[SOLVED-BM867]Hard dilemma: GW121 or Brymen BM867s?

[joeqsmith]

Speaking of products, you are actually producing a product of sorts and it is a very valuable source of information and I'm sure is very much appreciated by many forum members. Especially since almost all the dedicated electronics magazines have joined the dinosaurs, where else can the electronics engineer / hobbyist etc get totally unbiased opinions and information to assist them in making the best and most informed decisions on their meter purchases?

prod·uct
ˈprädəkt/
noun
noun: product; plural noun: products

    1.    an article or substance that is manufactured or refined for sale.
    "marketing products and services"

I don't see ever enabling ads or asking for donations.  Not to say that others have not tried to make a profit off of my efforts.   

Any opinions I provide on handheld meters would most certainly be biased anymore based upon the data I have collected.  I can't ignore that Brymen, Fluke, HIOKI, Gossen know how to make very robust meters.   

I don't think the work has really had much of an effect.  The channel is small and most people I would say don't see the value in testing products like these to failure. 

[Specmaster]

Many moons ago I worked for an electrical accessory manufacturer here in the UK who believed in doing just that with their products to ensure that they continued to make and sell the finest electrical wiring accessories possible. They took the pursuit of perfection right down to making their own contact springs, terminal screws etc,  in house to ensure that the finest quality was maintained. As long as they could source suitable raw materials, they were beholding to no-one and they also made a range on industrial motor control equipment and their biggest competitor in the electrical world used their controls in their factories.

[pilotchup]

I have been in a similar situation as the OP. I decided on the BM869 and have been in love with it. Such a darn good multimeter, haven't looked back since.

[Specmaster]

I have been in a similar situation as the OP. I decided on the BM869 and have been in love with it. Such a darn good multimeter, haven't looked back since.

Amen to that, it and my Flukes are the best handheld meters I have, as the Flukes are only 3.5 digit meters, guess which is my goto meter[emoji6]

[ov_darkness]

Dear Colleagues, I have another problem:
https://www.welectron.com/EEVBlog-121GW-Data-Logging-Multimeter-with-Bluetooth
I've not took this meter under consideration before, but it's now available just behind the hill (only few hours a german tank ;P ).
Is it worth paying 80EUR extra?
I really like an option to display live measurements on my Android/PC.

[Specmaster]

Dear Colleagues, I have another problem:
https://www.welectron.com/EEVBlog-121GW-Data-Logging-Multimeter-with-Bluetooth
I've not took this meter under consideration before, but it's now available just behind the hill (only few hours a german tank ;P ).
Is it worth paying 80EUR extra?
I really like an option to display live measurements on my Android/PC.

Personally, no, the meter is considerably smaller, 4.5 digits only I think and is overly complicated internally as per Joe's video on this meter (although it was a pre-production one I believe) and if you really want to be able to read the display on your PC, there is the add-on for the Brymen 867/869 which only about half the extra you would pay for the GW121, but the Brymen will not work with bluetooth so you will need to take into consideration.

Is the GW121 worth considering, I would thing so, I cannot imagine Dave putting his name to a product that was in any way inferior, that said though have a look on this forum the thread on this GW121 meter and the problems people have reported so far.

This is don't forget a product that has only recently been released and as with any new product, there will be some issues and it is the early adopters who will suffer those problems and also remember that it is firmware upgradeable so there is a good chance that these bugs would be rectified with the release of new firmware which I think there has been a number of updates so far.

Personally, I'm extremely happy with the Brymen BM867 it does everything I want it to and does it well, even agreeing with the reading I get with my 5.5 digit bench meters, one of which I calibrated personally so its very gratifying to have that calibration confirmed.

[exe]

I have two 121GW and almost never used them as they are simply inconvenient (slow, buggy, etc). I was hooked on advanced features 121GW has, but turned out, never used any of them. On the other side, slow autorange, slow update rate (it's nowhere near advertised 5 updates/s), resistance only goes up to 50M, low Z doesn't work below 12V, cannot display AC and DC (AC+DC mode is super slow and cannot show AC and DC separately)... There are many other issues of lesser importance which I just don't remember because I don't use the meters. So, last 5 months my meters collect dust while I'm using ut61e and aneg 8002. I think I'll sell one 121GW and buy 869s.

