Will put it here, as it can be helpful info for this device. You got secondary features. * Double mid button will activate menu. * Holding mid button will lock it. * Holding right button will enter "presets" where you can save values with 10 presets (0-9) and OCP & OVP for each.. You cycle with thumb-wheel and select with buttons. * Holding left button will power on or power down... you can adjust in menu how it shall react when you attach power.. "on or off". * Doube left button will enter USB slaxxmode (lol your not allowed to write that word..spooky censored PC world) USB slaxx-mode so you can control it remotely with a wireless mouse or keyboard etc (you just plug in your wireless dongle into the USB-A socket) and you can control it remotely, its fiddly when doing minute differences, as its the mousewheel that cycles values * You can get out of the V/A adjustment highlight-mode, by holding either of the three buttons for a short while, so you don't have to rely on time for the V/A-highlight to dissapear.. You can dial in your choosed input-voltage and what PD value you wanna use in the DP100 menu.. 5v. 9v. 12v. 15v. 20v..it will also do Qualcomm protocols so 5V, 9v, 12V... and you can also just run it from old school USB-A 5V, but its a bucked device (no boost) so you will only obtain voltage control below your voltage input level. I run mine from PD3.1 140W powerbank (Anker737), so 28v 5A but I need to trigger the 28V PD3.1 protocol on the cable, as not many end products got PD3.1 support.. same with DP100 it support max PD3.0 protocol.. so natively its max 20V 5A, that again matches with its rating 100W. . but you can always just feet it what every DC voltage you like. it doesn't have to be one of the modern charge protocols, and why they incl. the TypeC to DC barrel adapter, so you can use any old laptop PSU with DC barrel 5.5x2.5/2.1 or you can use a RC LIPO pack.. in the voltage you prefer, and just run it from that.. it accept 5v to 32v input. its very tolerant for the DC voltage sources it will work with. I love how Dave almost take offense, as its fronting on his little precious MicroSupply-turf that were a sexy little thing (no doubt) that sadly never saw daylight and likely wont, when you can get 100W adj. PSU at these prices. Dave.. please be careful with your price-thumbnails as they ain't representative... your showing "Welcome Deal prices".. that really ain't representative.. as Aliexpress will eat a good chunk of the cost when there is a "welcome deal banner".. please log into Aliexpress to see the real prices. Its a relative new Chinese upstarter that are making these "Atomic".. if I recall AlienTek is just a western intended brandname... but its Punctual Atom.. that are making it.. they also make a few other tools. Soldering Iron, small Logic Analyzer, small handheld scope, heatgun with brushless motor, and some other stuff.. I got a thread on EEVblog. There is also PC software with english language, but I couldn't get it to work when I dug down into it ½ year back on the 2 units I purchased (fw v1.4_1.4).. - when trying to run the software it popped up with a small window that were a pain to close again. :-/ An example of the PC software ua-cam.com/video/kgAZ4y6v4Oc/v-deo.htmlsi=sJ8x-7lMMHN2vKoO&t=47
I was just about to purchase one then saw your tweet about editing. The only thing is it is not pc control? Ok better buy it tonight as the price is rising!
Dave's micro-supply is the reason why I subscribed to this channel in its infancy while I was in highschool. Since then I've graduated, post-graduated, jobbed, housed and kidded. Still would like a micro-supply :^)
Thank you very much from Paris, with the help of subtitle your video is a true retro-engineering , i have the tiny scope, the tiny logic analyser, but now i need this tiny power supply i will have 3 measuring tools never used, only tested after the unboxing..
That's not true, he has done some positive reviews of things like that in the past, including a $12 multimeter, and of course scopes. The truth is, we are spoilt nowadays, we can do some serious electronics at very affordable costs. For $300, we can have a DMM, a 2 channel 20MHz scope, a soldering statiion, a power supply, and a Raspberry Pi 4, all of those with pretty decent performance. This allows quite a lot of things.
I'm not really sure, but I'm starting to think this is because the Chinese has started to rise their overall quality. But i may be wrong, so pls nevermind.
Not the first for sure. He did several positive "cheap tech" revievs earlier too. Particularly about another power supply - Riden RD6006. I bought that power supply after Dave's review and so far I have not regretted it.
This thing has a relatively simple (but undocumented) HID interface that supports control and monitoring over the USB A port! There's apparently windows software and a library available, but I decompiled the library for reference and built a proof of concept browser-based interface using WebHID called webdp100 that doesn't require any application to be installed. I'd love to see someone take that concept and run with it to build a full-featured cross-platform computer interface!
Should AlienTek see this comment, UX suggestion: offer the option for larger font and icons. Then, when nothing is selected for adjustment and the thumbwheel is otherwise unused, use the thumbwheel to page between readouts. Maybe flip back to the icons automatically if there's a fault (i.e. user reached ISet and we're current-limited) so we see the red light. Neat little box, though, and a textbook example of what Dave would be competing against with the uSupply.
this, with a small battery pack (even if it's external) would be a game changer. coupled with a DMM that has the same form factor and a usb-c powered soldering iron, i can pack my whole lab into a small backpack pocket
I bought the unit a few months ago. I am very impressed with its capabilities and accuracy! Highly recommend! Hopefully AlienTek will release a Unit with larger Screen and maybe dual or more outputs ;-)
Nice review. I just received and tested mine on Thursday. Software is good, but I emailed them some suggestions. They responded, so I am hopeful. Anyway, best part is the portability. This Dp100 plus SharGeek 140W GaN charger are perfect match. Thanks Alientek.
