Digital pH Meter with Extra Replaceable Probe, Pocket pH Tester for Hydroponics, Accurate Water Tester for Swimming Pool Hot Tub Aquariums Home Wine Brewing

First some backstory regarding our experience being an early adopter of digital PH meters going back over 15 years. Our hands down choice back in the day and for many serious growers was the PH-200 by HM-Digital. It is still highly regarded to this day and remains in production relatively unchanged from the two PH-200s we purchased back in 2008.Back then, these all digital PH meters were just starting to enter the consumer market and they were NOT CHEAP! - On sale we paid just under $100.00 EACH for our two PH-200s. (Always a good idea to but (2) meters to cross check accuracy and spot a failing probe before it goes totally south) The relatively unchanged PH-200 still sells for $63.00 bucks on Amazon, but aside from the battery type changing to AAA from the original 357a button batteries our OG units use, nothing about the product has really changed.Fast forward to 2023 and we have gone through several sensor probes over the years on both and our oldest unit is now refusing to read accurately even with a brand new probe installed. I should mention that a new probe for the PH-200 is currently going for $34.00! Significantly more $$ than the entire YINMIK Digital pH Meter package we are reviewing here today!Considering the age of our two PH-200s and the fact that one was totally failing, I decided to check out the YINMIK Digital pH Meter package before buying another PH-200. BOY! Was I glad I took a chance on this little gem!It's hard for me to believe that for less than I pay for a replacement probe for our PH-200s, I could buy a meter that not only has a larger display that is backlit, it is also MUCH FASTER at returning a result than either of our 200s do. Calibration is also fast and easy. The process works identically to the process used by the PH-200, but again, this unit calibrates much quicker. This product basically mimics the entire feature set of the PH-200 and even bears a striking resemblance to that product with a different color scheme, but even the buttons are in the same locations and behave exactly the same way. The original reason I chose this product was the fact that it looks very similar to and works exactly like the meter I have been using for over 15 years. ;o) Just a heck of a lot less pricey.I've been using this new meter now for our Jacuzzi Spa for the last week having just drained and refilled after a full restoration. Hot Tun owners all know that new water requires a good deal of PH monitoring for the first 7-10 days to insure everything stays within a narrow 7.2 to 7.8 PH range. An accurate PH meter is crucial for this task and why I wanted to try one of these less expensive PH-200 clones, seeing how inexpensive these things have become in the last 15 yearsSo... Let me lay it out in basic terms as compared to our still fully functioning PH-200 with a brand new sensor probe installed and calibrated:1) Accuracy > Excellent! Right in line with the PH-2002) Calibration > Excellent! - Capable of 4, 7 and 10 solution testing vs only 4 and 7 with the 200.3) Diaplay > Superior! - Much easier to read in low light and a notably larger font size used4) Value for the Dollar > No contest! $23.00 for the meter AND a backup probe? Get out of town!I just purchased a second YINMIK Digital pH Meter package before writing this review having decided to retire our still functioning PH-200 and relying on two of these YINMIK Digital pH Meters for the Jacuzzi. After a solid week of side by side comparisons with the PH-200 I am totally confident that these little gems can be trusted with keeping our Jacuzzi PH accurately monitored.Lastly... For those complaining about the need to calibrate this meter more than once...FYI: HM-DIGITAL recommends that the PH-200 be calibrated BEFORE EVERY USE to insure the most accurate results. Considering how quickly and easily the YINMIK Digital pH Meter is to calibrate I have no reason to stop calibrating my new meters every single time I use them. It all depends on what you are checking the water PH for.Hot Tubs and Pools need to be treated based on a multitude of factors, but water PH is one of the BIG ONES! Don't blow off something that is so easy to do and risk screwing up your Pool or Hot Tub as a result! Any PH meter worth its salt is going to recommend calibration before every use. That doesn't mean the meter is bad or whatever... It just means that accurate PH monitoring requires a fully and recently calibrated sensor probe system. These units are a joy to calibrate and take no time at all compared to other brands I have used over the years.Hope you found this review helpful! It did get a bit long by the end, but everything I have written here are things someone new to this whole PH testing thing needs to know going in.Happy Testing! And if you were one of the smart ones who picked up this great little meter for twenty three freaking bucks!... CONGRATS! I can't believe I can now buy something superior to our venerable PH-200s for less than we pay for a new sensor probe for one of those, RIGHT NOW!Amazing!

Background: I have a good deal of experience with analytical equipment (30 years) and have owned several pH meters before. This one seems pretty typical for a meter in this price range. It seems to be relatively accurate, though it did dip a couple hundredths of a point after initially calibrating it after a couple weeks. Probably not all that bad.My main knock on this meter is that it wants to jump around and seems to take about five minutes to stabilize itself into a steady reading - while holding it rock steady. I ran through and tested three barrels of rain water around my garage and each one took several minutes to lock in to a final reading, and the water in all three were within +/- 5 degrees in temperature and +/- 2 points on the pH scale of each other. I know one barrel has consistently higher pH due to asphalt shingle residue, but again, it's still within about 1.8 pH points compared to relatively unadulterated rain water. Still, this meter seems to take longer than the last meter I had. I can't remember the brand, but it lasted a good 10 years before my son carelessly broke the glass sensor on it. The nice thing about this meter is you get an extra probe, so that problem is easily remedied if you have an accident.All in all, this seems to be a pretty solid meter for the money. Just give it plenty of time to stabilize before you decide on a reading. When the numbers seem to lock in, then jump back the way they came from by 0.01 point, then back to what you think the reading will be, then maybe back in the other direction.......that's your number. When the meter is jumping back forth by 0.01 each way, that's a reliable reading. Of course, this only applies if your application requires a degree of precision to 0.00.

Takes a bit of time to get an accurate measurement, but it's a lot better than the first one I ordered. I like it and I use it multiple times a week.

If you are buying this for the chlorine readout - DONT. This tool is total junk. It kept giving me an extremely low free chlorine reading so i kept on adding chlorine until my pool was way overdosed with chlorine. I work in a water treatment laboratory and to prove to myself that im not crazy I brought this tool to work to varify against my chlorine reading equiment. This hand held reader gave me a free chlorine reading of 1.3ppm. The actual reading from my laboratory was 16.0ppm!! I had to spend a TON of money to correct my pool water do not buy this tool , it is crap.

I have quite a collection of PH pens. I love YINMIK and have several of their products. This pen (like all pens) does require frequent calibration and cleaning when using it in hydroponic nutrient solution. I can tell you that of all my pens, this one is always the closest to the true reading in the calibration solution every time. Highly recommend because the company YINMIK are VERY helpful and responsive to their customers.

A waste of money.

Received a bad probe. Calibrated several times. Became frustrated. Tried other probe and it seemed to work and work good. Very accurate. Contacted yimkin and they refunded me enough to buy another probe rather quickly. This company is top notch with customer service and have very good products. This is super accurate when testing my hot sauce.

OK

We use this for our hot tub. It works grear and cost less than half the price of the previous ph tester.Calibration is easy—we purchase ph7 solution from the local grow-op supply store.Our biologist friends say that finding a reliable ph tester that stays reliable isn’t possible, no matter how much you spend. So we expect this to work for a couple of years, and then replace the tip for another couple of years. Luckily, this includes the replacement tip.The best ph pen I’ve found in the past decade.