Hosted by David L. Jones
And presented in Dave's unique non-scripted overly enthusiastic style!
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EEVblog #91 – $50 Multimeter Shootout – Extech EX330, Amprobe AM220, Elenco, Vichy VC99, GS Pro-50
Posted on June 4th, 2010 69 commentsDave compares five $50 Multimeters to see if they are any good, and how they compare.
Download the PDF comparison sheetThanks to Evan from Tequipment.net
The Extech EX330:
http://www.tequipment.net/ExtechEX330.aspThe Amprobe AM220:
http://www.tequipment.net/AmprobeAM-220.aspThe Elenco M-2625:
http://www.tequipment.net/ElencoM-2625.html
(Also Jaycar Digitech QM1535)The Global Specialties Pro-50:
http://www.tequipment.net/GlobalSpecialtiesPRO50.htmlThe Vichy VC99
http://www.dealexcel.com/old/vc99-3-6-7auto-range-digital-multimeter-with-analog-bar-product-133.html
(Also on Ebay)
EEVblog #91 - $50 Multimeter Shootout - Extech EX330, Amprobe AM220, Elenco, Vichy VC99, GS Pro-50 [ 127.61 MB ] Download (3269)69 responses to “EEVblog #91 – $50 Multimeter Shootout – Extech EX330, Amprobe AM220, Elenco, Vichy VC99, GS Pro-50”
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Awesome! Perhaps you could do another shootout for a slightly higher range? Also, could you explain how your internal impedance test worked?
Again, awesome post!
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Yes, $100 shootout coming soon.
Nothing special with the impedance test, just another meter on ohms range and force the meter under test to whatever volt range required.-
karma June 5th, 2010 at 00:40
Let me suggest two models (if you can reach them) for the bit higher range review:
– Uni-T UT61E
– Fluke 17B
(both available from dealexcel.com)keep revwing Dave!
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stephen June 4th, 2010 at 19:21
Dave i know you just posted a spot review of failed product design on a idea meter in your $100 shoot out are their any Extech in that hundred dollar shoot out. If so in testing them is the overshoot still an issue? I am also wondering if you’d be willing to review one of the $50 ideal meters if it were sent to you.
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Yes, the Extech 505 is one of them. I’ve already tweeted about a problem with that one. Since been rectified by Extech, but I’ll show that in the final blog.
Don’t know about doing any more $50 meters, there are just so many of them out there, it’s got to stop at some point!
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Great review.
What are the model numbers of your Keithley high voltage and current supplies? Thanks. -
That slow motion fall out test was a killer, LOL.
Great overall, thanks! -
Alas that elenco is very much like my digitech.
Btw I have just found your blog and like it very much. -
csadzuki June 4th, 2010 at 23:31
Thanks for the great review Dave!
I noticed that the voltage on the Amprobe meter floats around 320 mV with unconnected leads (see the video from 4:50~). What is causing that and do you think it is a disadvantage?
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@csadzuki
That is just the higher input impedance causing the input to float and pick up noise. It zero’s out if you short the probes or connect to a lower impedance voltage source. All meters with high-z on the mV range do this. Nothing unusual, although it tends to freak out those who are not aware of it. High-z input can be an advantage.-
csadzuki June 7th, 2010 at 20:16
Thank you for the answer, makes perfect sense.
My only concern is that when you are trying to measure a voltage around 320 mV, the situation is kind of ambiguous. But I guess this is not an issue in practice.
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Well happy to say I was only a half dick head in my choice having a VC99 and an AM220
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Dave,
Man, that must have taken a lot of work to put together. It was a very well-executed comparison of what you can really get for $50.
I felt like I was watching the multimeter equivalent of BBC’s Top Gear–an incredible mix of testing and seasoned opinion!
Go Extech! I’m already looking forward to the $100 shootout!
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Doesn’t it make more sense to test the meters before you take them apart?
How do you know you didn’t damage the meters in the process? It is easy to call something a heaping pile of shit, but you may have actually damaged one.
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ModemHead June 5th, 2010 at 02:55
An entertaining and thorough review, thanks. But I agree with Hugo, leave the take-apaaaaht test until the end, even after the drop tests, so we can see if there’s any tendency for internal damage from rough treatment. And all the functional tests can be done in “as delivered” condition.