It's a nice bit of kit, but would really like to have a display where I don't need to wear my glasses to see it. That's why Dave's "Not For Sale" supply would find a home in my shop.
@@lolilollolilol7773 They're meeting a price point. The fact it has USB control should eliminate all the screen size issues. If the firmware is updatable/UI customizable, the screen has a lot of potential for a better setup (left right buttons to swap screens, hold center to modify, tap center to select items/confirm changes, left to go back while modifying, scroll to change items/change values). Such a tiny screen greatly benefits from not trying to cram viewing everything on the same screen and could be more than adequate for such a small power supply adapter.
Was expecting you to be quite critical of it. Positively surprised it seems to have gotten your stamp of approval! I might get it because I need a beginner bench psu. Been soldering and doing little things here and there for 20 years but haven't bought an adjustable psu yet because they are all so expensive.
I've been using one of the cheap Chinese ZK-4KX buck-boost adjustable power supplies for years now. Works fine for my purposes, and I used the box it came in along with some salvaged speaker terminals from an old amplifier to make an enclosure. One set of terminals is adjustable, and the other is switched directly to the input, so I have fixed 12v available at all times too.
@@Kevin75668 I've had a ZK4-KX mounted in my ATX power supply for a few years. I also still have all the usual fixed voltages, but use the ZK when needed, and it works great, been very handy. Recently, I found I need 36V for something, with a quick search I found you can now buy a ZK-5KX - 0.6V-36V - 0-5A, with a heatsink mounted cooling fan. It has the same size panel dimensions as the 4KX, just a little deeper with the fan. It should be an easy direct swap into my existing ATX supply for a nice V + C upgrade without having to modify the panel cut out or any internal wiring etc.👍🇦🇺
I believe that "Diode" across the output is a SMAJ28CA TVS diode, the YG marking and package matches. Sure seems like they put a lot of effort into making this supply!
What a cute little functional device. I can see that being used in prototyping when you need specific voltages. The fact is comes in carry case and fits in your pocket awesome. I shall have to add it to my kit bag. Great review. Thanks for sharing.
One of the reasons I started following back in the day was because of the μSupply! It looks like there is plenty of space for a buck/boost/sepic converter on the input but it would be much less efficient. ≤97% seems unbelievably good!
I think you got it wrong wrt. the switching mosfets - the single one is the switch, the 2 paralleled are the synchronous rectifiers, which is what I expect given that the dominant loss in a buck converter is typically the switching loss in the upper mosfet. For maximum efficiency the switch needs to switch as fast as possible which is made easier by minimising the gate charge of the switch fet (so long as it's conduction losses don't then dominate). The sync fets don't suffer switching loss so reducing the conduction losses by paralleling 2 fets can often improve efficiency. It's all a compromise of course; the ratio of input to output voltage determines which source of loss predominates.
That is only true for low output voltages like CPU VRM does. When output voltage can be 0-99% of input one - 2 high side switches seem better than 2 low side ones to me. Majority of switching loss happens in high side switch so keeping lowering and spreading conduction losses there seems reasonable.
@@volodumurkalunyak4651 Using 2 high side FETs will halve the high side conduction loss but it may come at considerable cost in switching loss given the drive current to/from the high side gate driver (the MP9228) now has to be shared between two FETs; halving the drive current to charge the gate capacitance could double the switching time and switching loss. In reality it probably wouldn't be as bad as that in this case - the MP9228 should be able to switch 2 x RUH4040M2 FETs reasonably quickly (< 25ns) but still slower than a single FET. The conduction loss reduction could be more than undone by the extra switching losses, the extra power for the gate charge and the extra output capacitance loss of the 2nd FET. [EDIT] On the other hand, the minimum switching time may well be limited by EMI requirements more than the gate driver's ability. The lower, sync, FET(s) do not suffer significant switching loss so using more (or larger) FETs reduces the low side conduction losses (at output voltages < 0.5 x input voltage) for the extra gate charge and output capacitance losses. The benefit from having 2 sync FETs doesn't appear to be great however.
dave to the rescue, saw this on my aliexpress and was interested. same day I saw it I also see this video on it. finished the video and immediately bought one!
Really needs a bigger display, plenty of room to put it on the top of the case, and use the rest of the PCB layout on the main board still, only needs to have that encoder not installed, with a SMD socket in place of it (likely same footprint is available for one) with a small lead to the encoder, and as a bonus gives a bit more room to have the buttons as well. Going to make the case a bit thicker, but now you can have it either mounted on a flat vertical surface, or flat on the bench, with no extra work. Also rotate it so display is mounted so leads come out bottom, and gives real estate for a decent display in same form factor (going to cost a little more for display over the dinky colour OLED though, probably will have to be a small colour LCD with backlight instead, likely a drop in replacement) and some larger switches, with a regular encoder as well. Easily reuse the main PCB and button board, along with output jack board, and then, because you now have 10mm between board and top, put 5 small stick on heatsinks on the power switches to keep them cool.
