Today I’ll be writing a review for the XTAR MiniMixer MX4 Charger. This is a new release from XTAR. I’ve been lucky to review a few XTAR products over the years, so I’m looking forward to sharing my experiences with you today.
It’s no secret, I’m a huge XTAR fan, I love their product range, everything is quality and most importantly, affordable. So, when XTAR contacted me again recently and asked if I’d like to review the MiniMixer MX4, I jumped at the opportunity. What stood out for me immediately was the portability of the MX4 charger, and next of course was the retail price (currently £12.26 on AliExpress), what an absolute bargain!
So, what does the MiniMixer MX4 offer? The MX4 offers wide battery compatibility, you’re free to charge 3.6/3.7V & 1.5V Li-ion, 3.2V LiFePO4 & 1.2V Ni-MH batteries. And, as it’s XTAR you get all the usual safety specifications and XTAR’s automatic battery recognition function, meaning the MX4 knows what battery has been inserted, and charges accordingly.
So, is the MX4 any good? Time to test it out!
Packaging and Contents.
The XTAR MiniMixer MX4 Charger comes packaged in an white cardboard box. The box measures 15.0cm x 10.2cm x 3.0cm and weighs 165G.
Inside the box you’ll find the following: 1x Battery Charger, 1x USB-A/USB-C Cable (which measures 80.0cm), 1x Multi-Lingual User Guide.
If you find the supplied USB-A/USB-C cable a little too short for your needs, you can use any USB-C type cable.
XTAR MiniMixer MX4 Charger.
The XTAR MiniMixer MX4 Charger measures 100mm x 97mm x 26.4mm and weighs 95G. It’s incredibly light, designed to be portable, but it feels cheap in my opinion, on the back there are 5 air ventilation slots to assist with heat dissipation, but the plastic slots that make up the ventilation slots feel flimsy, and easily bendable with very little force.
You get 4 charging channels, each channel is spring-loaded and has space to move and accommodate a wide range of batteries (more on this further down). With no load each bay has an area of 31.3mm, which expands to 71.8mm, the springs XTAR have used are of excellent quality and despite several attempts to break it (yeah, that’s what I do) I can confirm I wasn’t able to break them. I even tried to bend the negative poles, but failed!
Towards the top right area, you’ll see a switch. One option for Ni-MH/Li-ion and the other LiFePO4. The Ni-MH/Li-ion is your standard charging option for most of your most common batteries, the LiFePO4 switch is for 3.2V lithium iron phosphate batteries.
Using the XTAR MiniMixer MX4 Charger.
It’s incredibly easy to use the XTAR MiniMixer MX4 Charger. All you need is a USB 5V/2A DC power source, that’s it, the charger will do the rest for you. There’s a USB-C port on the top area, the MX4 charger will automatically detect the battery being inserted, and charge accordingly, in the most efficient, and safest way possible.
You get LED charging/status lights on each charging bay. This light shows several aspects of your charging/standby statuses. This is all dependant on the mode you selected via the switch.
For Ni-MH/Li-ion mode this is the following light procedure.
- Standby Mode: Briefly display red light for 2 seconds upon power source, then turn to green.
- Charging Mode: Solid red light on the channel you’ve inserted a battery into.
- Charged Status Mode: Upon a full charge the light turns to solid green again.
For LiFePO4 mode it’s slightly different.
- Standby Mode: Briefly display red light for 2 seconds upon power source, then turn to green.
- Charging Mode: Solid orange light for 3.2V LiFePO4, and solid red for 1.5V Li-ion/1.2V Ni-MH.
- Charged Status Mode: Upon a full charge the light turns to solid green again.
As you can see the XTAR MiniMixer MX4 Charger has 4 charging bays. Bays 1 and 4 can charge at 0.5A/1A and bays 2 and 3 only at 0.5A.
Battery Compatibility.
You’re able to charge the following batteries with the XTAR MiniMixer MX4 Charger, you can mix up the batteries in the bays, the MX4 will recognise and charge accordingly.
- 3.6V/3.7V Li-ion: 10440, 14500, 16340, 18350, 18500, 18650, 18700, 20700, 21700 (not protected).
- 1.5V Li-ion: AAA, AA.
- 3.2V LIFePO4: 10440, 14500, 16340, 18350, 18500, 18650, 18700, 20700, 21700 (not protected).
- 1.2V Ni-MH: AAA, AA, A, SC.
In order for the MX4 charger to auto-detect and charge there’s a recognition process it goes through, again depending on the mode on the switch. The LED lights alert you to the different times.
For Ni-MH/Li-ion mode the following process occurs.
- 3.6V/3.7V Li-ion: LED changes from green to red, within several seconds.
- 1.5V Li-ion: LED changes from green to red, within several seconds.
- 1.2V N-MH: LED changes green to a slow flashing red, within 10 minutes.
In LiFePO4 mode the following process occurs.
- 3.2V LiFePO4: LED changes from green to orange, within several seconds.
- 1.5V Li-ion: LED changes from green to red, within several seconds.
- 1.2V N-MH: LED changes from green to a slow flashing red, within 10 minutes.
Safety.
XTAR uses the latest low-voltage battery recovery technology, to increase recovery success. If recovery fails or an anomaly occurs, the LED will display red and then flash rapidly, if that happens, remove the offending battery. If a 3.2V LiFePO4 battery under-voltage, and if the recognition/activation time is within the 10 minutes, the LED will be flash red.
You get an intelligent 3-stage charging method too. You get high efficient TC-CC-CV charging methods, perfect for maximising performance and extending battery life.
- Trickle Current (TC): To awaken low voltage batteries.
- Constant Current (CC): Used for normal charging.
- Constant Voltage (CV): Ensures a full charge, with less damage to the battery cell.
As mentioned above, you get all the usual XTAR safety protection modes. Including, reverse polarity, short-circuit protection, over-current protection, over-voltage protection, and over-charge protection to name a few. I tested the obvious one, reverse polarity, and can confirm you get an error. See the video below.
Technical Specifications.
- Brand: XTAR
- Model: MiniMixer MX4 Charger
- Manufacturer Code: MX4 KT
- Manufacturer Reference: N/A
- EAN: 6952918301882
- ASIN: N/A
- Input: Type USB-C 5V⎓2A
- Charge Cut-off Current: ≤100mA
- Operating Temperature: 0-40°C
- Compliance: CE, FCC, RoHS
Conclusion.
Another brilliant product from XTAR. The XTAR MiniMixer MX4 Charger is an ideal portable charger. This is the ideal charging solution if you’re out and about often and require a battery charger available.
I can’t really fault the MX4 aside from the flimsy plastic ventilation slots, that’s it, other than that, another excellent XTAR item.
If you’d like to purchase this item, please check out the purchasing options below. The RRP for this product is £26.65.
XTAR Direct | Amazon | AliExpress Best Option | eBay |
Product sample provided by XTAR in exchange for a detailed, unbiased review.
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