Reviews by our members

• 5

  1 out of 1 members found this review helpful

  hobbyplayer1940

  2024-10-31

  Verified purchase

  Vapcell is a relatively new player in the charger market, founded in 2013, and the chargers came a few years later. Almost all of its chargers are very simple, and only the S4 Plus belongs to the premium category.

  It has the capability of automatic selection of the charging current, which is then based on the internal resistance. Maximum charging current for LiIon is 3A per slot and 1A per slot for NiMH. In the V3.0 version, the transition of cells to maintenance mode has been added, as well as sound mute.

  The most important criterion for me is, of course, the charging itself. There are many combination chargers for LiIon and NiMH, and I already have a bit of a collection.

  While charging LiIon is rather easy due to the voltage characteristics, charging NiMH is much more difficult. That’s why I focus on this in this review.

  The Vapcell S4 Plus is one of the best mixed chargers on the market and easily surpasses pure NiMH chargers.

  I have a charger that, for some incomprehensible reason, stops charging very early: like the Xtar VC4SL. Then there are chargers that essentially never want to stop charging because they have neither temperature monitoring nor safety cut-off, or they intervene very late (20 hours, 60 hours). Others fall somewhere in between, like the Nitecore UMS4, which is great with high-quality batteries but poor with shabby batteries.

  However, the Vapcell usually shuts off quite correctly and rarely continues to charge after the battery is full. The very early shut-off only happens with batteries that have been deeply discharged and are charged with very high current. Of course, all the chargers I know have this problem, and it has more to do with the batteries.

  So I give it 5 stars for charging.

  There is still some work to be done regarding some features. Although it has all the necessary functions and, besides charging, it also offers discharging, refreshing, maintenance, and capacity testing, which could be improved a bit.

  One point of criticism is the large step from 0.5A to 1A during charging. A finer adjustment of the charging current, like the Nitecore UMS4, would be desirable. The charging current for NiMH is also limited to a maximum of 1A; a higher level would be nice. Only the external slots can be discharged at 1A; at least for NiMH, this could probably be achieved for all slots. For LiIon, it would be critical without a fan because it would draw three times the power due to the higher voltage.

  Another point of criticism is the display information. Although it is one of the best chargers I have seen with a lot of information and is easy to read, it is only for one slot. Manual switching is necessary if you want details about another slot. At least there is a rough representation of the other positions regarding the charge level.

  The buttons could respond a bit faster.

  Conclusion: Top charger, better than many other chargers that still often receive good reviews.

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• 5

  Johannes_M

  2024-10-10

  Verified purchase

  "It 'revived' 6 batteries (AA) that my old and simple charger rendered useless. So, in turn, I will wonder why there aren't more positive comments. Excellent tool."

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• 5

  1 out of 1 members found this review helpful

  Manolakos24

  2024-05-29

  Excellent charger and I don't know why there are no reviews. The difference compared to the regular one (not the V3 but the V2) is that it has a storage mode that charges the batteries up to a certain percentage to keep them healthy. It has everything someone needs. Up to 3 amperes charging per battery, which is a lot. There is the option to choose between 250, 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, 3000 milliamperes. Functions like repair, storage, charge, discharge, and power bank feature. Additionally, it emits a sound when the batteries are fully charged and you can even disable it. Purchased for 33 euros from abroad. I hope people discover the quality of this charger as it is very popular and affordable internationally!

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