Apera Instruments SX620 pH Pen Tester Kit with 0.01 pH Accuracy, 3-Point Auto. Calibration, ATC

Easy to use, appears to be accurate and truly beats the cheap $10-30 meters that are unstable and can take minutes to indicate a fixed reading. This instrument gives a presumably accurate result almost immediately. Supplied calibrating solutions are sparse but can evidently be reused if the probe is carefully cleaned as directed. A single multi-function button that works well replaces the two or three often present on other models. Allegedly waterproof, and the probe is replaceable. Sealing probe cap holds supplied soaking solution to protect and prolong life of electrode. Extra batteries supplied are a plus. Good instructions and warranty. Factory calibrated and even has its own serial number. Not a professional device that can cost hundreds, but certainly worth its price.

The item arrived earlier than expected and comes well packed. I like that it is lab grade with a certificate of quality control and calibration date. The meter itself is very well made and doesn't feel cheap. It has a built in thermometer which is not necessary for my use but very convenient. the calibration and solutions were sealed tight and did not leak. The kit includes 2 extra batteries which is nice. The instructions for calibration are very clear & easy and takes about 2 mins to do. My only complaint is that the protective cap on the ph meter probe was not on tight and the soaking solution that is used for long term storage, leaked out and crystallized. The kit does come with a bottle of soaking solution so i just had to soak and clean the probe before calibration.

I bought this Apera pH meter to test the jams pH before canning, because in home made preserves is very important to have a path lower than 4.6 to avoid growing undesired microorganisms, some of them potentially harmful as boltulism. Now, with the Apera pH meter I test before canning the pH to be safe with my jam's preserves at home, and I'm not afraid of the toxicity for my family and to share my jams with friends. Great and simple to use, just put the pH meter inside of the jam and read the number. I will buy it again for sure, and I'm thinking in buying a upgraded version in the future, because I love SAFE home preserves!

At first, I thought this was a good product. It seemed to calibrate easily. It worked for about 2 years and then it didn't . It acted like the batteries were dead, it would turn on and then turn itself off like the batteries were low. I took the batteries out and tested them and they were nearly perfect. I put them back in, same issue. I switched to new batteries same thing. Then it finally started turning on and the ph counter was swinging all around up and down like crazy before maxing out at 15. Turning it on and off many times it did more inconsistent crap. Then I thought it was working again so I tried to calibrate it with ph 4 solution. It registered it as 10 ph and calibrated to that. Tried the 7 ph solution it calibrated to 10 again.I contacted support and they told me I needed a new probe. I check the price on their website $48 plus shipping for a new probe $55 on Amazon. So a new meter is $69 and a replacement probe is $55? Get real and I don't even know if the probe is the problem. I started reading comments on the replacement probe and many were stating they had the same exact weird problem I had. They had bought the probe in hopes of fixing their meter only to find out that it was the electronics, not the probe. Then when they contact support they are told it is their fault, they must have gotten the meter wet.I'm now not sure how accurate this meter is because I have no way to test it anymore and it didn't occur to me in the past it could have been off. But looking back now it did seem to almost always give similar results when testing soil ph.I'll be going back to the cheapo Ph meters until I can get the money to buy a really nice one that is not made in China. I could have bought 7 cheap ph meters for the price of this junk. I thought I would try moving up to a better meter. I should have spent a little more at the time to get something of true quality. The cheap ones work as well as this one, but this had the fancy skinny probe to fit in test tubes so I could use smaller sample sizes. It just sucks this wasn't the quality product I was hoping for. Avoid this Junk meter. If replacing the probe worked I'd try it, but I don't want to spend $55 just to have to turn around and send it back. This thing is acting like it is an electrical issue, not a probe.

Update: I contacted Apera directly and they sent me a new unit. The new unit works perfectly. Significant time saved on ph testing (avg. 10 seconds for stable reading) & calibration (avg. 1 second for calibration), compared to the $20 pen testers I've used in the past. I would definitely recommend this product.Original review: I've gone through 6 sets of batteries with this device in the past month. If batteries are left in device, they are spent within 24 hrs. Now the return window is closed, so I'm stuck with a defective device. Unfortunate because it reads very quickly and is extremely simple to calibrate.

Seemed like a quality meter, sometimes the reading would creep up or down. Finally it crapped out on me and will not calibrate and the power button stopped working right. When it worked I felt like it was fairly accurate. Not sure if it is worth the $$ given how long it lasted but it doesn't look there is much better out there around this price point.