Fungold HG-1412W Multi-Charger

Fungold Multi Purpose Battery Charger

Manufacturer: Xiamen Nanfu Electronic Technology Co Ltd
Model: HG-1412W
Country of origin: China
Price: £5.00 + 88p postage
Shipped from: China
Condition: New
Description: Multi-type battery charger
Voltage: 110V-240V
Selectable Charging Voltages: 1.3V, 1.5V, 3.6V, 4.2V
Output: 1.5A
Batteries charged: AAA/AA Ni-Mh   + 18350/18500/18650 Li-ion
Safety Protected?: Yes
UK Legal?: No
EU Legal?: I doubt it

My latest product from the people's republic comes in the form of a 'all sizes' battery charger.
Presenting the Fungold Multipurpose Charger, A five quid battery charger that promises to recharge any size (and chemistry) of battery you care to throw at it with a few added safety features for good measure.
It all sounds too good to be true and the item certainly doesn't really look up to much but first appearances can often be wrong.....

 AA's, AAA's this thing charges the lot!

The HG-1412W is made from a strong plastic. Not ABS style by any means but thick and heavy gage it would appear. The overall construction is actually quite good considering the pocket change price you pay. It feels robust enough to take a few knocks and falls without cracking the outer case. Something I would consider quite important when a live mains current has to flow through it.

Four large stiff battery holders sit side by side along the front of the unit. These are accompanied by four equality stiff springs which act as size adjusters for the batteries.
A (poorly marked) voltage adjustment slide switch nestles in between the Cell holders to taylor the charge voltage being placed into the cells. This is user adjustable and some degree of care is required when setting up each type of cell to be charged.

Each cell holder has a cooresponding red LED light above it to indicate the current charging state. and a green LED sits in the middle to show that power is going to the charger. pretty simple stuff.

The HG-1412W has the ability to charge both Nickel-Metal Hydride and Lithium-Ion cells and in various sizes too.
AA and AAA Ni-Mh sizes and 18350, 18500, 18650, 26650 (?) Lithium cell sizes. A one-stop shop when it comes to charging your shit.
I must admit, I haven't come across a charger quite like this before.

Vaping 18650 lithium cells being charged

Operating the charger is really easy. Just select the voltage you want to charge the cell at, insert either 1,2,3, or 4 cells and plug it on the wall.
The red LED lights will show that the cells are connected correctly and thats it.
When each of the cells has fully charged the red LED lights will switch off.
Some cells may finish charging before others in which case the power is cut to that cell and it sits dormant until all the others have finished charging.
The charger incidentally has polarity protection built in so the cells shouldn't short out if they are inserted the wrong way up.
The HG-1412W is fully automatic and almost idiot proof!

Good Points

• Charges most rechargable Cells
• Ability to charge 1/2/3 or 4 cells independently
• Reasonable build quality
• Compact size
• Cheap! 

Bad Points

• Not UK legal
• Some safety concerns
• No instruction manual
• Thin power cable for 230V 

Illegal? Really?
Unfortunately the rather fantastic Fungold charger is not legal for sale in the UK (and probably Europe too)
Firstly because it hasn't had any official safety testing in the EU and doesn't feature a CE mark.
Secondly it doesn't have a three pin plug top on it - a requirement of UK law.
Instead it comes with a standard US two pin plug which is workable via the aid of a travel adapter.

Questionable Safety
Consumer safety is not always high in the list of features when a product is designed in China.
And although the HG-1412W does have rudimentary battery and mains protection it does have one major safety issue in my opinion.
No its not the dodgy thin power cable or the quality of the internal electronics, its the voltage setting switch.
Anyone who forgets to set the slide switch correctly could have a bad day if they get it wrong!
You see, if they happen to charge any non lithium-Ion cell like a AA or AAA and leave the slider set to anything over 1.5V then.... well you know whats going to happen!

Voltage selector slide switch

If the charger is solely being used for one type of battery then I dont see there being a problem. Its set for that voltage and left at that voltage.
It just becomes a concern when the charger is being used for multi types.
The device is safe enough for what it has to do, its all done electronically.
Its only when human interaction is needed (like a manual slide switch) that a risk is involved.

