Broke mixer here to talk about this scale I picked up a few weeks ago. I've been testing it quite a bit and since I haven't seen any posts about it here, I figured I'd give a thorough review.

So budgets have been tight, and while pinching pennies I've been looking for any way to avoid having to spend the $35+ on the LB-501 that's often recommended. Quick background: I started off my DIY life measuring by volume (big mistake!), then quickly replaced it with an old cheapo .01g increment digital scale I had on hand for weighing plant material in the past. But it definitely wasn't cutting it; like most cheap scales it had no calibration options, poor sensitivity (often jumping >.05g even .1g and back again), and I'll tell you right off the bat since trying this Brifit scale, even in small <60ml batches my recipes taste noticeably better than ever.

I know that old saying "you buy cheap, you buy twice", so I didn't rush and I did as much research as possible, reading reviews and comparing specs/prices over the period of about a week (about 20-30 similar products considered) before making a purchase. My requirements were:

• It must measure .01g increments (of course)

• It must include a calibration weight

• It must have enough favorable reviews (regarding precision, accuracy, and/or build quality)

• Lowest possible price

Overview:

So this scale meets all of the above requirements for me (#3&4 may vary depending on your opinion and/or purchase location). It measures in .01g increments, it includes a 100g calibration weight, it costs $14.99 free prime 1-day shipping right now in the amazon link provided (plus possible coupon described below), and has 4.6/5 star reviews there (more on that in a minute).

IMPORTANT THINGS TO NOTE:

• It comes in 3 colors, but for some reason it appears that the black version does not come with a 100g calibration weight (at least it's the only one that excludes it from the description).

• For whatever reason, when I purchased it, ONLY the red one offered me a $1 off instant coupon checkbox, so I went with the red one and snagged it for a cool $13.99 (I don't see that coupon checkbox anymore but that could be since I've already used it).

• Tons of reviewers/q&a answerers are complete idiots (not just on this product page; I noticed a trend among every scale I researched). You'll see people ask questions like "How do I calibrate?" and someone will answer "Just put a dollar bill on the scale and if it doesn't read 1g, press the tare button and you've calibrated" :| There are so many things wrong with that I don't know where to begin, but for those clueless, tare and calibration are completely different functions and do not achieve the same goals at all. So I read all reviews with a grain of salt and discounted those which were ridiculous. There are even answers from the seller (BrifitDirect) that seem inconsistent; for example one person asked if the scale weighs up to 500g, and they answered, "Sorry, this scale can only weigh items up to 200g" even though all three descriptions list the same 500g capacity. I tested mine and it absolutely weighs up to 500g, so my conclusion is either A) The seller is an idiot too, B) That answer is old and since the product line has been updated (first listed date March 25 2019).

#Now for the review:

tl;dr: So how does it perform? Surprisingly well for it's price, color me impressed. All the scores I've given below are scores comparing this scale to the best scales with comparable specs, not just budget scales; I may be a broke mixer, but I have decent experience with top-tier scales from using them at work (one job in a kitchen and one job in a shipping dept.)

Regarding accuracy, 10/10 so far. As I expected, it did need a calibration immediately out of the box; first thing I did was pop the included 100g weight on the scale, and it read 100.07g. I calibrated it that once, immediately got 100.00g, and every time I use it I double check by popping the weight back on, and every single time it has remained exactly 100.00. Regardless of whether I move the weight around or pick it up and lower it again (and I've used the scale maybe 2 dozen times so far). That's huge actually, since almost every other scale in this price range that I researched had mentions of requiring frequent calibrations or inconsistent accuracy.

Regarding precision, 8/10. First to clarify, there's a difference between scales that measure in .01g increments, scales that have a minimum detection weight of .01g, and scales that have .01g sensitivity (these three get mistaken SO MUCH by reviewers, and often leads to unwarranted poor reviews across basically all scales I researched).

