9 Best Lab Power Supply[For beginners to professionals 2023]

Your lab is the place where you test, troubleshoot or design your circuit prototypes, or sometimes maybe repair some old circuit boards.

If you deal with consumer electronics the voltage range is 30V for most cases.

If you deal with industrial electronics you deal with DC voltages up to 48V or maybe 60V which are pretty dangerous voltages to work with.

So no matter which type of circuit boards or prototypes (2 layers to 7 layers PCBs, analog or digital) or whatever voltage levels you work on, every electronics lab needs a safe and reliable best lab power supply.

Because if someone intentionally or unintentionally missed up with this device i.e., lab or bench power supply. It may cause him a lot of time waste, money, and energy.

And because a reliable lab power supply is so important that from day one there are a lot of industry-leading power supply manufacturers out there on the market i.e. Tekpower, Keithley, Keysight, Aim-TTI, Rohde and Schwarz, and some new guys like Rigol, Siglent Technologies, Korad Technology, and GW Instek

Now, getting the best lab power supply or best benchtop supply, to avoid any bad situations while working on valuable projects, can be a very tricky task. One may not have enough knowledge of what to see when buying a new one, what parameters are important to look for? what are the famous brands in the industry?

And perhaps a lot of many more questions.

Here in this post, I try my knowledge best to help you find out the best power supply no matter if you are a beginner, hobbyist, or student, or professional.

Please keep in mind my emphasis will be on professional power supplies. I will start with beginners’ power supplies but along the way, I will talk more about professional ones as well.

Hopefully, this post will help you and you will enjoy it.

Choosing the right best lab power supply

Starting with the first and basic question i.e., what is the difference between linear and switching type power supply?

Because I believe everyone should know this before considering any other aspect when selecting the right power supply.

Linear vs switching power supplies

A linear power supply is a conventional heavyweight power supply that uses a simple circuit to convert AC into DC. It uses a transformer to step up or down the applied AC voltage before being applied to the regulator circuitry.

On the other hand switch mode power supply directly converts AC into DC without any transformer, and then converts this high DC to high-frequency AC voltage, which is then used by regulator circuitry to produce the desired DC voltage and current.

As it is clear now, linear is far more simple than switch mode. The switch mode is very light and small in size. Other than the small size it cannot beat linear mode in properties like stability, and heavy duty with little noise, ripple, and EMI.

And the best part is, the switch mode one is cheaper than the linear mode as there is no joint transformer inside it.

You know, it is always a trade-off between linear and switch mode for size, reliability, and power. For a lab, or for a situation where you do not need to carry or shift your power supply here and there, I recommend the linear type power supply. But if you want a professional switching type you should be ready to spend around one thousand US dollars.

So, we have concluded that the preferable choice between linear and switching types is the linear type. But of course, this is just my own opinion based on my experience, knowledge, and researching electronics field professionals’ opinions and work.

The right voltage and current ranges

The second most common question in the selection of the best lab power supply is, what are the right voltage and current ratings?

Well, I just can’t answer that for you specifically. But as I said if you deal with consumer electronics 30V 10A is enough for you.

If you deal with industrial electronics 60V 10A will be enough. In my opinion, you should not buy a power supply more than 60V 10A range, unless you really need it.

The other MUST HAVE features in supply for beginners as well as professionals

Let’s start talking about the beginner’s features first. But hay! it doesn’t mean that beginner features should be avoided in the professional one.

OCV: This means output contact voltage.
CV and CC i.e. constant voltage and constant current with decent load and line regulation
OCP i.e. output constant power. This means that if you set a constant power no matter what you change V or I the overall power will remain the same. This really secures your DUT from any damage.
Nice binding posts
Over-voltage protection (OVP) and over current protection (OCP)
If you chose linear there would be no problem with noise and ripple but if you chose to switch then the mentioned parameter should be in the range of 500 μVRMS and 7 mVpp. Now, these values are from field professionals and are based on my own research. If you can get approximately close to these values you would have a nice switching power supply.
Good precision and resolution

So now let’s talk about a few advanced features that would be best when you are working as a professional.

Precision and resolution i.e. how good our supply is for a small value of voltages. Typical values of load and line regulation for high-precision power supplies are 0.01%+2mV in constant-voltage mode and 0.01% + 500uA in constant-current mode.
Slew rate that can be programmed. This feature will save you a lot of time if you are working with devices that have a high inrush current.
Voltage and current must be set to zero all the time under no-load conditions. This means you should go for a highly reputable manufacturer.
Fully Floating Outputs
Programmable
Lockable front panel and an output switch, so you can configure it correctly before turning it on. Some of you may not agree with this but trust me this is a must-have if you have value for your time.

