Review on 🔋 Black ISDT C4 EVO Smart Battery Charger with Type-C QC3.0 Output for AA AAA Li-ion Battery featuring IPS Display Screen and Fire Prevention Material by Elisa Suggs

IMPORTANT: Please note that this review is for the newer C4 EVO model. Most of the reviews found here on Revain refer to the original C4 charger and even some reviews of the new C4 EVO are misinformed. Please read this review fully as it may fix some of the bugs I've seen in other reviews here. Let's start by describing the charger's unique physical layout. The charger contains 4 vertical bays and 2 horizontal bays. The vertical slots are for use with AA and AAA batteries only. The horizontal compartments are designed for use with lithium ion and similar chemicals. I won't paraphrase all supported sizes, they are clearly listed on Revain. A few notes on this: Only vertical or horizontal bays can be used at a time, they cannot be used at the same time. That means you can only service AA/AAA batteries OR Li-ion cells, not both at the same time. A maximum of 4 AA batteries or 4 AAA batteries or any combination of up to 4 AA/AAA batteries can be charged once. Please note this is different from the original C4 which can hold a maximum of 2 AAA batteries. The AAA battery contacts in the original C4 were awful (in my opinion). C4 EVO has solid fixed point contacts, separate contacts for AA and AAA batteries. Since it doesn't have moving sliders like many chargers, it needs to be very durable. Horizontal bays can hold up to 2 lithium-ion batteries. One test report states that they can only accommodate unprotected 18650 cells, which is completely wrong with the C4 EVO. It accommodates both protected 18650 cells and unprotected cells with ease. The same review also incorrectly claims that there are no assay or cycle options. That's wrong, but I think there's a very good reason the reviewer missed it. I confess it took me a long time to stumble across this because it wasn't very intuitive. In the menu you will see an option called "Chemistry". By default, this setting is set to Auto, which means the charger will determine if the battery in a given slot is Li-Ion, NiMH, etc. When set to Auto, you will only see the Load and Destroy options. ". To view other options (Discharge, Storage, Analysis, Cycle, and Activation), you must manually select the chemistry. Once you have done this, all options are available in the "Task" section of the menu. Versatile Power Options: The The C4 EVO's power input is a USB-C connection. Please note that the device does not come with a charger - you will need to purchase your own. The adapter you supply must support either the QuickCharge (QC) 2 or 3 protocols or the Support Power Delivery (PD) protocol. You can also use your computer's USB port as a power source. A few important notes: This charger can charge batteries at a high charge rate (up to 3 amps per cell) / maximum 36 watts for all batteries .If your power adapter does not provide at least 36W of power at 5V or 9V, the maximum charge rate may be limited by a lower charge rate.If you are using a USB port on your computer, be sure Make sure you are using a USB 3 port and NOT a USB 2 port. The USB 2 port can only deliver 500mA of current, which is only half the minimum 1A required for a charger. However, the fact that you can even use the PC's USB port is a very handy feature when you're traveling with a laptop. However, I found the fan to be MUCH quieter than the original C4 and it didn't bother me at all. Fixed Buttons: The original C4 had a touch area that now houses physical buttons. I personally think the new buttons are a big improvement as the touch buttons were more prone to mistyping. Options Galore: Wow, there are a lot of options. You can charge, discharge, analyze, cycle, activate and put batteries into storage mode. I particularly like the storage option. If you're unfamiliar with this, let me explain: lithium-ion chemistries (and similar ones) don't work well when stored on a full charge for long periods of time. Therefore, it is better to store these batteries at a lower voltage. For example, I have a lot of lithium ion batteries that I only keep as a last resort to power radios, flashlights, etc. If there are any reports of severe weather or potential emergencies over the next few days, I'll charge the batteries so that I'm fully prepared. Otherwise I discharge them to a voltage that is safer for long-term storage. This charger can automatically charge or discharge batteries to the level most suitable for long-term storage. Nice function! Advanced Options: There are some very advanced options for advanced users. With lithium-ion batteries, for example, you can set the exact voltage at which charging should stop. For NiMH batteries, you can specify the Delta V used to determine end of charge. I'd strongly recommend not changing them unless you really know what you're doing and have a good reason for it, but the fact that these options are available at all is pretty awesome. USB-C: Almost all of my portable electronic devices use USB-C. these days. It was really annoying to have to keep other adapters and cables to support the micro USB charger. With this charger I'm finally free of it and now all I need is USB-C. To me, this is just the icing on the cake of an exceptionally well-executed product. Tech Support: I had a question or two for tech support, so I emailed them. I was surprised to receive a friendly explanation of my request in less than an hour. Very impressive!