Author Topic: Best cheap/budget multimeter in 2025 ? Agilent 1271 backup while getting servic  (Read 2889 times)

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Online Aldo22

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I can't imagine that you can get a used DMM for $30 that is “better” suited for electronics (not 480VAC) than the ZT-225.
What features are supposed to be "better"?
Anything that has Fluke or something similar on it is not available here for less than $100, even if it looks like junk.
« Last Edit: January 20, 2025, 11:54:53 pm by Aldo22 »
 

Offline J-R

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If the OP is really in Canada, maybe check out some of these: https://www.sphere.bc.ca/?s=multimeter
 
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Online bdunham7

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I'll keep the Agilent for the industrial HV work.   I'm looking for a backup/bench multimeter.

Then the Astro meter you linked in your OP will probably suit you just fine if you are looking for minimal expenditure.  Or the ZT-225 that some seem to like.  As for the scope/meter combos, I think you can get some decent ones if you are willing to spend a few hundred dollars, but the real cheap ones seem a bit minimal.  I haven't tried any sub-$100 scopes.
A 3.5 digit 4.5 digit 5 digit 5.5 digit 6.5 digit 7.5 digit DMM is good enough for most people.
 

Offline all_repair

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Manual range DMM, I have both Zoyi ZT-M1 and UNi-T UT39E+.
My vote goes to UT39E+ by a large margin.  ZT-M1 was my favorite.  Many times auto-ranging is a pain for me too.
 

Offline joeqsmith

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Your happy with the Agilent and Keysight still offers them.  I assume they are in your price range and do what you need.  Just pick up a new one. 

https://www.keysight.com/us/en/product/U1271A/handheld-digital-multimeter-4-5-digit-ip54.html

Offline J-R

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OP doesn't want a second U1271A.

Brymen BM231? https://www.welectron.com/Brymen-BM231-Multimeter_1
 

Online Aldo22

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Then the Astro meter you linked in your OP will probably suit you just fine if you are looking for minimal expenditure.  Or the ZT-225 that some seem to like. 

I see no good reason to buy this Astro if you want to use the meter for low voltages and currents.
The accuracy and precision is rather poor compared to the ZT-225.

DM6000AR:
Resolution VDC: 0.1mV - Accuracy ±(0.8%+5)
ZT-225:
Resolution VDC: 0.001mV - Accuracy ±(0.05%+3)

So e.g. the 24µV on the attached picture are not even displayed on the Astro.

If he doesn't want the ZT-225, I would rather buy an Owon clampmeter, which at least offers a slightly different functionality.
« Last Edit: January 21, 2025, 10:06:37 am by Aldo22 »
 

Online tunk

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The OP mentioned the ZT-703S.
For a bit more he could get an Owon HDS25 (25MHz)
or Hanmatek HO52 (40MHz, rebadged Owon HDS242).
 

Online Fungus

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If he doesn't want the ZT-225...

He specifically said he wants a manual ranging meter, ie. not the ZT225.

 

Offline mwb1100

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ZT-225 has the Range selector which allows manual ranging.
 
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Online Aldo22

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ZT-225 has the Range selector which allows manual ranging.
Exactly. Auto Range is the default, but you can also select the range manually if you prefer.
 

Offline Paul T

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While I agree with the suggestions so far, the OP's requirements made me think about the Venlab VM-600M.

Darren Walker reviewed it here:



You can see if it's accurate enough for your purposes by reviewing my comparison graphs.

https://www.keepontesting.com/post/error-chart-compilation-dc-voltage
https://www.keepontesting.com/post/error-chart-compilation-dc-current
https://www.keepontesting.com/post/error-chart-compilation-resistance
https://www.keepontesting.com/post/error-chart-compilation-capacitance

Happy shopping!
Electronics always a hobby, and intersects my career. See my occasional helpful articles at www.keepontesting.com/feed
 

Offline joeqsmith

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OP doesn't want a second U1271A.

Brymen BM231? https://www.welectron.com/Brymen-BM231-Multimeter_1

They never state that.  What they do state is:

Quote
I do lots of work with 240 and 480VAC.  My Agilent has been great, its like an old friend.  No regrets getting it over a Fluke, though it isn't a perfect multi meter.