Keeping the above information in my mind I have created the following list of some amazing best lab or benchtop power supplies for beginners to professionals. I hope it will help you.

List of amazing best lab power supplies

I think I have shared all the information that I have about the topic. Now let’s have a look at some power supplies. I will start with very basic power supplies then I will talk about the intermediate models and then will end with some professional power supplies. So please keep on reading.

Also, keep in mind, I am not going to repeatedly talk about the above must have features of power supply over again and again. They are applied to all the below mentioned models. Also, I am not going to add some fancy-looking models that you will see a bunch of them online. Look man, I am an engineer and technical terms are more romantic to me than the looks.

1. Tekpower TP1803D

Kicking off our list with this very very basic lab power supply i.e. TP1803D. Tekpower is a popular California-based brand, known for making quality electronics products.

I really like it and its products. Actually, they make a lot of models, but I select TP1803D because it is very basic.

best lab power supply for beginners students and professionals

It has a voltage range of 0-18V and a current range of 0-3A. The best part is it’s linear i.e. you got low noise and ripple factors which means this can be an ideal choice for working with analog amplifiers. I am not specifying it you can definitely use it for all kinds of operations of your lab, or requirements.

Keep in mind this is a lab power supply which means it is not actually designed for continuously powering a device. Some beginners think that a lab power supply can be used as continuously as their laptop charger supplies. Well, this is not the case with lab or benchtop power supplies. We use them for a specific amount of time.

Here is the useful link to Tekpower TP1803D (Amazon link) to further investigate it if this got your attention.

2. Tekpower TP3005E

The next lab supply that I want to share is TP3005E. It is from the same brand.

The only difference between this guy and the above one is TP3005E is switching type power supply with voltage and current range more than the above.

The design of this supply is amazing. I really like it. Now to further investigate it for yourself here is the link for Tekpower TP3005E (Amazon link).

3. Korad Technology KD3005D

To have 30V and 5A in linear type I have found out this model, i.e. KD3005D. Korad Technology is a new guy in this market space but has proved itself one of the great manufacturers.

The design is great. And you got a lock feature as well which I think is really great at the given price range. To know more about it yourself here is the link for investigation and research, Korad Technology KD3005D (Amazon link).

4. GW Instek GPS-3030DD

I think this one is the last in the beginners’ lab power supply section. You know there are so many options out there for beginners on Amazon, eBay, and other online stores.

I think you should be fine with whatever supply you choose as long as your goal is to test a few circuits or power up an Arduino or something like that.

The thing is if you don’t feel like you are not going to use a power supply for a very long time. I think these beginner power supplies are way more than enough for you. Just don’t spend too much money on a supply that you would not use.

Alright!

GW Instek is a very old company, and they are making some very quality tools for professionals and engineers for decades. GPS 3030DD is amazing and in my opinion, you should definitely check this guy out.

It is programmable which makes it different from the rest of the above beginner level power supplies. Not that heavy technical programmable but entry-level.

To know more about its current and voltage ranges here is a link to GW Instek GPS-3030DD (Amazon link) for your own investigation and research.

So the above was some real beginner best lab or benchtop supplies. Now let’s discover some mid-range models. By mid-range I mean those best lab power supplies that have the ability to be programmed to some extent.

5. Tekpower TP3005P

Kicking off our list of mid-range supplies by introducing you to the TP3005P. I guess “P” at the end means programmable. I am not sure of this, but the power supply is programmable and can save your settings.

Saving settings are very time-saving especially when are working with a lot of different circuits and projects.

Some important technical terms to look at:

Output voltage: 0-30 V
Output current: 0-5 A
Source effect: C.V. ≤ 0.01 % + 3 mV
C.C. ≤ 0.1 % + 3 mA
Load effect: C.V. ≤ 0.01 % + 2 mV
C.C. ≤ 0.1 % + 10 mA
Setup resolution: 10 mV, 1 mA
Setup accuracy: ≤ 0.5 % + 20 mV, ≤ 0.5 % + 10 mA (25°C ± 5°C)
Ripple: ≤ 2 mV RMS, ≤ 3 mA RMS

Seeing these amazing figures should make you fall in love with this one. To further investigate this remotely controllable best laboratory power supply, here is the link to follow Tekpower TP3005P (Amazon link).

6. KORAD KA3005P

Next in the line is KA3005P. It is similar to the above one, but it has some great specs compared with the above i.e., TP3005P. It has a stunning resolution of 0.001V and 0.001A.

This is really amazing, especially with the remote control option.

Key technical features: Instead of USB & RS232 connecting options, this power supply has got the following stunning features.

So now if you want to further investigate it yourself here is the link for research, KORAD KA3005P (Amazon link).

