Spektrum S250 G2 AC Smart Charger

New Products That Are Worth a Closer Look By Greg Gimlick | maelectrics@gimlick.com As seen in the April 2024 issue of Model Aviation. GREG GIMLICK shared his review of the Spektrum S250 G2 AC Smart Charger. Here is what he had to say:

Specifications:

• 2 × 50 watts of charging power. It charges two batteries simultaneously, or you can use a single channel for up to 80 watts of power.
• Selectable IC3 and IC5 charging ports—no separate adapters required.
• Charges 1S to 4S LiPo/LiFe/Li-Ion/LiHV, 1S to 12S NiCd, and 1S to 12S Smart NiMH batteries.
• Color LCD screen interface features intuitive menus, icons, and navigation tools.
• Auto Charge recognizes Smart battery charging parameters and starts charging automatically when connected.
• USB-C input for updating firmware.
• Efficient, low-noise cooling fan.

I’ve been accused of being obsessed with chargers, which might be true. Throughout the years, I’ve enjoyed buying new chargers as technology changed, and with each one, there seemed to be some significant improvements. With the advent of Smart batteries from Spektrum, the game changed again, but the Gen 2 version of them has upped the ante once more. This time, the batteries are free of balance cords and everything is accomplished through the integrated circuitry and IC3 or IC5 plugs. It’s like magic, but you need a Smart charger to fully exploit their capabilities. Because I’m now buying Gen 2 Smart batteries, it seems "smart" to get a Gen 2 charger for them. I looked at the options and decided that the $119 Spektrum S250 G2 AC Smart Charger was the choice. It does everything I was looking for and the price was attractive. Smart technology is amazing and makes battery maintenance a breeze because it does so much on its own. With the S250 charger and new Gen 2 packs, I simply plug them in and everything is automatic. It reads the pack, sets the proper charge rate, and is ready to go at the touch of a button. Of course, you don’t have to use what it selects, but so far, I haven’t found a reason to adjust the automatically determined settings. You can go into the menu and see the history of the pack, but more importantly, you can adjust the default settings of the pack. I’m happy with the defaults but, for example, if you don’t want your packs to begin auto storage mode in 72 hours, you could change that time frame to whatever you want. This charger doesn’t lock you into using Smart packs though, and that was important because I own dozens of older packs that require a balance tap for charging. It’s capable of charging any 1S to 4S pack by manually setting the parameters. There is a balance port to support non-Smart packs or the older Gen 1 packs. It can also charge a variety of chemistries to take care of all of your other battery types. It supports LiHV, LiPo, Li-Ion, LiFe, and Pb batteries. Although the charger is designed to take advantage of the Gen 2 Smart technology, the input plugs are compatible with older EC5 connectors. The only thing you lose is the ability for the charger to automatically set itself up for operation. With older packs, you need to plug in the EC connector and the balance plug then manually set the charger for the operation you need. I’m really happy with my choice of this charger. It’s compact and easy to travel with at $119.99. I have an AC plug in my truck off the inverter and can use it at the field too. It also has a USB-C plug, so everything can be kept up to date by the user as Spektrum tweaks whatever they find necessary. No more sending a charger in for updates!