ANENG goes crazy with new meters

[graybeard]

I have bought two Aneng meters.   They were both crap, inaccurate and built or poor materials.  I will not buy another.

[Fungus]

I have bought two Aneng meters.   They were both crap, inaccurate and built or poor materials.  I will not buy another.

What models? I own a few and they're pretty good for what they are. Accuracy is spot on.

[tooki]

I have bought two Aneng meters.   They were both crap, inaccurate and built or poor materials.  I will not buy another.

What models? I own a few and they're pretty good for what they are. Accuracy is spot on.

I have only one, but I totally agree. Perfectly accurate, feels nice in the hand for the price. They’re way better than most super-cheap meters.

[rsjsouza]

The 9002 looks like it has potential to be a worthy successor to the 8008.  I like the jack arrangement and will be interested to see what Auto does.  Nice to add the rel and min/max.  Maybe next time for a bar meter.  Q10 could be nice too.

I have the RM102Pro (same as Aneng 113D) which also has the "Auto" setting:
- The feature works reasonably well, especially when you need to make various different types of measurements without having to switch between V/ohms.
- The major drawback is the autorange speed, which is much slower than selecting the ranges directly.
- The continuity response time is very slow in this mode. The dedicated function is better for that.

The overall quality of mine is low. Sure, it has a very nice form factor and it feels polished, but I can't get past the tiny fuses (very hard to find and relatively expensive), the rotary switch mechanical issues (bad contacts and ease to leave the switch in between two ranges) and the fact this particular model leaves the inputs shorted through the 200mA fuse when the rotary position is in OFF. The models here may have these issues fixed, but I wouldn't buy another Aneng/Richmeters/Zoyi/whatever other rebrand of these.

[bd139]

I have bought two Aneng meters.   They were both crap, inaccurate and built or poor materials.  I will not buy another.

What models? I own a few and they're pretty good for what they are. Accuracy is spot on.

I'm interested to see what happens over time with them. Case in point, the aforementioned UT61E which can drift a fair amount in the first year of ownership (I had one). I'm not sure if the Aneng meters have any user adjustable calibration as well.

[Fungus]

I'm interested to see what happens over time with them. Case in point, the aforementioned UT61E which can drift a fair amount in the first year of ownership (I had one). I'm not sure if the Aneng meters have any user adjustable calibration as well.

The Anengs are all digital calibration, they don't drift.

I believe the UT61E has little trimmer pots inside it. That makes it much more susceptible to drift/vibrations/etc.

[ResistorRob]

I'm struggling to think of a reason why you would want it to link to your phone via Bluetooth when it doesn't do data logging

How do you have 10,000 posts and can't think of why they would add Bluetooth to a non-logging meter? LOL

1) HELLO.... REMOTE VIEWING!!! 
There's been multiple times when I was in a challenging situation when I would have loved to have this feature.

2) Training / Presentations
You can run Blue Stacks on your laptop to run Android apps on your computer. Or do a screen project to laptop from your phone. Then you can share via a projector , Zoom, or other methods. Not too mention it looks nicer if you are teaching, doing a presentation, blog, or YouTube video.

3) You can take a screenshot to record your measurement and then write notes over top of the photo. I tend to lose my handwritten notes, so something like this would be handy for me.

4. Hard to read situations.
If your are trying to measure something difficult where it requires you to keep your eyes on what you are doing, you can do a screen record mode, and play back the video to see what the reading was.

Hopefully you can see this isn't a "WTF" feature as you thought. There is many meters on the market like this, and it's actually a nice addition to the feature set. My grandpa hated computers, the internet, LCD screens and was just happy using his analog Simpson meter for everything. He was an electrical engineer who worked for NASA. So it's easy to get stuck in your ways even if you are incredibly intelligent. But if you aren't open to new technology you will be missing out on some cool things which could make your life easier.

[hugo]

How do you know so much about Bluetooth and multimeters in general with only 67 posts?    LOL

[Specmaster]

I'm struggling to think of a reason why you would want it to link to your phone via Bluetooth when it doesn't do data logging

How do you have 10,000 posts and can't think of why they would add Bluetooth to a non-logging meter? LOL

1) HELLO.... REMOTE VIEWING!!! 
There's been multiple times when I was in a challenging situation when I would have loved to have this feature.

2) Training / Presentations
You can run Blue Stacks on your laptop to run Android apps on your computer. Or do a screen project to laptop from your phone. Then you can share via a projector , Zoom, or other methods. Not too mention it looks nicer if you are teaching, doing a presentation, blog, or YouTube video.

3) You can take a screenshot to record your measurement and then write notes over top of the photo. I tend to lose my handwritten notes, so something like this would be handy for me.

4. Hard to read situations.
If your are trying to measure something difficult where it requires you to keep your eyes on what you are doing, you can do a screen record mode, and play back the video to see what the reading was.

Hopefully you can see this isn't a "WTF" feature as you thought. There is many meters on the market like this, and it's actually a nice addition to the feature set. My grandpa hated computers, the internet, LCD screens and was just happy using his analog Simpson meter for everything. He was an electrical engineer who worked for NASA. So it's easy to get stuck in your ways even if you are incredibly intelligent. But if you aren't open to new technology you will be missing out on some cool things which could make your life easier.

