First Impression – Spektrum Smart Technology
Since the LiPo battery revolution began years ago, there have been a couple of teething issues. Lithium battery technology is wonderful for its superior energy density, but there can be downsides like safety.
Spektrum has just put out a bunch of new Smart Technology batteries, chargers, and support equipment. The entire line of Smart Technology from Spektrum was designed to help make your life easier, as well as safer.
The new Spektrum Smart Technology is based on their new Smart IC3 & IC5 connectors. These connectors have a chip embedded in them that can easily tell a battery charger a pack’s cell count, capacity, chemistry, number of cycles, and “C” rating. When you mate a Smart Connector with a Smart Charger it ensures a perfect, and safe, charge every time.
The Equipment-
Smart 30A 540W Power Supply
#SPMXC10201
$109
Smart S2100 AC 2x100W Charger
#SPMXC1010
$149
Smart S1200 DC 1x200W Charger
#SPMXC1000
$64
XBC100 Smart Battery Checker & Servo Driver
#SPMXBC100
$39
11.1V 5000mAh 3S 30C Smart LiPo Battery
#SPMX50003S30H3
$64
7.4V 5000mAh 2S 30C Smart LiPo Battery
#SPMX50002S30H3
$44
Our First Impression
What’s it like to use the new Smart gear? The very first thing that we noticed is just how small the battery chargers were. Both of the chargers are tiny, perfect for the bashing crowd. Also, the chargers have high-end screens, much better than you see on the vast majority of chargers on the market.
As this is a “first impression”, that means we have yet to get a lot of time in with all the products. So far we’ve used them all, but we’ve only had the gear in our hands for a couple of weeks, we’ll have a full review on one of the Smart Chargers coming up in a couple of weeks.
For the time that we’ve put in with the Smart products so far, we’ve been impressed. The gear is easy to use and we’ve found the quality of charge that we’ve been getting from the battery chargers to be impressive. The Smart 12v power supply has always had tons of power and runs quietly, something that can help you keep from pulling your hair out during those late night battery charging sessions.
We have yet to use the servo driver feature on the Smart Battery Checker & Servo Tester. However, the battery checker is very nice, and the unit is incredibly small. So small in fact, that we used a bit of Velcro to attach it to our Spektrum DX5 Rugged transmitter for easy access out on the trail.
Both of the batteries that we received for testing are hard-case units well suited for use in surface vehicles. Our test units were both 5,000mAh 30C, with one being 2S and the other 3S. Both came with the new Smart IC3 connectors and worked flawlessly with the Smart Chargers. In our cars, we found that both packs had good power, we can’t wait for more testing to find out how they hold up.
As a whole, using the power supply, chargers, and batteries, the Smart Technology made charging easier and safer. We never had to worry about accidentally charging a pack at the wrong charge rate, and that extra feel of safety was extremely well received by our test crew.
You can check out all the Spektrum Smart Technology by Clicking On This Link. Look for a full Smart Battery Charger and Power Supply review in a couple of weeks right here on BigSquidRC.
