Review/Teardown of a Miniware DS213 Portable Mini Oscilloscope

In this video, I did a review and teardown of a Miniware DS213 oscilloscope. It has four channels (2 digital channels) and has a maximum bandwidth of 15 MHz with a sampling rate of 100 MSa/s. Official website: e-design.com.cn/en/Mini-Oscil...
Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B09XXBBRPF/
AliExpress: www.aliexpress.us/item/325680...
Teardown pictures: www.kerrywong.com/2023/10/27/m...
00:00 Overview
02:14 Powering on, basic operations
04:37 Basic measurements
07:24 Bandwidth
09:21 AM waveform
11:37 FM waveform
13:15 Single shot, cursor measurements
17:02 Other settings
17:45 Function generator
19:57 Teardown, power consumption
20:54 Teardown
24:55 Conclusions

[@Blessed_2_Be_Born_In_America]

Nice review. I bought this scope over two years ago. I installed it in the dash of my car to display the waveform of the subwoofer channel from my 6,000 watt amplifier. I removed the internal battery and power it through the battery connector with a small buck converter powering on with the stereo. The micro USB port didn't last more than a couple months. I am no longer able to update the firmware. I have to say that the size of the unit and it's MCX connectors made for a perfect looking installation in my dash, and I couldn't be happier with the way it looks. I can't imagine any other likely usecase for a device of this size and awkward controls, like you said. For me, I never need to adjust settings or anything with its controls. My favorite feature of this scope is it's incredibly fast refresh rate both in frames per second and complete lack of any discernible lag. I can not perceive any delay between transient bass notes that are felt and heard and their corresponding waveform being drawn on screen. Nor am I able to see any skipped frames, for a lack of better terms, in the waveform displayed, no matter the complexity of the bass note. I listen to a lot of electronic dance music with highly complex, extremely short, transient transitions in frequency and amplitude. It is very interesting to be able to hear bass, feel the bass, and see the bass all without any delay or phase shift. At any paticular instant in time, what you see on screen is what you feel and what you hear. It is almost an education in itself. It is fascinating to me. It marries together 3 of our 5 senses. Something a spectrum analyzer in the frequency domain absolutely does not do. I have not seen anyone else install an O scope and I don't understand. It is also very useful for showing me when I start clipping my amplifiers output which is suprisingly not too difficult to do. I only have 4,500 watts of alternator output, not enough to fully supply the 6,000 watts my amp is rated for, although my amp is very underrated and can actually output 9,500 watts given enough input power. Anyhow, just thought I might share a little bit about my niche usecase I have found for this device although, I again, feel like this shouldn't be niche at all.

[@colinreid7305]

Perhaps you could approach Picoscope for some of their scopes for reviews,2204a/2205a and perhaps some of their higher end scopes. The software is the same across the range so not a steep learning curve. You provide excellent info in all your reviews.

[@stevec5000]

What was causing that fluctuation of your AM modulated signal? Was it AC hum from a broken shield or something?

[@1HandyLad]

I'd love to replace micro USB with type C. Also, the built in battery goes to crap after a few years of occasional use. My own experience with this instrument. The only advantage is it's size.

[@craigtucker777]

They delivering that thing with proprietary probe witch you can't compensate lol. Please some follow up on hds2202s heating issue

[@TheDigitalAura]

At least probe compensation is available inside the unit (A1, A2, B1, B2). Not very user friendly though.

[@alanduncan3710]

I saw some trim caps on the right side of the board, x10 compensation?

[@TheDigitalAura]

probe compensation trimmers. would make more sense to leave holes marked on the outside of the case though and clearly label them.

[@jstro-hobbytech]

I find miniware make really cool looking devices but the prices are pretty high.

[@TYGAMatt]

Looks like a bit of a pain to use. And like you say, small just for the sake of it. I'll stick with my cheapo pocket FNIRSI

[@Chriva]

They want 250-300 bucks for THAT!? Not much more expensive to buy a real one that is able to handle 100 or 150 MHz

[@damexoid]

150$~

[@barrybogart5436]

I'd be taking a hammer to it pretty quick. WHY are designers sacrificing usability to the alter of tinyness?

[@andymouse]

When I first saw this I thought it looked great but when you get into it its a bit of a gimmick, poorly specked and a pain in the arse to use. No good for man nor beast. I think it was an exercise for miniware...cheers.

[@jdmccorful]

A toy?