I just got one delivered yesterday because of this video, it really is a hidden gem on AliEx!! It really feels solid and quite a nice build quality. The screen isn't quite as hard to read for me as Dave makes out and the default brightness is only 50%. I'm really happy with it so far. Deilvered in 8 days to the Old Dart for about £50 all in 👍
It would have been better with a larger display mounted in the top of the case and dedicated output on/off, voltage and current buttons. At least output seems to be fairly clean for a switcher as long as you don't run it from a USB power brick. I would have preferred Anderson Powerpole connectors for the input though.
I bought this some months ago for ~$45 and was impressed with it. I figured as soon as some big enough tech reviewer reviews this, the price will immediately go up. Always does. And that day has come...
I've found the detail of the chip with silkscreen ‘GEE’ on the output board. It's AP2502 4-CH Linear Constant Current Sink With Matching. Make sense for driving 4 LEDs at the output port.
For its size and that you can use your laptops' usb-c supply it almost the perfect travel supply. Would like to see a boost version of it, or an AC input to get the 30V/5A. Being able to control it via usb is a killer feature!
Dave, your review did it for me. Just put my order in before the price shoots up. 47USD. Free shipping. Don't need all the fancy cables and power supplies. Have those already. Mustn't grumble.
Maybe the thermal pad across the two parallel MOSFETs is just to keep them both at the same temperature? If they're just hardwired in parallel, it could be important that one doesn't get a lot warmer and start to runaway with more than it's share of the load?
Looks a lot like it was based on the Miniware MDP-P906 which I reviewed some time ago (complete with magic smoke when it blew up, and then I fixed it too), this unit is certainly a lot cheaper though, but they did copy a lot from Miniware.
This looks similar to the FNB58 .. that is a USB tester. It has a similar display and can act as a power supply also. I wouldn't be surprised if it were the same electronics on the inside.. It even has a built in oscilloscope and even some sort of software app used on PC to go with it. It would be a great comparison to this thing.. The features and setup are very similar.
No. FNB58 is just a USB Tester. You can trigger different fast charging protocols and monitor the load parameters. But it is not a power supply like this one.
@@OGRTD It definitely is.. It even comes with a USB to alligator wires.. While plugged into a USB-c. you can set the output as 5v, 9v, 12v and 20v and use it as a power supply. Most of the major video reviews show this too. I don't think it's as powerful as this one though.
The two paralleled mosfets are low-side not high side, their drains (pins 5..8) go to the high side mosfet's source (pins 1..3). The output diode is a SMAJ28CA, bidirectional TVS.
I bought one several months ago. It is amazing, I love it. I put my chonky bench power supply in storage. But I havent installed the PC software for it yet because it is on some weird Baidu shared drive.
Good ripple measurements, but that's when it's new. I seen many PSU's which were very good as new, but terrible after a couple of 1000 hours. What makes the difference here is capacitor quality and brands. Rubycon is one brand that usually holds up, even for decades if the power supply is properly constructed.
Great video, so the TLDR is probably - surprisingly good for $78AUD, lots of features, well made with decent components and respectable noise! That's awesome!
I have that DP100 form late December ordered. The price in not very different from now. I paid about 56$ with dicounts to EU, AE prices go up after every sale events so jut wait some time and it will go down again. Also Alientek T80/80P soldering irons are also very good. I just received my T80 C210 compatible version. I am suprised how small and handy us that soldering iron. It is also very light and made from full metal body. My USB-C cable weight much more compared to T80 weight.
I got a DC->DC buck boost converter that's like this, but not in a ready made box. This looks like a version of that, without the boost. They are handy, but the menu system is a bit awkward. I use it as a portable PS and battery charger. I only paid $22 and I've seen them in the $15 range, but you have to supply the box and connectors.
This company “正点原子” was founded by some electronics enthusiasts, I bought their Microcontroller develop kits couple years ago, really good for students or engineers on budget
I do have some cheap "USB DESKTOP POWER" supply that I use for experiments, it is powered from USB-C as well. It has a lot less features like this one, but it DOES have a buck/boost converter!
Really interesting product. @EEVblog could you check the curve response when powering something by touching the alligator and not the software output on. Usually power supplies generate a quite high overshoot that can damage some devices.
There is a tiny LiPO/LiIon/etc charger (B6 Neo) that takes USB C PD input and also has DC power supply mode. The thing is tiny. It can't go down in amperage as far but for emergency power supply, charger, etc. I end up using it more than I use my power supply for most things that don't need a bigger supply.
The diode across output pos and neg might be something emmmm.... deliberate. In some designs, to prevent someone from accidentally connecting a power source in the wrong polarity to output pins, they add a diode with a huge rated current and hope the external power source fries or triggers its own protection.
Looks amazing! Just having a usb-c power lead worries me though, if you use the adapter cable to get 30 volts, I’m guessing that means you have a constant, unprotected 30 volts on a usb-c killer right on the desk where you might be plugging in usb-c devices that are incapable of such voltages. So for 30V I would have preferred an additional barrel input. Having it also work on usb-c is amazing though.
There seems to be a trend everywhere that designers and marketers can assume that all users are 25 years old and can read ridiculously small fonts. To me that is a total show stopper. Too bad.... Thanks for the video. It is appreciated.
They can be handy and are very cute, but for some reason nothing beats just a potentiometer. Fiddling with these rotary encoders always feels a bit meh.
