Parallel charging allows you to charge multiple batteries simultaneously, however many people don’t like parallel charging due to safety concerns. Enters the HOTA F6 and F6+ 4-channel chargers, which allows you to charge up to 4 batteries individually at the same time. We will take a close look at its features in this review and share my experience with it, and how it compares to other popular dual channel chargers such as the D6 Pro.
Learn more about LiPo chargers in our buyer’s guide: https://oscarliang.com/choose-lipo-battery-charger-power-supply/
Table of Contents
Where to Buy?
You can get the Hota F6+ LiPo Charger from these vendors:
- Banggood: https://oscarliang.com/product-ndub
- AliExpress: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DlcAnoX
- RDQ: https://oscarliang.com/product-rq7f
In the package, you’ll find the charger, AC power cable and a quick start guide.
Hardware Specifications
The HOTA F6+ charger has the following specifications:
- Input Voltage: AC 100-240V / DC6.5-30V
- Charge Current: 0.1~15A x 4
- Charge Power: 250W x 4 @Input voltage>24V / AC 500W
- Combined Charging Power: 500Wx2 @Input voltage>23V
- Discharge Power:
- Internal discharge: 12W x 4 (balance port only 6W x 4)
- Regenerated discharge power: 250W x 4 (1000W)
- Battery Type:
- LiHv/LiPo/LiFe/Lilon/Lixx : 1~6S
- NiZn/Nicd/NiMH : 1~16S
- Smart Battery : 1~6S
- Lead Acid(Pb) : 2~24V
- Enelop : 1~16S
- Balance Current: 1000mA x 4
- Discharge Current: 0.1~3A x 4
- External discharger: 0.1~15A x 4
- USB Output: 5V / 2.1A
- Screen Size: 2.8″ IPS 320X240 color display
- Dimensions: 115x126x87mm
- Weight: 935g
Here’s the included quick start user guide.
Notable Features
- Efficient Charging: Charge up to 4 batteries simultaneously, eliminating the need for a parallel charging board. Learn more about parallel charging here: https://oscarliang.com/parallel-charging-multiple-lipo/
- Versatile Power Options: Features a built-in 500W power supply, allowing direct power from AC wall socke. For a full 1000W experience, use a compatible external power supply.
- Compatibility: Suitable for charging 1S to 6S LiPo and Li-ion batteries, and accommodates a wide variety of battery types.
- Extra Utility: Also functions as a power supply, adding to its versatility.
A Close Look at the HOTA F6+
The HOTA F6+ is quite a bit bigger and heavier than the popular D6 Pro, ToolkitRC M6DAC and SkyRC D200neo due to the integrated 500W power supply.
While the color screen on the the HOTA F6+ is both appealing to the eyes and largely legible, the actual user interface experience is a bit of a let-down. All the information is there, however accessing it can feel cumbersome. For instance, if you have multiple batteries connected, cycling through them to find specific details might take many button presses which can feels tedious. Also every time you go into a different menu/page, the screen can take a second or so to update. The whole menu design just feels slow to navigate. I’d say the UI definitely has room for improvement, hopefully it can come in one of the future firmware updates.
The charger features 4 capacitive touch buttons, instead of physical buttons and scroll wheel that you typically see on existing smart chargers. While the touch buttons are fairly responsive, there can be moments of inaccuracy, occasionally leading you to make unintended selections. Personally I prefer traditional scroll wheel and physical buttons. But there’s an upside to the capacitive design: these touch buttons tend to have a longer lifespan. Without moving parts, there’s less that can go wrong, and they generally endure wear and tear better than their physical counterparts.
Connections
There are a total of four charging ports on the HOTA F6+, with two positioned on either side (left and right), allowing for simultaneous charging. Each port is equipped with a standard XT60 connector and a balance port that supports 1S to 6S batteries.
Left side
Right side
On the front side, you can find a micro USB type A port, which unfortunately doesn’t support PD or QC fast charging, only support 5V 2.1A output. Below this, you’ll spot two additional micro USB ports, intended for firmware updates. Also present is a 3-pin servo port, useful for tasks like servo testing.
Front
On the back of the F6+, and you’ll see where the AC and DC inputs are located.
Back
The DC input is an XT90 connector, and it takes 6.5V to 30V. Now, this might feels like an odd choice, given that the XT60 is more common for LiPo chargers, it has its reasons given the charger’s ambitious 500W to 1000W peak power capability. To give some perspective: when charging 2S batteries at 500W, the charge current could reach a whopping 67A. This exceeds the XT60’s designed threshold, 60A (continuous current). So, while charging typical 4S or 6S batteries might not be an issue (pulling max currents of 33A and 22A at 500W, respectively), it could become problematic when charging at 1000W. Under such conditions, XT90 would be a more reliable choice.
For those charging under 500W, XT60 might be good enough, you could just use a XT90 to XT60 adapter and might get away with it. For those charging at 1000W, you definitely want to convert your existing power supply to XT90 connector.
