Review on 🔧 FLIR CM83 Power Clamp Meter 600A: VFD and Bluetooth Integration for Advanced Measurements by Jason Bolden

The counter is very.VERY.well built. It is very hard-wearing and fits perfectly in the hand thanks to the large rubber padding. The buttons have enough feedback, they're big enough and well-spaced that you can probably operate them with gloves on. The LCD is large and the backlight is bright and even across the screen, and most importantly, it stays on for as long as you like. He has a cool flashlight that will come in handy in dark closets. It comes with a very good quality cable set that even exceeds the meter's CAT rating (CAT IV - 600V). There are many features, and once you figure out how to use them, it's pretty nice. Bluetooth is ok, haven't tried band or anything but it works and I can see it being useful at times. Note, however, that Bluetooth is not an industry standard and can be subject to strong interference from devices around you. I wouldn't call it a gimmick, more like a cool feature with limitations. The only, and I mean the ONLY downside to this is the apparent inaccuracy (of the reading) when used as a DMM (compared to a full featured DMM). As far as I know, firstly it is a 600 amp clamp and secondly it is a digital multimeter. According to the book you see +/- 0.7% for DCV, +/- 1% for ACV. For example, the Fluke 87-V has 0.05% DC and 0.7% AC. On the current page this is fairly typical for this range (600A): +/-2% for DCA and +/-2%-2.5% for ACA (depending on frequency). You have +/-1% for resistance and +/-1.9% for capacitance. Again, these are great numbers, and none of this should stop you from troubleshooting powerful hardware. However, I think people were spoiled by the Fluke's outstanding accuracy and I was hoping that a newly developed tool like this would be an improvement over a typical meter. And they did, just not on the precision front. (Yes, I know I'm comparing a clamp meter to a DMM, but this clamp meter is also a DMM.) FLIR is now branded Extech as a cost-effective alternative. I would never buy an Extech meter. But I will buy (and recommend) a FLIR meter. This, along with their thermal imaging camera and their recently released DMMs, is a fantastic state of the art toolbox that you can use for almost anything. If I were Flir now, I would really consider expanding this set of tools and filling the relative gap of alternatives in this space. Yes, Flukes are good, but why not offer other options that are just as good quality? And it really doesn't matter (should) but I really like the black colorway of the gauge. It looks very professional and even when it gets dirty it doesn't stand out like the Fluke, which looks the same after a week of use as it does after a year of use and is almost impossible to clean. I use my tools, but I also respect and love my tools. The Flir looks like a device I would pass down to my child or friend that, with minimal care, will last for not just one but many generations.