NEVER leave the charger unattended when its in use. just dont.
NEVER leave it on charge when you go to bed or pop down to the shops.
NEVER charge different types of battery in the HG-1412W at the same time.

Bring your own UK mains plug

Overall then I'm really happy with this product. It does everything a 15 quid charger does for a third of the price.
Yeah I guess it doesn't have a fancy company name plastered on it or come with a UK legal plug but I can live with that. It just has to charge my vape batteries after all.....nothing else.

Rating: ✅✅✅✅✅4 out of 5
If you are prepared to take a few risks when it comes to safety then this charger is a great value device.
Despite its obvious short comings it works really well and does exactly what it say it will.
Its cheap, Its basic, its no frills and it will charge your vaping 18650's without breaking a sweat.
Just keep your eye on it when its plugged in and you wont go wrong.

Optimum 4000mAh Power Bank

Optimum 4000mAh Slim line Power Bank

Manufacturer: Optimum a.k.a BM Bargains UK

Price: sale £3 each - normally £5.99 

Country of origin: China

Vendor: BM Bargains

Description: 4000mAh slim line portable charger

Battery Type: Li-Po (Lithium Polymer)

Capacity: 4000mAh 

Input: DC 5V / 1A

Output: DC 5V / 1A

Colours: Silver, Champagne gold, Black

First Impressions

I never thought I'd hear myself say it but powerbanks for mobile devices are a must these days.

The reason for this seems to be the fact that as these technologies become more advanced they invariably become more power hungry - and being stuck without a smart phone, tablet or vape pen when you need it the most is a problem.

The Aldi rugged powerbank I reviewed a few months ago has and still is serving me well but it really needs a little help with all the daily charging I do now.

The addition of a few battery heavy vaping devices has not helped the situation in the slightest.

Enter BM Bargains and their Optimum range of electronics - an attempt to get a slice of the market.

Expectations for a £3 power bank were not high. Poundlamds shoddy attempt at a £1 unit had left a sour taste in my mouth.

 Inside the basic blister packaging is the powerbank, a micro USB lead and a set of instructions. (instructions were in English too!)
Nothing too fancy.

The unit itself seems reasonably well made and the cable is just a cable. The outside of the unit is made from an aluminium type metal moulded in a one piece sleeve in which everything else lives. The white end caps are made from cheap shit plastic​ and not that good.

Testing

In not sure these things really do have a 4000mAh capacity? 

Anything made in China these days tends to be measured in Chinese mAh or Watts and has to be treated with causion. I would say that this item is no different. 

Yeah it works ok after you get over the initial complete charge/discharge cycles (as with all lithium batteries). 

It will charge my tablet and vape pens so that's enough for me.

Definitely NOT 4000mAh though!

Rating: 4 out of 5 **** 
Had these power banks been at their regular price point then perhaps I might have not bothered, after all the rather excellent Aldi rugged powerbank is the same price (£5.99) and offers more features. The fact that I effectively got two for the price of one sweetened the deal for me.
This device would have gotten full marks in this short review but I'm still not convinced of its true capacity...... Definitely Chinese measurements at work here!
It's still good for the money though

MAXTEK 5200mAh Rugged Power Bank

MAXTEK (Aldi) 5200mAh Rugged Power Bank

Manufacturer: Generic Chinese for MAXTEK
Imported By: Quesh ltd
Vendor: Aldi stores
Model: 70148
Run By: 2x 18650 lithium ion batteries (2600mAh x 2)
Price: £5.99 reduced
Description: Rugged Power Bank
Notes: 3 year warranty, customer helpline
What's in the box? Powerbank, Micro USB charging cable and instructions

First impressions
It wasn't that long ago that it was messing about with those £1 Poundland powerbanks. Replacing the crap batterys and slowly discovering how useful they really were.
Move forward a few weeks and I'm walking through the local Aldi sniffing around the locked electrical cabinet.
Somewhere near the bottom was this powerbank, reduced in price by a couple of quid and looking rugged as hell.
I just couldn't walk past it.

