My Clamp meter conundrum - Quality Clamp meter to match the cheap Uni-T 210E

[Martin72]

A few of us have the Benning CM 11 and like it. Its has gotten pricier, however, over the last few years.

We also have a CM11 to measure small standby currents.
It is very precise with a resolution of 100µA, but you have to be careful not to "overdrive" it, as it can only measure a maximum of 10A/20A DC/AC.
Together with the Fluke 337 current clamp, which is also precise but designed for higher currents, we cover the range from 1mA to 600A.

https://www.benning.de/products-en/testing-measuring-and-safety-equipment/current-clamp-multimeter/high-precision-current-clamp-cm-11.html

[urantia]

The unit-T 210E is of surprisingly decent build-quality with the price in mind..
My unit is quite old, and had no problems whatsoever with the build-quality.. find it sturdy and rigid.
if you hand out many hundreds of dollars for a low current AC&DC clamp meter, you will hopefully get a better build than a 30-buck AC&DC clamp meter like 210E or will you?

You should purchase an Extech MA63-N    a steal at 410 USD before AU VAT..
https://www.flir.com/products/ma63/?model=MA63-NIST&vertical=condition+monitoring&segment=solutions

Or you can keep it lowkey and jump on the cheaper non-third-party-calibrated MA63 at merely 580 AUS at Amazon.au - and keep the Unit-t 210E/211B vibe going under a big-brand label with a hz added-price to match and then you can talk about a conundrum.
https://www.amazon.com.au/Extech-MA63-True-Clamp-Meter/dp/B01BEVDSV6?th=1

Thats the thing with the 210E especially hacked eeprom unlocking more functionality, it really does offer a lot of good features and specs. Those rebadges are a bit extreme with the price hikes though. Pretty well the unit210E made by fluke would be a wet dream.

I should almost start a clamp meter excel sheet with all these new capable clamp meters im finding from this thread.

[J-R]

I have the UT210D.  It's cute and a good price, but I have zero use for it on my bench.  It's in one of my tool bags and great for random stuff when I'm out and and about.

Got a good deal on the Fluke 771 a while back. It's definitely my go to clamp meter for low currents.  Amazing stability and accuracy.

Although these days I have a nice selection of shunts, so they are the first choice when it's possible to insert them into the circuit.

[csuhi17]

Have you been looking at the Owon CM2100B, doesn't it meet your needs?

[urantia]

I like that Owon specs on paper. But reviews seem to show it has next to no input protection and useless NCV function. I wonder what the quality in the hand feels like compared to the uni-t. I do like it Tho, I will probably buy one to try out anyway and just use for LV DC duties, as the DC voltage and current measurements look good and datalogging capabilities etc.

[urantia]

Just a small update. I grabbed an Owon 2100b as suggested by csuhi17. And I'm very impressed with this meter. For the price its actually mind blowingly good. The quality in the hand feels substantially better than the Uni-t 210E. The 20,000 count is a blessing for checking battery LFP balance differences. I'm yet to check its accuracy though Kiss analogue on YouTube just reviewed it a week ago and it came through really good - . Have not tested the Bluetooth logging, input protection looks miniscule and the NCV is next to useless, otherwise highly recommended!