XTAR FC2 Review

Mar 31, 2022 | XTAR

If you have not so many batteries or you travel often, the XTAR FC2 basic charger is a good choice for your daily or backup use. With a compact size, it is widely compatible of almost all Lithium ion and NiMH batteries, including the longer protected 21700 batteries. It supports 0.5A or 1A for two batteries and 2A for one battery, with a slide side switch for you to control the charging current by yourselves. The LED indicator will show the charging status. When the voltage reach 4.2V, it will cut off the charging automatically, so that you don’t need to pay much attention to the charging.

How is this FC2 charger? Here we pick some opinions from our professional reviewers and customers.

Unboxing and function test of the XTAR FC2 charger

 

The performance of XTAR FC2 charging rechargeable 1.2V AA batteries

The flashlight enthusiast old4570 shared his test at CPF. He had experience of using some dedicated AA chargers at the lower charge rate of 500mAh. And he found these chargers seriously hot, which will kill weaker AA. About XTAR FC2, under charging current 500mAh, it went to 5 ℃ above ambient room temperature for the batteries in good condition, and 10 ℃ above ambient for the batteries in poor condition.

Also, he tried to charge the AA that were down to 0.7 volts. The FC2 charger did trickle charge to start with until it detected the battery back to normal rate. Actually it was working its 0V activation function. And it revived two bad AA and a bad AAA.

Top customer reviews on Amazon

“Extremely fast shipping. Worked great to charge my sons specialized battery for his laser pointer.”

The absolute minimum length this charger will accept is about 54mm and that will have a rather weak spring pressure on the contacts (however, you can add spacers or suitable dummy shells). I much prefer my normal chargers (a/c powered) with displays and information but this simple charger seems to do just fine. I haven’t tried to measure actual amp output but it seems to be able to maintain the quicker charge although I’m sure it must start a bit slow and taper off at termination. I would much prefer a quality single slot usb that was a do-all for lithium and NiMH both and could still provide 2A output but right now those don’t seem to exist. The Fenix model is attractive and on paper that checks the boxes but more than one test has shown that it is incapable of maintaining the 2A for more than a few minutes where it then drops down to about 1.2 to 1.4 amps – why bother. So this is a good charger, fine for the usual 18650 and holds 26650 just fine, and the faster charging time is nice on the latter compared to waiting all day for a 1A charger to handle that size. I don’t have any protected 21700 but this charger easily fits all of my 21700 cells including one with a small button and I think any protected ones should also fit. I do wish this could take 14500 although I wouldn’t feel comfortable with that until I was sure that 2A would never be applied to those cells (1A is a max on those and really 0.5A is better for them). Also, be sure that your source supply can deliver 2A or more, else you’ll never see the quick charging, of course. If using a computer port you’ll likely be limited to one or one-half amp and some that can deliver more may only do so for a short period of time before cutting back. ”

In conclusion, the XTAR FC2 charger is a great mobile charger for cars, trucks, and campers. It do good jobs in smart charging. In addition, it trickle-charges and revives older Li-ion & NiMH batteries. Contact us to consult the price and how to buy.

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