Plenty of chargers out in the market and Xtar was generous enough to send me out 2 of there new line, the VC2S 2 battery charger and the D4 4 battery charger. You can find out more at there website: http://www.xtar.cc/
Xtar VC Series: VC2S
Upgraded colorful VA LCD screen tells you real-time charging status!
- Intelligent Visible Experience
- Micro-USB powered, charge anywhere
- Internal Resistance Testing
- Portable Power Bank Function
- Battery Type Auto-identification
- 0V Activation Function revives over-discharged battery
- Soft Start & TC-CC-CV Three-Stage Charging
Now first thing I checked was it is charged 21700 and 20700 batteries, no problem as you can see below and also charged my 20650 and of course 18650 with any issues.
Funny thing happened the day I received the VC2S, it was the same day my local electric company had scheduled a power outage to make upgrades to the system which was supposed to be 8 hours. Power was due to be back on at 4PM which was good, the house was empty and no one would be home until 5PM at the earliest. Well, no luck as the scheduled repairs kept going until 6AM the next morning!!! Curse them. We began to run out of battery on our phones, even went out for the night to grab some diner and keep the phones on the car charger. We figured we would be back and presto, electricity at home…oh the joy quickly turned into despair. That is when I decided to look at my selection of battery chargers to see if any would provide a power bank function and low and behold I saw this on the back of the newly arrived VC2S:
OH JOY!!! Can’t say how much this came in handy that night and turns out 2 others nights as the high winds in S California knocked out the power 2 more times in the last month, one lasting 24 hours. Works with just 1 battery but you can install 2 if you like. It prioritizes the left battery to drain first so you would not want to use married batteries as the drain would not be equal.
I got out an old phone to show the charge (use my current phone to take pics) and also an internal battery mod which can also be charged.
I can’t believe none of my other chargers from Efest, Hohmtech, Nitecore or even my other Xtar chargers have a power bank function. It is something you don’t realize how important it is until you need it and the power bank function of the VC2S is a Godsend with the recent power outages. I had thought my Xtar Over 4 Slim would have a power bank function, has dual outputs but they only work when plugged into a electrical outlet…nope, no power bank function.
Of course it does work to charge your batteries and does a fine job unless you like controlling the amp rate of charge. There is a selection button but that is to change the display from CAP (Charging Capacity) CCR (Real Time Charging Current) and IR (Internal Resistance) You can also press and hold the button to dim the display if you so choose.
The charging rate is determined by the internal resistance of the battery, most Li-ion batteries will charge at 2 amp for a single and 1 amp each for dual. The only time I had 0.5 amps show up was when I was testing the 0V Activation Function with an old AW 18490 from my Provari days. This battery was sitting to long and the voltage dropped too low. The VC2S measured the battery and selected Ni-MH and began charging at 0.5 amps then after awhile switched to Li-ion and began charging at 1 amp. It was able to fully restore the battery but I only keep it around to test these functions. Once a battery has been depleted that far best to get it recycled when using it for a vape device.
Please not that the VC2S does not come with a wall wart, you must supply your own or buy one from Xtar: http://www.xtar.cc/products_detail/productId=85.html To get the best performance you will want the one I just linked, a 5V 2.1A Wall Adpater. You can also use a wall adapter with the same specs if you have an extra lying around, the wall adapter for my Samsung Galaxy Pro 12.1 was the same specs and works.
It also works with most wall adapters you may have lying around from an old cell phone. I tried just that with a 1 amp wall adapter and it still said 2 amp when charging 1 battery and 1 amp when charging a pair.
No problems charging any battery I used with the VC2S which I used exclusively along with the D4 for 4 weeks. What I would have liked to see is an option to change the charge rate, I generally charge at 0.5 amps but with the VC2S I was limited to 2 or 1 amp depending on how many batteries I loaded into it. Would have been good to include a wall adapter as well but that seems to be the norm with the VC series, my 4 year old VC4 didn’t include one either.
Xtar AC Power Series D4
Artistic & Practical
- Two-slot 2A Fast Charging
- Unique Owl-Like UI Design
- Battery Life Optimization Charging
- 0V Activation Function Revives Over-discharged Batteries
- TC-CC-CV Three-Stage Charging
- Elaborate Heat Dissipation Design
Just like the VC2s the first thing I checked was compatible with 21700 and 20700 batteries, no problems fitting and charging either and 20650 and 18650 batteries were fine as well.
Now this is a much more simple design, no buttons and no need to worry about adding in your own wall adapter, it comes with a normal power cord you just plug into the wall.
No graphic display, just 4 LED lights above all 4 battery slots which flash showing the current charge of each battery, simple as can be.
