The best car charger - Berkut, Jump Starter or Autostart?

Batteries are different, and not only by type and design, but also by the output voltage. For example, trucks use 24 volt batteries, while motorcycles use 6 volts. As for a passenger car, there is a 12-volt, the most common module, and most chargers are designed for it.

Since all of our nominees run their own microprocessor, they are able to distinguish between the type of battery and its class, but they are not able to understand what voltage it has. In most cases, manufacturers do not bother with this issue at all and simply make 12 volt devices. But among our nominees there are exceptions. There are three of them: Fubag, Artvey and Spec. These gadgets have a toggle button and can charge both 6 and 12 as well as 24 volt batteries. They become winners in the nomination. The rest of the participants share an honorable second place.

This is a very important parameter, since a portable starting device, unlike a mains one, cannot provide infinite power. Everyone has limits, and they are related to the size of the engine that needs to be cranked.If you take a small booster with the expectation of a 1.5-liter engine, and your car has a 3-liter unit, the device simply cannot crank it. Of course, if the battery is still breathing, it will help, but the calculation is done with a completely dead battery.

It should also be understood that there is a difference between gasoline and diesel units. On average, a more powerful device is required to start a diesel engine. And in order not to get confused and find out which starting device of the ones we are considering is the best, we present their parameters in the table:

The Fubag and Artvey models have the highest rates. This is a continuation of the charge voltage nomination. Gadgets are designed for more powerful batteries, and accordingly they are on large machines. If your car has a 6 liter engine, you will have to choose from only two options.

As for the rest of the participants, we will send Berkut, Autostart and Special to the second position. Their performance is higher than that of Xiaomi, but if you turn to the reviews, it becomes clear that it is Xiaomi that gives us the most honest, and even underestimated information. That is, in practice, Jump Starter is able to crank a larger engine, while other models have a critical value and, ideally, do not load the device before it. But be that as it may, our comparison concerns dry numbers, and they distributed the places in this way.

On average, it takes from 200 to 250 amperes to start a car engine. This is under favorable conditions and a warm climate. In winter, the value increases, and the lower the temperature, the stronger. The starting current level is one of the most important values. The starter charger must be suitable for your car, so be sure to check this point in the manual before buying.

However, here, as in many other categories, the rule “the more the better” works. The engine may have different conditions and general conditions may change, so a reserve is simply necessary. Although any portable launcher has a range, and often a very wide one:

As you can see, almost everyone has a stock, but Jump Starter shows the best result. In the peak position, it is capable of delivering 1000 amps of power and this is enough for any car, even completely frozen. An excellent result and a well-deserved first place. We will also send Artway here, whose peak value is only 200 less than that of Xiaomi. It's not bad too.

The second place belongs to SPEC, and the third place is shared by Fubag, Autostart and BERKUT. Moreover, Berkut is the weakest launcher on the list. It does not have a minimum value, but at the peak it will give out no more than 300 amperes. At the same time, the gadget has a special preheating function.That is, before starting, it first heats the engine, which means that its 300 amperes is the nominal value, and in practice the device will cope with the same tasks as other models. But numbers are numbers, and it is they that distribute the places of the nominees who are included in the comparison.

The owners of modern batteries have already forgotten how complicated and painstaking the process of infection of an antimony block is. This is a whole art. Every couple of hours the current changes and the degree of charge is analyzed. The temperature and liquid level are controlled. On modern batteries, nothing needs to be controlled, so a portable charger simply charges your battery without telling you how this process is performed.

But if you have an old serviced unit, then you need a gadget from SPEC. Only it has the function of manually changing the charging current. You can control the process as much as possible, changing it depending on the degree of charge and liquid level. Other models do not have such a function, so we give the first place to SPEC UPZU-10000, and the rest of the participants share the honorable second position.

It takes a lot of energy to start the engine, and any nasty starter-charger is, in fact, a power bank. That is, they have their own battery, which transmits the energy of the car battery. Accordingly, the best device is the one with the most capacious battery on board.

The most capacious modules are on the Jump Starter, Artway and Fubag models. They have 18 thousand milliamps. For the rest of the nominees, this value was set at about 10 thousand. There are small discrepancies, such as, for example, in the Special, where 9600 units, but this difference is no longer critical, so we will not take it into account and send all participants to an honorable second place.

