I feel like you're severely overestimating how much inspection is actually done by customs for consumer imports. I've imported dozens if not hundreds of similar products/devices that could be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing and are certainly missing any required certification and never had so much as a peep other than the occasional request for an invoice so they could charge import fees.
Also in this case if you scroll down to the spec sheet the mains voltage measurements are done with a x10 probe, meaning you'd only get ~23 volts out. Obviously that won't prevent user error from leaving the probe at x1, but at that point the device would most likely destroy itself before you can even touch it anyways.
> I've imported dozens if not hundreds of similar products/devices that could be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing and are certainly missing any required certification and never had so much as a peep other than the occasional request for an invoice so they could charge import fees.
Couple of friends got stuff from Alibaba confiscated and destroyed by customs because it wasn't marked with valid CE and RoHS marks. I'm inclined to believe that at least German customs are actively looking for electronics - they're seizing around 250k general electronics plus 250k phones each year [1].
> Obviously that won't prevent user error from leaving the probe at x1, but at that point the device would most likely destroy itself before you can even touch it anyways.
The other scenario would be the user testing a socket and managing to connect scope GND to hot and scope input to neutral. At that point, most of that scope's "housing" aka its PCBs will be extremely dangerous to touch.
Advertising anything not actually complying with the numerous safety regulations surrounding electricity (particularly, IEC 61010-2-030) is so incredibly ignorant that it makes me question the rest of the entire product quality.
The market is littered with outright dangerous electronic devices but customs won't look into them, the volume is just too high. I stupidly clicked on an ad for an 'energy saving device' because I was curious about the scams an boy there are so many. The only one who can protect you is you yourself.
No touch protection as in it's open on four sides, right? With metal through-screws, to boot. As opposed to an enclosed, isolated case. I guess it'd be safe for low voltage measurements?
The device is only really meant for low voltage measurements to begin with, as you can see in the specifications below it's only rated for +-40V inputs. They get away with it because by using a x10 probe (which attenuates the signal 10:1) which means while you can now measure +-400V, the device itself will still only see +-40V and the software will correct the readings.
Such bargains exist because the manufacturers treat workers poorly and skimp on safety - many products contain toxic chemicals, may catch fire, contain sharp parts, etc. There’s also zero recourse should the product cause damage.
Even if that were the case, the extra money does buy extra quality unless the company’s greedy and pockets the entire difference. I’m not aware of that being the case for Korg and looking at the specs it’s clear that the Korg device has many more features. My NTS-1 is produced in Vietnam and has a CE marking - meaning that they guarantee that its fit for purpose and take responsibility for malfunctions.
User "dal" offers a cheaper alternative (indirectly complaining that the Korg one is too expensive), while "blub" talks about that cheaper alternative is cutting corners.
So on talks about the Korg being too expensive, while the other talks about the aliexpress model being too cheap.
I know it could be difficult to wrap your head around, but hear me out: Different people could be complaining about it being too cheap, than the ones complaining about it being too expensive. And both of those groups can have good points about it!
I'd expect this thing to be seized by customs if you attempt to import it into the European Union.