Side by Side Comparison of: SMAKN vs Etekcity

Great little voltage display, I made a little camper in my pick up and wanted a box to tell my solar charge state and mount a phone charger, this worked great with some basic parts from Home Depot.

Easy to use and clear to see. Super fast installation. Used this to monitor a battery without always having to hookup my volt meter everytime.

Bought this to monitor voltages on some of my RC video equipment. It's small, cheap, and accurate. Mine was accurate right out of the box (tested with a Greenlee DM-820a multimeter), so no further adjustment was necessary. The display is nice and bright, visible even in daylight. Can't ask for anything better for this application.

2 things to be aware of:
1) The plug on the back is a little loose - not the plug soldered onto the board, but the removable plug containing the voltage leads. I don't expect it to come apart while the display is mounted, but if you're not permanently mounting the display, you may want to reinforce the connection with some hot glue or similar non-conductive adhesive.
2) The clips on the side are positioned for this display to be mounted on a panel that is 3/16in or less. I mounted mine on a 1/4in plywood board and had to wedge it in there without the clips to hold it firmly. Seems to work just fine though.

Before I permanently mounted it to my chassis to measure a 13V +/- 2V source, I connected it to my bench power supply and varied the voltage from about 3v to 20v. I cross checked its accuracy against my Fluke 87V, a more accurate and higher resolution meter. This SMAKN meter was about 0.5V off in the low voltage range, up to about 7-8V. However, beyond that range it seemed to track the Fluke quite well. It has a pot to calibrate it, but I didn't mess with it. Its default accuracy was OK for my use.

The green display is pleasant and large enough to read from several feet away.

Considering that it cost me just about $6 including Prime shipping, it wouldn't be fair for me to complain that it is not as accurate as a Fluke that costs a few hundred dollars. For $6, it is 5 stars!

Bought these to install in my 50/10/2 amp manual battery chargers. Just made keeping the batteries charged on 5 vehicles a whole lot easier. Now I don't have to drag a multimeter along with the charger.
I mounted the SMAKN ( love that name) volt meter on the front right below the original amp meter. Looks awesome, especially at night I can check where voltage is at a glance from afar.

Both SMAKN VMs I recieved were reading .1 V too high according to my expensive Greenlea multimeter which read 13.9 V. I noticed a variable resistor on the PCB marked "VR". It takes a small flat screwdriver such as for eyeglass repair to fit it. I turned it CCW just a few hairs and lost .3 V on the display so it doesn't take much to make a fine adjustment. Got both meters down to 13.9 from 14 and everything is peachy.

The hole required to panel mount these bad boys is 1-25/32" x 1"

I might buy more of these to put on my riding mowers just because they look so cool. The green LED would match the John Deere too!

This product works perfectly. It comes in a nice box which displays the features of the multimeter and the package contents. The package includes the multimeter which is wrapped in plastic, the two leads which are wrapped in plastic as well, and an instruction manual. At first glance, the product may seem confusing with the barrage of symbols decorating the dial. If you are unsure of what anything means, the instruction manual explains the definition of the symbols and gives clear, explicit instructions on everything from changing batteries to measuring AC voltage. It is very important that you read the instruction manual because it outlines several warnings. If you do not abide by these warnings, you risk ruining the device. Thankfully, there aren't too many and they are mostly common sense (DO NOT use leaking batteries). The display is clear and easy to read, and the back light is bright and allows for even easier viewing, though I have not needed it much so far.
The meter itself is accurate and easy to use. Simply rotate the dial to the setting of what you want to measure, and place the leads at the correct point in the circuit. The output is accurate. I gave it a test run with a 5V fixed DC voltage in series with a 100 Ohm resistor, and the resulting current, voltage, and resistance measurements were either spot on or very close, which is understandable.
The only complaint I have is that the hold button, which saves whatever number is displayed on screen, is located on the meter itself, which means it is difficult to press unless you are particularly agile or have 3 hands. It would be much simpler if the button were located on one of the leads, but this flaw is small and relatively easy to work around.
The product works perfectly and is very cheap, so it easily earns 5 stars from me.

I bought this because in my spare time I like to take apart broken electronics and try to see if I can understand how they work and how to fix them. Most of the time I end up breaking the electronics even more. This Multimeter does just what I need, check the voltages around little circuit boards and helps me find what resistors or capacitors have blown. I wouldn't use this if it was a life or death scenario, but it works well with little electronics like the circuit boards of TV's.