Also thumbs up to the guys at Tequipment.
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That’s my catch phrase – “Don’t turn it on, take it apart!”
Taking it apart first is actually part of the test. If it can’t survive being taken apart and prodded and poked first then it probably doesn’t deserve to get reviewed!
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Mike Smith June 5th, 2010 at 04:49
Great job on the multimeter shootout. by far the best eevblog yet and it was well worth the wait for it. thanks again.
just wanted to see how long we would have to wait for the $100 shoot-out and if there is any way to see if you are going to do a UNI-T multimeter review sometime? they have been on ebay alot like the VC99 you reviewed but im not sure if they can be put into the category of crappy meters.
also when you reviewed the multimeters, their accuracy and stuff was good but what about longivity? i mean will they stay that good for a good while? just curious.
alright well thanks again.
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I laughed my ass off every time you made a comment about “our friend the Global Specialties” after it stopped functioning properly.
All in all, great review. I give it a big thumbs up and look forward to the next shootout. -
Hi Dave,
found your shoot-out very interesting.
I would have found it even better, if you had provided a short table at the end, that summarizes the different points for each meter.
Something like a “-” for thumbs down or a “+” for thumbs.Anyways, I like your videoblog, “Thumbs up” from Germany.
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Ray Jones June 5th, 2010 at 09:58
LOL, call me a dickhead.
I bought a VC99 a couple of months back for just a general chuck about meter.
First impression was what’s that horrible rockmelon colour? (was yellow in the ebay listing)
Slow buzzer, totally wrong temperature readings, crap fuse access, but gorgeous display.
Am I happy? no, but it did only cost $30 from China.
YOU DEFINITELY GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!
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Yeah, the screen is really very nice on the VC99. But ordinary to crap in most other departments.
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Ray Jones June 5th, 2010 at 19:59
Ain’t that the truth.
I just measured what I knew was 4.2Vish with the VC99, and it proudly reported to mV accuracy 2.2V (forget about the mV’s)
PIECE OF SHIT.
No wonder the temperature is way off.
Time to see what the trimpots do…..
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Yea same with me in fact I left neutral feedback for it and the seller hammered me offering a small refund but I stuck to my guns, refused the money which a poor excuse for compensation for an item that is unreliable and left the neutral feedback
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GuShH June 5th, 2010 at 14:12
Did you build the PSU you use to test the DMMs with? Would you share the schematics or better yet make a quick video of it in the future? (I know you’ve shown your lab and the equipment, but we never got to see inside!)
Great reviews, I wanted to see some Mastech meters in there though…
Cheers
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lol! Slides around like a used car salesman. Hahahahahaha!
I second the idea of a review of the Fluke 17B, which is a discount Fluke product aimed to compete in the Asian market. If it’s significantly better than the Extech for ~$100, then I’d buy it.
Also a table would be really nice for the pros and cons of each product in these reviews.
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Also a table would be really nice for the pros and cons of each product in these reviews.
There is a summary PDF table, look at the links.
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Ah thanks for pointing the PDF out, I missed it. That’s great. lol “shit slow”. You really tell it like it is.
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Hey Dave,
I’ve to be honest to you, no offence but If I see another *elchapo* multimeter episode I might trow up >:-O
I know, I know… the newbies flood your inbox with questions regarding cheappy DMM’s every day… I’ve a message to them: “Hello newbies, can we borrow Dave for maybe 2 or 3 episodes ?”
Thank you
And If there’s any doubt about how selfish I am: :-O
Dave could you please review at least one Programmable AC power supply ? something like the HP 6827A.Thanks, and sorry for the “rant”
Bill
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magicmushroom666 June 5th, 2010 at 20:50
Brilliant episode, brought up some interesting points that are often taken for granted with flukes etc
Also thanks to the guys supplying all these meters to you, making this all possible!
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J Cesar June 5th, 2010 at 22:48
Hi, Dave nice video, Would you like to take some internal photos and we can use the forum to analyze the PCBs? or maybe in a few weeks you can make an express video
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Brian Hoskins June 6th, 2010 at 07:09
I just took a look on Ebay at some completed listings and did a search for Fluke Multimeters <
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Happy to hear the Extech won the $50 shootout. Been using them for years and feel they’re the best bang for the buck right now.