Opening the box I found the heavy duty powerbank, a crappy USB lead and some instructions. - nothing more, nothing less.
The device housing  is partially rubberised with the remainder being made from a tough plastic. It feels expensive and high quality when you hold it. Aldi stuff is generally very good in terms of quality so I had high hopes for this gadget.

Features
This tough little device has a whole host of features onboard.

Not mentioned on the side of the box is the two power levels of the flashlight and also the S.O.S. signal feature.

This little torch is very bright indeed

One handy feature of this power bank is it's high powered torch. It has two brightness settings and a signal setting.  It's not something you might need to use on a daily basis but it's nice to have on board.

Aldi are normally pretty good at listing all of the relevant specifications on their devices but I can find no mention of the power output or type of LED used here. I'm still looking though.

The LED used in this device gives off a nice warm white light. There isn't a reflector as such but the light is diffused. No horrible artifacts are seen unlike a lot of cheap shit torches.
As the torch is really a secondary function of this device and not the main event, it's surprising how good it actually is. It's better than some of my purpose built torches.

Along the top side of the unit we find a row of four blue LEDs which indicated the battery level of the unit. Each LED represents 25% power remaining. When the power drops below the last level the lowest Led flashes to warn you to charge it soon.

This device features all of the safety features you would expect to find in a device running a pair of powerful lithium ion batteries.

Battery over charge and under charge protection as well as an auto shut off are included inside.

On one side of the device is a rubber cover which hides the input and out USB ports.
Charging the device is performed by connecting a micro USB whilst the charging of other things requires a standard size USB plug.
This powerbank is capable of chucking out a 2.0A current so it's easily capable of charging smart phones or tablets or any other high draw 5V device.

When it comes to power over practicality, the MAXTEK rugged powerbank is a nice trade off. It's not too big and bulky to stash in a pocket and it's powerful enough to charge your tablet or E-Cig a few times before needing a recharge itself.
More power means a bulkier unit due to the size of the 18650 batteries used. This device fits the bill.

I can't say I'm not impressed.
I'm half tempted to pop over to Aldi again and buy another before they sell out.

Rating: ✅✅✅✅✅5 out of 5
I don't have a bad word to say about this product. It is built to a high standard, comes with a three year warranty and does exactly what it says it should. For £5.99 what more do you want?

Poundland Power Bank + Modification

Poundland USB Power Bank + Upgrade 

Price: £1
Manufacturer: Signalex (Poundland)
Model: IP023
Power: 1 X 18650 lithium battery
Capacity: 1200mAh
Output: 5V 1A
Input: 5V 0.8A
Accessories: USB to micro USB cable and lanyard

A USB power bank for a quid? No!

I'm not going to do any kind of 'indepth' review on this device purely because others have already covered it.
The general consensus is that the idea is good but the execution is terrible.

Big Clive has done a great tear down and test video of this device.

Clive manages to cover everything aspect of this power bank in a much more scientific way than I ever could.

5V in and 5V out

So basically it pretty poor. The supplied lithium battery capacity is nearer to 1000mAh than its stated 1200mAh imposing limits on how long the battery will last before fading.
As the battery is the most crucial part of the device it kind of defeats the object.


The Simple Modification

I made the decision to buy more than one power bank whilst I was in Poundland. 

Afterall, at only a £1 a piece they cost virtually nothing.

So I bought this black unit for the express purpose of tearing it to bits to see what was going on in there.

Using only a Spudger with the minimum amount of force I managed to pry open the plastic cover. It was a little too easy to open if I'm being honest but nevermind.

Flimsy setup

What lay beneath was this simple circuit with a crappy 18650 lithium cell attached! The battery does indeed say '1200 mAh' on the side sleeve but as others has pointed out it's more likely below 1000mAh .

I wondered if I could swap with battery out with something else?
It so happened that I had an abundance of decent Sanyo 2400mAh cells lifted for a good laptop battery. This pink coloured Sanyo cell does hold a charge and is reliable. It has powered a 5W LED torch in the past for hours on end with no issues.
If I could be bothered to get my soldering iron out then a little bit of soldering here and there could improve this bank considerably.

 A new battery with double the power!