[Specmaster]

I have two 121GW and almost never used them as they are simply inconvenient (slow, buggy, etc). I was hooked on advanced features 121GW has, but turned out, never used any of them. On the other side, slow autorange, slow update rate (it's nowhere near advertised 5 updates/s), resistance only goes up to 50M, low Z doesn't work below 12V, cannot display AC and DC (AC+DC mode is super slow and cannot show AC and DC separately)... There are many other issues of lesser importance which I just don't remember because I don't use the meters. So, last 5 months my meters collect dust while I'm using ut61e and aneg 8002. I think I'll sell one 121GW and buy 869s.

I don't think you'll be disappointed with either 867 or 869, are a really nice meter, fast and reliable and have a real heft to them so they will stay put on the bench right where you put them.

[coromonadalix]

Without a doubt go for Brymen  Im sorry to say the 121gw is not mature, has bugs, totally turned off by it.

Or find some used reliable models too

[Specmaster]

Without a doubt go for Brymen  Im sorry to say the 121gw is not mature, has bugs, totally turned off by it.

Or find some used reliable models too

I'm pretty sure that 121GW will get the problems resolved in due course though, that's the beauty of it being upgradable by the user via downloads once they have the code sorted. The Brymen on the other hand is now a well tried and tested product and does not disappoint.

[exe]

I'm pretty sure that 121GW will get the problems resolved in due course

I've been waiting for about 8 months or so... Also people say not everything can be fixed in software.

The good thing they still try to make firmware better, the bad is there is little to no communication. Not even single comment from the manufacturer. I don't know what problems they are working on and if/when they fix them. I like transparency.

[Specmaster]

I'm pretty sure that 121GW will get the problems resolved in due course

I've been waiting for about 8 months or so... Also people say not everything can be fixed in software.

The good thing they still try to make firmware better, the bad is there is little to no communication. Not even single comment from the manufacturer. I don't know what problems they are working on and if/when they fix them. I like transparency.

I was thinking about getting a 121GW but after watching on line videos of it and the Brymen, I went the Brymen 867 because so many of the video bloggers use either the 869 or 867 as their goto meter and many of them also have 121GW's so it was clear it was as good as Dave says it. Never a good idea to be among the first with any new product, as they nearly always have issues to be resolved and cars are a very good example of this.

[Fsck]

I have two 121GW and almost never used them as they are simply inconvenient (slow, buggy, etc). I was hooked on advanced features 121GW has, but turned out, never used any of them. On the other side, slow autorange, slow update rate (it's nowhere near advertised 5 updates/s), resistance only goes up to 50M, low Z doesn't work below 12V, cannot display AC and DC (AC+DC mode is super slow and cannot show AC and DC separately)... There are many other issues of lesser importance which I just don't remember because I don't use the meters. So, last 5 months my meters collect dust while I'm using ut61e and aneg 8002. I think I'll sell one 121GW and buy 869s.

I've been using my 121GW as a bluetooth tea thermometer.

[Specmaster]

You guys with these 121GW's, I feel your pain. If it was a el cheapo meter then you could forgive it a bit but it isn't cheap by any means and after shelling out that many AUS$ you expect that dammed thing to work rather well   .                                                                                                                                                                                                           

[IanB]

You guys with these 121GW's, I feel your pain. If it was a el cheapo meter then you could forgive it a bit but it isn't cheap by any means and after shelling out that many AUS$ you expect that dammed thing to work rather well   .                                                                                                                                                                                                           

I think we knew what we were getting in to (or should have). A brand new product, with unique features not seen before in other meters, and no opportunity for product shakedown and stabilization. The risks were there from the outset.

[Specmaster]

You guys with these 121GW's, I feel your pain. If it was a el cheapo meter then you could forgive it a bit but it isn't cheap by any means and after shelling out that many AUS$ you expect that dammed thing to work rather well   .                                                                                                                                                                                                           

I think we knew what we were getting in to (or should have). A brand new product, with unique features not seen before in other meters, and no opportunity for product shakedown and stabilization. The risks were there from the outset.

I have to agree with you, this is why I was looking for other peoples experiences with it first and as a result of that research I came across the Brymen 867/869 meters and switched horses as a direct result of what I discovered. With any new product, and especially one as complicated as this and such a groundbreaking one, there is a host of differences between small limited prototyping product which are almost hand made and a full blown production run in volumes, always was and always will be.

[Bratster]

What's the average price for an 867/869 in the US?
 I did some quick looking and they seem to be not super prevalent. Or I'm blind.

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[coromonadalix]

around 250$ usd thru ebay for an 869s ?? but not usa based, found nothing near usa

[Specmaster]

You could try here www.telonic.co.uk and see if they do export at all?

I got mine from them (867s) for £129.60, inclusive of VAT and delivery, it was all sealed and brand new with a 3 year warranty.

