Best Digital Multimeters Australia Has to Offer — Top Picks and Buyers Guide

Is an appliance acting weirdly? Batteries on the blink? Car engine not running correctly? Grab a digital multimeter! These incredibly versatile units measure a plethora of electrical properties to keep everything running smoothly — including checking resistance, voltage, current, and continuity. They’re essential tools for everyone, from DIY enthusiasts tackling home projects to expert tradies diagnosing complex faults.

Our comprehensive guide will help you navigate the world of multimeters and choose the one that releases your electrical troubleshooting power! So, discover how a digital multimeter can become your go-to gadget for all things electric!

Best Budget Multimeter in Australia

Best Digital Multimeters in Australia Buying Guide

Complete your DIY projects and electrical trade jobs with a mighty multimeter! These versatile tools are essential for anyone who tinkers with electronics, tackles home repairs, works as a tradie, or repairs automotive vehicles.

From basic troubleshooting to advanced diagnostics, multimeters can handle a multitude of tasks. Testing batteries, diagnosing circuit issues, ensuring safe operation, and even analysing electrical efficiency — there’s little these incredible machines can’t handle.

Today, modern digital multimeters offer clear advantages over their older, analogue counterparts — boasting superior accuracy and a wider range of functions.

Even the most basic models provide readings for voltage, frequency, current, and resistance. And, for the experienced DIYer or trade user, they provide features to investigate temperature, in-rush current, and even motor RPMs.

Easy to use, packed with safety features, and often featuring automatic range selection — digital multimeters are ideal for electronic novices and seasoned electricians.

When choosing your perfect machine, consider the following:

• Accuracy.
• Resolution.
• Measurement capabilities.
• Auto-ranging.
• RMS.

What Is a Digital Multimeter?

A digital multimeter (DMM) is crucial for anyone who needs to troubleshoot electronics, repair automotive circuitry, or build PCBs (printed circuit boards). Forget the nostalgia of juggling separate voltage meters, current testers, and frequency monitors — the phenomenal DMM combines these functions into one powerful unit.

Think of digital multimeters as devices that speak the complex languages of the electrical world. The best multimeter basic units can measure current, voltage, and ohms (resistance) — while more advanced machines can tackle anything from temperature to memory holding. 

Electronic information flows into the meter by attaching two investigative probes from the multimeter to your circuit. The results are displayed on a clear LCD screen, controlled by buttons and a rotary dial for easy selection. Gone are the days of fiddly analogue meters — 21st-century DMMs have revolutionised electrical testing with their superior accuracy and precision.

More premium models permit you to set the measurement range manually or automatically. Auto-ranging eliminates the guesswork, saving you time and ensuring you get the right reading every time. This flexibility makes DMMs perfect for beginners and experienced electricians.

How to Purchase the Best Multimeters

We’ve scoured the market to bring you the top-performing multimeters — detailed in our ultimate DMMs above.

To find your perfect match from these units, consider these key factors when choosing your best multi meter.

Accuracy

The precision of a multimeter is the maximum permissible error limit on a single reading. The manufacturer’s specifications communicate it as a percentage, preceded by the symbol ‘±’. Lack of precision occurs due to electrical interference and noise.

For example, assume you have a machine that offers an accuracy of ±6%.

If you’re checking a PCB for voltage, and your testing meter displays 10 volts — the result could be inaccurate to plus or minus 0.6 volts (six percent of 10 volts = 0.06*10). Hence, the actual reading could be anywhere from 9.4 volts to 10.6 volts.

Generally speaking, the higher-end the multimeter, the greater the precision.

Resolution

In multimeters, the resolution refers to the display ‘count’ — not how easy the LCD screen is for you to read!

In short, the higher the count, the more detailed information the tool provides.

Think about a standard 30 cm ruler from your schooldays. If the ruler only has markings every centimetre, it will have a 30-count (as it has indices every cm). And, whatever you measure, you can only gauge the result to whole number centimetres.

Now imagine a ruler with markings every 0.5 cm. It can measure more accurately to 0.5 cm intervals, and will have a 60-count.

Multimeters work on the same principle. A 6000-count machine on a 20-volt range setting is capable of displaying a phenomenal 6000 different screen readings from zero to 20 volts. Hence, if the ultimate detail is crucial, go for a DMM with the highest possible count.

Measurement Capabilities

Your ideal multimeter must be capable of tackling your most common electronic projects.

If all you are doing is testing batteries and checking for continuity — you need nothing more than a basic machine. Should you investigate power efficiency or PCB heat sink performance, you require a more advanced unit.