I would recommend this to anyone who finds themselves dumpster diving for broken gadgets and trying to spend as little money.

Works just fine, as expected. Remarkable value for the price. I checked it against another comparable meter and the results tracked very closely (of course they may use the same chipset!). My only complaint is that the backlight does not automatically turn off after a few seconds, as on my other meter (Velleman brand) that seems essentially identical to this one by Etekcity. I'd like an automatic shut-off, but that is not an available feature. Some people said that the continuity buzzer does not work, but mine does. My meter had the internal clunking that some purchasers have reported. In my case it was caused by loose fit of the 9V battery in the battery compartment. I had some self-stick felt and used that to tighten up the fit: no more clunking. Some folded-up paper would also have done the trick.

You know, for the price, I wasn't expecting much out of this device, but I was surprised as to how accurate the readings I was getting from it ended up being. I compared it to one of those $200 multimeters, and it was spot on perfect compared to the higher priced one. The hold feature is definitely appreciated, as is the light up display. The leads for this are of good quality. They should hold up for many years.

This instrument was used for measuring electrical output in a science fair project. It was very easy to use, giving us amps and volts for calculating watts. It is unlikely that this instrument will collect dust as we have already found uses around the house such as testing batteries, troubleshooting automotive electrical issues, and continuing to learn about electricity. *Consider safety first when doing ANYTHING with electricity.*

The display is brighter than you'd expect. The unit I received is very accurate for the price, within 0.1 volt of what my EXTECH multimeter reads.

Would like a trimpot for lowering the display brightness. If there is a trimpot for brightness then instructions or a label on the silkscreen showing it.

This is a decent voltmeter. I am using it to monitor my motorcycle battery. I have it hooked up to a switch that also turns on other accessories on my motorcycle.

It's very simple to install, just splice some longer wire to your positive and negative contacts and it will run off of the power source. It does draw power so you need to install a switch or disconnect it when not in use. It was not accurate out of the box, but this was solved easily by the adjustment knob.

You may want to fill the connection point, or even the entire back end with hot glue to keep it waterproof and to ensure the connector does not rattle loose.

I had to send my original back for a replacement, but the replacement worked just fine.

What a sweet little voltage reader. I put in a solar system on my Motor Home and need something to monitor the voltage -- the controler only has idiot lights, and while some see me as an idiot, I don't so I had to have something a real idiot could read. Hum, did I say that right? Anyway this works as it should and I can see battery condition at a glance. Cut a hole in a thin panel next to a cupboard, about eye level -- traced out and measured a couple of times to get it just right, cut the rectangular hole and pressed this little gem in for a perfect fit. No screws need, nice and clean.

I havent installed it yet but i have tested it with a 9v battery and seems to work just fine. crisp display and seems well built.

Only down side is the shipping and handling is excessive, 5.99 for the product but then charged me $6.01 shipping. was mailed from IN to KY (neighbor state). Small light weight just in a bubble wrapped envelope. I also at the same time ordered a charge controller (much heavier then this meter) from another company on the same order which came from southern CA area and same bubble wrapped envelope (slightly larger size) and they only charged $2 shipping.

Pros: Product seems really good quality and arrived 2 days early then estimated.

Cons: Excessive shipping fees which i suspect so it can have a perceived cheaper price listing and just make up for it on the shipping fee as a marketing gimmick.

I bought two for monitoring my solar voltage coming straight down from the array. It proved to be quite accurate, fast, eye-catching display, and inexpensive. Here are my gripes though:

- The black and wires are way too small (think 6 strands of hair). I was able to splice enough wire off to extend the length with longer wire. I was able to solder and heat shrink over the wires...but, dang that was a PITA.

- I mounted it into a project box I got at RShack. I had to use a utility knife to cut a rectangle out to match the backside dimensions of the meter. That was, well, a PITA. It didn't fit perfectly in the rectangle cutout because this meter has 4 mounting clicky deals that stopped it from going all the way in. So, in order to secure it to the project box...I used Shoe Goo (rock hard rubber cement) and let it sit overnight. That worked great.

- Be careful with the wires and the little plug in connector. Do they make a connector plug with heavier wire? That would help.

-Needs a faceplate type mount with 4 screw holes.

A nice little meter for the price. A couple of handy features include a well-designed backlight that can be switched on or off to help save the battery, and a fold-out rear stand that props the meter up at an angle for easier viewing from the bench top.