The soldering iron was fired up and a very quick battery switch over was carried out. The contact wires were plenty long enough to trim up and hold in place for tacking.
Both battery terminals had to keyed or roughed up with the edge of a screwdriver before soldering to avoid the wires coming over off as soon as it's soldered.

The new Sanyo cell and Circuitry were carefully placed back in the holder and the cover put back on.
The power bank appeared to operate as normally.
The operation was a success

I now have double (if not more) the capacity in this power bank and to celebrate the fact I adjusted the wording on the box.!
Perhaps this device is worth £2 now? ha ha

Don't need that blue piece of crap!

It's early days in the testing of this upgraded unit. I haven't had the time to run some decent experiments yet but what I can say so far is that this bank will happily charge my WLN/Zeadio slim UHF rig no problem. - and not just the once either...
(more in a later post...)

Was it worth the extra effort?
Ordinarily upgrading the battery in these devices is probably not worth the effort unless you have some better 18650's knocking about in the house. It wouldn't be worth paying £5+ for a half decent cell to chuck in this device. The electronics leave a lot to be desired and its quite possible a better power bank could be bought from somewhere else for less cost and hassle?

As the Sanyo batteries cost my nothing to start with it was only my time that was being used. Worth it for me to utilise the Poundland innards anyway.



Next time.....  1200mAh bank V the upgraded 2400mAh bank

HD DVR Dash Cam Review

HD DVR Dash Camera 

Price: £9.75 free shipping
Manufacturer: generic/unknown
Model: HD-DVR
Run By: 12V cig lighter socket or lithium battery (unknown capacity)
Vendor: seller via ebay
Description: High definition DVR recorder with night vision.

First Impressions
Dash cams are everywhere these days and are now they have become cheap enough for any budget. Disregarding high street stores, it's possible to buy a dash cam for as little as £7 which seems phenomenal value for a video recorder.
Of course the old adage of  "you get what you pay for" still applies here. The higher end cams can cost well over £100 so high quality components and video quality are expected.

At under a tenner this little dash cam seemed worth the gamble.
I have seen this exact model in a number of petrol stations at £20 so I consider this a bit of a bargain - that won't mean anything if it turns out to be crap! (spoiler)

This particular dash cam seemed quite a popular model and seemed to show up all over ebay and Amazon. It turns out that this model is only one of a group of generic dash cams which seems to appear the most.

The Postman comes

The dash cam arrived in a couple of days from a UK supplier.
The outer retail box has HD DVR plastered all over it so I was expecting some good quality video.
Elsewhere on the box was a list of the dash cam's features in bullet point form:
To save time here is a photo..

Inside the box besides the main camera was a 12V adapter for plugging into the car, a Nokia style phone battery, a thing for sticking it to your window and a crappy instruction booklet.

The HD DVR dash cam is constructed from old yogurt cartons by the looks of it. Not very strong and cheap in the extreme.
I don't imagine this device would survive many accidental drops to the floor.
The front face of unit features an array of LEDs and the main camera lens.  Nothing fancy whatsoever, just a row of standard 5mm IR diodes and a fairly standard lens aperture.

Memory Card slot

Underneath the dash cam lives the LCD display panel which conveniently folds away when not in use. It does have the ability to swivel 270° which could be considered as handy.

Much like the main case the LCD display is cheap and flimsy. Just how long it would last is anyone's guess. It's worse than the fold out displays that used to come with camcorders years ago.

Along one side of the device is a cover under which the USB power port and on the other lives the SD card port .
Curiously there is also a blank in the moulding where an HDMI socket should be??
Odd? I thought this was HD? come back to that later...

USB power on the left, a place for HDMI on the right

All in all this thing is pretty shocking when it comes build quality.
It's lightweight sure, but it also feels like a Poundland kids toy (no offence to Poundland there)
Pretty crap then

An interesting position

Testing
Well it's pretty bad to be honest. The camera is awful, the frame rate lacking and the sound quality is absolute shite.
What was I expecting....really?

Here are a couple of test videos highlighting the crap quality.
Each video was set to run for three mins each.
During that time not one car number plate could be identified! Really useful in an road incident situation I must say!