User Experience
The biggest advantage of the F6+ is that you can charge 4 batteries simultaneously. The four batteries can be completely different voltages, cell counts, and even battery types. It’s basically 4 separate chargers rolled into one. It’s a great alternative to parallel charging if you feel it’s unsafe and still want to charge multiple batteries at the same time, and you won’t need to check battery voltages anymore before charging.
Like the D200Neo, the F6+ can double as a bench power supply. This comes in handy if you need to test your drone or power devices with a DC power source, like my favourite HGLRC RC2 / SI012 soldering iron. It offers a voltage output range between 5V to 29V, current output between 0.1A to 15A, and maximum power of 250W (per port).
Charging Performance
Before starting the charging process, you can set parameters such as channel, battery type, cell count, task (including charge, storage, balance, and discharge), end voltage, and current. The HOTA F6+ is versatile and supports a wide variety of battery types, such as LiPo, LiFe, Li-Ion, LiHV, and others.
While your batteries are charging, the charger displays various information, including the charging current, power output and voltages of each channel.
If you want more indepth information you can select a particular channel, which will show you the mAh charged, cell voltages and charging duration etc.
You can also check internal resistance while charging.
One crucial aspect of any charger that often goes overlooked is its balance current. Chargers with superior balancing performance can complete the charging process more quickly, particularly when your LiPo battery’s cells are out of balance.
The F6+ only offers 1A of balance current (per port), which is quite a bit lower than the 1.6A of the D6 Pro and S6, or the SkyRC D200neo’s 1.5A, but it’s on par with other competition such as the M6DAC.
To put the charger’s performance to the test, I connected a bunch of 6S LiPo packs to the charger, and see if the F6+ truly delivers 500W of power when powered via AC. During the charging process, the fan kicked into gear after about one minute. The maximum output power reached around 476W to 484W, pretty close to the rated 500W. I found when you push the charger to its power limit, the power is not distributed evenly across the ports, one of ports would be charging at a lower current.
To stop all the channels charging at once, simply go back to the home screen, and hold the OK button for 2 seconds.
Discharging Performance
The HOTA F6+ doesn’t just charge – it also comes equipped with discharge capabilities.
However, it’s worth noting that discharging doesn’t appear to be the F6+ strong suit. The maximum discharge current of the internal discharger is limited to 3A per port, which may be slow for those who want to discharge many or large batteries.
Each port seems to have a 10W maximum discharging power when using all 4 ports, lower than the claimed 12W in the specs.
If you wish to discharge at a faster rate, you can hook up an external load to the F6+.
Voltage Reading Accuracy
To ensure the accuracy of the F6+ voltage readings, I double checked the voltage measurements against a calibrated Digital Multimeter (DDM). The readings are quite accurate and I am very happy with it. The biggest error I encountered was only around 0.01V in Channel 2 – it’s so small it’s negligible and shouldn’t be a problem at all for hobbyist use.
| Source | Charger | DDM |
|---|---|---|
| Input XT90 | 19.2V | 19.33V |
| CH1 XT60 | 22.84V | 22.84V |
| Cell 1 | 3.809 | 3.806 |
| Cell 2 | 3.801 | 3.801 |
| Cell 3 | 3.811 | 3.806 |
| Cell 4 | 3.807 | 3.802 |
| Cell 5 | 3.808 | 3.805 |
| Cell 6 | 3.801 | 3.800 |
| CH2 XT60 | 22.86V | 22.84V |
| Cell 1 | 3.801 | 3.806 |
| Cell 2 | 3.807 | 3.801 |
| Cell 3 | 3.817 | 3.806 |
| Cell 4 | 3.813 | 3.802 |
| Cell 5 | 3.808 | 3.805 |
| Cell 6 | 3.806 | 3.800 |
| CH3 XT60 | 22.83V | 22.84V |
| Cell 1 | 3.810 | 3.806 |
| Cell 2 | 3.798 | 3.801 |
| Cell 3 | 3.807 | 3.806 |
| Cell 4 | 3.802 | 3.802 |
| Cell 5 | 3.808 | 3.805 |
| Cell 6 | 3.797 | 3.800 |
| CH4 XT60 | 22.83V | 22.84V |
| Cell 1 | 3.810 | 3.806 |
| Cell 2 | 3.801 | 3.801 |
| Cell 3 | 3.807 | 3.806 |
| Cell 4 | 3.804 | 3.802 |
| Cell 5 | 3.806 | 3.805 |
| Cell 6 | 3.801 | 3.800 |
Even if yours had wrong voltage readings, you can calibrate it in the system settings, which is handy.
F6+ vs F6
The F6+ has a sibling, the F6, apart from being smaller and $60 cheaper, what are the differences?
