I went through a phase not too long ago to find the perfect multimeter for mobile mechanic professional use.
Bought a load of used Flukes, some Brymens and a couple others.
My conclusion?
For professional use in view of customer, there is only Fluke and nothing else. I simply sold more work with the Fluke 287s graphing display and made more money. Plain and simple. Loads of tradies recognise the brand and even loads of office workers seem to have IT backgrounds in certain parts of Western Sydney. All will recognise the Fluke as something only an absolute professional would invest in.
The 287 was fast enough to graph multiple significant events a second when a car battery is dead and flicking the dash lights on several times a second...the squiggly lines shown to a customer works miles better than a battery test report. It just sells the image of a modern technician over a bush mechanic in repairing an electronics heavy modern vehicle.
Me personally...the 287s low contrast display irks me to no end. I personally fell for the 87V...just the right size to separate itself from all the cheapies without going oversized like the 287 was. The Fluke 28II was awesome for a piece of mind in stormy weather but a bit too big to work out of the fluke soft case same applies to the 287.
Which reminds me. I need to work out of the soft case to keep the meter spotless in view of the customer so they know that I baby this expensive Fluke thingy...like I will baby their expensive Car thingy.
If I can find a larger Fluke branded case I may substitute the Fluke 87v with the 28ii for it's better durability. Otherwise on a stormy day I revert back to my Uni T 210E...it's the one meter I will always have at hand.
Speed is the most important thing when time is money and Flukes are fast - we need the speed to trust our meter when deep in diagnostics - you ask a question and it replies immediately with an answer, no one has time for a pause to think about it.
Brymens are ****** fast too. The Brymen 867 I used was confidence inspiring fast also, however there was nothing it could offer me more than the Flukes. The size was imposing and good for customer presence, but the value adding brand recognition is absent. That 500,000 count on the Big Brymen is of exactly zero use in my profession. And why is it so ****** big? If it had IP67 then I would understand why it needed to be huge. Or if it graphed like the 287...
I also had the smaller 257 Brymen - that's the Brymen I would recommend. The size was so welcome...compact and seemed to do everything the Fluke 179 did...but was smaller and, well, cuter...more adorable. I really liked that one...now if they put Auto Hold on that and a Fluke badge on it...well it'd be amazing.
The Brymen 257 had a useable bar graph, which to me is a must have, so all the meters I selected had a very good bar graph...but why are Flukes the only ones it seems with Auto Hold? When doing measurements and sometimes I need to take photographic evidence, it's impossible without Auto Hold. Min Max just will not do as I can't go to a lower voltage than max value and hold that with Min Max.
So I had a lot of meters but there was something missing that I wanted...to see the measurements as I sat in the driver's seat to toggle ignition and instruments. Enter the EEVBlog 121GW. Now that is a wonderful meter.
You see, something always bugged me about Brymens. The 121GW made me recognise what it was. It was the rubbish cheap plastic input jacks on all the Brymens. They look and feel cheap, end of story. The 121GW jacks looks nice and shiny, same as my 87V...a look and feel of quality. The knob is nice and big and feels nice to select, just like the Fluke. All the Brymens selector knobs are too stiff and tiny...and feels less luxurious...or more cheap.
The Brymens remind me of Gearwrench...overhyped on the internet yet for its price, they can feel cheap.
So the TLDR of it is as follows;
A professional should have a Fluke and a Uni T 210E. A Fluke because you should let your customers know that you spared no expense in the pursuit for perfection... Average Joe knows what Fluke represents. Average Joe knows it's expensive....just like Snap On. Average Joe thinks you're very successful and suspects it's because you are good at what you do.
A hobbyist who has time to enjoy the process of hobbying around should buy the EEVBLOG 121GW - the internet has no idea sometimes, and has done this awesome little meter Injustice. It does ****** everything accurately and feels like a quality unit. It's the true hobbyist meter - I can't recommend it enough. It will do everything in a pinch including data logging and remote work capability. 50,000 count and Auto Hold...not as fast in the Auto Hold as Fluke, but it has it and it works. It's compact and cute and adorable also.
What about the UNI T? Well what about it?That Uni T 210E ... Well... it's the GOAT obviously. Doesn't everyone already have one?
