Tonghui TH1961 show strange ressemblances to the Hp Agilent Keysight 34401a

[coromonadalix]

Just saw that sell today on Ebay

Seems a pretty good copy of the venerable 34401a

https://www.ebay.com/itm/6-1-2-RMS-Bench-Top-Multimeter-High-Accuracy-0-0035-DCV-0-01-Resistance-TH1961/283368376259?_trksid=p2485497.m4902.l9144

Minus the front rear switch and a few keypad buttons descriptions, and the display speed on the left vfd side,   maybe some 90% ressemblance ??

[HighVoltage]

They did not only copy the layout, but also the price !
810 US$ for a copy 

[rsx90]

Resemblance... but what about performance? Anyway at this price you better get the real one.

It's hard to believe it can keep up with the stability performance of the 34401A by using generic parts.
You can find some pictures in the following thread: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/tonghui-bench-multimeter/

BTW the guys from Tonghui recently released another meter called 1963, which is a complete ripoff of the KS 3446xA user interface.

http://www.tonghui.com.cn/en/Product/Digital%20Multimeter/547.html

It would be interesting to see what's hidden under the hood of this one. It's just upgraded UI and the analog board from the 1961 or completely new HW?

[Mr. Scram]

I'm not a fan of copycat devices, but as far as I understand Tonghui makes fairly decent equipment.

[coromonadalix]

on the specs they seems slower in display speed at full resolution ?

we need a teardown  loll

[Kleinstein]

In the older thread about Tonghui meters there are some pictures of the internals. Internally it looks quite different - not very promising in some points. So at a suitable price there may be a market - however I don't think it needs to be so similar.

The price that more fits the original 34401 could be due to seller got fooled by the look and took a price suitable for the original. I would no take the ebay asking price so serious.

[rsjsouza]

I'm not a fan of copycat devices, but as far as I understand Tonghui makes fairly decent equipment.

That is my impression as well, although I don't see many of them in the wild.

Regarding copycats, even Siglent does that.

[jeroen79]

It has a similar layput but does that matter?
Many multimeters will end up having the same basic layout as they do the same basic thing.
Just compare bench meters from HP, Fluke and Keithley.

Handheld meters also follow the same basic layout.

[Mr. Scram]

That is my impression as well, although I don't see many of them in the wild.

Regarding copycats, even Siglent does that.

Siglent isn't anything more special than the other Chinese outfits. They do seem to be learning from their mistakes, slowly. They're finding out western markets don't appreciate copies and intermittent support.

[Mr. Scram]

It has a similar layput but does that matter?
Many multimeters will end up having the same basic layout as they do the same basic thing.
Just compare bench meters from HP, Fluke and Keithley.

Handheld meters also follow the same basic layout.

There's a difference between similar solutions and a copy. Both Siglent and Tonghui seem to have crossed the line into the territory of blatant copies, although Siglent has since rescinded.