Since a portable start-up charger is, in fact, a power bank, you can not only start a car from it, but also charge mobile gadgets. And for this you need connectors for connection. All participants included in the comparison have them:

As you can see, the sets are almost the same. For example, everyone has a standard USB connector, and Autostart even has a third generation, although it is not entirely clear why it is here. But Fubag has the richest equipment, where there are two of all exits. Even 12 volt plugs. We give him the first place, which he shares with Xiaomi. The Chinese is the only one who has a Type-C connector, as well as two types of USB. Artvey and Spets share the second place. They have two USBs and one 12 volt output through a plug. And Autostart and Berkut have the most modest content, so only the third position.

When charging the battery, I want to know what processes are happening at the moment. This is important to control the process and not harm the battery. The more indicators, the more information and the better. The richest equipment is at Berkut. There are a lot of sensors here. There are charge level inductors, working status, and even temperature. Everything you wanted to know has its own LED.

The situation is similar for the Spec. It also shows the charge level and voltage in the battery. You can control the current strength and other parameters.These two gadgets can already be called semi-professional, so we boldly give them the first position in the nomination.

Second place went to Artvey. This is the only gadget that has a liquid crystal display. However, it cannot be called the most informative. The device gives little information and, in fact, on the screen you see only the battery level, and the rest of the information remains hidden. Well, Jump Starter, Autostart and Fubag go to the third line. All of them show only working status. That is, you understand whether the battery is being charged or not, and nothing more.

A starter-charger is a gadget with a complex filling, even if you can’t tell by its appearance. It should not only start the car, but also protect it from various problems associated with the supply of high current. The launcher can be either very simple or as sophisticated as possible, which is clearly seen in the table:

There are two winners in the nomination: Jump Starter and BERKUT, while their purpose is slightly different. Xiaomi once again made a gadget that is as simple and safe as possible to use. Even if you don’t understand how a car works at all, you won’t make a fatal mistake with such a device. Loads of protective features packed into an attractive body. And Berkut is rather a semi-professional device aimed at maximum information content and performance. There are not a lot of protective options here, but there are such necessary modules as cold start and preheating.

Artvey can be sent to the second position, as he has protection for automotive electronics. But let's put other participants here too, since Artvey's option looks good on paper, but it's completely incomprehensible how it works. It is possible that it was added to the list by marketers, not engineers. But since we cannot say this, we will simply give second place to all participants.

The key word in the name of all the models included in the comparison is portable. This is not just a starting device, it is an autonomous one, and size and weight are very important here, since you will have to look for a place for it in luggage or cabin.Of course, the weight and dimensions are directly related to the capacity of the battery used, but even a small Berkut weighs more than a kilogram, since it has a lot of auxiliary electronics and indicators. But consider all the models in ascending order of their weight:

Here we clearly see that the heaviest and most cumbersome devices are those with the maximum number of functions. Even the size of the battery does not play such a big role. We think it will be right to make two positions on the pedestal. Models weighing up to a kilogram fall on the first, and more than on the second.

The price is a fickle thing, but even its average value allows you to understand what range the gadget is in:

And this is where a lot falls into place. The starting portable device Autostart lost in most nominations, but took first place in the "size" and "price" categories. That is, this is the cheapest and most compact device, but the characteristics are appropriate. The more extensive the functionality, the higher the price tag, which is clearly seen in the products of Xiaomi, Berkut and Fubag. We send them to the third line. The second place goes to Artvey and Spets with an adequate price-quality ratio.

Places in the final table were distributed in such a way, because our comparison affected all aspects of gadgets, both basic and auxiliary. In this regard, two important clarifications need to be made.

Firstly, two participants scored the most points: SPEC UPZU-10000 and Artway JS-1014, although, in fact, they are completely different. Artvey is more of a booster. It can charge the battery, but the main parameters are sharpened specifically for starting the car. And Spets is a portable charger. There is an opportunity to control the current and charge level. There are many indicators and functions aimed at this aspect. Although he can also start a car.

Secondly, the bottom line was divided by two cardinally different devices both in terms of content and capabilities: Autostart 8000 and BERKUT JSC300С. They took first place only twice, but you need to pay attention in which nominations. Autostart is a simple, compact device that doesn't pick up stars from the sky.And Berkut is a gadget that claims to be a semi-professional tool. It has many protective and auxiliary options. This is a full-fledged booster and charger, and the price tag is appropriate here.

In general, drawing conclusions, we can say that if you need the most easy-to-use start-up charger, then you should look towards Autostart 8000, 70mai Jump Starter Max Midrive PS06, Artway JS-1014 and Fubag Drive 400. But if you are looking for not only a starting, but also a full-fledged charger, these are BERKUT JSC300C and SPEC UPZU-10000.