I can honestly say that I have never had a reason for anything like a Bluetooth facility, other than for data logging reasons. If I'm trying to obtain a reading in a awkward situation I just use a meter with a auto hold feature so it buzzes when its got its reading and the display is held until I reset it again.

[xavier60]

The 9002 looks like it has potential to be a worthy successor to the 8008.  I like the jack arrangement and will be interested to see what Auto does.  Nice to add the rel and min/max.  Maybe next time for a bar meter.  Q10 could be nice too.

Also takes AA cells, so hopefully it will run well on NiMh cells to avoid the leakage problem.
I have abandoned my 8008 because its AAA cells had leaked.
 No model will ever become my main meter if it doesn't do diode test beeps.

[bdowling]

Also takes AA cells, so hopefully it will run well on NiMh cells to avoid the leakage problem.
I have abandoned my 8008 because its AAA cells had leaked.

Have you tried lithium primary cells? They are supposed to never leak.

[xavier60]

Also takes AA cells, so hopefully it will run well on NiMh cells to avoid the leakage problem.
I have abandoned my 8008 because its AAA cells had leaked.

Have you tried lithium primary cells? They are supposed to never leak.

Yes, many years ago in something. Until you mentioned it, I had forgot all about them.
Not really all that expensive, https://www.bunnings.com.au/energizer-aa-lithium-batteries-4-pack_p4410081

And the AAA cells, https://www.bunnings.com.au/energizer-aaa-ultimate-lithium-battery-4-pack_p4410034

[xavier60]

Despite the "Takes up to 680 shots in digital still cameras (versus 80 shots with ordinary alkaline)" hype, data sheet indicates only 1200mAh capacity.
https://data.energizer.com/pdfs/l92.pdf

Better off with Panasonic AAA Eneloops which are claiming something like 800mAh and 10 years self discharge.

[David Hess]

I like the terminal arrangement on the last two but they are missing the second off position.

[floobydust]

Do they still have fake bar graphs? They show 100 segments but are grouped so I think it's a 30 bar in the end. Reviewers don't even notice lol.

[bd139]

That’s the sort of thing that would piss me right off and result in it being returned 

[sot010174]

That’s the sort of thing that would piss me right off and result in it being returned 

Agreed. I'am looking at the new UT61E+ / UT161E but by the looks of things Uni-T has cursed these models with those fake bargraphs but I could be wrong. For me it's a showstopper.

[bd139]

the old UT61E had an uncursed bargraph that was quite good but it still didn't feel right for some reason. I'm not 100% sure why. I have never worked it out.

[rsjsouza]

That’s the sort of thing that would piss me right off and result in it being returned 

Agreed. I'am looking at the new UT61E+ / UT161E but by the looks of things Uni-T has cursed these models with those fake bargraphs but I could be wrong. For me it's a showstopper.

I saw a promotional video for the UT161E and the bargraph seems really terrible. The UT61E bargraph is very nice and has a bit of dampening that is just right. The Cyrustek guys knew what they were doing on that chipset.

I did a review on a failed product (Surpeer AV4) whose bargraph was a disaster. This meter seems to have been re-launched as the ELEG-Borbede BD-99

[TurboTom]

I wonder how the Chinese resellers invent all these, well, "innovative" company names... 

[sot010174]

I did a review on a failed product (Surpeer AV4) whose bargraph was a disaster. This meter seems to have been re-launched as the ELEG-Borbede BD-99

Guess who's not buying one of those now? I think I'll settle with a Owon B41T+. No I don't need a Fluke. Not yet

Hello Uni-T UT195DS 

[Andrey_irk]

I have bought two Aneng meters.   They were both crap, inaccurate and built or poor materials.  I will not buy another.

What models? I own a few and they're pretty good for what they are. Accuracy is spot on.

I have two 8008s and two colleagues of mine have them, too. All the meters have problems with rotary switches. I's got to the point where it switches on and off randomly, the resistance is all over the place and so on. It is fixable, but you have to take it apart and clean the contacts - and in a few days the problem is back.
I'd rather use the old cheap ones with a manual range switch and 2000 counts because these just work.

[Fungus]

I have two 8008s and two colleagues of mine have them, too. All the meters have problems with rotary switches. I's got to the point where it switches on and off randomly

My 8008 does that, too.

[Fungus]

That’s the sort of thing that would piss me right off and result in it being returned 

Agreed. I'am looking at the new UT61E+ / UT161E but by the looks of things Uni-T has cursed these models with those fake bargraphs but I could be wrong. For me it's a showstopper.

I saw a promotional video for the UT161E and the bargraph seems really terrible. The UT61E bargraph is very nice and has a bit of dampening that is just right.

The point of the bar graph is that it should update much faster than the main display and show you when the signal is unstable.

If it moves in steps of 2? No biggie (IMHO). If it updates at the same rate as the main display? Worthless.

[Fungus]

Weird how we're discussing Uni-Ts in the Aneng thread and Anengs in the Unit-T thread.