Today I’m back at it with an item from XTAR. This is their new charger the VC4S. It’s a 4-bay charger with some pretty impressive capabilities! Read on for more!

Also I am specifically calling this one an “overview” because my normal testing methods wouldn’t work for most of the settings on this charger. That’s unfortunate but I hope my opinion is still valuable, as I have experience with many chargers, and I do know what works!

Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the official product page.

Price

I’m not sure on the official pricing yet, but I think it’ll be around $30.

Short Review

This is a great little charger, with some nice non-charge settings as a bonus. I like that it utilizes the QC3 input, making higher charge rates possible.

Long Review

Key Features

• Widely Compatible

• QC3.0 Fast Charging, Max 3A for single slot

• Test Batteries’ Real Capacity, Maximize Batteries’ Lifespan

• Micro USB Input, Charge Anywhere

• Intelligent Detection Saves Your Time

• Auto detects the battery type

• Multiple Protections Ensure Safe Charging

• High Precision, Auto Cut-off When Fully Charged

Manual and Packaging

Standard XTAR packaging, but you do get a nice little carry bag, too.

And you get the joy of peeling off this cover from the screen.

What’s Included

XTAR VC4S 4-bay charger

Charge cable (USB to micro-USB)

Manual

Build Quality and Durability

As most XTAR chargers are, this one is built very well.

The back has a nice display of the cells appropriate for use in this charger, which includes Li-ion, NiMH, NiCD, IMR, INR, and ICR. And just about any size that’ll fit.

There’s only one input, and no outputs. The input allows QC3, but doesn’t require it, except for the fast charge currents.

Size

Officially 149mm x 115mm x 35mm.

Note the two bays on the edges – those fit larger cells than the middle two bays.

Power

The VC4S is powered by micro-USB. It can accept QC3 power, but does not require it. A very nice cable is included.

All the bays fit up to 70mm long cells and two of the bays fit up to 32mm diameter cells. The middle two fit (just barely) two 18650s concurrently.

User Interface and Operation

There are two buttons on the VC4S, and they’re just under the screen. They’re quite clicky. The left is labeled “Disp.” and the right is labeled “Mode”.

Worth mentioning are the modes available. Default is Charge (shown as “Cap.” on the screen). Next click gets to “Grad.” which is for grading the cells. Grading is charging, discharging fully (terminal voltage not specified), and charging fully. The capacity is reported from the charge cycle (the display flashes “DONE” then the capacity.). The final mode is “Store” which works for NiMH and Liion both, charging or discharging to 1.2V or 3.7V respectively.

The left “Disp” button cycles through capacity (Cap.), current (Cur), and internal resistance (IR).

While a cell is in place, the circle displays show the cell voltage, and the charge current. The unused bays show the voltage at zero, and the current at max possible for the bay if only a single cell is used.

Only on QC3 input can the charger push 3A into a single bay (and 2A into 2 bays at once). In all cases, 3 and 4 cells at once will charge at max 0.5A simultaneously. Off QC3, max to one cell is 2A, and max to 2 cells is 1A.

All in all it’s a very simple charger, but with some nice bonus features. Below are just a few shots of the modes in action.

Conclusion

What I like

Simplicity

Fantastically sharp display

Excellent use of QC3 charging

What I don’t like

Unfortunately the display circles don’t do all that much for me.

USB out might be nice

Only charges a single bay at 3A, and only if it deems the IR low enough

Can’t do 1A across all 4 bays on QC3

Notes

This item was provided by XTAR for review. I was not paid to write this review.

This content originally appeared at zeroair.org. Please visit there for the best experience!

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