Sweltering hot greetings from the Extech office in Waltham, Massachusetts. (98°F, 37°C!)
Thanks, Patryk for bringing up this question about the similar multimeters. I know that with a market filled with a dizzying array of specs and models, this type of similarity can be confusing. I can speak on behalf of the Extech part of the question with no sugar-coating:
The Extech MultiMaster MM560A and MM570A (which also measures temperature and Delta-T) are made through a partnership with Brymen Technology Corporation, one of the brands pictured. We worked with them specifically to introduce the Extech MultiMaster (and more basic MultiPro) models several years ago. Brymen has proven to be a trusted manufacturing partner for quality test instruments that meet Extech standards.
We have introduced several new DMM's since then and the MultiMaster models continue to be popular for several reasons: remarkably high accuracy (down to 0.02% on MM570A); tremendous resolution for a handheld meter (500,000 counts), CAT-IV safety rating (!), a rugged design, and a set of functions that are hard to match.
Not only are they sensitive enough to work on benchtop electronics testing applications, they are also suitable for measuring a 680 V bus on a distribution panel for example. I would say it is a testament to their quality and manufacturing if Brymen has been enlisted by other DMM brands since our MultiMaster was introduced.
I've tried to do a quick apples-to-apples comparison of the models posted here and I would say this first:
I can't speak on behalf of other companies to say with authority that they are physically identical or from the same source.
![Lips Sealed :-X](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/lipsrsealed.gif)
But model to model, looking at publicly available specs, if you match the tiers, most of the specs appear very similar or identical.
Keep in mind, you're conceivably looking at a
family of meters--not one meter. For example, Extech offers several models with varying tiers of incrementally more features. Others may do the same. If you include our MM570A
http://www.extech.com/mm570a, you're looking at higher specs than some of the models listed in the thread.
Other important things to keep in mind that often don't make the apples-to-apples spec checklist have more to do with the company whose name is on the meter:
- What kind of tech support is available? Where is it based?
- How responsive is customer support? Where is it located and is it focused on quick and efficient help?
- What type of in-house quality control program is in place (vs. 3rd party)?
- Are they ISO9001:2008 certified?
- Do they offer fast-turnaround, in-house calibration services with NIST-traceable certification?
- How easy-to-find are products at local retailers and distributors, plus online sites?
- Do they keep up with you using a social networking community and great forums like EEVBlog?
![Wink ;)](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/wink.gif)
- How long have they been around? And how long will they be around?
![Undecided :-\](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/undecided.gif)
I hope that is a helpful reply! Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Best,
André Rebelo
Extech Instruments
PS, If you're looking online for an Extech MM560A or MM570A, keep in mind the newer-gen model has the "A" suffix. There were some board-level updates made over the original generation from a few years ago that improved accuracies in some ranges. And the related software was upgraded as well. I can't say if that is the case with comparable models from other brands.