Therefore, consider your project’s testing needs, and then choose a machine that fits your brief.

While not an exhaustive list, different digital multimeters offer a plethora of investigative abilities:

• Voltage — electrical pressure in DC and AC circuits.
• Current — flow of electricity in AC or DC circuits.
• Resistance — the opposition to the flow of electrical current flow.
• Capacitance — component’s ability to store energy.
• Frequency — number of fluctuating cycles of electrical flow.
• Duty-cycles — time period of a DC circuit signal flow.
• Temperature — heat levels (with special attachment).
• In-rush current — surge emitted when a circuit is switched on.
• Diode testing — well, it tests diodes are working!
• Continuity — emits a beep when there is circuit continuity.
• Memory — holds average, maximum, and minimum readings.

Auto-Ranging

Auto-ranging multimeters take the difficulty out of electrical testing. These units automatically select the ideal measurement range — meaning no more confused fiddling with dials and buttons.

Unless you’re an electronics nut or electrical pro, you’re unlikely to instinctively know whether that banded resistor in your circuit needs investigating in megaohms, milliohms, kilo-ohms, or good old ohms. An auto-ranging meter determines this for you — giving you the results you need without effort.

This intuitive feature delivers the incredible advantages of:

• Enhanced accuracy.
• Beginner-friendly — a multimeter newbie can use a machine straight from the box.
• Time-saving efficiency — crucial for trade users working to a schedule.
• Improved safety — protecting your multimeter from accidental overloads by choosing a safe range for testing.

Root Mean Squared (RMS)

Digital multimeters offer electrical testing through either RMS (root mean squared) or TRMS (true root mean squared) methodologies.

In brief, RMS systems only check sinusoidal waves — the standard up and down regular waveforms. TRMS machines also investigate sinusoidal waves, but additionally check the non-sinusoidal (irregular) waves.

So overall, TRMS is more accurate than RMS.

Should your jobs include dealing with variable frequency drive (VFD) motors or microchips — you require the accuracy of a TRMS DMM. If you don’t need this precision, opt for a more cost-effective RMS multimeter.

If you need a more in-depth explanation of this concept — here’s a university boffin explaining sinusoidal and non-sinusoidal waves.

10 Top Tips on Using the Best Multimeter in Australia

Modern-day digital multimeters are effortless to operate — even for the most electronically illiterate!

However, ensuring accuracy and safety requires some common sense and basic knowledge. Here are my top ten tips on using multimeters:

1. Read the Manual First!

While many multimeters share common usage techniques, they can have their own particular quirks. Therefore, always read the included user guide completely before switching on the unit — even if you’ve used a DMM in the past.

2. Switch Off the Power

If your multimeter testing doesn’t require your target circuit to be active — turn it off! Many functions, such as continuity, capacitance, and resistance don’t need a live circuit — switching it off can prevent unpleasant accidents.

3. Start With Something Simple

Multimeter newbie? Gain confidence and experience with basic testing functions first. Checking a battery for voltage, or investigating a circuit’s continuity are good places to start.

4. Know Your Leads!

Virtually all multimeters follow the industry practice of having a red lead for positive (+) connections and a black lead for negative (-). Make sure you connect these to the correct terminals on the meter, and the corresponding polarity on your circuit.

5. Ensure Clean Connections

Ensure your leads fit tightly into the terminals and that the metal probes aren’t dirty, bent, or corroded. Without well-maintained connections, your results are likely to be inaccurate.

6. Understand Your Multimeter Limits!

Multimeters have a CAT (category) rating that denotes the maximum voltage that the machine can handle. Exceeding these limits will result in catastrophic failure of your testing unit — or at least the internal fuse blowing — and increase the risk of electrocution.

7. Water and Electricity Don’t Mix

Very few multimeters are water resistant, and H2O and electricity aren’t happy bedfellows. Therefore, avoid using your unit in wet, damp, or rainy conditions. Take extra care when completing projects in bathrooms and kitchens.

8. Look After Your Multimeter

Multimeters are high-precision pieces of kit — abusing them can impair their accuracy. Store safely, use the in-built stand or handle for stability, keep out of damp conditions, and use the probe protectors.

9. Keep Out of the Reach of Children

Kids love anything with a screen — they will see your multimeter as a novel tablet or smartphone to play with. Not only could they damage the unit, but children consider the lengthy probes ideal for sticking up their noses, in their ears, and into mains sockets.

10. If in Doubt, Call an Electrician!

If you have absolutely no idea what you’re doing, are somewhat unsure about how to proceed, or are uncomfortable working with live circuits — think safety first and contact a qualified electrician.