But a few caveats would have to include the extremely poor contrast of the markings for voltage and current on the front panel of the meter. They’re hard to see since dark green on black just doesn’t show up very well, and in dim light they barely show up at all! A more significant shortcoming is the lack of any useful sensitivity for the AC voltage range. Whereas the DC range offers 200 mV to 500 V full scale readings, the AC range is limited to only 200 V full scale.

Two minor issues are the difficulty in replacing the internal battery since removing the access panel requires use of a number 00 Phillips screwdriver which is smaller than many folks carry in their toolkit. Finally, the meter would be easier to read if the scale multiples were done in decades of 10 rather than the 2 or 20 being used now. It would make the displayed readings less confusing to interpret.

 I bought this to repair my tv. I used it to check for bad fuses. Worked fine. I have to say the test probes felt a bit cheap. And while using the continuity mode, sometimes it does take half a second longer than it should to make a beep sound.

The back light is bright. I don't have anything to compare it to to check for accuracy though but for hobby use, I'm sure it will be fine.

Uses a 9V battery which comes with the unit.

First, I do not use this tool for my profession, or on a regular basis. However I did need to test my car battery and alternator, and I decided to purchase this Etekcity Digital Multimeter for that task. It worked flawlessly. I was able to acquire an accurate test result, and the multimeter worked great. For the price you can not beat this device. For simple home projects I would suggest this tool for the do it yourselfer. The tool comes in a nice small package so it will fit into any small tool box. hope this helps. thanks

Great for the price. Includes the 9V battery needed to operate, so you can use it right out of the box. Measures everything you see on the dial on in the picure: DC Current up to 10A, Resistance 200 Ohms, AC/DC Voltage up to 500 V, checks for continuity (with audible beep), and transistors. Includes leads, has a backlight, and the ability to "hold" or freeze a measurement on the screen until you clear it (or turn it off). The red rubber casing is a nice touch, in case you drop it, and the DMM has a flip out stand on the back. If you are looking for an affordable DMM, you can't really beat this one.

AC, DC, and Oms. I'm no electronics specialist and this is my first multimeter I've ever purchased. for the price it does a all around good job if you aren't a pro. So I would recommend it. But it might not be for everyone, especially a pro. I wish the prods that came with it also came with clasps since you practically need four arms to hold the two wires, the multimeter, and the cable and/or ports you are trying to test.

Watch a couple of YouTube tutorials before you use this or you might hurt yourself. The instructions aren't really clear.

I was using this to monitor my batteries on an E-Bike. After several months, it got so I have to tap the screen to get all the segments to light up. No big deal, but I suppose that some day I will have to tear the panel apart and replace this item. I am thinking it's all the bumping and crashes that induced this problem, so I really don't blame the meter. I have three other digital meters that seem to have survived the same treatment, so it looks like by the luck of the draw I got one a bit more sensitive to being knocked around. Still, a good digital meter.

I've gone through several of these in just a year. For the price they are great, but they aren't made to last very long if you run them 100% of the time. I've had them on my Camper Trailer battery so I know when to charge the battery, and the LED's burn out after a pretty short time.. 4 months? Not to mention the wires are REALLY thin gauge.

The unit is very tiny. I was surprised. Hopefully it displays the correct voltage.

The construction of this meter is not great. The PCB traces are on the top side of the board, so the connector has no mechanical support. The only thing holding it on is the adhesion of the traces to the board substrate. Which means that it's going to pull off with very minor stress. When mine failed, I just cut the connector off the wires and routed them around the side of the board, and through the holes from the bottom. This creates a much more mechanically sound connection. Really, there's no point in even having the connector there in the first place.

The nice part of this is that it includes a trimmer to calibrate the meter, and it already comes calibrated to a reasonable tolerance. As much as you can expect for three digits, anyway. There's a diode that protects from negative voltage reaching the chip, and if you pull that off, you separate the chip's power supply from the main sampling input. If you give it an external supply, you can measure down to 0 volts, and it has the added benefit of not loading down what you're trying to measure. Doing that, you can probably also measure higher than 30 volts, but I don't have a power supply that goes high enough to test it.

Apart from the connector pulling off, my only other complaint is that the display is WAY too bright. It seriously lights up a dark room. I could fix it by replacing the 6 SMD resistors, but it's really more trouble than it's worth.

