Ordered the Brymen 896s from eleshop and awaiting delivery ;-) I think the Brymen DMMs are unbeatable regarding Price and overall Quality! Hopefully they will continue upgrading their product lines. Great Video, thanks! Greetings fro Austria!
I had the factory recall service done on my 2019 Fluke 87V (intermittent contact on NEG test lead, in some positions). I filled out the form online, and they emailed me a pre-paid UPS shipping label bright and early the next morning. I dropped it off at the local UPS store, and it was back in my hands 4 days later. It came back with a fresh battery and a spanking-new calibration certificate, good for a year. Very good service on a top-tier piece of equipment.
I have a well cared for fluke 75 from the 80's. I bought the uni-t 61 E+ last year when I took up a self-study of electronics. Joe Smith(is that an alias? :-) has shown the 61e+ to be great at measurements and an improvement over past uni-t robustness . I just bought a Brymen 867s, which is mostly the same as the 869s without having thermistor capability. For me, these Brymens are inexpensive upgrades towards a bench meter.
I've had the Brymen BM869s for a few years now and to be honest, it's one of the best purchases I've ever made. It was actually 'joe smith' UA-cam channel and watching all his meter testing (to destruction) video's that made me pick the Brymen as opposed to a Fluke. I almost fell for the Fluke snobbiness myself.
Great video. Perhaps in the future you could consider comparing any of the new 7 series Brymens (789, 786, 785) with the 869s/867s or any other multimeter (Fluke?). I think that would be interesting too. Just an idea. Thanks!
That is a great idea George! .. now i was just glad i could have these 4 together... funds hold me back right now to show all good meters that are available...
Thank you for the review, very informative. Would you make sometime comparison in low voltage (single mV) and in low current (single mA) ranges including your more precise bench meter? Thanks, -Mark
Thank you Tony for an interesting video! I own a Fluke 87 III and a Fluke 8025 (military version of the Fluke 25 in an all grey case), both very reliable and accurate. I think your video proves one thing for sure - you get what you pay for. It would be interesting to know how well the Brymen meters hold up, my 8025 is from 1982!
@@grininventor The 87III does have a beeper for continuity testing but it must be turned on each time you switch to ohms/continuity. With the selector switch set to ohms/continuity, press the beeper button (between the backlight and relative buttons) to turn the beeper on - a second press will turn it off again. A beeper symbol should appear on the left side of the display when the beeper is active. Hope this is helpful. Regards, David
Hello Tony, the video is very good, I have in my laboratory the Fluke line, the 29, the 179, the 189 and the 289, true machines, and the function of measuring diodes in the 179 is ideal to be able to carry out a firing test of gates of the IGBT Transistors, because its output voltage value is much higher than all the testers in the market. Best regards... from Buenos Aires.
Fluke makes excellent meters, but comparing an 87 (V) to a Brymen BM869s is not a good comparison. The 87V is still pretty much an 'electricians' multimeter, and the Brymen BM869s is pretty much a bench multimeter in a handheld package, but with superior safety. The BM869S can do so much more than the 87V. You mentioned the dual display, which works excellent with AC+DC mode, but it can also do dBm, VFD mode etc etc. So the BM869S is both function wise as accuracy wise more a comparison to the Fluke 189 (not available anymore) and its successor the Fluke 289 (although that has logging/trending functions). And then the price difference becomes a whole different game, especially if you include the PC link. A brymen BM869S with carrying case, magnet strap, silicone leads and pc interface/software costs about €275,-- A similar specced Fluke 289 (Fluke 289 FVF set) costs €1120,-- That's 4(!) times as much. Yes the Fluke 289 can do logging/trending by itself (no pc needed; the BM869S can of course do the same with pc; maybe even better as the update rate is slightly faster I think), but the Brymen BM869S has that 500k count mode, and has a higher safety rating (cat IV 1000V compared to cat IV 600V from the fluke 289). Also, although the BM869S doesn't have an IP rating, it is designed with dustf&moisture protection in mind. The input jacks, battery door, casing and casing screws all have O ring seals. With the independant testing they could get an IP45 rating, but that would mean that every meter leaving the factory must be tested, adding to the cost, so they chose not to. But if you take the meter apart, it shows the quality and attention to detail. Even the €150 costing BM867S (basically an BM869S but without temperature and VFD function, but for 2/3rd of the price) has these features, that's an amaizing deal. And if a yellow meter at the worksite is so important, imagine bumping into someone that really knows his stuff, and he sees a BM869S!