Once you really get into the hobby, a good battery charger becomes a necessity. Over the last 5 years, Hitec has put out a bunch of different battery chargers, and out of the ones that we’ve tested, we have been very impressed. In fact, we consider Hitec one of the very front runners for rc hobby battery chargers. Their very latest is the RDX2 Mini and we’ve been using one for about a month. How easy is it to use? How much power does it have? Is it worth my hard earned cash? Scroll on down for our views on the RDX2 Mini…
From: Hitec
Direct Link: RDX2 Mini Dual Battery Charger
Review By: Cubby
Pictures By: Tim Mohr
Specifications:
AC Input- 100 to 240 volts
DC input- AC only
Balance Charger- Yes
Output Power- 50 watts X 2, 100 watts total
Fan- Yes, smart fan
Model Memories- 10
Max Charge Current- 5 amps
Max Discharge Current- No discharge
Max Cell Count- 4S LiPo, 8 cells NiMH
Cell Types Supported- NiCd/NiMH/LiPo/LiHV/LiFe/LiIon/Pb
Dimensions- 3.5 x 3.9 x 5.0 in.
Weight- 1.1 lbs
Available Now- Yes
Part Number- #44299
Price- $79
What’s In The Box: Inside the tiny box is the charger, instructions, an AC power cable, and two charge cables. The stock connectors are a Deans/T-style type.
Build Quality: The RDX2 Mini is super small, and very lightweight. The outer shell is plastic to keep the weight down, and we could find no fault with the build quality on our test unit.
Testers: As we have been doing a lot of social distancing, it was just me and T-Money working this review.
Set-up Notes: We only charged LiPo batteries with the RDX2 Mini, but they ranged vastly in cell count and capacity. Charge rates were 1C or less. All packs were supplied by MaxAmps for our testing.
Ease of Use: Ya know, we use Hitec chargers at the office on the daily. Sadly, this prevents us from using the new Hitec, as a “true” noobie. The programming on the new Hitec is much like the older units, so Tim and I breezed through the set-up process (takes like 5 seconds to program for a pack). We absolutely never had to even glance at the manual to use the charger in every way that we wanted to. If you are brand new to the hobby and have never used a battery charger before, you will definitely want to read the entire manual first before using the unit, if only to catch up on some of the overall safety aspects, of charging any battery.
Power: The RDX2 Mini is super small, yet puts out 50 watts to a each of its two channels. 50 watts will get you right around a 3 amp charge rate on a 4S pack, and get you up to 5 amps on lower cell counts. 5 amps on a typical 2S pack is right around 1C, which is roughly a 1 hour charge time from 3.2v per cell. No, the RDX2 Mini doesn’t have Earth shattering power, but it does have more than enough power for most people. Also, having the ability to charge a pair of 2S packs at 5 amps via the RDX2 Mini’s dual channels, is nice.
On the Track: OK, so all our local tracks are in parks, and all our local parks are closed tighter than a virgins… never mind. None of our local parks, or tracks, are open for the foreseeable future thanks to Covid-19. So ya, zero track testing. What we did get in was grass, large rock, and pavement driving. We used packs charged by the Hitec in our Traxxas UDR, Losi Mini 8IGHT-DB, Pro-Line PRO-MT 4×4, and Gmade GOM. Compared to the exact same packs charged on an iCharger 406, we thought the quality of the charge from the Hitec was right there. We were not really able to tell the difference in power output when driving, between packs charged on the iCharger, compared to the same packs when charged off the Hitec. Now, we did not have ideal track conditions with loads of grip. Usually high bite tracks are where we can see more of a difference in power (if there is any), but when testing in true bashing conditions, we felt the quality of charge from both units was very close, if not indistinguishable.
Misc Notes:
We HATE loud chargers (and power supplies) at Big Squid. The Hitec just might be the quietest that we’ve tested (Hey Brian, we need a db meter now, just FYI bro)! Thank you Hitec for saving our ears (as well as our minds)!
The Hitec takes up about the same amount of space on your pit table as a Yeti glass. That is a pretty small footprint.
The stock connectors are Deans/T-style!!! With all the different connectors on the market now days, Deans is still probably the most widely used. Thank you Hitec!
While some parks do have AC power, some do not. We would love to see a DC version of this charger for all those hardcore crawler/scaler/basher guys out there with no AC access.
Final Verdict: I think we just might have a new favorite charger here at the BigSquid offices. The Hitec RDX2 Mini takes up almost no space, is super quiet, and puts out a fantastic quality of charge. If you are looking for an affordable dual output charger that is super easy to use, we can highly recommend the RDX2 Mini to you.
