2]Batteries[/size]

There is very little news this year, but the 21700 and 20700 size is much more common now. Many of my reviews this year has been old batteries, because Vapcell gave me a box with many of the batteries I was missing a review on. I was mostly using these as "filler" when I had no other battery to review.

The 14500 got a significant improvement



I got a 14500 cell with about 1000mAh capacity, this is a improvement of nearly 200mAh compared to the best previous quality cells. The reason for this improvement is an update of the 14500 production process to use newer technology.

Enerpower 18650 3.2V 1800mAh (Blue)



I have tested some LiFePO4 batteries, they are a type of lithium-Ion battery, but the discharge curve is very different and the capacity lower, but for people needing 3V they are very nice.

Enerpower 18650 3.2V 1100mAh (Blue)



LiFePO4 do also exist in high current versions, this cell can deliver 20A to 30A. Again capacity is lower than regular LiIon, but voltage is much more stable during discharge.

Samsung INR18650-20S 2000mAh (Cyan)


Vapcell INR18650 2000mAh (Green) 2018



With the regular LiIon we do still get low capacity cells, but for very high current. These cells can deliver 30A

Vapcell INR21700 5000mAh (Purple) 2018


With the new slightly larger format (21700) we get capacity up to 5000mAh.

Shockli 26650 5250mAh (Green) 2018


The 26650 has moved slightly above the 5000mAh mark, but they are not really high current, the cell above can handle 15A.

I have tested many of the larger batteries, they can all be found in my individual test list for larger batteries

10180 100mAh


I did also check a very small battery, they are used in some cute small lights.


For AA/AAA batteries I got a large pile from a Canadian reader, this means my AA/AAA tests now includes a couple of American brands, not that they are significant different from European brands.

**** smith Alkaline AA CAN
https://lygte-info.dk/pic/Batteries2013Primary/****%20smith%20Alkaline%20AA%20CAN/DSC_1993.jpg

They can all be found in my list of tested AA/AAA cells

Ansmann D 10000mAh 5030642 (Silver)


I did get around to test some NiMH D cells this year, this is the best one for capacity, many D cells are low capacity, i.e. only slightly more than AA cells.



And I did a update of my comparators and comparator index, this hopefully makes it easier to find them.




[size=+2]Battery chargers[/size]

This year I have tested 46 chargers for round cells. I have listed a few of the more interesting chargers here, but there are many more. The total list of charger can be found on my website or in a more organized table.

ISDT C4


I got a fairly advanced and universal charger from ISDT, it has a nice graphical display with touchscreen and can both charge and discharge, but I am not really impressed with the fixed length slots.

Efan Lux S4 LCD charger


Efan did also make a charger with touch screen and both charge and discharge function and they did get the slots correct. I like the idea with the charger, but the user interface requires a bit too many clicks. What would really be interesting was a upgraded version that with functionality similar to SkyRC's charger (I am just dreaming).

LiitoKala Lii-S1


Some people have been adding a voltage display to the small LiitoKala chargers, maybe LiitoKala have seen that, at least they made a charger with display.

Xtar PB2 Charger & power bank


Xtar made a nice charger and power bank, I like the compact design and the easy way to open it (It has magnetic lock).


Woyum ZK1a


Woyum made a single cell charger with a unique indicator design, the globe at the end will change color depending on charge state.

Xtar SC2


Xtar was the first charger I got that uses Quick Charge and it is a fast charger (More QC chargers will follow next year).




[size=+2]USB chargers[/size]

I tested 53 mains powered usb chargers and 9 car usb charges this year. The tables has got a USB-C PD page where all PD chargers are listed with supported voltages.

Samsung EP-TA20EWE (Fake again)


Dangerous chargers with a Samsung look-alike is very common, there are also a lot of other dangerous chargers around.

Xiaomi Mi 45W USB-C charger CDQ02ZM


Xiaomi makes good chargers, here is a high power USB-C PD charger, sadly I could not get it with EU plug.

Apple 61W USB-C Power Adapter A1718


Apple's USB-C PD charger did not impress me, it may work perfectly with Apple equipment, but it is not a good general PD supply.