Though there is always a few nitpicks I have. One of them is there’s a severe drop in quality as you go into the lower end models – some quality drop is to be expected, but the $30 difference between the ex330 and ex430 is a huge difference in quality. I probable wouldn’t recommend anything lower than the 430 or 420.
One nice thing is on ebay you can pick up TK430 pack for around $100USD which comes with the EX430 DMM, MA200 clamp meter and a pen-type AC voltage detector (Not a fan of it). But 2 sets of probes & and a temp sensor is a good thing.
Which Extech model are you using for the $100 shootout?
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Which Extech model are you using for the $100 shootout?
The EX505 at $110.
With hindsight maybe the EX430 might be a better pick because it’s under $100.
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Sam Freedom June 8th, 2010 at 03:20
great blog. i watched it 5 times already for the laughes and to see if i missed anything that you said or when you opened the meters.
so when is the $100 shootout?
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so when is the $100 shootout?
When time permits I guess. No footage shot as yet. I suck at schedules.
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Henrik Jensen June 8th, 2010 at 04:54
Nicely done, but I am missing a test of the overload protection. Can the meter really stand 230 V AC in the ohm/diode/mV/capacity ranges?
A real test would be better than just looking at the protection components.-
I believe I mentioned in the review that the 240V ohms/cap range test was done and they all survived. Didn’t film it though, already had too much footage.
Dave.
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Great review. Gives a good idea of what to look for and what to look out for when you are on a tight budget.
Got myself a cheap multimeter for the shed after watching this. From Altronics here in Australia, so no postage issues. AU$75 so US$65?
Has USB hookup to PC for data logging, software that sucks but works and fits the bill for most of your other criteria too. Best of all though it does not fall over when you push the buttons on the front panel! Imagine that?!
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Bill Byrd June 17th, 2010 at 01:25
Only a minute into the video but I’m wondering if we’re talking fifty dollars US or AU or something else. Just trying to help.
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jklasdf June 20th, 2010 at 20:41
The AM-220 doesn’t have metal foil shielding inside, which is another disadvantage of it that wasn’t mentioned (although you did point out the meters that do have foil shielding). On my Amprobe AM-240, the frequency range picks up 60Hz from the mains when the probes aren’t connected to anything, although it didn’t seem to be an issue in the video.
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whitis July 26th, 2010 at 17:59
I recently came across a user comment on a product page where a user falsely criticized a multimeter for the sickly sound of the continuity tester beep and not having a latch. And then I found your review blogs which are a bit misleading on this issue, though rightly focus on the importantance of a quick response time on make. However, a quick response time on break is just as important. These debouncing circuits, actually a retriggerable monostable multivibrator (or in some cases software/digital equivalents) are a bad thing and this kind of misunderstanding can lead to bad multimeter design. The job of a multimeter is to tell the truth. Debouncing circuits lie. Period. If your continuity test mode sounds sickly, that is because it is telling the truth – your connection is sickly. If you are testing a relay or switch contact or an intermittent connector or a PCB with hairline fractions, hearing when the connection is broken is critically important information. If a multimeter has this debouncing “feature”, it must be optional. The sickly sound might be annoying so one might want to enable debouncing; however, the unintented consequences of forgetting it is enabled could come back to bite you and cost you a lot of bench time by hidding a problem.
The sickly sound also reminds you how bad your probe contact really is. Probes which are duller than a bowling ball with crappy plating trying to connect to oxidized metal covered with flux or conformal coating, for example. The first thing you want to check when probing a circuit (if you get 0V, 0A, or infinite ohms) is whether your probes are working.
One should avoid, by the way, touching the tips of sharp probes as you do in the tweezer LCR video. It doesn’t help your contact and the Hepatitis B and C viruses can persist on the probes for 6 weeks and it takes only a tiny amount to be infectious. Sharp probe tips should be removable and autoclavable. It is good to have deadly sharp probe tips around when you need them, but because they really can be deadly, you don’t necessarily want to use them all the time. A long time ago, I scored some male/female probe tip connectors which had a side slot to accept wires which could be used to make stacking jumpers for use on probe tip style test points and connectors. I file those down to a sharp point and use them as removable sharp tips when needed (haven’t gotten around to plating them, though).