Very nice little meter. The one I received was accurate and the display was bright. The wires & power connector are very fragile, however. Make sure you mount it solidly with no stress or vibration on the wires. The power connector on mine broke loose from the circuit board. I only took two stars off for the meter breaking in less than one day, because I had not mounted it solidly yet.

I bought this two years ago and just finally get around to using it. A project I wanted to work on was put on hold due to school. Anyways, I noticed permanent marker on the bottom and toward the left center. I start to scratch it off. One covered a CE logo (Used to approve products being sold in Europe) and Excel (Actual company that made it). Doing a search online it's an Excel XL830L Digital 3 1/2 LCD Voltmeter Ammeter Ohmmeter Multimeter Black & Yellow.

The bottomline here...make sure you double check your order to ensure it is what it is. Blacking out logos is some shady business practices so I'd say give them a pass completely. I gave it three stars as the product works even after two years and used it once to test a battery. I'll be using it more with Arduino projects and hope it continues to work...if not, no bother, I'm currently eyeing a MasTech ms8229 or other sub $50 equivalent.

This is a good starter multimeter. It's got all the basic functions of a multimeter, especially for small-electronics type hobbies and/or repair. It's easy enough to figure out how to use it, although the included instructions were also nice. The backlight works fine, although I never used it. Audible continuity tester is ok. I don't use one of the uber-expensive models at work, so I don't know if it's too quiet in comparison or not. It was fine for my workshop, as long as the kids weren't around. It even has an hFE transistor tester, which I never used.

However, I knocked down my rating because when the inevitable happened and the 200 mA fuse blew while measuring current through my project, I popped off the back to replace the fuse. Only to discover that it's not what you would call a field-replacable unit. The fuse (tiny) is soldered into the board, and I have not found the same fuses anywhere. So it will now become my back-up multimeter. And I'm in search of a replacement. It'd be nice if you could sort by whether or not the fuses are replaceable.

It works....after I installed a new battery. Only took a glance to diagnose the problem noting the switch was in the ON position as well as the light switch set to ON. Oddly packaged, too, like put in the product box with no interior packaging. I think the product is OK but the circumstances seem a little fishy. Perhaps a return? Could it be a refurb? Maybe the work of a disgruntled employee?

This is a cheap multimeter, and there is a reason why. I got about 3 weeks worth of use out of mine before it smoked. It still reads volts and resistance, but does not read current anymore. It just suddenly quit reading current shortly after I loaned it out. It read current before and (yes, and) after I gave it to them, but when I got to class the next day, it would no longer read current. We tried replacing the fuse, and still got nothing. I am not too upset because it was a cheap multimeter. Had this been a $25+ one, I would be a little pissed. It is a little more of an inconvenience than anything else right now. As a multimeter, it would be a 1/5 if it weren't for the price being so lo. That is why it is a 3 for me. It was decent quality for $9 while it lasted. My advice: if you are going to be using your multimeter for a long time, spend a little more on it. Flukes are the best, but are harder to work with and have expensive fuses. I recommend getting something in the $20-$30 range, that is what I am getting now.

no good

Two stars, it works good but the back is wide open, needs to be closed off with plastic or something

It reads two tenths of a volt low and there is no adjustment. Not accurate enough for what I need.

Easy-to-read display, and consumes very little power. I really liked it until it died after 30 hours of use.

I like the display. I like the size. I like the low draw.

I don't like the weak wiring and circuit connections. I have two of these. It has a fatal flaw though. The plug on the back that is soldered into the board. The soldering is very weak & fragile. You can easily break it with light pressure. So if you buy it - keep it stationary. Don't expect to move it around much. Don't expect it hold up during difficult installations.

Wires need to be longer and bigger guage too.

Dial broke after a month.

Used it twice for simple household testing of batteries etc. It died 1 week out to of the Amazon return period. You get what you pay for move on to something with a bid more quality so it works when you need it.

upon arival i notice it had something loose inside, reluctantly i remover the two small philips screws to try and avoid the hassle of sending it back. i found a metal 1/8 inch ball. if i left it in there it could have shorted the internal elictric circuits. I have no idea what it was in there for, everything seems to be working, im giving it 2 stars for poor assembly. te backlight is a good feature, i will be using this in the automotive feild to test continuit, resistance, voltage, and amperage for parisitic draw tests. seems good enough o do the jobas longas i donoksomething up wrong and fry it like the last one.

