Topdon V2200Plus Jump Starter Review: Portable, Compact, Ready to Go
The Topdon V2200Plus Jump Starter is also a battery tester, flashlight, and portable charger for smartphones and tablets.
Lexus and Toyota vehicles are world-renowned for reliability. But life is full of unexpected moments. And batteries love to run low at the worst possible times. So it’s cheap insurance to have a jump starter for everything from daily driving to cross-country vacations. Until recently, however, being prepared for a low/dead battery meant buying a bulky lead-acid jumper pack. Fortunately, we’ve shifted into the compact, lithium-ion era with products like the Topdon V2200Plus Jump Starter.
Full disclosure: Topdon is a ClubLexus sponsor.
Compared to my old 20.4-lb lead acid jump pack, the V2200Plus weighs less than three lbs. And that includes the carrying case, paper instruction manual, a spare USB cable, the V2200Plus itself, and the jump/tester clamps. And, where the old jump pack is over a foot tall and a foot wide, the entire V2200Plus carrying case measures 10.5″ (L) x 6″ (W) x 4″ (T). That’s small enough to tuck away in all trunks and many center consoles and glove boxes, ready to use whenever trouble strikes.
Pricing & Setup
The Topdon V2200Plus has a suggested retail price of $149.99. It includes everything we mentioned above and is currently for sale HERE on Amazon.com. At the time of publishing, the sale price is $127.49.
To jump-start a vehicle with the V2200Plus, follow these simple instructions:
- Make sure the vehicle and all of its accessories (headlights, radio, a/c, etc.) are OFF
- Plug the battery clamps into the V2200Plus
- Connect the POSITIVE (+) battery clamp to the POSITIVE (+) battery terminal
- Connect the NEGATIVE (-) battery clamp to the NEGATIVE (-) battery terminal
- You should now have a GREEN status light illuminated where it says OK/Err
- Start your vehicle
Notes
- Some vehicles have remotely mounted batteries. Refer to your vehicle’s owner’s manual for jumpstarting insturctions and/or to find (+) and (-) jumper posts.
- If you hear a ringing buzzing sound or see a RED light, there is a problem. Disconnect the clamps and refer to the Topdon user manual.
- If starting the vehicle fails, disconnect the battery clamps, wait 20 seconds, and try again. Topdon says not to attempt more than three consecutive jumps in under two minutes.
Features & Specs
- For 12V battery vehicles, up to 8.0L gas and 6.0L diesel engines
- Up to 35 jumps on a full charge
- BOOST feature for dead or damaged batteries
- 2200A peak current
- 300 Lumen LED flashlight (solid, SOS, and strobe modes)
- Battery tester via a smartphone app
- Drop, dust, and water resistant
- 6 safety measures (reverse connection, reverse charging, short circuits, over current, over temperature, over discharge)
- Warranty: 1 year
Inputs & Outputs
- USB-C: PD60W 20V⎓3A,15V⎓3A,12V⎓3A,9V⎓3A,5V⎓3A
- DC: Max 16.8V⎓10A
- USB-A 1: QC18W,12V⎓1.5A,9V⎓2A,5V⎓3A
- USB-A 1: QC18W,12V⎓1.5A,9V⎓2A,5V⎓3A
Lights
- OK/Err (green means ready to charge; solid or flashing red means reverse polarity, short circuit, or over temperature)
- Bluetooth (solid blue means Bluetooth connected; flashing blue means Bluetooth NOT connected)
Battery Health Testing
In addition to being a compact jumper pack, the V2200Plus is also a battery tester. To use this function, you’ll need an iOS 11.0 or later, or an Android 7.0 or later, device, and the free Topdon BatteryLab app (iOS, Android). The BatteryLab app and V2200Plus offer four functions:
- Battery Test
- Cranking Test
- Charging Test
- Real-time voltage
To use each function, simply follow the instructions in the app and provide information about your battery as needed. However, based on previous experience with other Topdon battery testers, we wanted to share some advice: for accurate test results, it’s important not to test a battery that’s either been sitting around, unused, for too long, or one that’s just finished driving. According to Topdon —
If the battery charge is too high or too low, it will affect the test results. If the battery charge is too high, there is usually floating electricity. In this case, it is generally recommended that customers turn on the car headlights for 2-3 minutes and remove the floating electricity before testing. Low battery may be caused by excessive use of the battery and not charging it in time. In this case, it is also recommended to charge it for a period of time before testing.
V2200Plus First Impressions
The Topdon V2200Plus is a rectangular plastic device that appears semi-ruggedly made. It’s comfortable in the hand with protected plastic corners and rubber non-slip feet. On its top, the “power” style button can be pressed once to check the current state of charge (25%, 50%, 75%, 100%). Press-and-hold the same button to turn the LED flashlight on/off. Once illuminated, press the power button once to activate the strobe or twice to activate the S.O.S. lighting modes. (A third press will also turn the light off.)
On one side, users will find the USB-C and DC ports for charging up the V2200Plus. The USB-C port can also be used to charge external devices. On the other side, there are two USB-A ports for charging external devices. One USB-A to USB-C cable is included with the purchase, but neither a DC charger nor a wall plug is included, which is a disappointment. We elected to use the power bricks from a variety of Apple devices as well as a USB-C to USB-C cable that we already owned.
The final port — located next to the flashlight — is for connecting the battery tester/charger clamps; there is only one way to plug this in, making it easy to figure out. All of the ports are sealed with rubber/plastic covers that should keep out general moisture but don’t appear to be waterproof enough to survive being dunked into liquids.
Should You Buy One?
In our time with the V2200Plus, the jump starter worked flawlessly, jumping vehicles and charging personal electronic devices like iPads and iPhones. We did not test Topdon’s claim of “up to 35 jumpstarts” on a single charge. But it managed to jump my 1987 5.0L V8 Mercury Cougar, which loves to kill batteries and uses a large, 37-year-old starter that doesn’t take well to jump-starting.
Color me impressed.
The battery tester feature has me less enthusiastic, only because the test results are inaccurate when a battery sits around for too long. I’m obviously not an engineer, but it seems to me that batteries prone to sitting around for a long time are exactly the type that need testing, and it’s a bit of a hassle to charge up a battery ahead of testing. But who am I to argue with physics?
Overall, the V2200Plus is compact, rugged, and very capable. It would make a great addition to anyone’s toolkit, or in-vehicle supply kit, regardless of a vehicle’s age. Older/project vehicle owners can rest easy when a vehicle sits or spends all morning with the radio on at a car show. Or newer vehicle owners don’t have to worry about all the wireless and modern systems randomly draining power (for example, some vehicles if left unlocked will keep searching for a keyfob, which slowly kills the battery).
Recommended.
Click HERE to purchase a Topdon V2200Plus
Or
Click HERE for more Topdon V2200Plus product information