😃 I have my BM869S calibrated annually and it's always within spec, so quality wise it's very good. For my work I needed a DMM with very high precision and wide range in the mV range (to monitor a shunt resistor in order to calibrate specific powersupplies in the aircraft industry), so I needed preferably a 6 digit meter that could measure up to at least 200,000mV. And as I need that functionality on site, I'd rather have a handheld DMM than a bench DMM as they are big/heavy and not really suitable to be carried around all day (I have to carry a lot of stuff as it is...). So that left 2 options (Fluke can't deliver this at all): a Brymen BM869S (cost: €275 (incl. VAT) for the whole package) or a Gossen Metrawatt Metrahit ultra, costing well over €1000,-- (I think just the software for this meter is about as expensive as the whole Brymen BM869S package!😅🤣) After I saw the review of the Gossen Metrahit Ultra by Joe Smith, I was glad that I chose the Brymen. That Gossen meter has 'issues'.....putting it mildly 🤣 The fluke that I have (a 115 that I bought in 2007 when it just came out, a time that Fluke had way less competition), I like to use that around the house and shop where measurements are simple, because it's a nice small form factor. That meter broke though, within 2 years (2009). I got a new one obviously. Since then it has been OK. Crazy that that simple meter now (new) still costs more than that BM869S. How times have changed.
Hi, I have a question. What is the backlighting time of those? Especially Bm869s doesn't have that info in the manual, and 15sec time on most dmm's is extremely anoing to me.
Thanks Chris , Yes Fluke is great, pity also great price, i was amazed that the 2nd hand Brymen aslo performed very well, it being half priced and used. so on quality also good.
Hi Tony , I have the 87 and 87 MK5 and I particularly like the M5. Mine too according to my Fluke calibrator is spot on. Most Flukes I have tested have been very close to spot on with their limited resolution.
Nice compare! For hobby the 87 V is just a bit too much of an investment I think. Though the Post Apocalyptic Inventor made me still want one secretly... (vs BigClive's opinion on Fluke, who wins?) The Brymens perform very well, but are maybe harder to find second hand now they got so much good press.
Thank you! , Yes somehow, the Fluke you find a lot second hand, the Brymen they just keep and never sell. i must say the Brymen feels great when you hold it. the 869s is great with all the digits, but it is a bit big, the accuracy is amazing though.
@@TonyAlbus portability is also a factor when one has to carry or travel with those things. Was looking into portable DMMs and chose a small pen style Kyoritsu. Way less digits and guess not that accurate but good enough for what I need it for. Also weird thing I noticed that the tiniest and cheapest pocket Fluke is not for sale officially in EU. I can only speculate why not, but availability here is also reason why I went for the Kyoritsu.
Hi. I am not sure if I understand the need for that high amount of counts, taking into account the specific accuracy. Maybe I am not calculating it right, but for example: if we have a very accurate 5VDC calibration source, that is much better then specified DMM 0.05%. The DMM would be within the specs if reading between 5.0025 and 4.9975. I would say the 3rd digit is already useless. That is if you do a absolute measurements. Other thing of course if you do a relative measurements, than it could be useful.
...and boy did I learn from your "mistakes" opening everything and fixing what is not broken 🤪🤪 And there I am almost doing the same and think "Noooo do not go further, you may broke it...". But I like your channel 👍
@@TonyAlbus I am planning to build a "box" with different values voltage references, and maybe also add a few high precision resistors, and even maybe build a current source... plans, if I find the time.... But my point is: The resolution is 3.5x (@ 5000 counts) and 25x (@ 50000 counts) higher then the accuracy. Example of Fluke 185 that is +/-0.05% + 1 count @ VDC. If we have a accurate reference of 5.0000 VDC the error of the meter would be +/-3.5mV (@ 5000 counts, and resolution of 1mV) and +/-2.6mV (@ 50000 counts, and resolution of 0.1mV). The resolution is thus much higher then the accuracy! If somebody better understand the benefit of those extra counts, when doing absolute measurements let me know. Maybe I do not understand something here..