7. Siglent Technologies SPD1305X

Siglent is new in the market, but it has proved itself the most valuable brand over time. I get the feeling of trust from this brand and like it second to Tekpower.

Now Siglent makes a lot of models from mid range to professional level usage. I like this model i.e., SPD1305X. I think it has got everything.

Here is the link for your own research and further investigation, Siglent Technologies SPD1305X (Amazon link).

With that, I think we have done with mid-level best lab power supplies. Now let’s talk about some really best professional lab power supplies

8. Siglent Technologies SPD3303X-E

In lab work, if you are really an electronics person, you need a supply that is a complete package. The above one is for a small lab or for a hobbyist person.

Now, let see what I mean by package by seeing the specs of this guy, the SPD3303X-E

Important Features

It has three outputs, meaning you can power anything with it at the same time. No need for voltage or current dividers
Among the three outputs, one port is dedicated to fixed voltages i.e. you can toggle between 5V, 3.3V, and a few more
It is 220W, making it a real powerhouse
The maximum voltage range is 32, with a resolution of 10mV
Got the USB/LAN interfaces
You can adjust the output in series and parallel as well, which is huge sometimes
Supports SCPI commands and has an available LabView driver
It is not noisy, which is great. No one likes a noisy supply.
Got the best regulation

These are the parameter I like about it and want it in every power supply in my lab. In summary, the Siglent SPD3303X-E (Amazon Link) is just a fit for any lab. You got three outputs, a nice look, reliability, and most importantly a trustworthy brand.

9. Rigol DP823

If you have been in electronics, then I am sure you have heard of this brand already. You may notice I always start with the brand because this is who I am.

I believe in brands and just don’t appreciate spending money on random products. This model has got almost the same feature as that of Siglent. So, I am not repeating them here again.

Important Features

It is a very high-quality programmable laboratory power supply with three switchable outputs
Along with USB/LAN, it has RS232 or GPIB as well, meaning you can remotely operate it
Has both OVP and OCP
A better UI than Siglent

In summary, the Rigol DP823 (Amazon Link) is a little expensive but if you looking for a lifetime reliable product for your lab. This model will be worth your investment.

Buying a professional DC lab power supply

The good news is as the power supply is the basic need of any lab there are great manufacturers out there from day one. But the bad news is you have to spend a lot.

These manufacturers are US-based, so you can’t argue with the quality. I am not saying other manufacturers are bad or something. I just genuinely love US brands when it comes to high edge quality but of course, it means also spending a lot.

To buy from GwInstek or Keithley (Tektronix) you have to visit their local distributor. Here are some references you can start from.

Now you got the brand names as I shared in the very first paragraph. All you have to do is go to their website find their local distributors and buy the supply that matches your professional requirements.

There are other options available for beginners

For me, if you are an electronics hobbyist or beginner, learning some basic electronics, I would recommend you make your own lab power supply. It would be a very good decision.

It will help you learn electronics as well as give you the best lab power supply. I call it the best one because you will make it yourself. And I cannot put into words how much fun it is to play with electronics in a safe environment. It is like learning from doing.

I recommend the Elenco power supply kit (Amazon Link) to start with. It is affordable, high quality, and well-documented to guide you with each step. Trust me you will learn a lot. You will learn how to solder, assemble, and make an end product like you always see in different stores.

Famous brands for making the best lab power supplies

There are a lot of manufacturers out there in the market. Not every one of them is good. There are some bad manufacturers as well that we need to avoid if we want to invest a decent amount of money. The following are the brands that have proved themselves in the industry over the years.

Tekpower
Rigol
Siglent Technologies
Korad Technology
Keithley
Keysight
Aim-TTI
Rohde and Schwarz
GW Instek
BK Precision

My final words on the best lab power supply

Having a power supply is a very essential tool for a lab or workshop.

Why?

Your bench, lab, or workshop is a place where you test different circuits and projects every day.
Every circuit and project has its own specific voltage and current ratings. You can’t design or buy a project specific supply every time you have a new project. This doesn’t make any sense.
Most importantly, you are testing out everything. So your supply should be pure and it must be safe.
It protects your circuit from burning out due to the unintentional application of high voltage.

It is so obvious that a decent lab power supply is your fundamental need if you are really serious about learning electronics.

The really important factor that I really want to emphasize is, that almost every power supply designed for lab purposes has a lot of safety measures, such as current limitation, over-voltage, and short circuit protection. These features prevent your test devices from any electrical damage.

For me, the following are the most in any lab power supply.

Come from a trusted brand
Must be of low price, so a beginner can afford it. But this doesn’t mean there should be any compromise on its quality
It should fulfill all the tasks requirements for which the power supply is designed
It should feel good
It must be very easy to use, don’t need to use a guide

Hopefully, it has helped you in some way.