They’re sending the charger more for review, it’s not mostly manufactures but resellers. He is well known across the web not only in lights but vape scene, anything that runs on batteries, ESP lithiums.
Its a good way to get exposure for the seller and for us users to get empirical tests.
China builds a product to a price point, (usually much lower than what we pay) it’s not always possible to achieve quality and loads of r&d. This is especially true in our ‘budget’ interests as it opens up to much smaller, garage like manufacturers.
Ever heard of the term ‘caveat emptor’? [‘Let the buyer beware’] As stated above, they have a price point that they feel will sell the product, and how well it actually performs is a function of how good the designers are, and how well (cheap) it can be manufactured. Hopefully, if it is too bad, it will never see the light of day. But there are always people who only look at price and assume performance, which are these people’s lawful prey.
Not all brands has technical expertise, some are just selling relabelled stuff.
There can also be lack of knowledge, as when a well know charger brand made their first LiIon charger. It worked fine with Chinese LiIon batteries, but had some problems with Panasonic batteries.
Mostly to get exposure. On some popular YouTube channels items are not even tested or tried, the are just shown.
Nope, unfortunately I think you’re right. Some probably do, some probably don’t. I’m afraid the only thing that can be safely assumed is they are trying to make a buck, which in a circular way, goes back to why these tests and reviews help us.
HKJ, I am in constant awe of the time & effort you put into you’re excellent reviews! Without you, we would be left in the dark, buying random junk batteries. Thank you! My enjoyment of modded, high performance flashlights is greatly enhanced by the work that you do.
Just imagine, one of those days HKJ will have too much old grapes and we will see a review along the lines: “These 10,000mAh continuous 100A HellFire cells are fricking awesome!!!”
I doubt it will ever happen, if I have been on grapes (or potatoes (aquavit)) I do not really want to write review and if I get too much I get rather sick (This happens before I get really silly).
I will probably get a glass of old boiled grapes today (or maybe boiled grains), it is the last day I can do it, Monday I need to work again. This also means I will slow down on my publishing rate, no review every day.
HKJ, any interesting new Nitecore or XTAR chargers coming up? Something like a Nitecore SC2 or XTAR SV2 but with a proper technical display? If so, just answer “I cannot disclose such information”, otherwise answer “I cannot comment on this”.
Review models are often from the second or later production batch, they want the first batch out to dealers. I.e. I do not have the charger before the first customers.
There are a few exceptions to this from some other brands, but not many. A few time I even get preproduction models, but usual I prefer to get production models (I do not have time to test an advanced chargers multiple times).
The LiIon batteries I uses for charger test is a bit worn down and I decided to get a new set:
The old set is from 5-2015, i.e. about 1½ year old. It is Panasonic NCR18650A and is called PA18650-31 in my reviews.
The new set is Sanyo NCR18650GA and will probably be called SA18650-33
I will still be using the old batteries, but only for a single test. It will also be some time before the new batteries starts showing up, I do have a couple of already tested chargers.