Until I watched your video, I'd never even heard of Bryman, I guess they must be a sort of European thing. Here in the UK we usually had either Fluke if you had lots of money, :-) Tandy if you didn't have much money and an unknown name make meter if you had even less than that. I suppose since the mid to late 80s I've been using various fluke meters (mostly secondhand). Usually browsing through the RS catalogue, from time to time, for various options, so I'm sure I would have noticed something, anyway, interesting video.
I’d buy any multimeter as long as I don’t still own it. :) I got my fluke 87V (production year 2019) complete in box for 140 euros so that was a good deal. My 189 (still my favorite) cost me 175 euros.
I am using brymen 869s. You know the advantages of this. 0.02% accuracy, dual display, 500k counts, dual thermocouple(accuracy 0.3% resolution 0.1c), 100khz trueRMS, AC+DC mode, bussman HRC fuses, CAT IV 1000v, durable case, Taiwan made, affordable price. On the downside, there is no "autohold". No audible bad diode warning. unable to measure blue and white LED voltage (max 2v). Cannot measure 1pf...9pf capacitor. There is a noise problem in the resistance measurement. There is an offset problem in AC mv measurement. the second screen sometimes shows incorrectly. test legs fail quickly. Silicone probes are sold externally. There are 5 trimpots in the device. TrueRMS converter with 1% tolerance (AD636J). battery consumption is not good, about 100 hours. Battery and fuse replacement is very cumbersome. PC connection requires an external device and is expensive. lowZ and NCV feature not available. there are other problems but I don't know your language (I used google translate).
Fluke obsession is over! He who understands multimeters also understands measurements -> He who understands measurements will solve his own problems. Customers don't care about the color of the appliance with which you will fix the problems, but whether you will fix them. I have 35 years of experience in electronics and I have never been a slave to a brand or company! For me, the most important thing is that a given appliance does exactly what I need it for. And it doesn't matter if it is American, Japanese, Chinese or Russian, as long as it is better than others on the market in most indicators and of the same quality as them, then it is the wildest. The rest is fear and shame to admit that there is something better than the American one. Or simply put - Mania!
Ordered the Brymen 896s from eleshop and awaiting delivery ;-) I think the Brymen DMMs are unbeatable regarding Price and overall Quality! Hopefully they will continue upgrading their product lines. Great Video, thanks!
Greetings fro Austria!
Thanks!.. good choice! yes totally agree, good bang for you buck and good quality
I had the factory recall service done on my 2019 Fluke 87V (intermittent contact on NEG test lead, in some positions). I filled out the form online, and they emailed me a pre-paid UPS shipping label bright and early the next morning. I dropped it off at the local UPS store, and it was back in my hands 4 days later. It came back with a fresh battery and a spanking-new calibration certificate, good for a year. Very good service on a top-tier piece of equipment.
Great service! thank you for sharing
I like your chanel a lot! Thank you for making such awesome videos! I love them sooo much!
Thank you so much!
I have a well cared for fluke 75 from the 80's. I bought the uni-t 61 E+ last year when I took up a self-study of electronics. Joe Smith(is that an alias? :-) has shown the 61e+ to be great at measurements and an improvement over past uni-t robustness .
I just bought a Brymen 867s, which is mostly the same as the 869s without having thermistor capability.
For me, these Brymens are inexpensive upgrades towards a bench meter.
Thanks for sharing that, very nice.
Nice Tony. Thanks.
Thanks!
I've had the Brymen BM869s for a few years now and to be honest, it's one of the best purchases I've ever made. It was actually 'joe smith' UA-cam channel and watching all his meter testing (to destruction) video's that made me pick the Brymen as opposed to a Fluke. I almost fell for the Fluke snobbiness myself.
Yes me too, i was because i tested this loan meter i found out about the brand, they are doing a good job.
it's the yellow color just costs a lot more than it's worth ;)
Same. I was very impressed with those tests. Gave me utter peace of mind.
Great video Tony. Thank you.
Thank you!
