MakerHawk USB Power Meter - Voltage & Current Tester for Type C USB Devices

Eric LEric L: The media could not be loaded.  After playing with this there are so many menus and it is so small it is crazy. The display is about 1" in length. one of the screens has less details and shows just volts, Amps and Watts which increases write size. Also has a few other analyzing modes, tests Power Delivery, quick charge even extended connection type information.

Where this really falls flat is that a couple of times it has powered off for no apparent reason. I would have to disconnect and reconnect it, heat maybe? It does get fairly warm after being connected for several minutes. It tests for more than I expected as can be seeing in the attached video... From my test results it at least appears to be fairly accurate, keep in mind that when connected inline this appears to draws about 0.5 watts to power itself. The USB cable end (as seen in the picture) is half it's width; this is tiny

Canada on Dec 15, 2023

Pierce: I love this thing. With this kind of a technical product for tinkerers, there are always tradeoffs and rough-edges, so let's get the negatives out of the way first:

* This is only USB-C, some other devices also do USB-A and more in one device
* Detecting the protocol used by a device is very unreliable (but same for most other meters, this is hard)
* Detecting all the protocols supported by a charger is a bit unreliable
* Triggering a protocol can be tricky and finicky
* Too many digits resolution of voltage and current, after millivolts / milliamps they're useless noise

OK, now for the good parts:

* A switch to choose whether to power this meter from the charger/upstream, or from a separate micro-usb cable so as to not affect the power drawn from the charger at all.
* A switch to enable/disable this device triggering PD itself (you usually want it disabled so the real device can trigger its desired voltage).
* High speed data passes-through fine, even DisplayPort alt-mode, I tested a USB-C docking station and it fully works.
* Handles power going in either direction
* Can connect to a windows app over the micro-USB connection for...

United States on Sep 25, 2023

dallas: first of all, several previous reviews mentioned the display timing out and turning off. section 3.6 (starting on page 4) of the pdf manual talks about the settings screen. if you set the first setting to 0, the display never turns off.
when I first plugged mine in to the cable, nothing happened. the last paragraph of section 3.6 talks about how the Type-C spec stipulates no 5V output by default, so that explains why nothing happens until a device is plugged into the other end (or you use the CC pulldown function)
that's as far as I've gotten so far. like another reviewer said, I wish the main voltage and current displays were only 3 decimal places; not only are additional decimal places unnecessary, but it makes it harder to read.
going to try to use the iOS app and computer interface next

United States on Sep 11, 2023

Chris G.: Like the other Ruideng USB power meters, this is meter is accurate and very easy to use. Unlike most others, it supports bi-directional measurements which I need for my application. Get the red version if you don't need this feature and save a few dollars.

This supports all PD modes so I can see how my device is performing. Just get a short USB C extension cord so it isn't plugged in to the port directly.

Canada on May 08, 2023

Alex M.: On the whole, this meter is exactly what I was looking for at a very competitive price. In my testing I found it supported USB QC, and PD exactly as described. I've had a few issues with it needing to be reset in order for PD to negotiate correctly which doesn't seem to be a problem with the other USB C meter I have. Other than that it's exactly what I was looking for and works great.

United States on Jan 02, 2023

Bill WaggonerBill Waggoner: Great little gadget to check to see if your charger or cable is actually delivering the full capabilities of USB-C. It displays the voltage and amperage being passed and has other USB-C PD functions for the really tech person.

Unfortunately the PC interface to use the desktop application, which among other things allows you to update the firmware, only runs on Windows 10 and up, no Mac/Linux support I am afraid. But I see no need to update as it is doing what I wanted without it, keeping my power brick and cables honest.

The manual is about what you might expect as far as readability goes but it does cover a lot and, with a little work and creative interpretation, can be very useful.

United States on Jun 12, 2021

Michael Richards: This is a great, compact way to visually see and understand what USB C in particular is up to. The interface is a little klugy, it's the only thing that keeps the 5th star away, but if you read the manual all the way through and take the time to get through the 'Engrish', it's pretty good for working within the limits of such a small display. But I love the color and the fact that it is a small display. The whole thing is so compact, that it doesn't jam up any of the ports next to it. It's a really great little product, I just wish Chinese companies would hire me to proofread their manuals. I could make an easy living, just correcting the simple, typical mistakes that non native English speaking translators make. And with a tech product, those mistakes start going exponentially super critical quick. Anyway, definitely rest assured it's worth the money and does what it claims and intends to do. A solid 4 star product...

United States on Apr 17, 2021