Tronsmart Titan plus 5 port QC charger U5TF


I have tested some good charger for old style USB and QC, this one is fairly powerful and can do QC on all ports.

Urant USB-C PD 45W car


Some car chargers do support USB-C PD now, but not all are good, this one can deliver 20V and lot of current according to specifications, in real life it cannot and it will damage itself.

ESR USB-C PD 45W car charger ASCC54-P27W12+Q3


This one only has PD up to 12V, but it works and can deliver rated power. It do also has a old style USB-A connector with QC, this makes it a fairly universal charger.



With more car charger tests I decided to make a parameter table with them.



[size=+2]USB test equipment[/size]

I have tested some USB test equipment, that includes electronic loads, USB meters and a PD trigger.

YZXStudio USB meter ZY1280


YZX studio makes new versions of their usb meters frequently and they are usual good and precise (Also expensive). This meter is my main tool for checking supported fast charge protocols.

USB-PD & USB-QC trigger 2D001


A PD and QC trigger, can easily be used to test equipment with. The above tester fro YZX can also trigger the protocols, but requires much more work to do it.

RD Electronic USB load HD35


RD has both USB meters and USB loads, I have tested most of these products this year.



[size=+2]Digital multimeters[/size]

Last year I started on testing multimeters and this year I have added many more (About 67, bringing the total above 80) to the index.

Aneng AN870


I have tested many meters from Aneng, they are cheap and often has very good functionality for the price, but there are a few lemons.

Brymen BM869s


For a high quality and advanced meter this Brymen is one of the favorites.

Keithley DMM6500 6½ digit


For a good fairly high end bench meter this Keithley is very nice. I did also look at some more budget friendly options.

Sanwa PM3


I looked at many different sized meters, here a pocket meter.

Multimeter and component testing
Multimeter probes
Multimeter and voltage measurements
Multimeter and pulsed DC current (PWM)
Tolerance specifications for multimeters
Clamp meters magnetization, demagnetization and offset
Multimeters and current measurements
Multimeters and thermocouples

I did plan to write something about multimeters and it ended up with a fair amount of articles.




[size=+2]Anything else[/size]

Like I planned to do I have done more in the anything else category.

Power supply frontend DPS5020-USB 50V/20A with Bluetooth and USB interface


I tested two RD power supply frontend with USB and bluetooth interface and PC/Android software.

DANIU 1M 4mm Banana to Banana Plug Soft Silicone Test Cable


With lots of multimeter tests it is also relevant to test test cables.

Thermal Imaging Camera HT-02D


I got a thermal imager from Banggod to test, it is no match for my usual IR camera, but much better than a IR thermometer.



[size=+2]What to expect in 2019[/size]

The reviews will continue in 2019, but there will probably be less reviews. This will depend on how much I get and how much I have to buy for reviews, but it is very unlikely I will publish a new LiIon battery review every 4 days during the full year, this year it was only possible because I had the big box with older cells from Vapcell. I may also run out of other stuff during the year at least for periods. I have some articles about batteries and a few more about multimeters planned.

To discuss or ask questions about specific reviews they can usual be found on CPF, BLF and fonarevka (Not all reviews are posted everywhere).

Suggestions about what to test are welcome. When sending suggestion remember to include a link to a shop that ships to EU (Denmark). It is also possible to ask dealers/manufactures if they will send stuff for review.

Thank you very much for all the work you've done. It is highly appreciated among flashlight and other communities.
Before all of my purchases (batteries, DMM and chargers) i was scrolling through your reviews on daily basis. Even for professional use i need to jump at lygte every few days just to refresh my memory.
That being said i cannot add anything more that you haven't done or will be doing next year...
Happy new year HKJ![emoji1635]

Though we may not show it as much as it deserves, your hard work and consistency on these reviews are completely and whole heartedly appreciated. I have made many good decisions based on your information over the years.

Thank you and a happy new year HKJ!

Thank you from me, as well, for all of your tireless efforts in performing your detailed reviews.

The information you provide is invaluable, and literally the first place I go to check out new gear of this sort.

