The Autoaqua Smart Stir may border on obscure as far as aquarium accessories go, but it has become such an integral part of my water testing regimen over the past few months that I wanted to offer some thoughts on the device. If you've seen the Smart Stir while casually scrolling through BRS and thought "Huh, that could be neat", then this review is for you.
Description
The Autoaqua Smart Stir is a small, battery-operated magnetic stirrer. Retailing at just under $30, it has a few distinguishing features that set it apart from traditional laboratory stirplates and make it well suited for our hobby. It's comparatively small: designed to accommodate 27mm vials (the approximate size of the test vials included with Red Sea kits). The integral rechargeable battery allows you the flexibility to use the Smart Stir wherever you normally conduct your water tests.
Benefits
I've used the Smart Stir with my weekly tests for several months now. I use it with both the titration-based Red Sea tests, and the colorimetric Hanna Checker tests. With titration-based tests, I've realized both time savings and accuracy improvements. The constant agitation of the solution frees up both hands to direct the syringe, which I normally find difficult to manipulate with a single hand. Without having to constantly shake the vial between each drop, these tests take nearly half of the time. For the Hanna Checker (and other colorimetric) tests, the Smart Stir speeds up the time it takes to dissolve each reagent (and likely helps make sure each reagent is more evenly dispersed in solution). In certain tests where reagents are added one drop at a time-- with shaking between each drop-- the time savings are considerable.
The battery life is far better than expected. Charging via a micro USB cable, the battery life lasts for more than a month of weekly testing. Since first purchase, I've charged the Smart Stir one single time, and it thus far shows no signs of needing a top-off.
Shortcomings
The Smart Stir includes only one single magnetic stir-bar, which I consider to be a major shortcoming. Autoaqua surely realizes that most aquarists perform more than one single water test at a time, and the lack of additional included stir-bars feels like a penny-pinching move. Perhaps worse still the included stir-bar is unbalanced and can rattle around obnoxiously during use. You can solve both problems by purchasing your own additional magnetic stir-bars (I have a set of these).
I've also found that using smaller vials (like the Hanna Checker cuvettes) is slightly clumsy. They need to be manually centered in the stirrer to work efficiently, and can fall over easily because of their narrow design. I'm hesitant to consider this point a shortcoming of the Smart Stir, since most stirplates are far larger and offer no mechanical means to center a test vial at all. Additionally, the top-heavy nature of the Hanna cuvettes are to blame for their vertical instability. With that said, I think that I've worked out a nice solution for this problem, too. I designed a quick, 3D printable collar to hold smaller vials in place.
Both of these shortcomings are easily sorted, but it would be nice to see additional stir-bars and adapters for different size testing vials included in future versions of the Smart Stir.
Summary
It's all about time savings for this product. A measly $30 to cut my water testing time in half made this product an important new addition to my testing supplies, and one that I've begun to recommend to other aquarists. When compared to other magnetic stirplates, it's price-point, portability, and specificity set it aside as a strong contender.
Description
The Autoaqua Smart Stir is a small, battery-operated magnetic stirrer. Retailing at just under $30, it has a few distinguishing features that set it apart from traditional laboratory stirplates and make it well suited for our hobby. It's comparatively small: designed to accommodate 27mm vials (the approximate size of the test vials included with Red Sea kits). The integral rechargeable battery allows you the flexibility to use the Smart Stir wherever you normally conduct your water tests.
Benefits
I've used the Smart Stir with my weekly tests for several months now. I use it with both the titration-based Red Sea tests, and the colorimetric Hanna Checker tests. With titration-based tests, I've realized both time savings and accuracy improvements. The constant agitation of the solution frees up both hands to direct the syringe, which I normally find difficult to manipulate with a single hand. Without having to constantly shake the vial between each drop, these tests take nearly half of the time. For the Hanna Checker (and other colorimetric) tests, the Smart Stir speeds up the time it takes to dissolve each reagent (and likely helps make sure each reagent is more evenly dispersed in solution). In certain tests where reagents are added one drop at a time-- with shaking between each drop-- the time savings are considerable.
The battery life is far better than expected. Charging via a micro USB cable, the battery life lasts for more than a month of weekly testing. Since first purchase, I've charged the Smart Stir one single time, and it thus far shows no signs of needing a top-off.
Shortcomings
The Smart Stir includes only one single magnetic stir-bar, which I consider to be a major shortcoming. Autoaqua surely realizes that most aquarists perform more than one single water test at a time, and the lack of additional included stir-bars feels like a penny-pinching move. Perhaps worse still the included stir-bar is unbalanced and can rattle around obnoxiously during use. You can solve both problems by purchasing your own additional magnetic stir-bars (I have a set of these).
I've also found that using smaller vials (like the Hanna Checker cuvettes) is slightly clumsy. They need to be manually centered in the stirrer to work efficiently, and can fall over easily because of their narrow design. I'm hesitant to consider this point a shortcoming of the Smart Stir, since most stirplates are far larger and offer no mechanical means to center a test vial at all. Additionally, the top-heavy nature of the Hanna cuvettes are to blame for their vertical instability. With that said, I think that I've worked out a nice solution for this problem, too. I designed a quick, 3D printable collar to hold smaller vials in place.
Both of these shortcomings are easily sorted, but it would be nice to see additional stir-bars and adapters for different size testing vials included in future versions of the Smart Stir.
Summary
It's all about time savings for this product. A measly $30 to cut my water testing time in half made this product an important new addition to my testing supplies, and one that I've begun to recommend to other aquarists. When compared to other magnetic stirplates, it's price-point, portability, and specificity set it aside as a strong contender.