Great video. Perhaps in the future you could consider comparing any of the new 7 series Brymens (789, 786, 785) with the 869s/867s or any other multimeter (Fluke?). I think that would be interesting too. Just an idea. Thanks!
That is a great idea George! .. now i was just glad i could have these 4 together... funds hold me back right now to show all good meters that are available...
Thank you for the review, very informative.
Would you make sometime comparison in low voltage (single mV) and in low current (single mA) ranges including your more precise bench meter?
Thanks,
-Mark
Great suggestion!
Thank you Tony for an interesting video! I own a Fluke 87 III and a Fluke 8025 (military version of the Fluke 25 in an all grey case), both very reliable and accurate. I think your video proves one thing for sure - you get what you pay for. It would be interesting to know how well the Brymen meters hold up, my 8025 is from 1982!
Not sure brymen is around that long, but they seem to do a good job, but would also not be weird if Fluke would be better for twice the prize
Hey, I just bought a used Fluke 87 III, and I’m happy with it, but there is no beeper for the continuity test. Is that normal or is mine broken ?
@@grininventor The 87III does have a beeper for continuity testing but it must be turned on each time you switch to ohms/continuity. With the selector switch set to ohms/continuity, press the beeper button (between the backlight and relative buttons) to turn the beeper on - a second press will turn it off again. A beeper symbol should appear on the left side of the display when the beeper is active. Hope this is helpful. Regards, David
Hello Tony, the video is very good, I have in my laboratory the Fluke line, the 29, the 179, the 189 and the 289, true machines, and the function of measuring diodes in the 179 is ideal to be able to carry out a firing test of gates of the IGBT Transistors, because its output voltage value is much higher than all the testers in the market. Best regards... from Buenos Aires.
Thank you!, wow that is a nice line-up!
Let's see the internals of the Brymen 869s. Maybe someone has already done that?
Dave EEVblog did
EEVBlog #432 - Brymen Multimeters is where he takes it apart.
Fluke makes excellent meters, but comparing an 87 (V) to a Brymen BM869s is not a good comparison.
The 87V is still pretty much an 'electricians' multimeter, and the Brymen BM869s is pretty much a bench multimeter in a handheld package, but with superior safety. The BM869S can do so much more than the 87V. You mentioned the dual display, which works excellent with AC+DC mode, but it can also do dBm, VFD mode etc etc.
So the BM869S is both function wise as accuracy wise more a comparison to the Fluke 189 (not available anymore) and its successor the Fluke 289 (although that has logging/trending functions).
And then the price difference becomes a whole different game, especially if you include the PC link.
A brymen BM869S with carrying case, magnet strap, silicone leads and pc interface/software costs about €275,--
A similar specced Fluke 289 (Fluke 289 FVF set) costs €1120,--
That's 4(!) times as much. Yes the Fluke 289 can do logging/trending by itself (no pc needed; the BM869S can of course do the same with pc; maybe even better as the update rate is slightly faster I think), but the Brymen BM869S has that 500k count mode, and has a higher safety rating (cat IV 1000V compared to cat IV 600V from the fluke 289).
Also, although the BM869S doesn't have an IP rating, it is designed with dustf&moisture protection in mind. The input jacks, battery door, casing and casing screws all have O ring seals. With the independant testing they could get an IP45 rating, but that would mean that every meter leaving the factory must be tested, adding to the cost, so they chose not to. But if you take the meter apart, it shows the quality and attention to detail.
Even the €150 costing BM867S (basically an BM869S but without temperature and VFD function, but for 2/3rd of the price) has these features, that's an amaizing deal.
And if a yellow meter at the worksite is so important, imagine bumping into someone that really knows his stuff, and he sees a BM869S!😃
I have my BM869S calibrated annually and it's always within spec, so quality wise it's very good.