They never define cheap or how they define best.  They never say what deficiencies they feel their meter has.   They like the Agilent, know how to use it, it is still available and doesn't cost a lot.   Seems like the obvious choice for the OP. 

Online bdunham7

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They like the Agilent, know how to use it, it is still available and doesn't cost a lot.   

I think that the OP and the peanut gallery (including me) might not agree with your assessment of the cost.  IDK whether the OP wants "cheap" because he doesn't want to spend the money or because he just thinks a basic meter should be $30 or so.  But he did say "cheap" in his OP and he specifically mentioned a meter that costs about $30. 

A 3.5 digit 4.5 digit 5 digit 5.5 digit 6.5 digit 7.5 digit DMM is good enough for most people.
 
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Offline joeqsmith

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They like the Agilent, know how to use it, it is still available and doesn't cost a lot.   

I think that the OP and the peanut gallery (including me) might not agree with your assessment of the cost.  IDK whether the OP wants "cheap" because he doesn't want to spend the money or because he just thinks a basic meter should be $30 or so.  But he did say "cheap" in his OP and he specifically mentioned a meter that costs about $30. 

They never place a constraint on cost but they claimed to have purchased at least one Agilent.   They also claim to "do lots of work with 240 and 480VAC.".   We don't know what this entails.  As you already stated: 

Quote
Bargain bang-for-buck handheld meters have suspicious or fictitious CAT safety ratings, you can't believe what's printed on the front panel.  Obviously Agilent doesn't fall into that category.   

Online Aldo22

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I think that the OP and the peanut gallery (including me) might not agree with your assessment of the cost.  IDK whether the OP wants "cheap" because he doesn't want to spend the money or because he just thinks a basic meter should be $30 or so.  But he did say "cheap" in his OP and he specifically mentioned a meter that costs about $30.

Exactly. The $30 Astro was the reason why I suggested the ZT-225. Otherwise the jump from the Agilent to the Zoyi wouldn't have occurred to me.
By the way, it's also in the title: “Best cheap/budget multimeter in 2025 ?”
A cheap/budget DMM costs less than $50 in my world.
 

Offline mwb1100

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They also claim to "do lots of work with 240 and 480VAC.".   We don't know what this entails.

If high voltage reliability/safety is a concern maybe the Fluke 101 ($50 on Amazon) or 107 ($90 on Amazon).  There's no manual ranging on these and other limitations that might not be acceptable to OP.

Or a Brymen: BM235 can be found for $80-100.  J-R mentioned the BM231 which is on welectron for about $60. It loses a few functions compared to the BM235 (temp, caps, Hz, LowZ).

It's not clear what exactly is important on this backup meter.
« Last Edit: January 21, 2025, 06:37:31 pm by mwb1100 »
 

Offline Fryguy

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Quote
A cheap/budget DMM costs less than $50 in my world.

Less than 100 bucks in mine . . .   ;D

The last time i bought a budget DMM as a present for a friend a couple of years ago i chose the Extech (now Teledyne/FLIR) EX330 . Small , good , easy to use , safe - around 65€ new .
It's not perfect - but very good for the price and it will not kill you because all the safety features of a grown-up DMM are there .

Maybe something a little bit better exists today for the same money . How long ago was the last budget DMM shootout ?  :-DMM
Born error amplifier  >.<
 

Offline rsjsouza

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Given the original constraints of rugged, operating at 240/480V and cheap, you could consider Greenlee's DM-25 at around $30.


https://www.greenlee.com/us/en/dmm-600v-ac-dc-dm-25-dm-25

Greenlee is a reputable brand and they guarantee this to be operational up to CAT III 600V and independently verified (ETL listed). Sure, it is a very simple meter but I have seen it in the wild quite often.

I personally bought a DM-200A from them (Brymen in disguise) and, despite bought a NOS from eBay, they honored the lifetime warranty.

