Digital Multimeter, SURPEER 20000 Counts Multi Capacitor Tester True RMS Auto Range Voltmeter - DC AC Voltage Current Ohm Resistance Diode Temperature Continuity Frequency Electric Field Testing

Can a $37, 4.5-digit DMM (Digital Multimeter) be any good? (It's down to $20 as of 9/2/18. It's a steal!) In the case of the Surpeer AV4 the answer is “Yes!” I needed a low-cost meter for a lab I’m setting up and the free Harbor Freight meters, while useful, are just not going to serve when you want to make accurate readings. The Surpeer AV4 with its 4.5-digit display has the highest resolution that I could find for a DMM in this price range. Even better, Amazon Prime dropped one on my doorstep in two days.What do you get for your $37? You get a 4.5-digit meter with a rubber holster, an adequate set of probes, a thermal probe, a “heavy duty” (carbon-zinc) battery, and a thin manual all in a tiny cardboard box barely larger than the meter. (I suggest you replace the carbon-zinc battery with an alkaline battery ASAP. The manual says the same thing.)My initial impression of the meter was that it’s well built. It feels substantial. It has a large LCD with main and sub numeric displays, a nicely clicky function dial, and an integrated tilt stand.Your first step will be to insert the battery and here’s where you run into two of this meter’s weaknesses: a nearly invisible polarity mark for the 9v battery molded into the battery box (see photo) and a poorly written/translated manual.You can insert the 9v battery into the battery box either one of two ways. Put it in one way and the meter works. Put it in the other way and you’ll damage the meter. No matter how hard I looked, I could not see a polarity mark in the battery box in normal light and I could not find clarity in the manual, which essentially says “insert the battery.” I had to take out the four self-tapping screws that hold the meter together and look at the circuit board, which has the battery polarity clearly marked.Here’s the answer: As you look into the battery box with the top of the meter pointed up, the positive battery terminal goes on the left. Once I figured that out, I took a permanent marker and marked the inside of the battery box with a big black “+” so I’d never again be in doubt. (The vendor’s Amazon listing makes this clear in the fifth bullet of the description, but how likely are you to have that Web page on a convenient screen so that you can look there when you receive your meter? It needs to be in the manual.)With the battery installed properly, the meter worked immediately. Rotate the function dial to the desired function and the meter turns on. The display has a limited vertical viewing angle and somewhat low contrast, so I immediately wanted to try out the backlight. Once more, the manual let me down. (It’s there; it’s just hard to find.)Finally, after staring at the meter for a bit, I noticed the sun-like symbol above the word “HOLD” on the top, left button. Hold that button down for three seconds and the bright, white LED backlight turns on. (The manual says “Long press 3 seconds to convert to backlight model.”) Hold the button down again for three seconds to turn the backlight off. Other reviews here on Amazon have complained that the DMM’s backlight turns off too quickly but I’ve not observed this. Perhaps the manufacturer has made a design change. My meter’s circuit board says my DMM was manufactured early in 2017.With the meter working, I then wanted to test its accuracy so I borrowed an HP 34401A benchtop multimeter from a lab at work. The HP 34401A is a $1000-class meter with far better resolution and accuracy than the Surpeer, appropriate at about 30x the price, so it makes a good reference to measure against.I made three dc voltage measurements at 100mv, 1v, and 10v; one ac voltage measurement at 1vac, 1000Hz (that’s the maximum frequency for the ac voltage range); and one resistance measurement of a 3Kohm resistor. The Surpeer AV4 did extremely well with all of these tests as you can see in the photos. Its dc and ac voltage measurements are all within just a few millivolts of the HP meter. (See the photos.) The resistance measurement using the 4-wire ohms range of the HP meter was 2964.4 ohms and the Surpeer AV4’s reading was 2963 ohms. That’s a difference of 0.05% —plenty good for a handheld meter. During the ac voltage test, the Surpeer AV4 also displays signal frequency in a secondary display, which was also quite accurate according to the HP 34401A meter and a separate frequency counter that I have on my bench.I did not test the DMM’s current ranges because I do not generally make current measurements. I also did not test the temperature probe, the diode/continuity function, the capacitance range, or the “Volt Alert.” I don’t generally use these functions but I’ll bet they work fine based on my other tests.It’s reasonable to ask what you give up when you buy the inexpensive Surpeer AV4 DMM. Well, the manual is the most obvious weakness. It’s clearly translated from Chinese—in one place, “voltage” has been translated as “pressure,” “probe” has become “pencil,” “resistance” has become “resistor,” “setting” is usually translated as “gear,” and these are only a few of the several errors that will trip the inexperienced.At 13 pages, the manual is also quite brief. For example, there’s a “Volt Alert” function that allows the meter to sense electric fields without making contact with a circuit, but the manual describes this as NCV (I suspect this means “non-contact voltage”) testing and simply says “When converting to NCV function, the instrument is near the electric field.” I still don’t know where the NCV sensor is inside the meter. The manual doesn’t help.As I’ve said, I had no luck in finding an explanation about the backlight button although you will find a note tucked in there if you read the manual carefully enough times. It does not help that the online PDF of the manual is not searchable.These are but a few examples that lead me to state that I do not consider this to be a beginner meter. You’ll really have to think about some of the wording in the manual so you will need some experience, some background to properly use this meter. If you are a beginner and need to learn the basics of how to use a DMM, I suggest that you get one with a better manual. If you know how to use a meter already, this one’s a bargain.Finally, I looked at the circuit board inside of the meter (see the internal board photo). That look caused me to make this recommendation: If you are going to use a meter to routinely measure life-threatening voltages (anything above 43v in my book) or high-energy circuits, then you really should spend more money on a name-brand meter. The Surpeer AV4 meter is protected with proper safety fuses but the circuit board layout is missing some high-voltage safeguards like proper layout for high-voltage resistors and isolation slots to prevent arc-over. The plastic case, though rugged, does not appear to be designed with blast protection in mind. However, if you’re not going to measure mains power, high-voltage power supplies for equipment like particle accelerators, or other high-energy circuitry (I never do) and you’re just using this DMM to measure the normal sorts of low-voltage, low-energy circuits in common solid-state equipment, then this meter should serve you very, very well.Overall, I repeat: the Surpeer AV4 DMM is a bargain.