I don't see "EPR" in the top comments so I'll add it here. To get 30V from the supply without the barrel jack to usb-c cable, you need an "EPR" (Extended Power Range) capable usb pd 3.1 power supply as that is the spec that offers voltages beyond 20V up to 48V. Addendum: Oh the pd ic itself in the supply doesn't support EPR? That's lame. I'd be curious to see you review the Pinecil v2 which through EPR is 140W capable using a low resistance tip.
I have the miniware load and screen and wanted to add the little power supply, it can buck and boost, but this is so much cheaper. Hard to decide. A few of aloentek's products seem to be following what miniware is doing
I love Miniware gadgets, i mainly play around with MMCUs , led controllers, 3d printers and fairly small ee projects and im fairly limited on space so I love their very smal lbult very nice builts tools.. Note that i've never tried any high end gear but these are plenty good for me... Currently dont have this PSU , but it's awesome so im gonna order one :)
Dave you might wanna check out the zk-dp3d power supply. It takes usb a, micro usb or usb c and you can go from 1 to 30v and 0-2A. However if the output is over 15w it will shut off after a bit to protect itself from overheating. It’s only 9$ including shipping. It’s less quality than that one you showed in the video but on the go this one is pretty good
Looks like they used an already engineered case for a desktop DAC/AMP or headphone AMP given the button/wheel and silkscreen layout. Appears very similar to some other devices I've used and seen. It's a great form factor for travel work. If only it was available with an internal battery for being in the field. Similar to something like a NanoVNA or the little Hantek oscilloscopes.
I bought one as it seemed handy as a field kit device, a little bit more than just a dumb powerpack or using the negotiation adapters. Complaint would be, wish the display had a mode to display less but larger and a setting for a peak holding display (pretty sure it doesn't peak-hold per sample period, not sure if it's average or just direct sample). The update rate for the feedback measurement on the display is really too slow to catch anything on. ED - also the metal barrels could do with a bit more insulation bulk... I suppose there's a convenience of being able to probe them or apply one directly against something but they seem far too exposed with just the little coloured ring around the screw sleeve.
I still like a good old knob for adjusting stuff... All the multi function ideas for doing things with 3 buttons are such a pain in the neck when using gear all day long...
Seems like a nice supply to take with you on vacation. add a breadboard, arduino, small dmm and some jellybean parts and it should give you plenty to play around with in my opinion.
I totally forgot to test the software control via USB feature, apparently it has it.
need to try the usb and use it to revive old batts ....
Will put it here, as it can be helpful info for this device.
You got secondary features.
* Double mid button will activate menu.
* Holding mid button will lock it.
* Holding right button will enter "presets" where you can save values with 10 presets (0-9) and OCP & OVP for each.. You cycle with thumb-wheel and select with buttons.
* Holding left button will power on or power down... you can adjust in menu how it shall react when you attach power.. "on or off".
* Doube left button will enter USB slaxxmode (lol your not allowed to write that word..spooky censored PC world) USB slaxx-mode so you can control it remotely with a wireless mouse or keyboard etc (you just plug in your wireless dongle into the USB-A socket) and you can control it remotely, its fiddly when doing minute differences, as its the mousewheel that cycles values
* You can get out of the V/A adjustment highlight-mode, by holding either of the three buttons for a short while, so you don't have to rely on time for the V/A-highlight to dissapear..
You can dial in your choosed input-voltage and what PD value you wanna use in the DP100 menu.. 5v. 9v. 12v. 15v. 20v..it will also do Qualcomm protocols so 5V, 9v, 12V... and you can also just run it from old school USB-A 5V, but its a bucked device (no boost) so you will only obtain voltage control below your voltage input level.
I run mine from PD3.1 140W powerbank (Anker737), so 28v 5A but I need to trigger the 28V PD3.1 protocol on the cable, as not many end products got PD3.1 support.. same with DP100 it support max PD3.0 protocol.. so natively its max 20V 5A, that again matches with its rating 100W. .
but you can always just feet it what every DC voltage you like. it doesn't have to be one of the modern charge protocols, and why they incl. the TypeC to DC barrel adapter, so you can use any old laptop PSU with DC barrel 5.5x2.5/2.1 or you can use a RC LIPO pack.. in the voltage you prefer, and just run it from that.. it accept 5v to 32v input.
its very tolerant for the DC voltage sources it will work with.
I love how Dave almost take offense, as its fronting on his little precious MicroSupply-turf that were a sexy little thing (no doubt) that sadly never saw daylight and likely wont, when you can get 100W adj. PSU at these prices.
Dave.. please be careful with your price-thumbnails as they ain't representative... your showing "Welcome Deal prices".. that really ain't representative.. as Aliexpress will eat a good chunk of the cost when there is a "welcome deal banner".. please log into Aliexpress to see the real prices.
Its a relative new Chinese upstarter that are making these "Atomic".. if I recall AlienTek is just a western intended brandname... but its Punctual Atom.. that are making it.. they also make a few other tools.
Soldering Iron, small Logic Analyzer, small handheld scope, heatgun with brushless motor, and some other stuff.. I got a thread on EEVblog.
There is also PC software with english language, but I couldn't get it to work when I dug down into it ½ year back on the 2 units I purchased (fw v1.4_1.4).. - when trying to run the software it popped up with a small window that were a pain to close again. :-/
An example of the PC software ua-cam.com/video/kgAZ4y6v4Oc/v-deo.htmlsi=sJ8x-7lMMHN2vKoO&t=47
I was just about to purchase one then saw your tweet about editing.