I REALLY LIKED IT AT FIRST UNTIL I REALLY NEEDED IT!!! TO CHECK (IGNITION COIL) FOR Resistance.THAT IS WHEN I FOUND OUT THAT IT DID NOT READ Resistance!!! BECAUSE IT WAS A FEW MONTHS PASS THE RETURN WINDOW AMAZON SAID I WAS OUT OF LUCK AND THEY WOULD NOT REPLACE IT I WAS NOT SEEKING A REFUND SIMPLY ONE THAT WOULD WORK PROPERLY :O( I KNEW IT WAS MADE IN CHINA WHEN I PURCHASED IT,BUT ATLEAST GIVE ME ONE THAT WORKS. AFTER READING THE REVIEWS I TOOK A CHANCE ON IT.... GENERALLY A NICE ITEM TO HAVE AROUND THE GARAGE.

I received this multi-tester in October. It's not the only one I own. I probably used it a dozen times and the probe separated from the lead wire. The wires don't even show any sign of solder. I had hoped this would be a good product but sadly that's not so.

broke after third use.....red tip fell off

Bought two.- one failed after 6 minutes second after 22 minutes. Waste of time.

bought in 2014. just installed. worked 4 days before display segments failed. maybe it died in the box.

After asking the question, will this work for a vehicle charging system and receiving verification that it would I tested the meter. Wired it all up, sadly as soon at I powered my car on the unit started to get hot and the tiny wires melted through their insulation. I'm not sure if it was a bad unit or if they just can't handle the power.

Ordered DC 4 to 30 volt. Will not measure above 20.5 volts. Marked 4 to 30 on end, but 0 to 19 on the side. I used an adjustable DC voltage source and all of the meters were ok at 20 v but failed to measure above 20.5 v

2 out of the 3 items still work-- the Voltage Meter failed in about 1 hour.-- doesn't work any more.--

Too often we just accept poor quality. This has to be a cheap knockoff from China, or some such description. I bought two because of the great price and pretty good reviews. But just when you go to depend on it, the cheap probe wire plug-ins fail on you. Nothing more frustrating when troubleshooting continuity and you find it is your meter probes, not an open in your circuit. This occurs where the probe wire connects to the meter. The female socket metal and the male plug metal are so cheap they bend and don't make tight contact. The frustration became so great on both meters they went in the can - a few weeks ago. I wasn't going to say anything, but came home today with another completely different brand, an analog this time, that looked JUST like the old one I had years ago that lasted me 20 years or more. And right out of the box - same probe problem. Sure enough, back of the unit says made in China. That one today was $10 at one home center and $20 at another. I should have looked closer. Guess I'll have to shell out some bigger bucks. You get what you pay for. Piece of sh!t.

Unfortunately junk. Stopped working just outside of my 30 day return window through Amazon. I just don't know what happened. One day working, the next, nothing. It has power and I've tried other batteries, but to no avail. I recommend you stay away. Maybe I'll look into a replacement with the vendor directly.

Came DOA that's fine they mass produce these and it was 11.00. Since it was very impractical to return, I don't currently live in the US I took it apart to find out why all the solder joints were plain S***, I mean I trust a four year old more with a permanent marker than the person who soldered this together every single component had cracking solder joints, not enough solder. it was nightmarish. I'm surprised this company makes anything that works. I have bought these before (...) they are twice the quality half the price and dont feel as cheap in your hand. I wish I could say you get what you paid for but this product sucks, and next time ill borrow the fluke from work.

Guess I got the lemon. Most other reviews are good. First the battery was dead when received (what more would you expect from a battery with the trade name "Colorful"). Now I cannot get any consistency in voltage readings. Sometimes it reads voltage, sometimes it does not. When it does read voltage it sometimes oscillates between 100V and 170V. Sometimes it settles down and is OK. Problem is I never know what is going to happen so there is no confidence in the readings. I suspect a bad internal connection. My quandary is I purchased three as Christmas presents for my children. Now I have one to return and I am wondering if the other two are really safe for the other children to use.

I bought one of these. It was defective on arrival. The display said "333" regardless of the selected range or tested condition. Amazon replaced it. The new one worked just long enough to last through the 30-day return period. Shortly after the return period expired, this one broke. It too says "333' regardless of the selected range or tested condition.

It failed on the first use. I used it to measure a current ranging from 30-700 milliAmps (using the 10 Amp setting). It successfully measured it. However, after that measurement, a number got stuck on the screen, and it wouldn't read any further measurements. Also, the unit feels cheap like a toy. I don't recommend this item at all. Buy a real multimeter.