I just got a new ANENG multimeter in the post, the
ANENG M1.
It's only $7.50 so don't expect miracles, but there's quite a few pleasant surprises so far.
The display is huge and the backlight surprisingly bright (
literally surprising, I went "woah!" out loud when I turned it on!). I think I need to measure the LED current and see how hard they're driving it.
The case is quite solid, not quite as good quality plastic as an AN800X but streets ahead of a typical DT830B. It's available in three different colors, you can choose the color when you order.
The input jacks look quite solid. Probes are serviceable, but not great.
It has a continuity buzzer. Not fast, but it's there. The diode tester has no problem lighting up a white LED.
No CAT rating is printed on it but it says "Max 600V" (presumably only for the voltage ranges).
Here it is next to a DT830B. It's a bit narrower but a bit thicker. Overall not much difference in volume.
![](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/new-aneng-m1-multimter!/?action=dlattach;attach=636979;image)
The big surprises are on the inside. It says 'fused' on the outside and when I opened it up I found a fairly chunky polyfuse (rated 250V, 200mA). That's cool.
![](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/new-aneng-m1-multimter!/?action=dlattach;attach=636985;image)
The 10A range doesn't use a traditional wire current shunt, it's a big SMD shunt resistor instead. I should probably do a four-wire measurement on that to see the resistance and what sort of power it's dissipating at 10A.
![](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/new-aneng-m1-multimter!/?action=dlattach;attach=636991;image)
Nice strain relief on the battery cable. Metal threaded insert on the battery door. Overall good attention to detail.
![](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/new-aneng-m1-multimter!/?action=dlattach;attach=636997;image)
Not sure if it's digital or manual calibration yet. There's a tiny potentiometer in the middle of the PCB but it's not obvious what it's for. I'll give it a twiddle later and see what happens.
There's a bit of comedy in the manual. It says
"... to replace the fuse (250mA/250V self-restoring fuse) remove the 4 screws in the back of the case. Simply remove the old, and replace with new one.".
It's as simple as that!
![Smiley :)](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/smiley.gif)