SkyRC B6neo Mini Lipo Charger Review (Perfect for 1:28 RC Cars)

I've been looking to upgrade my lipo charger, to something smaller and better. SkyRC released this B6neo charger about 3 months ago. It requires an external DC power supply. Its specifications are quite impressive, but I only need it to charge my 1:28 300-400mah 2S lipo batteries. The packaging is pretty simple. We have the charger and a quick start guide. The full manual is available online. The charger is compact, approximately two decks of cards on top of each other. It's got a cooling fan underneath. An external DC power supply is required. What's convenient is that it can take either XT-60 and USB-C! As for output, we have XT-60 for main power output, plus the standard 6S capable JST-XH balance socket. For us 1:28 enthusiasts, let's compare the size of the charger with an actual Mini-Z MR-03EVO. Portability is a big deal because people bring their own chargers to the track and I prefer to travel as light as possible. Until now, I've been using another SkyRC charger, the B6AC v2. It's an older design, but it's been reliable. This model has an integrated power supply so it travels as one unit. B6neo is smaller, more featureful, and has a much improved display, but this is not a fair comparison without a power supply. I plan to use this Apple Macbook charger. Okay, let's power it on and see what's up. Modern chargers all come with nice LCD screens like this. Note I hadn't peeled off the protective film yet in this footage. The brightness is configurable, and it's visibility is good. I appreciate SkyRC putting three physical buttons here, instead of relying on touchscreens or thumb wheel or rockers. For me buttons are easier and precise to use. Let's browse through the main features. As expected, basically all types of battery chemistries are supported. For me, this is going to stay in the LiPo setting. This charger is capable of handling 6S. I need it for 2S charging duties. It can do the standard balanced charge, unbalanced charge, storage mode, and discharge. My batteries are standard with a max 4.2v. This setting stays. B6neo's charge current flexibility is what differentiates it from many other compact chargers. It can charge at 0.2A if needed. My batteries have capacities ranging from 300 to 450mah, so I charge at 0.3A frequently. Many other micro chargers are limited to 0.5A or even 1.0A. By long pressing the middle button, we can access the system settings. There's a variety of settings, including safety and trickle charge features. I'm going to increase the LCD brightness a bit, and turn off the beeping sound. B6neo also acts as a configurable DC power supply. This feature can be used to power tire truers, for example. It can of course measure individual cell voltage and resistance levels. FYI these are the 2S batteries I use on my 1:28 lipo cars. They use a single JST-PH connector. To charge JST-PH batteries, I will need to use an adapter. It needs to split JST-PH into a regular JST-XH balance port plus XT-60 main power. To test the charger today, I will use this XT-60 to alligator clips, plus the charging cable I used with my old charger. Clearly this is not ideal, but when I have a chance I'm going to solder up an JST-PH to XT-60/JST-XH adapter. Let's start charging a battery. The display shows essential information such as voltage level, amp, elapsed time, and how much charge energy has gone in. While in charge mode, pressing the up and down buttons will show additional information, such as individual cell voltages and IR. My lipo battery is a bit old as seen from the higher internal resistance values. We can stop charging now, and verify the metered voltage levels with a multimeter. With lipo batteries being so sensitive to over or under charged, the accuracy of metering individual cell voltages is critical. I have a basic multimeter to measure the voltage levels. There's a real risk of shorting the positive and negative terminals, so I was taking this slowly and extremely carefully. The voltage of the first cell was 3.86v, and the second cell was The charger metered the first cell lower at 3.844v, off by around 0.01-0.02v. The second was spot on. That's not too bad, but I will use the calibrate feature later to dial in the first cell meter closer. Let's test out the storage charge function. To prolong the life of lipo batteries, it's important to keep them at around 3.8v per cell when not in use. If you are new to lipo batteries, I highly recommend reading about their best practices and fire hazard risks. Similarly, the discharge function works as expected. The target cell voltage level is configurable, as with the discharge current. SkyRC B6neo does exactly what I need in a small convenient package. This is now my go-to charger. This is Sammy and thanks for watching! SkyRC B6neo: https://www.skyrc.com/Charger/b6neo Music: "Journey to the Stars", Savfk (   • Journey to the Stars by Savfk [CC-BY royal...  )