Minimally functional... Continuity test takes several seconds and measurements fluctuate all over without stabilizing. Save your money -- you get what you pay for. Not sure why reviewers said this was a solid product -- it's made of cheap plastic and a flimsy silicone sleeve. Might be a little better than something cheap at Harbor Freight. EF detection gimmicky and poorly performing. Input protection is minimal.. No MOVs, terminal connectors just held in by plastic sleeves. Stick to something like the Uni-T UT139C if you want to stay in this price range.

I wouldn't have any issue purchasing this again or recommending it to someone looking for a multimeter that can handle most applications with enough accuracy for %99 of the people who would be looking at this particular meter.Pros: The multimeter is accurate, has an easy to read display (more in a second), has nice probes for the price, and is a great value.Cons: You can't make the backlighting stay lit for longer than 5 seconds and it requires a long press to activate.No case, bag, or anything other than the cardboard box to place the device in. I would gladly have paid the $2 extra this would cost to include.The probes don't have a cover for the sharp metal ends (this is more a personal gripe than a con).

The first SURPEER 20000 (AV4) DMM I received was DOA. I had to return it, but I ordered another. My second one is working great.All of the ranges I have tested have been well within their specified accuracy, but I have not evaluated the frequency response or accuracy of the rms converter yet. I will update this when I do. However the stated frequency range of 40-200 Hz is only usable for AC power waveforms, not audio. I also want to test the sensitivity, frequency response, and accuracy of the frequency counter as well.My thanks to another reviewer: Steven H. Leibson who opened up the meter and posted a nice photo of the internal circuitry and saved me the effort of doing it myself. The battery insertion is not obvious, and there does not appear to be any protection circuitry. I marked mine with a marker so it is obvious.The APO (automatic power off) function is on by default. To turn off the APO function hold down the HOLD button while turning the meter on, not the SELECT button as the chinglish instructions state.The meter does appear to have a couple of input protection diodes and a tiny varistor, but the protection circuitry seems to be inadequate for use on power lines. However for most other uses it seems fine.The bar graph although marked with 100 small segments is only 20 sections bar graph, each section being 5 marked segments. The numbers on the bar graph 0, 5, 10, & 20 correspond to the bar graph sections.The sound response of the continuity check function seems instantaneous, even though the meter indication is much slower.The temperature on mine reads high; 4ºC at 0ºC and 102ºC at 100ºC. I suspect the error is in the metals of the banana plugs and jacks since small computational changes would change there contact potential.There is no specification for input impedance, so I will measure it and update.The NCV (non-contact voltage) function seems very sensitive, but is not useful for pinpointing exact location. I could be usable set near an outlet for finding the correct circuit breaker.I am very happy with this meter's performance for the price. At $21 it is a bargain.

It is accurate enough, certainly within specs. analog bar responses very slowly compared with my other multimeter Victor VC86E.Rel function does not work.

Its a solid and great working meter, would by again.

Does what I need. Measure my AC capacitor accurately. 14.98 uf, capacitors label says 15uf

You have a complete meter / tester here

DIGITAL METER GOOD QUALITY,NICE DISPLAY. MANUAL MFG. CHOICE OF TYPE SIZE AND COLOR. ONE STAR!!!TYPE TOO SMALL TO REAR AND LIGHT BLUE, (CALLED NON REPRODUCIBLE COOLER) IN...

This is a really nice digital multimeter. I compared the readings for DC voltage and resistance to a Fluke 8840 meter and was pleasantly surprised at how accurate this meter is on...

For the money it's an amazing tool. I'm very pleased with its performance and I plan on buying a second very soon.

I’m a professional auto mechanic and this feels every bit as robust as the more expensive brands and has an incredible backlight.

I have several Fluke meters and love them. I figured I would give this one a chance; I am happy I did. At a fraction of the cost of my other meters, this one works very well.

I love this meter. When measuring batterys is show 5 digits like 1.4923 or 12.421. Its perfect for electronics.