Comparison Soeks Ecovizor F4 vs Soeks Ecotester 2

General purpose of the device. Note that there are many models that combine several purposes at once: for example, a nitrate tester is often combined with a dosimeter or aquatester.

— Nitrate tester. Nitrate testers in the original sense of the word are devices designed to measure the level of nitrates (nitric acid salts) in various products. Initially, nitrates are an important component of mineral fertilizers, they serve as a building material for plants and are found in almost all living things. However, an excess of nitrates in food is harmful to the human body. Therefore, the ability to measure their concentration in a particular product is important for those who care about a healthy diet.

— Dosimeter. Instruments for measuring background radiation. In this case, the function of the dosimeter is rarely the only one, most often it is provided as an addition to the nitrate tester (see above). Nevertheless, such devices are quite capable of both determining the general radiation situation indoors or outdoors, and registering radiation from products and objects, detecting objects contaminated with radiation. You need to follow certain measurement rules for this; they are most often indicated in the instructions, in extreme cases, you can turn to special sources.

— Aquatester. Instruments for determining the overall quality of water. Th...e main criterion for such an assessment is the level of mineralization — the amount of impurities dissolved in water. At the same time, more or less advanced aquatester checks not just the total amount of impurities, but the content of specific substances — hardness salts, organic compounds and heavy metal ions, and based on these three data, they derive a complex result. Of course, no device is perfectly accurate, but with the help of an aquatester, you can quite reliably separate potable water from unsuitable. In addition, such devices are indispensable for assessing the performance of filters — it is enough to measure the water indicators before and after filtration.

— Indicator of electromagnetic fields. Devices designed to detect electromagnetic fields and measure their intensity. Strong electromagnetic radiation adversely affects both various electronic devices and the human body. The sources of such fields can be not only external emitters (power lines, powerful radars), but also home devices — for example, a microwave with a shielding defect. EMF indicators allow you to identify adverse levels of electromagnetic pollution and take timely action.

— Salt concentration tester. Instruments for measuring the amount of table salt in various foods, mostly liquid. Salt is vital for the body, but its excessive amount leads to discomfort and even health problems; and for some diseases, low-salt diets are indicated. At the same time, it is not always possible to determine the salinity by taste: salt can be “disguised” by other ingredients, a raw product cannot always be tasted, etc. Thus, special devices are being produced that allow you to objectively measure the concentration of salt and control its intake.

— CO2 level meter. Devices designed to measure the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air. The most well-known sign of increased CO2 concentration is that the room becomes stuffy. However, according to sensations, it is not always possible to objectively assess this moment — for example, even a freshly ventilated room with a minimum level of carbon dioxide may seem stuffy in the heat, and in the cold, on the contrary, the feeling of stuffiness is dulled. At the same time, an increased content of CO2 leads to various troubles — from headaches and deterioration in concentration to health problems. Therefore, to maintain an optimal microclimate, it is desirable to control the amount of carbon dioxide, for which special devices are produced.

The range of values, expressed in microsieverts per hour, in which the radiation warning threshold can be set. If this threshold is exceeded, the device will give an audible signal, announcing a dangerously high radiation background.

This feature is convenient because the user does not have to look at the screen to receive the warning. In fact, this gives additional convenience: for example, the device can be put in your pocket and kept with you all the time and freeing your hands; you can check the background in hard-to-reach places where you can reach with your hand, but not look, etc. For more details on microsieverts per hour, see p. "Range of background radiation level" above. Here we recall that, as a general rule, a background of up to 0.4 μSv/h is considered safe, but in some cases, a different response threshold will be more convenient. For example, if the dosimeter is taken with you for a short trip to a zone of increased background radiation, where values of 1 – 1.5 µSv/h are normal, the threshold can be set to a higher value, and the dosimeter will warn only about the most “hot” zones, not responding to the general background.

The range of values, expressed in micro-roentgens per hour, in which the threshold for activation a radiation warning can be set. If this threshold is exceeded, the device will give an audible signal, announcing a dangerously high radiation background.

