🔧 Measure with Confidence: Your Essential Tool for Every Project!
The Etekcity Digital Multimeter is a versatile and reliable tool designed for both professionals and DIY enthusiasts. With its fast sampling speed, large backlit display, and robust safety features, it accurately measures AC/DC voltage, current, resistance, and more. Ideal for testing household circuits, batteries, and electrical components, this multimeter is a must-have for anyone looking to ensure their electrical systems are functioning safely and efficiently.
P**R
Testing the Accuracy, and Thoughts
I am a professional electronics calibrator. I got curious on how accurate this meter is, so I ran a few tests on each range to see how accurate this meter is. I will also give my thoughts on this at the end.TL;DR: The multimeter I received from this is approx. 0.075% accurate for DCV, 4.3% accurate for ACV (@1kHz), 1.1% for resistance, and 0.34% accurate for DCA. This is sufficient for hobby electronics, though I would be careful around the lower ranges for ACV.So on to the meaty portion of this review.As stated above, I got curious to see how accurate this meter is. I went into this not suspecting much, but was pleasantly surprised by most tests.To start off, let's talk DC voltage. To start off, the calibrator I used for this has an error of 0.005%, and usually goes more positive than negative (IE, at 1mV will read 1.005mV instead of 99.995mV). I put the meter in the 200mVDC range and tested it with 1mV, 10mV, 50mV and 100mV and found it to be fairly consistently -0.2% off, reading 0.9mV, 9.98mV, 49.9mV and 99.8mV respectively. At the 2VDC (aka 2000mVDC as listed on the device), I found it to be roughly 0.1% off on average, reading 999mV for 1V and 1499mV for 1.5V. At the 20V range is where I found the best accuracy, with each test point of 5V, 10V and 15V reading exactly as inputted. Results were similar for the 200V range, where I got 50V exactly, 100V exactly, 149.9V then 189.9V. At the 500V range I found it to be the least accurate, the worst being 483V at 485V, which is still 0.5% and is still pretty excellent.Thoughts on DCV: Not really surprised, as DC tends to be easy to get accurate results for. As suspected, higher ranges are less accurate, but this is fairly standard for multimeters unless you have one made specifically for high ranges.ACV is next up. I used a standard 1kHz for each voltage. Before I start, please note that AC can be very hard to read accurately especially at lower ranges. This is typical even for high accuracy multimeters. I started with 200VAC, and tested at 1Vrms, 5Vrms, 50Vrms, then 100Vrms, with results at 1.15Vrms for 1V, 4.4Vrms for 5V, 48.9Vrms for 50v and exactly 100Vrms for 100V. For 500VAC, I tested it at 450Vrms, and received a reading of 454Vrms.As a bonus, I tested 120VAC at 60Hz, which is US wall power and received a reading of 120.0Vrms exactly.Thoughts on AC: The worst accuracy on this multimeter so far, with some voltages being up to +15% off. That said, the ones that were off the most were low voltages on medium/high ranges. This meter was not made to test AC for lower voltages, though. For testing something like 120V@60Hz, which is typical US wall power, it should work perfectly fine.Next, resistance. I tested 1, 5, 10 then 15 for each respective range and magnitude -- IE for 2000ohm range, I tested 100, 500, 1000 then 1500. For 200k, it would be 10k, 50k, 100k, then 150k. For the sake of limiting the shear size of this review, long story short, I found resistance to be approx. -0.2% off on average for each range. The worst range I found so far was 200MOhm, with each reading being roughly -1.5% off instead.Thoughts on resistance: Probably going to be the most used feature of this meter for most people, and it works fine. Not much else to say on this.DC amps. Like DCV, DCA is pretty easy to get an accurate reading for most multimeters, and I found it to be no different here. At the 2000uA range, I used 1mA and 1.5mA, finding it to read 1004uA for 1mA and 1506uA for 1.5mA, which is pretty consistently +0.4%. For the 20mA range, I read 9.99mA and 14.99mA, both of which are -0.1% or smaller. 200mA found similar results but with -0.2% instead: 49.9mA and 99.8mA. For the 10A range, I tested it at 1, 5 then 9A, with results being 1.01A, 5.04A and 9.1A, which is an average of +0.63%.Thoughts on DCA: Consistent with DCV, read pretty accurate with the worst being the higher ranges.Overall thoughts: This isn't a super highly accurate multimeter, but that's okay. The accuracy is good for pretty much everything that an 'everyman' would need it for. It's more than satisfactory for hobby electronics, and can do home electrical test/repair with good accuracy. 99.9% of people will not need it for more than that. If you are part of the 0.1% who needs accuracy less than 0.2%, then I'm sorry, you're going to have to spend the money on something made for that.Pros:-DCV, DCA, Resistance and mid/high range ACV accurate enough for most people-Backlit LCD screen. You have no idea how many professional meters don't have this. It's annoying.-Large amount of ranges for each setting (Except ACV).-Small/Light. Can fit in my pocket.-Hold button is great.Cons:-Kickstand is terrible. It's too narrow, too short, and too thin. It only lifts it up to an angle of like 20 degrees, which is awful compared to something like a Fluke 77IV which brings it up to 75 to 80 degrees. Additionally, it's flimsy and feels like any amount of weight on it will break it off. To be honest, I would rather not have a kickstand at all over having this.-Manual ranging. Yeah, I know, it clearly states it's manual ranging. That's fine, and I don't give it too many negative marks for this.-High resistance leads. The leads that come with the meter had 1.5 ohms of resistance, which is awful. I'm not sure if it's the leads I got, or if they're all like this, but I would HIGHLY recommend getting a separate pair of leads to use with this.-ACV ranges are "too high" -- there isn't really a good way to read lower ACV values on this meter. Your choices are 200VAC or 500VAC, which are both wildly inaccurate for low AC voltages. I can see this being a slight problem for hobby electronics.-No AC amp testing. Again, this isn't advertised as having AC amp capability, so this isn't a 'real' con.Overall thoughts: I would personally highly recommend this multimeter for hobby electronics techs and DIY repair, and maybe even for electricians to be honest. Every range (barring low AC) is accurate, and it can do pretty much everything you ask it to. The low price tag is just another benefit. This review does not include how much abuse this meter will take, though, so keep that in mind.Bonus test: I read the diode test/continuity check setting and found it to output 3.04VDC on a Fluke 77IV multimeter.