The only thing is it is not pc control?
Ok better buy it tonight as the price is rising!
Hi dave can we put 2 identical 20000 mA in parallel as input to DP100 and have a mobile bench PSU ?
Usually I consider China product (own brand) not good, but sometimes there is exception like this, love to see them making good quality product!
Dave's micro-supply is the reason why I subscribed to this channel in its infancy while I was in highschool. Since then I've graduated, post-graduated, jobbed, housed and kidded. Still would like a micro-supply :^)
one day
I want to believe!
sounds like explanation why u cant afford it 😁
Thank you very much from Paris, with the help of subtitle your video is a true retro-engineering , i have the tiny scope, the tiny logic analyser, but now i need this tiny power supply i will have 3 measuring tools never used, only tested after the unboxing..
Agree. Really sad that he just dropped it
We are very happy that everyone likes our DP100 mini DC power supply----ALIENTEK😘
is it possible to ship the DP 100 to Germany? On Ali Express it says it won't ship
What is best UK purchase URL?
haha
Our store can be opened through Mr. Dave’s link@@evanvenn
Sorry, friends, we are trying to find a way to open sales and delivery in Germany.@@janh.4943
This might a milestone, first positive review by Dave of something costing less than 100,000$
That's not true, he has done some positive reviews of things like that in the past, including a $12 multimeter, and of course scopes.
The truth is, we are spoilt nowadays, we can do some serious electronics at very affordable costs. For $300, we can have a DMM, a 2 channel 20MHz scope, a soldering statiion, a power supply, and a Raspberry Pi 4, all of those with pretty decent performance. This allows quite a lot of things.
Flaws are flaws.. you can't just ignore them
I'm not really sure, but I'm starting to think this is because the Chinese has started to rise their overall quality.
But i may be wrong, so pls nevermind.
Not the first for sure. He did several positive "cheap tech" revievs earlier too. Particularly about another power supply - Riden RD6006. I bought that power supply after Dave's review and so far I have not regretted it.
@@gregandark8571 It is because of china started to manufacture their own chips. That is the reason why products from china can be this cheap.
This thing has a relatively simple (but undocumented) HID interface that supports control and monitoring over the USB A port! There's apparently windows software and a library available, but I decompiled the library for reference and built a proof of concept browser-based interface using WebHID called webdp100 that doesn't require any application to be installed. I'd love to see someone take that concept and run with it to build a full-featured cross-platform computer interface!
Fascinating! Do you have a GitHub or something?
Sounds like you should put this into a Github repository to let others contribute...
@@dougle03 Indeed. Can't link outside UA-cam in comments though 🔎 "webdp100"
Man. This is the first review in a while I've seen where Dave didn't really have any major criticisms of a product. 😁
I was so impressed by that I bought one lol. Had to use Dave's link to get it$20 AU cheaper than just searching for it
I like this type of teardown n exploration of cheap but useful products.
Sheesh!….it’s tiny! If Dave had made it, it’d be called the nanoSupply.
Should AlienTek see this comment, UX suggestion: offer the option for larger font and icons. Then, when nothing is selected for adjustment and the thumbwheel is otherwise unused, use the thumbwheel to page between readouts. Maybe flip back to the icons automatically if there's a fault (i.e. user reached ISet and we're current-limited) so we see the red light. Neat little box, though, and a textbook example of what Dave would be competing against with the uSupply.
this, with a small battery pack (even if it's external) would be a game changer. coupled with a DMM that has the same form factor and a usb-c powered soldering iron, i can pack my whole lab into a small backpack pocket
I bought the unit a few months ago. I am very impressed with its capabilities and accuracy! Highly recommend! Hopefully AlienTek will release a Unit with larger Screen and maybe dual or more outputs ;-)
Nice review. I just received and tested mine on Thursday. Software is good, but I emailed them
some suggestions. They responded, so I am hopeful. Anyway, best part is the portability.
This Dp100 plus SharGeek 140W GaN charger are perfect match. Thanks Alientek.
Alientek also lists the DS100, a 2ch 50 MHz 250 MS hand held scope and component tester for
Love videos like this! Thanks for the effort you put into this, Dave. Much appreciated, man!
Had this one in my cart for some time. Saw your Twitter sneak peak and decided to buy before you make it sell out ;). Glad it passed the tests
While you waste time on Twitter, I buy the model X....
Dave you kept saying Alienware 😂😂😂
Damn, really?
It has light-up ports, it makes sense
@@EEVblog Yes lol. Listen to the Conclusion section.
$40 Gaming laptop! Ill buy ten!!!!
Built by slaves on alien rates. Every-time I order from Ali I pray to their god....
This is such a nice power supply. I need to find a use for this because I want it!
Thanks for the test
It's a nice bit of kit, but would really like to have a display where I don't need to wear my glasses to see it. That's why Dave's "Not For Sale" supply would find a home in my shop.
Yes, the screen could have been on the top of the unit and hence much bigger.
@@lolilollolilol7773 They're meeting a price point. The fact it has USB control should eliminate all the screen size issues. If the firmware is updatable/UI customizable, the screen has a lot of potential for a better setup (left right buttons to swap screens, hold center to modify, tap center to select items/confirm changes, left to go back while modifying, scroll to change items/change values). Such a tiny screen greatly benefits from not trying to cram viewing everything on the same screen and could be more than adequate for such a small power supply adapter.
