How does an AVS alarm stack up against a Vodafone Automotive?
If you ask most of the local Car Audio shops they’ll probably tell you that AVS is better. But I’m more interested in hard facts over uneducated opinions.
Time to test the AVS A5 against the Vodafone Automotive AK4698.
Let’s start with the basics.
The Current Draw Test!
Having a flat battery sucks! It’s important that your alarm is not causing a parasitic drain as it won’t even work if your battery is flat. Let’s see how these two get on when wired up to the test bench:
The Vodafone Automotive claims to draw 8.5mA when armed. My multimeter read an average of 5.5mA
The AVS A5 has a sticker on the case saying 20mA. My meter read an average of 17.5mA
Note: I did not wire the siren up for either test.
Build Quality
Time to open up the case and see what is inside:
The AVS does not even come close to the Vodafone Automotive in terms of build quality. It looks like an old relic, even when compared to an old Cobra alarm made back in 1995. If I did not know better I have guessed that it was made in the early 1980’s!
Sirens
I’ve had numerous rants about how pointless battery back-up sirens with over-ride keys are. But let’s assume the siren is not ripped out of the engine bay. What if the battery is disconnected or the wire is cut?
I could continue, but I think you should have drawn some damning fact-based conclusions by now…