This is an example of marketing “features” which are really bugs and how uninformed consumers can drive product development in the wrong direction. A debounced meter sounds like it is better quality while a truthful meter sounds like a cheap piece of shit, when, in fact, if all other things are equal, the exact opposite is true. Of course, some of them sound like crap for reasons other than contact intermittency; that can be fixed.
Incidentally, several decades ago I used normally closed pushbuttons on an edge triggered circuit. Your garden variety ones, not high quality microswitch style ones. Well, it turned out they were very sensitive. Just lightly resting your finger on the button or bumping the box could trigger the circuit; just the inertia of the tiny plastic button was enough. It can take very little on some switches to break the connection. I real continuity tester will tell you this is happening. A debounced one will lie. Some CNC systems, incidentally, use a normally closed “switch”, specially constructed to be self centering, concentric, symmetric, and repeatable, to detect part edges to within a thousandth of an inch. These are made to the high precision required but a cheap N.C. pushbutton can be remarkably similar in sensitivity.
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Again, with the latched buzzer it’s horses for courses. Sometimes a latched one is better, sometimes an intermittent fast response one is more useful.
Generally I find a fast latched buzzer much more useful.
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Philip Liddle August 25th, 2010 at 16:33
Hi Dave,
As a hobbyist in the uk I found both multimeter shootouts great as I was looking for a cheap meter to keep in my tool box, I already have two flukes 87v & 177 that i use on my test bench but there too good to throw in a tool box. After watching your shootout I decided to get the amprobe AM220, it seemed to have the most accurate readings of the lot, one thing I noticed was the number of calibration trim pots, the amprobe only had two, one i think for dc volts and one for ac volts after these are set up all the other functions like milliamps etc fall into place,the Fluke 77 III series multimeters only had one trim pot to calibrate. I just don’t think the manufacturers are going to spend a lot of time setting up a $50 multimeter!
Kind Regards,
Phil -
please do a review on a PeakTech 2010DMM it costs about 50USD and I have one and in my opinion it is pretty good value for the money, mostly because it has a lot of functions for example frequency up to 10MHz , amperes up to 20A resistance up to 2000M omh so check it out.
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bowling balls that are coated with an acrylic clearcoat are the nice ones “
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TubeSound December 23rd, 2010 at 04:10
Hi Dave,
Excellent job, very diligent. I would suggest one additional test in future meter reviews, the ability of the meter to measure AC voltages of higher frequencies. This is one of the first tests that I do any meter.Many folks on the internet want to fix their own audio amps and guitar amps, and they are not aware that these DMM’s will not measure signal voltage above somewhere in the 400-1000Hz range, depending on meter, which makes them limited for signal tracing through an amp or measuring power output or other similar tasks. This is an issue even for more expensive DMM’s, including many (most?) Flukes.
How they read is quite interesting. Most meters will read lower (approaching zero as frequency increases), but I have seen one (Greenlee) actually read higher, and the readings continued to rise as frequency increases.
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Toll Free January 27th, 2011 at 04:45
I wonder: WHY is it the Vichy VC99 excelled at EVERY test you put it to, according to your PDF file….. BUT, you rate it so low?
It showed out as being the most accurate, according to YOUR file, has the most ranges, biggest display and best resolution. WHAT, exactly where you looking for in a meter?
Disclaimer, I have a VC99, as well as various other meters. I’ve found it to be just about as accurate as my 300 dollar Fluke “standard”, give or take a few millivolts. 60 mhz freq counter is better than anything you tested, etc.
I’m REALLY at a loss for words why the meter that has the best “as tested” specifications, according to the measurements on your PDF, scored pretty much at the bottom of the list.
Also, why is it when the VC99 scores BETTER than the Extech, or scores the same, you STILL greenbar the Extech.
Please clarify this: I want to pick another meter up for my son (he’s 7 and learning, we just built our first Crystal radio together, now we want to do diode checks to see which of the diodes I have hear would have the lowest forward turn on, meaning, the greatest sensitivity in his radio) so we can do some more tests on a current project… Ran across your blog (I think I read it on MAKE / Facebook as well, and questioned it there, but received a non-plussed answer that didn’t really address a single question I asked, only said “I found what I found”, pretty much”.