Happy New Year to you :goodjob:

We are indeed fortunate to have your wonderfully thorough and detailed reviews. Thanks from the left coast of the US, and best wishes for a Happy New Year.

Thanks for the time and effort to allow an easy way to assess the quality, safety and efficacy so important to our hobby/lifestyle!

Thank you so much! Your effort is a perfection. I always use it as a reference point for batteries and chargers.

I wonder as well, will you ever test power sources like this one: http://s.aliexpress.com/yy6N3EFr? Are they really what they claim to be?

Thank you HJK for an interesting update of 2018,looking forward to more from you in 2019.

Thank you so much. I enjoy your reviews immensely and use them to help me make purchase decisions.

vadimax said:

I wonder as well, will you ever test power sources like this one: http://s.aliexpress.com/yy6N3EFr? Are they really what they claim to be?

Click to expand...

There is one problem with this type of equipment: The price!
It might be what it claims to be, but the question is if it needed.

Happy new year HKJ! And big thanks for the many high-quality reviews you do on your site (you may remember me as the user who asked for the raw data for the eneloop charge tests last February - unfortunately I never succeeded in finding a better dV/dT termination algorithm).

I have an idea of what to test this year: lithium titanate batteries (LTO). Specifically the cycle life claims (usually 10,000-15,000 cycles). Perhaps you have the equipment to do repeated 1C or 2C charge/discharge cycles and can log the capacity after each cycle, to independently measure how fast their capacity degrades? At 2C without breaks you'll reach 10,000 cycles in circa 14 months so you could make it an ongoing thing where every month you post the capacity numbers of the cell. Or maybe set up a youtube channel to document your testing, and a patreon where we can donate!

I also have a question - do you know a good source of batteries that ships to Europe?

LMF5000 said:

I have an idea of what to test this year: lithium titanate batteries (LTO). Specifically the cycle life claims (usually 10,000-15,000 cycles). Perhaps you have the equipment to do repeated 1C or 2C charge/discharge cycles and can log the capacity after each cycle, to independently measure how fast their capacity degrades? At 2C without breaks you'll reach 10,000 cycles in circa 14 months so you could make it an ongoing thing where every month you post the capacity numbers of the cell. Or maybe set up a youtube channel to document your testing, and a patreon where we can donate!

Click to expand...

I do not have space or equipment to run a test for that long time.

LMF5000 said:

I also have a question - do you know a good source of batteries that ships to Europe?

Click to expand...

I either buy batteries in EU (usual Akkuteile or nkon) or from some of the big shops in China.

Wow. That is a lot of testing! How do you find the time to do it all?
Are you retired, and sleep only 3 hours every night?

Thank you for all the work you did!

Would be awesome if you could test a Tesla battery in 2019, like the new 21700 from the Model 3. Probably too difficult to get or too expensive, but interesting.

Edit: According to this test (2015): http://www.testfakta.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Grafik_Duracell_ENG_vect150916.pdf the Aerocell AA (not rechargble) from the Lidl has good price/quality. Perhaps an idea to test this battery in 2019.

NiMHi said:

Thank you for all the work you did!

Would be awesome if you could test a Tesla battery in 2019, like the new 21700 from the Model 3...

Click to expand...

He tested a rewrap of the Tesla 21700:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...iew-of-Vapcell-INR21700-5000mAh-(Purple)-2018

SubLGT said:

Wow. That is a lot of testing! How do you find the time to do it all?
Are you retired, and sleep only 3 hours every night?

Click to expand...

I do a lot of automation, a battery review only requires me to take the photos, but the batteries in the testing station and fill in the "empty" fields in the review. The comment about the empty fields is because my software writes a skeleton review with all the correct links in it, I need to fix the picture links with the correct photo number and write a couple of comments (I also need to start another generator that makes curves and now also the table). I would never have been able to do all the battery reviews I do without this automation. The actual testing is about a week for each battery, but do not require any work from me.
But I do use a lot of time on reviews, not everything is this automatic.

I would like to get some original Tesla cells to test, but it is unlikely.