If you are really on a pinch and have a Walmart supercenter store nearby, you could go for the Hypertough EM830 which is also ETL listed and CAT III, but it is only 300V.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hyper-Tough-Digital-Multimeter-TD35235J-New-4-25-in-Assembled-Product-Width/815000129

I tested one and it is quite well built meter when compared to the typical "el cheapo" M830B clones. In my tests I was able to hit it with 240V on all relevant ranges (V, ohms, continuity, diode) and it survived quite well.
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Offline LinuxGuy123Topic starter

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Manual range DMM, I have both Zoyi ZT-M1 and UNi-T UT39E+.
My vote goes to UT39E+ by a large margin.  ZT-M1 was my favorite.  Many times auto-ranging is a pain for me too.

I hate manual ranging multi meters, at least ones where the range is selected with the dial.  Ironically I usually lock the range on an auto ranging MM, but only once I see what I'm looking at.

Thanks for the suggestion.
 

Offline LinuxGuy123Topic starter

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I'll be interested to see how your service experience goes with Agilent so please post back with that. 

It's been an excellent meter.   I forgot exactly when I bought it but it has to be 10 years ago.  It has an issue where VAC doesn't zero properly, not sure why that is.  I messaged Keysight and am waiting for them to reply.  It's had this for the last 4-5 years, I just never get around to sending it in.   It has an offset of ~4 volts with the probes connected and sometimes 12VAC when I am measuring 2 different points on the same phase of a 240VAC system.  All this on the 1000V range.  It's annoying.

I've mainly used my U1271A for residential and industrial stuff - checking panels, control circuitry, relays, etc.  It's a bit dirty but still functions 100%.  The text on all the buttons is still 100% legible, etc.

The U1270 line isn't really designed for bench use.  It measures things well but its a bit bulky and the display isn't pleasing to the eye.  It is a 30,000 count multimeter though...  I'd like something a bit less industrial and a bit smaller.   

Having said all that, the multimeter I have my eye on is the Zoyi ZT703S.  Why ?  I can't get my head around buying a 6000 count multimeter, so I'm looking at 20000+ count models and by the time you in that price range, why not get the 703 ?   There are many times that I would like to see the signal I am taking measurements of but don't want to haul out an oscilloscope.  I think the scope would be very handy, even if it is a rudimentary scope.   I have a bench scope that I can use if I need a better look or I need to store a waveform.

The most annoying "feature" on my U1271A is having to turn the dial to off to turn it off.  Lots of times I'll take a measurement and be done and I have to turn the dial to off, for no other reason.  There isn't a button press that will turn it off.  You can turn it on with a button press but not off.  So sometimes I have the auto power off set short but that is annoying too.  The dial gets a lot of unnecessary use because there is no way to turn it off without moving the dial.

It's been a really interesting experience looking at multimeter and reading about them.  I haven't bought or looked at a MM since I bought my 1271A.  It's funny how there is a flood of lower end meters but the industrial segment is still owned by Fluke and the price gap is big.
 
 

Offline Paul T

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The gap between cheap multimeters and high end meters is being filled with high value multipurpose devices. You may also want to consider a thermal imaging camera plus multimeter. If you can afford the ET15s, go for it. It’s new for 2025.
Electronics always a hobby, and intersects my career. See my occasional helpful articles at www.keepontesting.com/feed
 

Online bdunham7

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It's been an excellent meter.   I forgot exactly when I bought it but it has to be 10 years ago.  It has an issue where VAC doesn't zero properly, not sure why that is.  I messaged Keysight and am waiting for them to reply.  It's had this for the last 4-5 years, I just never get around to sending it in.   It has an offset of ~4 volts with the probes connected and sometimes 12VAC when I am measuring 2 different points on the same phase of a 240VAC system.  All this on the 1000V range.  It's annoying.

Wide-bandwidth TRMS meters often use an analog TRMS chip that has this "feature", referred to as "residual counts".  The preface to the specifications section of your manual states:

Specification assumptions
• Accuracy is given as ± (% of reading + counts of least significant digit) at 23 °C ± 5 °C, with
relative humidity less than 80% RH.
• AC V and AC μA/mA/A specifications are AC coupled, true RMS and are valid from 5% of
range to 100% of range.