Couldn't miss up the opportunity to tease us with the uSupply yet again, huh? :)
Was expecting you to be quite critical of it. Positively surprised it seems to have gotten your stamp of approval! I might get it because I need a beginner bench psu. Been soldering and doing little things here and there for 20 years but haven't bought an adjustable psu yet because they are all so expensive.
I've been using one of the cheap Chinese ZK-4KX buck-boost adjustable power supplies for years now. Works fine for my purposes, and I used the box it came in along with some salvaged speaker terminals from an old amplifier to make an enclosure. One set of terminals is adjustable, and the other is switched directly to the input, so I have fixed 12v available at all times too.
@@Kevin75668 I've had a ZK4-KX mounted in my ATX power supply for a few years.
I also still have all the usual fixed voltages, but use the ZK when needed, and it works great, been very handy.
Recently, I found I need 36V for something, with a quick search I found you can now buy a ZK-5KX - 0.6V-36V - 0-5A, with a heatsink mounted cooling fan.
It has the same size panel dimensions as the 4KX, just a little deeper with the fan.
It should be an easy direct swap into my existing ATX supply for a nice V + C upgrade without having to modify the panel cut out or any internal wiring etc.👍🇦🇺
I believe that "Diode" across the output is a SMAJ28CA TVS diode, the YG marking and package matches. Sure seems like they put a lot of effort into making this supply!
What? Dave guesses wrong again?
What a cute little functional device. I can see that being used in prototyping when you need specific voltages. The fact is comes in carry case and fits in your pocket awesome. I shall have to add it to my kit bag.
Great review. Thanks for sharing.
Nice break down video, Happy Easter God bless.
I guess they didn't silkscreen it so that they can sell it in any language market.
That’s exactly my thinking. Though power on/off does have an international symbol they could have used for that at least.
I reckon its a case used for multiple products, maybe an audio amp
They could have used symbols like I/O though, so your assumption does not make sense.
also likely that they reuse the same case among multiple devices
One of the reasons I started following back in the day was because of the μSupply!
It looks like there is plenty of space for a buck/boost/sepic converter on the input but it would be much less efficient. ≤97% seems unbelievably good!
I think you got it wrong wrt. the switching mosfets - the single one is the switch, the 2 paralleled are the synchronous rectifiers, which is what I expect given that the dominant loss in a buck converter is typically the switching loss in the upper mosfet. For maximum efficiency the switch needs to switch as fast as possible which is made easier by minimising the gate charge of the switch fet (so long as it's conduction losses don't then dominate).
The sync fets don't suffer switching loss so reducing the conduction losses by paralleling 2 fets can often improve efficiency. It's all a compromise of course; the ratio of input to output voltage determines which source of loss predominates.
That is only true for low output voltages like CPU VRM does. When output voltage can be 0-99% of input one - 2 high side switches seem better than 2 low side ones to me. Majority of switching loss happens in high side switch so keeping lowering and spreading conduction losses there seems reasonable.
@@volodumurkalunyak4651 Using 2 high side FETs will halve the high side conduction loss but it may come at considerable cost in switching loss given the drive current to/from the high side gate driver (the MP9228) now has to be shared between two FETs; halving the drive current to charge the gate capacitance could double the switching time and switching loss.
In reality it probably wouldn't be as bad as that in this case - the MP9228 should be able to switch 2 x RUH4040M2 FETs reasonably quickly (< 25ns) but still slower than a single FET. The conduction loss reduction could be more than undone by the extra switching losses, the extra power for the gate charge and the extra output capacitance loss of the 2nd FET. [EDIT] On the other hand, the minimum switching time may well be limited by EMI requirements more than the gate driver's ability.
The lower, sync, FET(s) do not suffer significant switching loss so using more (or larger) FETs reduces the low side conduction losses (at output voltages < 0.5 x input voltage) for the extra gate charge and output capacitance losses. The benefit from having 2 sync FETs doesn't appear to be great however.
dave to the rescue, saw this on my aliexpress and was interested. same day I saw it I also see this video on it. finished the video and immediately bought one!
the DP makes it a keeper!
Really needs a bigger display, plenty of room to put it on the top of the case, and use the rest of the PCB layout on the main board still, only needs to have that encoder not installed, with a SMD socket in place of it (likely same footprint is available for one) with a small lead to the encoder, and as a bonus gives a bit more room to have the buttons as well. Going to make the case a bit thicker, but now you can have it either mounted on a flat vertical surface, or flat on the bench, with no extra work. Also rotate it so display is mounted so leads come out bottom, and gives real estate for a decent display in same form factor (going to cost a little more for display over the dinky colour OLED though, probably will have to be a small colour LCD with backlight instead, likely a drop in replacement) and some larger switches, with a regular encoder as well. Easily reuse the main PCB and button board, along with output jack board, and then, because you now have 10mm between board and top, put 5 small stick on heatsinks on the power switches to keep them cool.
I believe, the Chinese text on the underside of the Pcb "正点原子" translates to "Punctual Atom"......I guess the tag line used by AlienTek.
NO,"正点原子"These words are our brand name in China, and the foreign brand name is "ALIENTEK"
Looked really good for the price!
Happy almost 1 mil subs btw :)
Long way to go to 1M at the current rate
Not looking too bad when checking out socialblade stats. I give it 18 months max
Dave's been at 930k or so for like 3 years 😂
I just got one delivered yesterday because of this video, it really is a hidden gem on AliEx!!
