It actually is nicer than the pictures can tell. The LED is jet black and neon blue, but not retro like the pictures show.
We’ve been waiting many months for this from XTAR, and even though they only shipped a handful (only 120 units initially produced), it doesn’t disappoint. Still, I wish it had a mAh counter so we can have a rough idea how the battery is doing. Sure, it won’t be a good indicator of capacity, but it would give a relative indication.
It looks good, shame its not got cell cycling, makes the display just seem a bit gimmicky. I do like the current options, is that per bay or shared between bays? What’s the price on this charger?
That would be great, if only it were the case — and then only if you didn’t have to add shipping, import duties, and payment fees on top of that… and of course if the manufacturer sells to the end user at remotely that price.
Comparing the “listed cost” and the retail offers no value to the end user unless you’re comparing to market prices. Eg. Nitecore i2 retail vs the VP1.
C’mon, guyz, $20 wholesale… This charger meant to be better than SP2 and I didn’t see SP2, after almost 1 year on sale, to cost lower than 25 bucks. Of course we all want the cheapest price, but sometimes it’s impossible. I’d like to thank Jason to share this charger with us Definitely the lower price will attract more buyers
The thing that brought my attention is that batt status. Both batts are at 3.81V but bottom batt status is very different!
I’d like to know how does the charger knows that And yes, mAh counter would be awesome (like LaCrosse BC-700, etc)
The battery gauge is a rolling indicator. While it’s charging, it will fill from left to right with it becoming increasingly more solid (eg. less bars “scrolling”). It does come with the car charger so at least they give us “something”
You can not use a photo to see the status on, the bars does "run" while charging. The minimum number of bars will be the status, but it will always show something between minimum and 5 bars.
The added value of the voltage and current (fixed = just replaces positional current selecting switch) display is close to zero and cannot justify the price. Doesn’t provide discharge function, capacity measurement, LiFePo support, USB input/output. I own MAHA, XTAR WP2 II + MP2 but this new VP1 is a kind of Mickey Mouse improvement and I would rather buy a nice hobby charger for the same price.
I’m sure distributors were asked for input. We suggested in this order:
Capacity count (charging)
LiFePO4 or NiMH support
USB output or input
I also have nearly every recent charger under the sun but this is a plus because it’s a step up from the Cottonpickers BUT the same cost Cottonpickers can do NiMH
Note we suggested a close price point to this contingent upon the features above. Note that at this price it’s still competitive for the voltage readouts (as compared to others like Cottonpickers).