[rsjsouza]

Brymen does not have representation in the US. You can, however, get either from tme.eu or the Greenlee DM860A.

[Bratster]

Thanks

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[Candid]

You can order from https://www.welectron.com/Brymen-BM869s-Multimeter_1 and it will cost about $245 (without bag) including shipping with 6 - 12 days delivery by DHL or faster 1 - 2 day delivery by UPS for about +$5 to the USA. You can get Brymen original accessory for low price from Welectron too. E.g. the magnetic holder and all the other nice things.

PS: I like the 121GW even if it is not perfect but it is way of being such bad like some here want to make us believe. I like my Fluke, Brymen and some others of my about 35 year old museum too and everyone of my exhibits has things I like and I dislike or bugs. What I especially like with the 121GW is the community around and the support form the "Dave brothers" ;-) and the feature/form factor. What I'm worried about is that one day there will be a hardware revision and then the early adopters may be hung with updates. Bottom line today I would recommend a Brymen because of the price/quality factor.

[IanB]

What's the average price for an 867/869 in the US?
 I did some quick looking and they seem to be not super prevalent. Or I'm blind.

I got mine from tme.eu. It was a good price and delivered to the USA in about a week.

[Doctorandus_P]

I do not understand why this is a dilemma, the meters are quite different, so what are your needs?

I see the Brymen as an accurate, reliable and proven design.
I see the 121GW as a very interesting meter with lots of functionality (Bluetooth, uSD data logging, 12Vdiode test, and more) which makes it an unique meter in the market.

I almost bought it because I like the openness of the (hardware) design and a lot of those (gadgety) features.
I was held back by the bugs and closed firmware, which means an extra delay of a year or so before there is an open source firmware available which works reliably for basic features and can be tweaked for custom stuff.
A funktion I'd like for example is current measurements with external shunts, and the meter can be programmed to callibrate itself with those shunts.

Then I sat back and scratched my back.
If I buy a DMM in that price range it will be the most expensive (and accurate) meter in my collection.
It would be my personal reference, and for that reliability and proven design are the most important features for me and I would definately buy the Brymen before the EEVblog meter, even though the Brymen is a lot bigger, which I don't like. I live in a small appartment, and size of stuff is always a consideratiion when buying stuff.

[Specmaster]

I do not understand why this is a dilemma, the meters are quite different, so what are your needs?

I see the Brymen as an accurate, reliable and proven design.
I see the 121GW as a very interesting meter with lots of functionality (Bluetooth, uSD data logging, 12Vdiode test, and more) which makes it an unique meter in the market.

I almost bought it because I like the openness of the (hardware) design and a lot of those (gadgety) features.
I was held back by the bugs and closed firmware, which means an extra delay of a year or so before there is an open source firmware available which works reliably for basic features and can be tweaked for custom stuff.
A funktion I'd like for example is current measurements with external shunts, and the meter can be programmed to callibrate itself with those shunts.

Then I sat back and scratched my back.
If I buy a DMM in that price range it will be the most expensive (and accurate) meter in my collection.
It would be my personal reference, and for that reliability and proven design are the most important features for me and I would definately buy the Brymen before the EEVblog meter, even though the Brymen is a lot bigger, which I don't like. I live in a small appartment, and size of stuff is always a consideratiion when buying stuff.

Quite right, the Brymen is now a well established brand and the 869/867 range has been out for some time now so has been fully tested in all kinds of conditions so should not hold any nasty surprises for anyone as they would have been filtered out and resolved by now.

The 121GW is a very unique meter and has lots of bells and whistles is true but are they truly useful or just toys that only a few people will actually find useful?

The Brymen is a big meter but it also has a lot of bells and whistles over most of the competitors and it also has a lot of good important safety protection systems built in and also has CATIV 1,000V and that requires some space to accommodate the hardware and clearances etc required to achieve that high rating.

As far as I was concerned and still for that matter, there was only ever 1 meter that was going to win my money, and incidentally is still the same today, the Brymen. Don't get me wrong, I'd still like a 121GW once it has been fully tested and proven and all the glitches resolved, it would make a very useful addition to any bench, but the decision to go with the Brymen was made even easier as it was and still is the only one that is currently available as the 121GW is still out of stock and I suspect that is because they are still working hard to resolve some issues with it.

Lastly but not least is the bang per buck, the Brymen can take on the other big heavyweights in the world of meters and either win outright or at least match what the some of the others are offering but an area where it is in a class of its own is value for money, it can do all those things for fraction of the price of many of the others, some of which are almost 3 times the price.