Glare and reflections on the M60 Motorway

Moisture in the air on the M56 motorway

The sound quality in both videos was dreadful, although that's not the most important part of a dash cam recording,

Whereas the all important video quality was pretty awful.  The camera lens didn't seem wide enough to get everything in shot and the low resolution ensured that I never got to make out any details. - and the frame rate was crap. 

Night Vision

Not exactly night vision. 

The IR diodes only illuminate a very short distance in front of the lens when recording at night. It's not that good really. Once the car heads off down a country lane without Street lights the video is hard to make out. 

Night  Shite Vision

Yeah I suppose its better than nothing and it's very cheap but if you had to use clips from this to bring a prosecution I would be very doubtful about its usefulness! 

Switching modes and making some still photos is a little better but equally as unsatisfying.

Reviewing saved memory clips is OK when in playback mode. Despite a lack of control buttons, it's relatively easy to scan through the videos and the picture quality doesn't seem as bad when viewed on the tiny screen.

Running the HD DVR on the internal battery 

One nice feature I thought was the ability to run this camera on an internal battery rather than be tethered to the cigarette lighter socket all the time. 

On a full charge the camera will record for about 30 mins before it dies and switches off.  - enough time to record any exterior damage in an incident etc. 

In playback mode the battery lasts for about 55 mins or so before giving up. 

Fake Nokia phone battery there

Does this dash cam have an identical twin?

Although not immediately obvious at first this dash cam has an identical twin.

This alternative dash cam features an HDMI socket so the pictures can be beamed straight on to your telly.....this is what the blank part was on the casing earlier. - where the HDMI goes.

Ultimately this means that the only way to view the recorded footage is by either watching it on the titchy screen or removing the SD card and sticking it in a laptop or PC - not as convenient as an HDMI connection on the cam. 

But really, it's no great loss considering the poor quality. Not worth hooking up to a bigger monitor anyway.

It keeps saying HD....

Is it really HD?

That depends on the interpretation of the word HD.

1080P this ain't!

720P.....maybe?, 

I can't be bothered to find out

Memory Card Buckaroo!

One rather annoying flaw in this dash cam is its memory card slot. 

Not only did I have to jam a piece of card between the slot and the case so it would recognise it, it actually spits the card back at you causing all recording to stop! 

Any random knock or bump to this device can cause the SD slot spring system to engage, forcing the card to eject and make the plastic cover fly open!  It can give you a little surprise much like the game Buckaroo does.

This dash cam is therefore unreliable (that's an understatement)

Overall it's probably not worth the tenner I spent on it and the time I spend writing this review.

Are all of these type of dash cams as bad as this one? Have I just got a bad one? 

At the end of my review something happened.....the silly little side cover broke off!

It just came off in my hand...

Time to chuck it in the back of the cupboard and walk away...

Rating: ✅ ✅ 2 out of 5

Bloody awful dash cam. 

I won't be using it anytime soon.

KT-908 Digital Themometer/Hygrometer Review

Price: £1.95  free shipping

Manufacturer: ?

Model: KT-908

Vendor: Ebay seller

Shipped From: UK

Description: Digital Themometer and Hygrometer

Features: Measures indoor and outdoor temperature.

Measures indoor humidity

Clock Inc date

What's in the package?: Themometer, outdoor sensor + cable, instructions

First Impressions

I'm not really sure what compelled me to bid on this item other than the fact that it seemed cheap at the time.

I suppose also it was out of curiosity, wondering how good a two quid Themometer would be.

The item arrived in just a couple of days. Flogged by a firm quite close by in Manchester. (I think they sent it first class?)

Better than waiting weeks on end for China post to show its face.

Inside the padded envelope was this neatly boxed Themometer device. I hadn't been expecting much to be honest, not for a couple of quid anyway. 

Instead I was greeted by a well design retail box, intelligible instructions and a good looking chunk of plastic posing as a measuring instrument.

The KT-908 promises to be both an internal/external Themometer and a Hygrometer in one. Just how good it would be in both disciplines was only a matter of fitting the little battery to find out.

But before any testing it was time to take a quick look around the device to see how well it is made.

This little device is quite small overall. In terms of thickness it is only a couple of centimetres deep. It's small enough to fit in the hand and weighs very little. 