Thanks, and I appreciate you taking the time to actually DO these tests: It’s kinda hard, this day in age, to purchase 6 50 dollar meters only to throw 4 or 5 away because they are trash.
Incidentally, I’ve DROPPED my VC99 off my 40 foot tower (granted, it was lowered to the 20 foot level) onto the ground. Didn’t effect anything that I can tell.
–Shane
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I would have to go through it all again as quite frankly I can’t remember much.
The VC99 did NOT excel at every test I put it to.
The VC99 is the biggest, only has CAT-II rating, has a cheap feel to it (IMO), slow autoranging, slow continuity, no fuse compartment, poor construction quality, no real warranty, no rating on the probe cables.
The Extech won because it is smaller, more rugged, has a fuse compartment, is CAT-III rated, has a non-contact voltage probe feature, fast continuity, a real warranty from a big name manufacturer, better construction, excellent manual, biggest display. What more reason do you want?
It’s not just about the paper specs, which quite frankly, for a no-name meter like the Vichy I wouldn’t trust any further than I can throw it. Testing one unit is not indicative of anything, they all exceeded their paper specs. This meter may have meet its specs now, but another one might not, or a few months down the track. It’s all about measurement confidence.If you want to buy a cheap arse no-name meter instead of a name brand meter, go ahead, make your own choices.
Which meter sits on my work desk? The Extech. The Vichy sits away tossed in a box in the cupboard, crushed under half a dozen other meters.Dave.
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Miguel April 30th, 2011 at 09:21
You seem just like an Apple fanboy… I can’t speak for the Extech, as I haven’t tested it… I really more in some Vichy measurements than Fluke’s, especially when measuring capacitors… Fluke is a peace of crap for that.. Has been since I can remember (= since they have it)… And I play with flukes since I was born…
Do this test: Compare the measurements of a bunch of capacitors that are used and exhausted.. Some that you know that can’t have the original value… Surprise yourself!!!…
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ispeakmymind May 31st, 2011 at 03:05
what a stupid review?
BIG TIGHT-ASS MARKETING ATTEMPT from your sponsors, Tequipment and Danaher.
Tequipment owns many of the online-test-equipment websites!
YES! You shove the Amprobe and Extech to the fanboys, and Tequipment continues to send you freebies.
WE KNOW! WE KNOW!
The Extech and Amprobe retails at $45 – $55.
You can get a $60 Uni-T, Digitek, Victor, Mastech multimeter for the same price with top-grade TRMS function! (Nahh… TEQUIPMENT kept that a secret!)
Cartload of OZ bullocks!
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Nice review ! But I’d love to see your opinion on DT830B (I’m the “proud” owner of one of the cheapest available
). I just want to hear more than “complete crap, piece of junk” . And don’t tell me that I wasted my money on that -
Just in case anyone is still looking here for a new meter, I thought I’d recommend the extech minitec26t. It has very similar specs to the ex330 reviewed (I suspect the same internals) but unlike the ex330 it has a great switch and a good stand. Plus, it’s a fair amount smaller, making it the most compact, good-quality meter I’ve ever used. Best of all though, you can pick it up for $40. $15 cheaper than the ex330. No NCV though (I can’t remember ever using that anyways)
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hi i am looking for a mfd multimeter do you have one let me know.
thanks,
fred -
David, What is your overall opinion(if you have one),of the “KLEIN TOOLS MM 2000″ (Homedepot $100.00),for a Multimeter in the $100.00 range ? -Steve
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It looks good for the price, see a user review and teardown here:
http://www.eevblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=1238.0
Nice big HRC fuses, make in Korea, not China. Looks similar to the UEI.
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Francisco October 8th, 2011 at 06:12
Hi Dave,
Nice review…You saved me, I was looking for some info about the “Vichy VC99″ (I was told it was “pretty good for that price” but I didn’t believe it, so I decided to check it). On the other hand, I don´t know where do you buy the Extech EX300 in such price, here in my country (Spain) it costs between 87€-110€ (I think they should be crazy, for that price I will buy a Fluke).