S**N
Very Pleased, Accurate Readings, Battery Pre-Installed!! Easy To Read Display With Good Backlight, Well Made
I am very pleased with the Etekcity MSR-500 multimeter. At under $10 it provides accurate and easy to read measurements of AC/DC voltage, low amperage (in-line), resistance and can test diodes. I've worked on electronics professionally and as a hobby since the 1960s and this compares well to much more expensive meters from my past.At this low price if it gets lost out on-site with a client I'm not going to worry like I would with a $100+ Fluke brand meter. I'm sure the Fluke meter may be more accurate and perhaps more durable and a very professional piece of equipment. For my use I can't justify the difference in price for my home and work use.The MSR-500 is well designed for carry-along work and is built for the knocks and bumps of field use. The removable leads and rubber bumper around the outside edge are features I rarely see in "cheap" multimeters. The back-light is bright and perfect for dim spaces like when I used it to identify a doorbell problem as a failing transformer at my dimly lit electrical box in the basement. It has already come in handy for me with home wiring, computer power troubleshooting, and continuity testing.Here is what I like:+ Easy to read display with great backlight+ Accurate compared to a friend's professional multimeter+ Removable leads and standard plugs (if you need to replace them)+ Leads are about 1m (3ft) long which is very useful+ Durable with rubber bumper reducing the chance of breaking in the toolbox or from a fall+ It came with battery installed (thoughtful!)+ Kick-stand was surprisingly helpful working on a ladder in my basementWhat don't I like? I can't read the dial without my glasses, but is that really a fault of the meter? I don't think so.I'm very pleased with the MSR-R500. It puts a lot of quality in a small space for a very low price. At this price I just by another if I leave it behind at a client location: it's effectively disposable. As should be obvious by now I'm giving this handy multimeter 5 stars.
T**X
Hard to change batteries
This is the second time I have bought this multimeter. The first time, it worked well for about 8 years (not heavy use). Then when the low battery indicator turned on, I discovered that, like other people have reported in their reviews, it was too hard to replace the battery: the two screws on the back were impossible to unscrew, and I risked damaging screwdrivers. However, since in the intervening 8 years the price was even lower (and since Amazon provided the option to purchase one whose packaging was slightly damaged at a slight discount, and since I was getting essentially a 9-volt battery with the purchase), I decided to go ahead and buy a second. As soon as the second one arrived, I made sure that I was able to loosen the back screws (or otherwise I would have returned it!). Some electronics are so cheap that it isn't so bad to buy a replacement every 8 years. Hopefully this one will last so long, and at least I believe I could replace the battery when that time comes.
D**S
Great battery tester!
Used this for a potato clock science experiment for my daughter and also use it to test battery life in random batteries we have around the house. Worth the money
D**M
Wrks good. Use it all the time.
Very good. Use it several times a week. Real happy with it.
P**R
Good Equipment
Nice piece of equipment. East to understand instructions. Would recommend to any home repair shop.
C**L
Great Multimeter and excellent value for your $.
After looking for a basic multimeter and checking customer feedback I chose this one. Cheaper than Cdn. Tire sale and better product. Have found accurate and useful.
J**
Buen artículo
Para el tamaño, tiene excelente desempeño y muy completo en funciones.
C**N
merci
Très satisfait depuis tant qu'ont chercher merci
C**H
Good general purpose multimeter
Good general purpose multimeter that provides a good indication for maintenance work
T**V
Works great!
Does what it's supposed to do, and is good quality for the price!
Trustpilot
1 month ago
4 days ago