HDS272 Oscilloscope, 70MHz Bandwidth Dual Channel Oscilloscope Multiumeter, 2 in 1 Function 20,000 Counts Multiumeter 3.5" LCD for Electronic Measurement Circuit Design, Test, Repair

I took a chance with the 40mhz version and I am extremely happy with this unit. It's super portable, accurate, and easy to use. Perfect for field use. Doesn't have as many features of bench tops, but that's not it's point. Pitted against my certified calibrated Fluke 789 (voltage accuracy test), this thing is on the mark accurate. As stated by others, when in auto range, it's slow to settle, but when locked in a range, it's nice and snappy. This will perform just fine for troubleshooting in the field, mainly for discovering intermittent DC voltage drops/issues with industrial equipment and sensors (something DMMs can't do). Although the DMM test leads it comes with are worthless, those are easily replaced with better built leads. The probes are good, no picture but it performed well when connected to my signal generator with a 1-40Mhz sweep, begins to struggle a bit above 35Mhz, but that's beyond the scope of my needs for it in the field. Although it's ability to survive an industrial setting is yet to be determined, I'll take my chances and just treat it with care. For the price you can't beat it.

Just got the unit and unboxed it, and fired it up. tl;dr at the end. This is my review of the particular 'kit' I purchased that came with some extra probes. What I got was: a) The HDS242S scope - 2 channels 40MHz + signal generator b) 1x/10x probe with adjustment screw at the solid BNC connector + bag of adjustment tool, tips, color rings c) 1x/10x probe with adjustment screw at the probe end w/ slim plastic BNC connector + bag of adjustment tool, tips, color rings d) two metal BNC to alligator clip leads e) a red/black pair of configurable leads where you screw on your choice of item to the two ends of the leads. Included ends: needle screw on probe (x2), needle screw on bare ends (x2), bare banana post screw on (x4), bare screw on fork spade connector (x2), red and black covered alligator clips (x2 each color) - so you can built some custom ended cables for use with the multi-meter function. f) USB A to USB C charge cable g) USB A DC power supply block to plug into mains h) pair of multimeter probes - vinyl covered I think. i) BNC to BNC cable j) manuals and soft sided zip case Good: 1) The display is nice and bright - have not tested it outside in the sunlight yet.. that is tbd 2) Boot up and shut down time are nice and quick. 3) The compensation of the probes was easy and they were nearly perfect, if not already dead on. Annoyances: 4) The adjustment of scales and triggering source/setting are a bit odd, given its all done over push buttons that server multiple purposes - but once you use it a few times, I think the process will be much easier. 5) There is way too much stuff to fit in the box. With just 2 oscope probes and the 2 multimeter leads - the soft box is almost full. Keep in the webbing front the adjustment screwdriver and the BNC-BNC cable for use with the function generator, and the USB-A to USB-C charging cable, and there is little room other 4 leads nor the mains-usbC charging adapter. So if all of the stuff (a-j) much of it just wont fit in the storage box... so it’s really too much, as you have to store the other bits somewhere. As a result just storing the the leads and scope in the soft side box on the bench left a scratch in the screen where a metal part of one of the many things in the box rubbed against the screen (see photo). 6) The manuals won't fit in to box - ok, give you have to store all the extra junk somewhere its not a huge deal, but would be nice, if the manual was just slighly smaller or better the box was slighly larger, so the manuals would fit in the bottom (and maybe even all the extra stuff). 7) the stand folds out with a hard crack sound on the plastic - and it is felt through the unit. It “feels” like the thing could break. However this is only the sharp plastic edge that is the lock pivot point. And if you own and close the stand a few dozen times, then that sharp edge gets worn rounder and the had “crack” goes away and becomes a looser smoother click and works well (see photo of the area). So this can be fixed. Problems: 8) The two probes are different - the one that comes with the scope vs the added one my seller packaged in to ensure there are two scope probes in the kit (as its a 2 channel scope). Problem is the 2nd probe's BNC end is cheap and too tight - pulling it off of the scope takes way more force than I'd expect - you worry if you are going to wear out or break something. It will likely wear in, but I'd rather have had less of the extra odd stuff ( like skip the configurable leads - item e) and instead just gotten packed in another like higher quality probe. 9) Because the probes are different, their pointy probe ends are actually slightly differently sized - such that the yellow special tips to center or to shield the tip (if the hook cover is removed) - do NOT fit on the other probe. You cannot get the slightly smaller diameter covers on the slightly larger probe, and the slightly larger cover will not hold on the slightly smaller probe tip. That is really sad - that there isn't enough production tolerance control in the factories that make these to be ensure these common parts are all make to the same sizes. 10) questionable component quality control and lack of web support - unable to even check what the current firmware version is, which is a red flag that any software issues in the unit won’t be fixed and updated ( like the annoying lag in auto ranging locking in on a value , while changing values are displayed so your never sure if the value shown is accurate). Additionally one of the clips with the unit came badly assembled / bent (see photo). tl;dr; In trying to differentiate from the many sellers of this owon scope/meter, they bundled in too much in cheap probes. Just having bundled in one additional full quality scope probe might have been enough. And Owon made the padded box too small for what it effectively needs to store. With the damaged new lead tip , midsized probes and their accessories , too small box and lack of suooort in returning it after a 2 days - hoping Owon will update the units with a new revision that fixes the issues.

My DMM use ranges from heavy electrical, automotive, low voltage prototyping, and delicate repairs; so, it is nice to have a single go-to tool that I can grab for use in any paradigm. I have found this meter/scope to be intuitive in its use, and regard the manual as unnecessary as a reference, other than to consult specifications and maximum/minimum boundaries for measurements. If you have ever used a DMM or DSO, you will likely also find this to be the case. In comparing measurements with a calibrated Fluke DMM, and a calibrated Owon DSO, I find no discrepancy in measurements between this device and the DMM and DSO which I already use. This is of primary benefit in that, where I need a field o-scope, this is much lighter and easier to bring into play than my bench scope--despite my bench scope being quite portable. Additionally, where I would normally grab my Fluke, this presents no additional burden in using but, it confers upon me the additional benefit of a high contrast display for E-I-R measurements, along with the ability to move over to scope view to spot transients which may be a root cause for a fault mode in a piece of equipment. While the scope-mode does have its limitations, as compared to a bench DSO, I have found that those limitations do not express themselves in my particular field use cases. The display is easy on my eyes, even in higher ambient light situations, as long as there is no direct sunlight cast upon the display face, I'm good to go. Particularly appreciated is the large character display for direct measurements, which happens to be my preferred white-on-black mode of display, which is far easier on my eyes than trying to squint and discern what is being displayed on my Fluke. It uses standard 18650 Li-Ion cells, which are easily accessed to swap-out with the extra charged cells that I carry with me, so I don't find it to be inconvenient that it does chew through cells faster than the less capable competitor meters do. Swap-out the cells as soon as you see a "low battery" notice, put the old cells on the charger, and keep moving. When I consider the accuracy and feature set of this tool, as compared to the monetary outlay to obtain it; and make the same comparison with the competing and "traditional" brands that I am used to using, this tool comes out on top, for my needs.