Test / Review: Xtar SP2 charger

About the charger: YES!
A true CC/CV charger with selectable charge current AND soft start. That is just the ticket. Now I just have to find the normal price and wait till it goes on sale somewhere.

Great review (as usual) of a good charger (as expected).

A little too pricey for 18650-only guys like me but otherwise a great piece of electronics.

Thanks for yet another awesome review HKJ!

Sweet review, HKJ!

I do not need another charger.
I do not need another charger.

That’s sounds like I need another charger. LOL!

Great review.

I have added a 2A charge curve for a 26650 battery.

Damn it - just bought a new charger but this looks better!

Just over 3 hours to charge a 4600mAh cell… impressive. Thanks :slight_smile:

Wow, best budget charger, IMO :open_mouth: Price?

EDIT: forgot to say “Thanks for the review, maestro :crown:

sbflashlights has it for $35, various eBay sellers have it for $45-$50

Does this look like the real thing??
http://www.powerwholesale.net/xtar-wp2-ii-charger-with-car-charger-p-376.html

Looks like a real WP2 ll, but not a SP2. Some nice prices on that site, but shipping is extra (and usually high).

good review,Thanks!

Wow :open_mouth: So no quite budget I’d say :open_mouth: Could worth those 35 bucks, but I will be in when the price drops to ~$25. Thanks for heads up, Shadow :wink:

Hm, “powerwholesale” is be offering the SP2 for about $20, and their info pages they say free shipping within a 2 kilograms (the SP2 is around half a kilogram), and explain you can’t choose a shipping method if that free shipping applies — which is how their website cart behaves. Apparently they want you to create an order then send PayPal for it, it’s kind of an arcane set of FAQs and explanations. Curious. What the heck, worth trying.

——-EDIT —AVOID “powerwholesale” — They won’t even look at your order until you send payment for it.
After you pay, despite their claim that to 2 kilograms will ship free, they email saying pay more, much more, for shipping.

Glad I didn’t give them a credit card number!

They’re at best very confusing with contradictory info on various pages about shipping.

Great review but I have a question. You have listed a 18370 battery as a supported battery size. Did you mean 18350? I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure there is no 18370 battery. None that I can find anyway.

I don’t think, that the price will drop so extremly. In Germany you pay about 35€ for it.
In the first days XTAR made good products for an excellent price like the WP2. The next products are also good and the prices increase a little bit for example WP2 II ot the Xtar 2600mAh.
Now they product excellent products and want the price for it, which the market pay like for the XTAR 3100mAh (one pair of the 2600mAh is cheaper as one 3100mAh). But take a look at the advantages of the charger: 0,5A, 1A, 2A. Good charging results, you can charge most batteries.
I do not know a charger, which could do the same (I ignore the RC modell chargers). The XTAR SP2 isn’t a budget chargrr, but maybe one of the best avialable chargers at the moment.

Formerly the Pila IBC was one of the best chargers and it was more expensive as the Xtar SP2.

@Buwuve: Yup, you’d probably pay the same here in Spain. That’s why I buy most things from China :bigsmile:

@hank: now that’s a really good price, mate :slight_smile: AFAIK, PWS doesn’t offer free shipping (unless specified), but I wouldn’t mind to pay 5 bucks more for shipping :stuck_out_tongue: BTW, here is the link. Thanks again :wink:

- Yellowhorse: don’t know if that size exists, but don’t worry, SP2 will charge it w/o any prob :wink: It will charge any li-ion cell. Only those small ones, i.e.10440 or 16350, should been charged @0.5A (IMHO) only and with caution.

@HKJ: is that me, or this charger doesn’t have any noise? :open_mouth: (compare them to WP2 or I4 and see the diff)

SashiX - No doubt it will charge a 18370 lithium battery if it existed. I was just trying to clarify/correct the chart that was posted. I know HKJ wouldn’t want any mistakes/typo’s to remain.
Appears to be a real upgrade to previous chargers made by Xtar. I like the adjustable amperage settings and the fact it will do 26650’s without having to tinker with it. Also nice to have another charger with CC/CV AND termination at the end of the charge cycle. If I wasn’t already overloaded with very good chargers, I would buy this one.

You are correct and I have fixed it (Thanks).