U1253B Handheld Digital Multimeter, 4.5-Digit, with Organic LED Display (OLED)

I lightly used this multimeter for about 8 years and the display died, after replacing the display the meter worked well again but within another year the whole unit died. Yes that’s right, the $800 meter died after 8 years. When I wrote to Keysight they gave me a flat rate replacement “repair” cost of $580. I think I’ve given them enough of my money.

I did not buy this meter here, but I did just buy it and thought I would share my only complaint with anyone who hopes to have one of these. They are power hungry, and Keysight should be ashamed of itself for using a substandard 9 volt battery in the meter. The battery they include is rechargeable, and they include the charger wirth the meter, but trust me, you will regret buying this meter because of the short run time of a fully charged battery. You can buy a similar meter that does not have the OLED display ,and I'm sure the battery life will be much better. I have a U1272A and it runs for months on set of 4 AAA batteries. Whoever at Keysight thought that the 9 volt battery would be a good power source for the U1253B, needs to be demoted. The meter would be the flagship meter to have, but I can't say that, it is severely lacking when it comes to battery life.I added the picture of the battery indicator from the charge I gave the meter the day before, and turned the meter off. you can see that even with the meter off, the battery was drained to almost being dead.With that out of the way, i also bought the U1177A bluetooth adapter, and that with the free logging software you can get from the Keysight web site, is a fantastic way to log useable data over log periods of time, just as long as you don't use the U1253B to do it. The Bluetooth adapter will work on other Keysight/Agilent meters as well. My first experience with a dead battery in my U1253B was when I tried to install and configure the Bluetooth adapter. The last thing I expected was that the battery went dead, but it did.

Worked fine for a few months ..then not at all ..OLED display dies quickly whether you use the meter or not . Then Keysight refuses to repair it to get you to buy a new one .They claim they can't get parts , too hard to fix , etc.Don't waste your money on Any Keysight OLED meter . Itnis a known problem they refuse to fix.Out and out ripoff !

Very lightly used meter, and only used in a lab environment. It’s in perfect condition, but within a few years the OLED display dimmed to the point it can only be seen in complete darkness. The battery life was really poor as well, it only lasted an hour or so of run time between charges (which took over 3 hours to charge). I was always turning the meter off between measurements to conserve battery. The display was really easy to read when it was new… but the display just doesn’t last more that a few years… this is the norm, not just a flaw with my meter. I can’t believe they still sell these OLED meters! I guess I’m going back to my Fluke 87III that I bought in 1998, which still works perfectly!

The display died even when the meter was not used almost at all. This meter costs over $1000. It should have lasted until the Sun burned down. Expensive garbage from Agilent. Stick with Japanese or Korean stuff.Keysight, if you read this message please send a new display to all people who complained about this problem. It is a shame to charge a lot for a product of such low quality. At least help us fix it.

OLED display dies quickly whether you use the meter or not, sad, wested my money!