The 2 inner slots are 1 or 0.5 amps and the 2 outer slots are 2 or 1 amp depending on the battery and how many batteries you are charging at one time. There is no option to change the charge rate, the charger measures the battery and then automatically selects what it feels it the proper charge rate.
The slots are marked showing the charge rate.
Now when charging dual married batteries you want them charged at the same rate so either use the 2 inner or 2 outer slots to charge, never charge with one inner and one outer as they will be charged at different rates. You want to charge dual married batteries like the 2 top photo’s show, not like the bottom photo.
Now the tricky part comes in if you have a 3 battery mod with 3 married batteries. If you charge all 3 at the same time 1 battery will charge at 2 amp while the other 2 charge at 1 amp which is not ideal. You can get around this by charging a 4th single battery in the last slot which will drop the charge rate on all the slots to 1 amp. Not a great way to go for 3 married batteries, I would not recommend this charger if you need to charge 3 married batteries.
The D4 is a simple charger which comes complete and ready to go out of the box. Includes 2 fast charging 2 amp battery slots on the outside with 2 1 amp slots on the inside for a total of 4 battery charging. No options aside from the work it automatically does like the 3 stage charging for optimizing battery life and the 0V Activation Function which can revive batteries that other chargers will not charge due to the volts being too low. If you just want simple then the D4 just might be for you, not recommended for charging 3 married batteries though.
Pros:
VC2S
- Will act as a Power Bank, love this feature as it saved me during a power outage
- Nice and bright graphic interface which can be changed to show Charging Capacity, Real Time Charging Current or Internal Resistance
- Automatically selects the proper charge rate after measuring the batteries internal resistance
- 0V Activation Function which restores over-discharged batteries
- Stays cool while charging
- Works with the majority of battery sizes including 21700 and 20700
D4
- (2) 2 amp and (2) 1 amp charging bays for a total of 4
- Simple design, just install your batteries and it selects the proper charge rate automatically
- Works with the majority of battery sizes including 21700 and 20700
- Does not get hot while charging
- LED’s will show you the current charge and when a battery is finished charging
- 0V Activation Function which restores over-discharged batteries
Cons:
VC2S
- Cannot select charge rate, it is automatically selected so if you like to charge at 0.5 amps then look elsewhere
- Wall adapter not included, needs to be purchased separately or you can use most cell phone wall adapters
D4
- Cannot select charge rate, it is automatically selected so if you like to charge at 0.5 amps then look elsewhere
- Not recommend for those need to charge 3 married batteries, will not charge at the same amp rate
- Dual married batteries need to be charged in either the 2 outer slots or the 2 inner to maintain the same amp rate. Not recommended to charge to charge with 1 in the inner slots and 1 in the outer as the amp rate is different
Final thoughts
I have to say that the VC2S will be a charger that I will never get rid of, mainly for its power bank function which is something I never thought I would need until the power went out in my home…3 times in the last month! I have been in this home for more than 7 years and this is the first time I have lost power but the VC2S saved my ass for sure! I cannot overemphasize enough how valuable having a power bank that works with all my current batteries is, a sanity saver for sure. Of course you can buy a power bank with an internal battery but once it is depleted how are you going to recharge it when the power is still out? With all the batteries I have I could have kept the power bank going for a long time, this would be great in case of emergencies as well.
As a charger both the VC2S and D4 disappoint me in there inability to change the charge rate, I like charging at 0.5 amps as it extends the life of a battery. Higher rate charging is great if your in a hurry but it will tend to lessen the overall life of your battery. Still doesn’t make sense why the VC2S does not come with a wall adapter as well. If someone was to purchase one without knowing or having a wall adapter already would be an unpleasant surprise.
If simplicity is what you are looking for and fast charging is what you want then both the VC2S and D4 worked flawlessly for me, I have no complaints in that regard.
Being this review evaluation was only 4 weeks I cannot talk to longevity. I can say that the first high end charger I purchased was the Xtar VC4 about 4 or so years ago, still works the same as the first day I bought it. Both the VC2S and D4 seem sturdy enough and the simplicity of them both could mean less that could go wrong in the long term? Nothing about either makes me question the long term use and my experience over the years with Xtar chargers has been nothing but solid well made products.
You can find out more about the VC2S here: http://www.xtar.cc/products_detail/productId=198.html
D4 here: http://www.xtar.cc/products_detail/productId=201.html
They also have a charger/power bank with a higher output: http://www.xtar.cc/products_detail/productId=189.html I think I might purchase that myself.
Check out how this stacks up to other tasty gear and meet the Steampugs team of reviewers. Your bound to have a good time and read up on some great products, not so great ones too http://www.steampugs.co.uk/
