When do u need a bench multimeter ?

[CatalinaWOW]

For me some of the most important reasons have been mentioned often:  rare battery replacement, display size, and harder to misplace.  And one reason that hasn't been mentioned - they are harder to pull off of the bench when you reach for a test point that is just a bit farther than the lead length.  Not that any of the rest of you ever do that, but it matters to me.

[nanofrog]

...[snip]... they are harder to pull off of the bench when you reach for a test point that is just a bit farther than the lead length.  Not that any of the rest of you ever do that, but it matters to me.

Or fall over like a handheld can (especially if the stand isn't that wonderful).  Rather common IME if the meter isn't repositioned so you're not pulling on the leads. 

Still, I like handhelds for multiple measurements on the bench as they don't take up as much real estate as bench meters (reposition as needed). For disclosure, I've both a bench and handheld DMM's. For the record, I love the VFD on my bench meter, even when compared to an excellent backlit LCD.

[FriedMule]

First if you will avoid wrong information, please ignore my answer:-)

I think that one would never need a bench DMM or in other words, a "cheap" Bench DMM is a normal DMM inside a box + some log, statistic function with a price that can give you a fantastic handheld DMM.
Unless you sell your kidney, one leg and your mother, then you can get higher precision, faster update and higher accuracy.

So you will (as many says) only need one if you need to log your data, measure over extremely long time or find it cool to own one.

The rest of the time, you can get handheld DMM that are allmost as good in most cases.

[tautech]

Resolution and accuracy!

You can only get 5.5 or more digit meters as bench meters.

Actually no.
New 4 1/2 digit bench DMM's are available.
https://www.siglenteu.com/digital-multimeters/sdm3045x-digital-multimeter/

But if you don't need extreme precision and have adequate vision to read smaller displays, the short answer is that you don't NEED a bench multimeter.

Then you've never seen a good bench DMM display that can be seen from meters away. 
Try that with a HH DMM.

SDM3055

Did you read the sampling speed speck for that bench multimeter?

Yep and I prefer the Middle or Slow setting.

[Dave]

Actually no.
New 4 1/2 digit bench DMM's are available.

I know!
You can get 4.5 digit meters as hand held OR bench meters.
I have 2 hand held 4.5 digit meters.
I know you can get them as bench meters as well.

As far as I know you can ONLY get 5.5 digit meters as bench meters.
The same is true for 6.5, 7.5 and 8.5 meters.

So my original statement was correct

You can only get 5.5 or more digit meters as bench meters.

Your statement was a bit ambivalent as it can be interpreted as "bench meters with less than 5,5 digits don't exist" or "5,5 digits or more are only available in a bench meter".

The BM869S does 5,5 digits in a handheld meter, but only on DC.

Gossen Metrawatt make a handheld meter that does 6.5 digits. It's called Metrahit 30M, if you're interested.
The precision, though, leave some to be desired.

[MosherIV]

Gossen Metrawatt make a handheld meter that does 6.5 digits. It's called Metrahit 30M, if you're interested.
The precision, though, leave some to be desired.

Good to know, thanks for letting me know and not being rude about it 
Yes, anything with that kind of precision needs stability, thermal stability which will be near impossible to achieve in a hand held.

[Dave]

Gossen Metrawatt make a handheld meter that does 6.5 digits. It's called Metrahit 30M, if you're interested.
The precision, though, leave some to be desired.

Good to know, thanks for letting me know and not being rude about it 
Yes, anything with that kind of precision needs stability, thermal stability which will be near impossible to achieve in a hand held.

Yup, you want a heated zener reference for that kind of stability and you want to leave it on for an hour or two before measuring something. Not the most battery-friendly requirements, if you ask me.

[AlfBaz]

Aside from what has already being mentioned there is also increased functionality built in with respect to data such as statistics, filtering, pass/fail test with indication via an output, external triggering and a host of other mathematical  functions.

Most modern bench meters have trend plots as well, which can be zoomed in bringing us greater data storage and the capability to extract it for analysis on a PC

[Cerebus]

Yup, you want a heated zener reference for that kind of stability and you want to leave it on for an hour or two before measuring something. Not the most battery-friendly requirements, if you ask me.

The LM399 datasheet claims that it can be used in battery powered sources, i.e. it can achieve good accuracy shortly after being turned on. Quite how much salt one should take with that claim is another question, but it might offer a fair compromise if one really wanted that degree of temperature stability in a handheld. Of course the battery pack you'd have to lug around for any decent working time might not be exactly handheld.

[james_s]

It's rare that you *need* a bench meter, although at the very top end you can get more features and better performance in a bench meter, handhelds have caught up with all but the higher end bench meters. 30-40 years ago there was no contest, bench meters then offered much better performance and more features than most handhelds. One significant remaining advantage is they don't run off batteries so you can leave them on for long periods without draining the battery or auto shutoff.

Oh and if you need GPIB or network connectivity for taking automated measurements few if any handhelds offer that.

[lordvader88]

Soon I'll get a used older 1 , and some day a nice new 1. Right now I only have 1 quality meter, I think a bench meter for be a great idea as my 2nd quality meter

[AG6QR]

In addition to the many reasons already mentioned, some school labs use them because bench meters are less likely to escape the lab inside a student's backpack.  The large size is a positive attribute, making the meter more likely to remain on the bench.  I think that's one reason why some low-end bench meters are made with precision and accuracy that is unremarkable compared to similarly-priced handheld meters.  For a home lab, or any reasonably secure workplace lab, this shouldn't be a factor, though.

I think for most individuals, the best bang for the buck is in handheld meters, usually.  But if you need to leave the meter on for extended periods of time without worrying about battery life, or if you find yourself needing precision and accuracy unavailable in a handheld unit, go for a bench unit. 

Or if you really will be using it always on the bench, I think a bench unit is a bit more convenient.  It's just that it's a lot more convenient to use a handheld meter on the bench than it is to use a bench meter in the field.

[nanofrog]

Precision & accuracy aside, one advantage bench meters can have over handhelds on a bench is readability IME (i.e. VFD, 8 segment LED, and the newer color LCD displays). And with the addition of color on some of the newer models, it's even easier to distinguish information (particularly for dual measurement cases).

Other than that however, I still favor handhelds as they don't suck up a lot of bench space. I just have to pay more attention to their position in order to read them. Always compromises...