The most noticeable distinction is their size. The F6+ is considerably bulkier primarily because of the built-in 500W power supply. The Hota F6 is shorter without the integrated power supply, but that means it cannot be powered directly from wall socket, and has to use an external power supply or battery via the XT90 connector.
The other key difference is the menu buttons. The F6+ has capacitive touch buttons, while the F6 has physical push buttons and a metal scroll wheel.
Both chargers have similar design as well as capabilities and features.
You can purchase the F6 charger here:
F6+ vs D6 Pro
Here’s the deal: the F6+ comes with a price tag of $186. Now, for an additional $40, you could buy two D6 Pro’s, giving you the same ability to charge up to 4 batteries simultaneously without parallel charging boards. To some, this might be a better solution. Why? Well, for starters, the D6 Pro is more user friendly. Plus, there’s the redundancy factor – having two chargers means if one broke down, you still have the other one. The downside? Juggling cables and power supplies since you’ve now got two chargers you need to power. But if this is the route you want to take, you should also consider the SkyRC D200Neo. On paper, its specs seem a touch superior to the D6 Pro, even slightly cheaper.
Now, let’s stack up those specs for a side-by-side comparison:
| Feature | F6+ | D6 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $186 | $118 |
| Total Power DC | 1000W | 650W |
| Total Power AC | 500W | 200W |
| Max Charge Current | 15A | 15A |
| Max Balance Current | 1.0A | 1.6A |
| Max Discharge Current | 3A | 3A |
| Support External Discharge | Yes | Yes |
| DC Input Voltage | 6.5-30V | 6.5-30V |
| Number of USB Outputs | 1 (5V 2.1A) | 1 (5V 2.1A) |
| Wireless Charging | No | Yes |
| Dimensions | 115x126x87mm | 108×105 ×76mm |
| Weight | 935g | 555g |
Final Thoughts
If you don’t mind parallel charging, my recommendations would be to get one of the dual channel chargers here: https://oscarliang.com/choose-lipo-battery-charger-power-supply/#Top-LiPo-Charger-Recommendations
If you are looking for an alternative to parallel charging, the Hota F6+ 4-channel charger is undeniably a compelling choice.
Get the HOTA F6+ here:
- Banggood: https://oscarliang.com/product-ndub
- AliExpress: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DlcAnoX
- RDQ: https://oscarliang.com/product-rq7f
The main complaint I have would be the slow user interface and capacitive buttons. I wish they had kept the scroll wheel which would have made this charger so much easier to use than those touch buttons.
Comparing to the F6, I prefer the F6+ because of the built-in power supply, I can just power it directly from wall socket. Although it’s limited to 500W overall, it’s more than enough for most people, especially if you aren’t parallel charging.
If you already has an external power supply, you should consider getting the HOTA F6, which has the same features and functions as the F6+, but it has the more user friendly scroll wheel and buttons which make it slightly easier to use.
Get the HOTA F6 here:
Either way, if you want to unlock the ultimate 1000W in the F6 and F6+, you should get yourself an external power supply, which can be found here (1200W PSU):
-
- AliExpress: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DdIby9F
- Banggood: https://oscarliang.com/product-lq1c
6 comments
I received my Hota F6 two weeks ago and it did work great. Since yesterday, the quad charger only works on three channels, what a shame. Returned to the seller.
Just tried mine for the first time today…. DOA
Update: I received my replacement and it works great. I wish it had some actual buttons because it’s already more complicated to navigate than the 2 on my D6, and the lack of physical buttons doesn’t help, but it’s not a huge deal.
My F6 + exploded 20min ago :( I did not plug anything wrong, it just died. It was about 6 weeks old only :(
I hope the durability of the electronics inside is better than the F6 (the one without the built-in power supply).
My F6 failed twice – the first time – while discharging a 2s battery at just 0.1A – the failure made the whole charger inoperable (not just the affected channel). Since the charger was less than year old I claimed my warranty and after a long, the-way exchange between myself, Hobbyking and Hota I sent the charger to Hota for a PCB replacement (I had do pay for shipping it to China).
The charger failed the second time shortly after coming back from the repair – this time only one channel died while charging a 4s battery at some moderate current of less than 1A…
I have seen a number of similar testimonies on the internet.
I’ve been using F6 and P6 for a few years now and I think the interface of F6 is a bit slow and cumbersome. Even though Hota introduced channel selection using the click wheel in the latest firmware for F6, I’d strongly recommend buying two P6 thand one F6. Reasons are,
1. thermal issue. 4 channels can’t be used at full capacity due to thermal issues – it lowers the power output. It seems Oscar experienced something similar with F6+. Using two dual channels has more practical capacity.
2. UI. Navigating 4 channels on F6 isn’t easy.
3. Port location. P6 has ports on the front and F6 has them on both sides. I found front facing ports are easier to deal with when you have multiple chargers.
Now, I’m using F6 for mostly individual batteries and three P6 for parallel boards. I hope there’s a big fan version of Hota P6, small fans on these chargers are really noisy.