• So this scale can measure in .01g increments which was my only related requirement, and so it does that of course.

• It has an advertised minimum detection weight of .05g (meaning if you were to simply place one drop of flavor onto the scale from a starting 0.00g, it won't detect anything until the minimum 0.05g is reached (usually 1-2 drops)). Honestly I haven't tested whether this is true because I always begin by measuring pg, and I'm never going to use <.05g pg, so it's a nonissue.

• Now regarding sensitivity, it would be ideal of course if it were sensitive enough to always recognize a .01g difference the way the best scales do, but in testing it varies between .01-.02g recognition. This is where the scale lost 2 points for me in an effort to give an honest review compared to the best scales in it's class, but frankly it's more than good enough for me for a couple reasons. For one, most juice calculators measure 1 drop of pg flavoring being equal to 0.05g, so in the smaller batches that I make (no more than 120ml per mix) it seems negligible to me since even if recipes happen to be off by .01g per drop, it's not noticeable (perhaps if scaled up to making >240ml batches it might become noticeable, I'm not sure but I have a hunch it won't be much). The other reason it's "good enough" for me is honestly for this price I was hoping/expecting it to be about this precise; I would've been disappointed if it were always off >.02g recognition, because that would mean that for literally every 2 drops of flavoring I'd be throwing my recipe off. But what I've found is mine isn't always off; most of the time it will measure one drop precisely, and sometimes it will jump up .01g more or less than expected. I read some horror stories on similarly priced scales, so I was expecting the worst and was pleasantly surprised with it's overall precision.

Regarding Build Quality

Probably 7\10 or 8/10. It's quite light and the plastic frame feels pretty cheap, but it has a stainless steel platform to weigh on which feels decent quality. The platform appears 100% flat with no concave that I can detect. The scale itself sits perfectly flat on my table (no wobble or angle). The plastic buttons have a real solid click to them which doesn't feel too cheap. The calibration weight appears spotless, unscratched, and chrome. It included two separate plastic weighing trays of different sizes, each doubles as protection for storage (one is square and protects the stainless platform, the other is rectangular and protects the entire scale).

Regarding Features

9/10. As detailed above, it measures in .01g increments and includes a calibration function with included weight, which were my only two requirements here. I should also mention that I sought out scales that also had an adjustable auto-off timer, and on it's Amazon page this scale describes: "Time setting for auto-off" and "The switch time can be set to 60", 120" and 180".". ~~So I have no idea how to change the auto off default (pressing each button has it's own function, and holding each button also has it's own separate function which are all described in the manual for other things, so I'm not sure how I could possibly change it).~~ Edit: I figured it out! Special thanks to /u/beleniak for the idea to search for answers under similar scales. It does allow you to choose 60s, 120s, 180s, or 0s (disable auto-off) as advertised. (Instructions: With it off, hold down the M button and push the power button 4 times and numbers will be displayed. Press M to cycle through them. Press the power button to set it). I subtracted just 1 point for this because although it's a bit of a bummer, 180 seconds is more than enough time for me, and I've never had it automatically shut off on me except for the one time I simply wanted to test it's length (and I'm keeping this score after the edit due to the hassle of no instructions provided). The remaining features you can read about on the Amazon page, I'm not going to detail them because they have no real use for me measuring juice. I guess it's worth mentioning that it includes the required batteries, everything else included I've discussed already (scale, 2 trays, 100g weight, and manual).

Overall Score

8/10. Again, this is a score compared to the best scales with comparable specs (.01g increments, calibration ability, etc), not just scales in this price range. Now I haven't ever used the LB-501, but again I am familiar with top-tier scales from using them at work. I honestly never expected this scale to be as good as it seems right now. Of course I'll follow-up and edit this post if I have any future issues or if it breaks on me, being that I've only owned it about 6 weeks. If anyone else has anything to add about this product, feel free to comment below. Otherwise I hope this review helps other broke mixers out there.