To find out we sourced six machines to see if the budget semi-conductor devices can match up to the more expensive and accurate fuel-cell units. How we tested them This is another semi-conductor device that we wouldn’t want to rely on. As with others here, you get blow nozzles, but you need to supply your own pair of AAA batteries. While it passed our alcohol level tests, the results were not quite as consistent as the fuel-cell Excel’s. It was also a fraction shy in the cold-weather test, but the alert still warned us not to drive. While the Elite 3 isn’t cheap for a semi-conductor device, its overall performance justifies the cost. The heart of this test has to be how accurate the readings are. With the help of AlcoSense, we tested each device five times at the UK (excluding Scotland) (0.35 mg/l), Scottish (0.22mg/l) and Irish professional and new driver (0.09mg/l) limits. There’s a colour-coded warning system, with an instruction not to drive when the result is close to the limit. It passed all our tests with consistent readings, including the deep-lung assessment. It’s a class act

EasyMaxx 08165 user manual (English - 8 pages) EasyMaxx 08165 user manual (English - 8 pages)

Unlike with our top two, the AlcoSense Excel and Elite 3 (left), you need to know the legal level in the country where you are driving with the S80. The breath sample level was low, which leaves a question mark over its consistency. However, the unit worked under laboratory conditions. We also measured how much air was needed to get a result, as required by EN 16280 for breathalysers. This is included because alcohol concentration is most accurate in deep-lung air. Air from the throat could give a false reading. multiPROMOS' mission is to provide its users with an aggregation service of temporary specials from some distribution brands. Not that it would do you much good, because the alcohol results were around half what they should be, plus the YFFU sometimes read zero. There’s a colour-coded warning system at the UK (not Scotland) limit, but it’s of little use with these results.