For my work I needed a DMM with very high precision and wide range in the mV range (to monitor a shunt resistor in order to calibrate specific powersupplies in the aircraft industry), so I needed preferably a 6 digit meter that could measure up to at least 200,000mV. And as I need that functionality on site, I'd rather have a handheld DMM than a bench DMM as they are big/heavy and not really suitable to be carried around all day (I have to carry a lot of stuff as it is...). So that left 2 options (Fluke can't deliver this at all): a Brymen BM869S (cost: €275 (incl. VAT) for the whole package) or a Gossen Metrawatt Metrahit ultra, costing well over €1000,-- (I think just the software for this meter is about as expensive as the whole Brymen BM869S package!😅🤣)
After I saw the review of the Gossen Metrahit Ultra by Joe Smith, I was glad that I chose the Brymen. That Gossen meter has 'issues'.....putting it mildly 🤣
The fluke that I have (a 115 that I bought in 2007 when it just came out, a time that Fluke had way less competition), I like to use that around the house and shop where measurements are simple, because it's a nice small form factor. That meter broke though, within 2 years (2009). I got a new one obviously. Since then it has been OK. Crazy that that simple meter now (new) still costs more than that BM869S.
How times have changed.
Thank you for sharing that!.. good bang for the buck..
@@TonyAlbus Making this video but with buying 2 Fluke 289 meters would be really expensive 😄
Hi, I have a question. What is the backlighting time of those? Especially Bm869s doesn't have that info in the manual, and 15sec time on most dmm's is extremely anoing to me.
The brymen backlight is about 4 minutes and 30 secs. just tested it for you.
@@TonyAlbus Thank you Tony! This information changes everything! 🙂
It is always going to be yellow I’m a Fluke fanboy. Great video really enjoyed taking me through the different specifications.
Thanks Chris , Yes Fluke is great, pity also great price, i was amazed that the 2nd hand Brymen aslo performed very well, it being half priced and used. so on quality also good.
87 iii is the jewel
Most used meter ever i think
@@TonyAlbus And last for decades for sure
@@fanviewijsselmeer Yes and more
Hi Tony , I have the 87 and 87 MK5 and I particularly like the M5. Mine too according to my Fluke calibrator is spot on. Most Flukes I have tested have been very close to spot on with their limited resolution.
Yes Fluke is without a doubt very good, and secondhand, still good, i was surprized it also is the case for the brymen
Enjoyed that video very much. My question is, used desktop or new 869’s? I love the high resolution.
Hi Jay, i use both.. for desktop Agilent 34401A or Siglent SDM3065 both 6.5 The 869 i use when i need an extra or away from my desk.
I tu nasuwa się pytanie który pokazuje prawdę :)
Droższy nie zawsze znaczy lepszy
Nice compare! For hobby the 87 V is just a bit too much of an investment I think. Though the Post Apocalyptic Inventor made me still want one secretly... (vs BigClive's opinion on Fluke, who wins?) The Brymens perform very well, but are maybe harder to find second hand now they got so much good press.
Thank you! , Yes somehow, the Fluke you find a lot second hand, the Brymen they just keep and never sell. i must say the Brymen feels great when you hold it. the 869s is great with all the digits, but it is a bit big, the accuracy is amazing though.
@@TonyAlbus portability is also a factor when one has to carry or travel with those things. Was looking into portable DMMs and chose a small pen style Kyoritsu. Way less digits and guess not that accurate but good enough for what I need it for. Also weird thing I noticed that the tiniest and cheapest pocket Fluke is not for sale officially in EU. I can only speculate why not, but availability here is also reason why I went for the Kyoritsu.
@@algemeennut6683 Availablity is a very good reason, also if you need service. Good choice
Adding absolute error % columns on the recorded values might have been nice
Yes indeed, but i was too lazy
Hi. I am not sure if I understand the need for that high amount of counts, taking into account the specific accuracy. Maybe I am not calculating it right, but for example: if we have a very accurate 5VDC calibration source, that is much better then specified DMM 0.05%. The DMM would be within the specs if reading between 5.0025 and 4.9975. I would say the 3rd digit is already useless. That is if you do a absolute measurements. Other thing of course if you do a relative measurements, than it could be useful.
The meters have higher accuracy then my sources :)
...and boy did I learn from your "mistakes" opening everything and fixing what is not broken 🤪🤪 And there I am almost doing the same and think "Noooo do not go further, you may broke it...".