Any idea about “Vellerman” brand meters quality?
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Tuomas October 21st, 2011 at 00:03
I just watched it again and I was able to recognize the more expensive Extech, BK Precision and UEi on the background bench. So the work for the other shootout was apparently going on while this was shot. Nice work, both of them, really.
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Thanks for the review. I’ve now bought both an EX300 and an AM240 and learned a lot about multimeters.
Prices and availability differ in the UK (they are more expensive) but after some research I found these meters and others for not too bad prices.
Below is a spreadsheet I made of UK sources and prices for some of the better branded meters I could find here.
http://mm0hai.net/blog/2012/05/21/Multimeters-available-in-UK.html
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Dave from Canada July 20th, 2012 at 10:14
Hi Dave:
Great meter reviews, wanted to replace a cheap meter, your reviews pointed me in right direction. Purchased a EXTECH Ex430 for $62.00 Canadian thats included shipping, on ebay.
There seems to a quality difference between EXTECH 300, 400 and 500 series, in $50 review the EX330 PCB was well laid out, in $100 review EX505 had messy PCB design. What is the PCB in 430 like? Another thing about the 430, of all your back light tests, the 430 seems as good or better than any of $50 or $100 meters. 3 green LEDs on each side.
I would like to see you test EX430 and the Fluke 15B and 17B.
Dave
Canada
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Lennart August 24th, 2012 at 23:01
Perhaps you could redo this test in the future? There are a lot of sugestions of new meters and I see this page referenced from a lot of sites. Should there is a lot of interest in this topic.
Could you also review the minipa et-997?User review:
http://www.eevblog.com/forum/product-reviews-photos-and-discussion/minipa-et-997-$50-multimeter-review/ -
Thanks for a thorough review of DMMs. I used review info to buy a Amprobe AM-240 DMM from limited available range of DMMs were I live. It’s nice DMM overall with very few annoying issues (slow autoranging in Ohms, slow continuity and you cannot turn off buttons sound).
By the way, Dave seems to have misplaced probes in AM-220 when testing diode mode (around 30:50 in video, red probe is in the amps socket). My AM-240 outputs ~2.8V in diode test mode (according to my measurements and specs). AM-220 is almost indentical DMM with same specs.
Just wanted to clarify. -
Jas Klair October 24th, 2012 at 18:33
Well its easy to knock stuff, isnt it?
If your all that clever, why dont you recommend me what is in your Esteemed Opinions a good Multimeter I can get for the same price as a Vichy VC99 $30 to $35 and as easy to find.(Which is the one I wanted till you lot kicked the crap out of it!)Please remember I’d ove a Fluke, but I am not Rich! Ok? And I only intend to use it on the Casr and around the House. So Obviously I will need it to test the mains now and then. (220v)
Thankyou.
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Jas Klair November 14th, 2012 at 16:19
Hi
Has anyone got any experience of this Multimeter?http://www.multimeter-reviews.com/mastech-multimeters/mastech-ms8268
Mastech MS8268 (Sometimes branded Sinometer)
Thinking of buying it instead of the
Vichy VC99. Its not a lot more money than the vc99 either.
Anyone got any news or views on the MS8268 please??
Thanks.. -
Fred134 January 15th, 2013 at 00:13
Hi,
Thanks for this usefull and fun review ! I decided for an Amprobe 240 before seeing it.
So, for the slow continuity test (it is!), is there a way, setting, mod… to speed-up this function ?
Thanks -
Lizard in Dallas March 20th, 2013 at 06:59
Thanks for the guidance. An FYI, for everybody: I found the Amprobe AM-240 for $34.23, at Zoro Tools. I might have paid an extra $10 or so for the Extech EX330, but not $25! The shipping (I’m in Texas) was an additional $5, but I found a $5-off promo code (it’s “Zmail4u”, enter at checkout) that totally offset that. I have no experience with Zoro Tools, but a little searching threw up no red flags.
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elchy June 1st, 2013 at 12:57
Got the Extech EX330 today. The input socket for Voltage got loose after sticking in the cables 3 times! Not a problem got it soldered back on easily, also the coms socket has been something out.
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Rodney Keeling June 4th, 2010 at 18:45