It really feels solid and quite a nice build quality. The screen isn't quite as hard to read for me as Dave makes out and the default brightness is only 50%.
I'm really happy with it so far. Deilvered in 8 days to the Old Dart for about £50 all in 👍
It would have been better with a larger display mounted in the top of the case and dedicated output on/off, voltage and current buttons.
At least output seems to be fairly clean for a switcher as long as you don't run it from a USB power brick. I would have preferred Anderson Powerpole connectors for the input though.
That is awesome I want to stack up 10 of them right now
Just a day later, and the price has already increased by $10.
Still not bad at that price.
I bought this some months ago for ~$45 and was impressed with it. I figured as soon as some big enough tech reviewer reviews this, the price will immediately go up. Always does. And that day has come...
I like that you open things up and go through all the guts.
I've found the detail of the chip with silkscreen ‘GEE’ on the output board. It's AP2502 4-CH Linear Constant Current Sink With Matching.
Make sense for driving 4 LEDs at the output port.
I recognize these illuminated connectors and power cables from the MINIWARE power supply 😉
For its size and that you can use your laptops' usb-c supply it almost the perfect travel supply.
Would like to see a boost version of it, or an AC input to get the 30V/5A.
Being able to control it via usb is a killer feature!
Wow! Not one single serious criticism from Dave. This one is a keeper.
Dave, your review did it for me. Just put my order in before the price shoots up. 47USD. Free shipping. Don't need all the fancy cables and power supplies. Have those already.
Mustn't grumble.
Nice and neat, but I prefer the Fnirsi buck boost, 7V minimum input.
Maybe the thermal pad across the two parallel MOSFETs is just to keep them both at the same temperature? If they're just hardwired in parallel, it could be important that one doesn't get a lot warmer and start to runaway with more than it's share of the load?
You are soooo crazy funny... The Cables Are Smoking..! 33:08
Wow, I am actually really impressed with that little power supply! good features, pretty low output ripple ! What a fine bit of kit there
29:19 i can't believe you didn't give us a demonstration of how much of a difference the shielding makes vs "touching the housing with a human hand"
It goes away completely.
Reminds me a little of MiniWare MDP-P906 it's just another price level.
That is cool, I have wanted to use my portable power banks as a current source, and that would do so nicely.
One of the few times I've seen your version of effuse praise for a cheap product, great find!
Looks a lot like it was based on the Miniware MDP-P906 which I reviewed some time ago (complete with magic smoke when it blew up, and then I fixed it too), this unit is certainly a lot cheaper though, but they did copy a lot from Miniware.
This looks similar to the FNB58 .. that is a USB tester. It has a similar display and can act as a power supply also. I wouldn't be surprised if it were the same electronics on the inside.. It even has a built in oscilloscope and even some sort of software app used on PC to go with it. It would be a great comparison to this thing.. The features and setup are very similar.
No. FNB58 is just a USB Tester. You can trigger different fast charging protocols and monitor the load parameters. But it is not a power supply like this one.
@@OGRTD It definitely is.. It even comes with a USB to alligator wires.. While plugged into a USB-c. you can set the output as 5v, 9v, 12v and 20v and use it as a power supply. Most of the major video reviews show this too. I don't think it's as powerful as this one though.
The two paralleled mosfets are low-side not high side, their drains (pins 5..8) go to the high side mosfet's source (pins 1..3). The output diode is a SMAJ28CA, bidirectional TVS.
This was a great review! Much obliged.
Looks nice - would love to see an output noise comparison against the Miniware competitors
Ripper video Dave! Watching in Venice from Melbourne
I bought one several months ago. It is amazing, I love it. I put my chonky bench power supply in storage. But I havent installed the PC software for it yet because it is on some weird Baidu shared drive.
Good ripple measurements, but that's when it's new. I seen many PSU's which were very good as new, but terrible after a couple of 1000 hours. What makes the difference here is capacitor quality and brands. Rubycon is one brand that usually holds up, even for decades if the power supply is properly constructed.
The case for that is literally meant for a Nintendo Switch. It's always interesting to find out where Chinese manufacturers cut costs and reuse stock.
I would immediately buy a larger version of this for the bench
Great video, so the TLDR is probably - surprisingly good for $78AUD, lots of features, well made with decent components and respectable noise! That's awesome!
This is cool, I might add this to my pelican case next to the USB C soldering iron...
I have that DP100 form late December ordered. The price in not very different from now. I paid about 56$ with dicounts to EU, AE prices go up after every sale events so jut wait some time and it will go down again. Also Alientek T80/80P soldering irons are also very good. I just received my T80 C210 compatible version. I am suprised how small and handy us that soldering iron. It is also very light and made from full metal body. My USB-C cable weight much more compared to T80 weight.
I got a DC->DC buck boost converter that's like this, but not in a ready made box. This looks like a version of that, without the boost. They are handy, but the menu system is a bit awkward. I use it as a portable PS and battery charger. I only paid $22 and I've seen them in the $15 range, but you have to supply the box and connectors.
Tempting to get one of these. But I frequently work with 24V stuff. Would be great if it was 140w rated, using 28V 5A.
This company “正点原子” was founded by some electronics enthusiasts, I bought their Microcontroller develop kits couple years ago, really good for students or engineers on budget
I do have some cheap "USB DESKTOP POWER" supply that I use for experiments, it is powered from USB-C as well.