But I like your channel 👍
@@TonyAlbus I am planning to build a "box" with different values voltage references, and maybe also add a few high precision resistors, and even maybe build a current source... plans, if I find the time.... But my point is: The resolution is 3.5x (@ 5000 counts) and 25x (@ 50000 counts) higher then the accuracy. Example of Fluke 185 that is +/-0.05% + 1 count @ VDC. If we have a accurate reference of 5.0000 VDC the error of the meter would be +/-3.5mV (@ 5000 counts, and resolution of 1mV) and +/-2.6mV (@ 50000 counts, and resolution of 0.1mV). The resolution is thus much higher then the accuracy! If somebody better understand the benefit of those extra counts, when doing absolute measurements let me know. Maybe I do not understand something here..
@@ernestb.2377 Thanks!
@@ernestb.2377 More is better :)
Until I watched your video, I'd never even heard of Bryman, I guess they must be a sort of European thing. Here in the UK we usually had either Fluke if you had lots of money, :-) Tandy if you didn't have much money and an unknown name make meter if you had even less than that. I suppose since the mid to late 80s I've been using various fluke meters (mostly secondhand). Usually browsing through the RS catalogue, from time to time, for various options, so I'm sure I would have noticed something, anyway, interesting video.
Thanks, yes i am not sure but think i heared from them sense a few years but they are around much longer
I’d buy any multimeter as long as I don’t still own it. :)
I got my fluke 87V (production year 2019) complete in box for 140 euros so that was a good deal. My 189 (still my favorite) cost me 175 euros.
Haha! .. yes i know/.. :) yes good deals for sure.
Not a fan of handhelds? Come on Tony! 😃
Keep On Testing 👍
Hi Darren, yes you are corrcet, i somehave have now 10+ Fluke handhelds :))
best DMM ut181a
Yes that is indeed a very nice meter with 60k counts..
I am using brymen 869s. You know the advantages of this. 0.02% accuracy, dual display, 500k counts, dual thermocouple(accuracy 0.3% resolution 0.1c), 100khz trueRMS, AC+DC mode, bussman HRC fuses, CAT IV 1000v, durable case, Taiwan made, affordable price.
On the downside, there is no "autohold". No audible bad diode warning. unable to measure blue and white LED voltage (max 2v). Cannot measure 1pf...9pf capacitor. There is a noise problem in the resistance measurement. There is an offset problem in AC mv measurement. the second screen sometimes shows incorrectly. test legs fail quickly. Silicone probes are sold externally. There are 5 trimpots in the device. TrueRMS converter with 1% tolerance (AD636J). battery consumption is not good, about 100 hours. Battery and fuse replacement is very cumbersome. PC connection requires an external device and is expensive. lowZ and NCV feature not available. there are other problems but I don't know your language (I used google translate).
Yes all true, i agree, still a nice meter for its price, i use it with pleasure
Which one is better Bm869s or the New bm789 ?
Fluke obsession is over! He who understands multimeters also understands measurements -> He who understands measurements will solve his own problems. Customers don't care about the color of the appliance with which you will fix the problems, but whether you will fix them. I have 35 years of experience in electronics and I have never been a slave to a brand or company! For me, the most important thing is that a given appliance does exactly what I need it for. And it doesn't matter if it is American, Japanese, Chinese or Russian, as long as it is better than others on the market in most indicators and of the same quality as them, then it is the wildest. The rest is fear and shame to admit that there is something better than the American one. Or simply put - Mania!
Agree, i love my Brymen, very accurate and many digits.
@@TonyAlbus Sorry for my bad English! Greetings and thanks for your work from Bulgaria!
@@valkost7541 Your english is perfect!.. no problem, greetings!
Fluke for life, I laugh at other people’s meters
Fluke is nice for sure, but don't just discard the Brymen... i was happenly surpriced
As the LPL says: I will do it one more time so you can see it is not a fluke......
Both were still very good after those years, very nice.
@@TonyAlbus My flukes do not last in the tropics at all!
@@LawpickingLocksmith Maybe the MAX version from fluke will, normal version IP30, the Max version IP67
👑👏👍👍👍👍
Thank you!
Why you always sound like you have a cold? Sounds like Scheveningen radio..
Guess thats my sound.
Me ..fluke 87 fluke 77 fluke 73 x2
Very nice Dennis!