This feature is convenient because the user does not have to look at the screen to receive the warning. In fact, this gives additional convenience: for example, the device can be put in your pocket and kept with you all the time and freeing your hands; with its help, you can check the background in hard-to-reach places where you can reach with your hand, but not look, etc. For more details on micro-roentgens per hour, see p. "Range of background radiation level" above. Here we recall that, as a general rule, a background up to 40 μR/h is considered safe, but in some cases, a different threshold will be more convenient. For example, if the dosimeter is taken with you for a short trip to an area of high background radiation, where values of 100 — 150 μR/h are normal, the threshold can be set to a higher value — and the dosimeter will warn only about the most "hot" zones, not responding to the general background.

The range of mineralization measurements provided by the device with the function of an aquatester (see "Purpose"); in other words, the range from the lowest to the highest concentration of impurities in water that the device can detect.

To estimate the range in a particular device, the following data will be useful. Mineralization up to 5 mg/L corresponds to distilled water, an indicator up to 50 mg/L is considered optimal for drinking water. A level of up to 150 mg/L is drinking water of average quality (from mountain springs and artesian wells, as well as passed through carbon filters). An indicator of 150 – 300 mg/L is considered the maximum allowable for drinking water, mineralization of more than 300 mg/L makes the water unsuitable for human consumption, and at a level of more than 500 mg/L water can be dangerous to health. However, most modern water testers cover these ranges with a margin: devices with a range from 0 to 999 mg/L, and sometimes up to several thousand mg/L, are not uncommon.

The scale division of the device when operating in the aquatester mode (see "Purpose").

The scale division is the smallest difference between the two results that the instrument can detect. For example, if this indicator is 10 mg/L, then the device will "see" the difference between 40 and 50 mg/L, but the difference between 43 and 45 mg/L will already be too small, both of these results will be displayed as "40 mg/L".

The lower the scale division, the more subtle measurements the aquatester is able to provide. However, this is theoretically; in fact, this parameter most often amounts to the mentioned 10 mg/L — this is quite enough for most cases.

Frequency measurement range of electromagnetic fields, provided by the device with the appropriate functionality (see "Purpose").

The most intense effect on the human body is electromagnetic fields with a frequency of 5 Hz to 2 kHz; with this in mind, devices are created to measure these fields. In this case, the lower limit of the range in such devices may be higher than the general one — about 20 Hz; but this point is not critical.

The rate of measurement provided by the instrument. It is indicated by the time that, on average, passes from the beginning of the measurement to the result on the screen; the shorter this time, the faster this model. A good indicator is considered to be a measurement time of 5 sec or less ; however, if the instrument is not going to be used for mass measurements where speed is critical, a slower model can also be purchased.

Note that in devices with several modes (see "Purpose"), the speed of operation in different modes may be different: for example, a nitratometer usually works much faster than a dosimeter. For such cases, the characteristics usually indicate the shortest time; this should be taken into account when evaluating performance.

The maximum error that can occur in the operation of the device. Specified as the largest deviation as a percentage of the result. For example, if a nitrate tester showed a result of 150 mg/kg with an error of 10%, the actual nitrate content can be from 135 to 165 mg/kg.

In general, the lower this indicator, the better: low error ( less than 10%) that means high accuracy. However, even in the most inaccurate modern devices, the error does not exceed 15%, which is quite enough for domestic use. So in most cases, you can not pay much attention to this parameter — especially since for measurements that require increased accuracy, there are special rules that allow you to reduce the actual error by collecting statistical data.

The type of display provided in the design of the device.

— Monochrome. Single-colour display — for example, in the form of dark icons on a light background or luminous icons on a black background. Such displays are noticeably cheaper than colour displays and consume less power, but they have more modest functionality, are not as convenient and are not well suited for advanced functions. Therefore, this option is mainly used in devices synchronized via Bluetooth (see above): in them, the main control is carried out through the screen of a smartphone/tablet, and its own monochrome display plays a supporting role.

— Colour. The colour displays provide a rich image, well suited to instruments with a wide range of settings (as most modern nitrate testers are). They cost more than monochrome ones, but this difference is almost imperceptible against the background of the total price of the devices.

— Colour sensor. Displays similar to those used in modern smartphones and tablets. Such a display slightly increases the cost of the device, but this is offset by ease of operation: a wide variety of controls can be displayed on the touch screen, it is more visual and intuitive than the classic control panel with buttons. This option is quite popular in modern nitrate testers and similar instruments.