• Crest factor ≤ 3 at full-scale and decrease reciprocally for overange as 3 x Full Scale / Input;
except for the 1000 V range, where this range has a crest factor ≤ 1.5 at full scale and
decrease reciprocally for overange as
• 1.5 x Full Scale / Input.
• For non-sinusoidal waveforms, add (2% of reading + 2% of full scale) typical.
• After ZLOW voltage measurements, wait at least 20 minutes for thermal impact to cool before
proceeding with any other measurement.


You'll see that the meter is not specified below 5% of range, which is 50V in your case.  This includes zero.  The meter will presumably meet it's specifications once the voltage goes over 50V.  If you want to read voltages below 50V you have to use a lower range.  All analog-based TRMS meters have this issue although it may not be as apparent in some.  Residual counts may be negative, in which case the meter will display zero until you reach some threshold.  Some meters will automatically zero out the display below a certain threshold to avoid the annoying bouncing digits.  This may look better at first but is actually more deceptive because a zero reading doesn't necessarily mean zero voltage. 

IDK what Keysight will tell you and I don't even know if they actually service these meters.  Lots of stuff is "service by replacement" these days.  However, from your description I'd say it is not broken.

Quote
Having said all that, the multimeter I have my eye on is the Zoyi ZT703S.  Why ?  I can't get my head around buying a 6000 count multimeter, so I'm looking at 20000+ count models and by the time you in that price range, why not get the 703 ?   There are many times that I would like to see the signal I am taking measurements of but don't want to haul out an oscilloscope.  I think the scope would be very handy, even if it is a rudimentary scope.   I have a bench scope that I can use if I need a better look or I need to store a waveform.

One of the advantages of cheap meter is that they are cheap, which means you're not risking much provided you don't use them near high energy circuits.

Ideally a bench is set up so that you don't have to haul out anything, it's already there. Since you plan on bench-only use for this, why not look at actual bench meters?  They can be set up and ready all of the time and generally have nicer displays.

Quote
It's been a really interesting experience looking at multimeter and reading about them.  I haven't bought or looked at a MM since I bought my 1271A.  It's funny how there is a flood of lower end meters but the industrial segment is still owned by Fluke and the price gap is big.

You're in the right place, there's endless discussions about the latest $30 meter.  You're right, there's a lot of cheap stuff with questionable specs and ratings (also endlessly discussed here) and there's expensive industrial stuff and not much in between.  There aren't too many companies actually trying to put out a really good product in the $200-300 range and the few that do don't sell directly in the US.  Brymen, available here rebadged as Greenlee, does have properly made and certified meters in that range.  Uni-T and CEM both make (and sell under different names) meters and combination scope/meter products in that range, they're feature rich but of suspect quality in the safety and durability departments.  In reality, Fluke still owns a big chunk of the market and they're taking full advantage of that.  But they're selling a different product to a different market segment and I'm sure they are't worried about the latest line of Zotek products.
« Last Edit: January 22, 2025, 04:12:18 pm by bdunham7 »
A 3.5 digit 4.5 digit 5 digit 5.5 digit 6.5 digit 7.5 digit DMM is good enough for most people.
 
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Offline LinuxGuy123Topic starter

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Quote
You'll see that the meter is not specified below 5% of range, which is 50V in your case.  This includes zero.  The meter will presumably meet it's specifications once the voltage goes over 50V.  If you want to read voltages below 50V you have to use a lower range.

I kind of expected that answer as the meter technically is within spec.  However, it zeros out on the 1000V DC range and the really annoying thing is that if I use the meter in the "QikV" setting it zeros to 4V and I have no option to change the range.

Luckily the U1271A is a 30000 count meter so when I use it on the 299.99 range to measure 240VAC the error is only 0.4V.  It still bugs me though.

Thanks for all the great replies !
 

Online Fungus

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Wide-bandwidth TRMS meters often use an analog TRMS chip that has this "feature", referred to as "residual counts".  The preface to the specifications section of your manual states:

They all seem pointless to me. A $30 Chinese oscilloscope will tell you more info and let you see the shape of the wave.
 


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