It has a lot less features like this one, but it DOES have a buck/boost converter!
Low form-factor USB-C powered 100W PSU without a fan? Damn, I want it.
Really interesting product. @EEVblog could you check the curve response when powering something by touching the alligator and not the software output on. Usually power supplies generate a quite high overshoot that can damage some devices.
There is a tiny LiPO/LiIon/etc charger (B6 Neo) that takes USB C PD input and also has DC power supply mode. The thing is tiny. It can't go down in amperage as far but for emergency power supply, charger, etc. I end up using it more than I use my power supply for most things that don't need a bigger supply.
The diode across output pos and neg might be something emmmm.... deliberate. In some designs, to prevent someone from accidentally connecting a power source in the wrong polarity to output pins, they add a diode with a huge rated current and hope the external power source fries or triggers its own protection.
Wow Dave is possitive about something 😊
Looks amazing! Just having a usb-c power lead worries me though, if you use the adapter cable to get 30 volts, I’m guessing that means you have a constant, unprotected 30 volts on a usb-c killer right on the desk where you might be plugging in usb-c devices that are incapable of such voltages. So for 30V I would have preferred an additional barrel input. Having it also work on usb-c is amazing though.
I like the Miniware stuff but this seems to be a good alternative.
WOW！AlienTek！I used their STM32 devlopment board from 2010.
Very nice DP100 and a sweet RIGOL 12 bit Digital Oscilloscope DHO814. 😎 Thanks for an interesting video.
Hakko just announced its updated FX-888DX with an updated rotary encoder and an optional 95w iron and new colors!
There seems to be a trend everywhere that designers and marketers can assume that all users are 25 years old and can read ridiculously small fonts. To me that is a total show stopper. Too bad.... Thanks for the video. It is appreciated.
They can be handy and are very cute, but for some reason nothing beats just a potentiometer. Fiddling with these rotary encoders always feels a bit meh.
I don't see "EPR" in the top comments so I'll add it here.
To get 30V from the supply without the barrel jack to usb-c cable, you need an "EPR" (Extended Power Range) capable usb pd 3.1 power supply as that is the spec that offers voltages beyond 20V up to 48V. Addendum: Oh the pd ic itself in the supply doesn't support EPR? That's lame.
I'd be curious to see you review the Pinecil v2 which through EPR is 140W capable using a low resistance tip.
Those ChongX capaictors sometimes come with the word VEHT instead of VENT 😂
I have the miniware load and screen and wanted to add the little power supply, it can buck and boost, but this is so much cheaper. Hard to decide.
A few of aloentek's products seem to be following what miniware is doing
I just love his way of reviewing stuff xD
"It's crazy good" for those who want a summary of what Dave thinks of this little gem
Awesome, even the book is a RTfM perhaps the most hyped up Buck on ultra steroids?
45.00 USD is a good value. They sell them for $40 on Taobao for the Chinese market.
Awesome. Let's wait until the sellers sold their bulk & done with fiddling with their price hikes, and get one of them!!
Default power off is almost always preferred.
Ahh, retro EEV-Blog vibes, testing power supplies. Loved it! What are the two op-amps in this configuration for?
Great review ! I ordered one of them, let's try! :)
Would love to see what it does with a 100w Mac pro USB c power supply
I love Miniware gadgets, i mainly play around with MMCUs , led controllers, 3d printers and fairly small ee projects and im fairly limited on space so I love their very smal lbult very nice builts tools.. Note that i've never tried any high end gear but these are plenty good for me... Currently dont have this PSU , but it's awesome so im gonna order one :)
Dave you might wanna check out the zk-dp3d power supply. It takes usb a, micro usb or usb c and you can go from 1 to 30v and 0-2A. However if the output is over 15w it will shut off after a bit to protect itself from overheating. It’s only 9$ including shipping. It’s less quality than that one you showed in the video but on the go this one is pretty good
I mostly use mine when prototyping small boards based on ESP chips. I have several of them and they never let me down...
Looks like they used an already engineered case for a desktop DAC/AMP or headphone AMP given the button/wheel and silkscreen layout. Appears very similar to some other devices I've used and seen. It's a great form factor for travel work. If only it was available with an internal battery for being in the field. Similar to something like a NanoVNA or the little Hantek oscilloscopes.
It needs a Bluetooth Link Up to your phone so you can see the screen.
Why not? it has everything else!
I bought one as it seemed handy as a field kit device, a little bit more than just a dumb powerpack or using the negotiation adapters. Complaint would be, wish the display had a mode to display less but larger and a setting for a peak holding display (pretty sure it doesn't peak-hold per sample period, not sure if it's average or just direct sample). The update rate for the feedback measurement on the display is really too slow to catch anything on.
ED - also the metal barrels could do with a bit more insulation bulk... I suppose there's a convenience of being able to probe them or apply one directly against something but they seem far too exposed with just the little coloured ring around the screw sleeve.
I still like a good old knob for adjusting stuff... All the multi function ideas for doing things with 3 buttons are such a pain in the neck when using gear all day long...
Thanks
They may have the screen there so you can stack them vertically if you want a few units.
Seems like a nice supply to take with you on vacation.
add a breadboard, arduino, small dmm and some jellybean parts and it should give you plenty to play around with in my opinion.