- Price: around £199
- Contact: ctek.com
There are 12V battery chargers available to buy for less than £20, so we were keen to see why CTEK’s new CS One Gen 2 could possibly be worth 10 times that.
It certainly has some features that are impressive, the most obvious of which is the foolproof automation. Instead of the usual black and red leads for the negative and positive terminals, CTEK’s newcomer senses which way to send the power. This is especially useful when dealing with batteries that don’t have clear markings, such as on a classic.
The sensors can also tell what type of battery is being connected. The CTEK uses technology to identify the chemistry, size and condition automatically, without the need to select settings yourself.
There are two settings which still must be manually selected though, but you don’t need to use anything as mundane as buttons on the charger. If you want to revive an apparently dead battery, the CTEK will need to have a WAKE UP mode selected.
There is then a RECOND phase to restore the cells to health using special charging patterns. To access these modes, the CS One Gen 2 connects to your WiFi network or via Bluetooth, and can then be controlled and monitored via an app on your smartphone. It will even alert you using push notifications when the battery is charged.
We charged three batteries of different sizes and types and the unit worked well, restoring them all to 100 per cent in a few hours and updating us via the app. It means the CTEKis clever and represents a useful advance in charger tech, but only those who demand the very best and latest gadgets will stomach the cost.
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