Ok, I usually try to figure this out on my own, but there’s a lot out there.
Few things I need:
Back lit
Discharge test
Internal resistance check
26650 compatible, 2 is fine
Would like multi chemistry. Li-ion, lifepo4, nimh… Not a deal breaker, I have all these, but would be nice. Lifepo4 would take priority over NIMH.
What’s a safe, BUDGET charger that would tick the most boxes?
Lii-500?
Zanflare C4 is very good charger. But i only use it for charging and read the capacity and voltage after it has fully charge batteries. Never use it test feature. Its IR reading is fine, but only useful for detecting old aged cell and new cell because IR reading of new cells are quite inconsistent among 4 slots.
I basically use the ir function to monitor how the cells are holding up. My 30q’s seem to be in the 20-25 range. I typically retire my cells from heavy duty once the ir is twice as high as typical new ir.
I know about hkj review site, but would rather see opinions than read a review.
The lii-500 is one I have been looking at. But wanted to hear people’s opinions on what chargers these days are recommend
My Opus 3100 ticks all the boxes, but others to consider would be the Zanflare and LK.
For LFP, though, you gotta flick the internal switch (else drill a hole through the case to do so w/o disassembly).
For my LFPs, I just stick ’em in my LK chargers.
So, I have the lii500 sice august 2016 and it served well until now, I have a little issue last month with slot 1 which stuck after to end the chard, it appears the battery is still in the slot and I need to pull the powercord and switch on again to tge slot 1 work again…
For a cheap charger which stayed few days off since 2016 I found good quality :+1:
don’t think the zanflare C4 or the liito kala lii500 will charge the Lifepo4 .
Li-500 and Zanflare C4 will not charge Lifepo4.
The IR on the Li-500 is useless.
IR on the C4 works maybe a bit better than my Opus.
My personal budget favorite is the C4.
For Lifepo4 just get one of the little Lii 1-2 cell units for cheap. They do OK for that. Actually, they mostly do OK.
The Opus will do everything you ask, is a bit more expensive, and some folks have issues with the fan and the power supply. I’ve upgraded both and think it’s my most versatile charge.
The opus so far looks the best here for me, but does anyone have experience with the GyrFalcon All-44?
Multi chemistry isn’t a deal breaker, more of a bonus. I have dedicated lithium, lifepo4 and nimh chargers. Just want a more advanced charger. I’ll probably use my normal charger for my daily ecig swap out, but want something more advanced for when I go through and top off my flashlight cells
I’m a hobby charger nut, so don’t ask me. 
Even though I recommended the Zanflare C4 a couple of days ago to my brother-in-law.
Seemed to have a good following, with reading HKJ’s review I thought it sounded like the best of the bunch for the money.
The opus was on my best list also.
I’ve had my Opus version 2.0 charger for several years. The fan has always been reasonably quiet and I’ve never had an issue with it. From what HKJ has tested, the mAh values may not be the most accurate due to the power supply, but it certainly is close enough for me to know the condition of my batteries.
I don’t use the internal resistance check, but just last week I tested an older Panasonic NCR18650B. It showed a capacity of around 3100 mAh, which seemed about right. I also tested some laptop batteries, which tested at around 1800 mAh. The laptop batteries will be recycled the next time I’m at Home Depot.
If my Opus ever went bad, I would not hesitate to buy another one.
Check to see what the laptop pulls are supposed to be. I know the ones I got were low, like 1800 mAh . They may not be bad. I’ll usually check capacity and IR. I feel when the IR is about double what it was new (roughly, I don’t take these measurements as absolute), I either discard or retire to light duty use only.
Looks like opus is close to top runner
For all intents and purposes, you can’t go wrong with the Opus.