The outer casing is made from a good quality plastic. Not like tough ABS plastic but good enough for the environments that its likely to be used in.

Controlling the device is carried out via the two blue buttons found on the front of the unit. These are made from rubber and feel positive when pressed. 

These blue buttons configure the settings and changes the modes. Simple but effective enough.

A large number LCD display is offered here and takes up much of the front of the unit. 

The contrast and clarity of this display is fantastic. Although it's not back lit in any way the ability to see numbers clearly in daylight from most viewing angles is surprising.  

According to the paperwork this device incorporates a power save feature. Although I'm not sure what the power draw is from the LCD I assume the power saver will help prolong the battery life.

Which leads me conveniently on to what actually powers the Themometer. 

Inside a small plastic cover on the back of the unit is a single button cell battery.  Obviously this thing doesn't have a huge energy requirement only 1.5v which came as a surprise to me. 

The last thing to look at on the main unit is the handy kick stand which tucks away nicely in the body. It's adjustable between two angle settings and has a positive click when shifting into position. Definitely not crap.

The external sensor cable is nothing special in appearance. The cable features a 3mm headphone jack at one end which plugs into the Themometer and a small metal sensor at the other for shoving outside for temperature measurements. 

Testing
This kind of testing doesn't require much involvement really, just popping the unit down on the counter and dangling the sensor cable through the window is enough.

Temperature updates happen every 5 seconds which isn't that bad.  Same with the humidity readings.
I can live with that, I don't think any of my other digital Themometers are any quicker.
Setting this unit along side another Themometer and comparing the readings went better than I had thought.
This cheap unit was just as accurate on both the indoor and outdoor readings. Far from crap

A couple of downsides I noticed during the test was the inability to store or save the max temp and humidity readings, and the annoying mode switching which takes place every five seconds. - basically, the time clock screen is switched with the date screen which is never ending and can't be stopped!

Overall this cheap little device does the business

Rating: ✅✅✅✅✅
This item gets a full five due to the fact that it was dirt cheap and actually works very well indeed.
I wouldn't hesitate in buying another if the need ever arose again
Recommended 👍

DT830D Digital Multimeter Review

DT830D Digital Multimeter 

Price: £2.53 free shipping

Manufacturer: ?? Unknown

Model: DT830D

Run By: 1x 9V battery

Features: standard digital meter - nothing special

Shipped From: HK

What's in the packet?: The meter and a crap instruction sheet

Not a lot going on in here!

Why did I buy this thing?

I wanted a new multimeter and thought I would be clever and get a cheap one. In fact the cheapest I could find. That is not always a bad thing of course but when it comes to precision instruments I should have really known better!

This device epitomises the phrase "Cheap Chinese crap" in no uncertain terms. There seems no weight to this device, almost lighter than air. I initially thought I had been scammed and they sent me an empty plastic case?! I decided to open it up and see what was what. Inside is a small PCB with a single processor doing the work. With a cheap plastic dial assembly, display and a few wire connections to the plugs there is little else to the unit.

Strangely the LCD display is the best part of this meter. it big and clear with a good level of contrast. It's a shame about the rest of the meter. 

I suppose its a testimony to modern manufacturer that only a PCB of this size is needed today to run a multimeter....yeah but the result can make items like this feel cheap and crap?!  

It's pretty good for battery testing

Concerns
I really don't think it's a good idea to use this meter for anything other than testing batteries and small components - and definitely NOT mains voltage (230V) for a number of reasons.
Firstly this device does not contain a fuse on the HV side of things so things could get very deadly if something goes wrong.
Secondly the testing probes are crap.  Both positive and negative probes are wrapped in a very thinly insulated plastic which has the potential to become very hot when a high voltage is put across it.
Thirdly there are no safety cat ratings anywhere on the meter. No nothing. This is a little alarming. I was at least expecting a cat III (for domestic use) type rating.?!? So it can be assumed that this device has not had any official certifications for safety.
Something to think about before shoving 230V across it.


Rating: ✅✅
You certainly get what you pay for with this thing. It's only really fit for testing batteries (which it does quite well). A digital 'battety tester' for under 3 quid is pretty good value when you look at it that way.