Best Bench Power Supplies in 2026: Variable DC and 13.8V Benchtop Supplies Ranked by Owners

The Pyramid PS9KX has been a quiet fixture of hobby benches for years. It does one thing: turn 115-volt mains into a steady 13.8 volts DC, the voltage a running car supplies, at 5 amps continuous and 7 amps surge. Because it is a linear regulated design built around a transformer rather than a switching circuit, it does not spray radio-frequency hash across the bands, which is why CB and scanner users favor it. Connections are screw terminals for bare wire or ring lugs plus a cigarette lighter socket, so tire inflators, dash cams and car chargers can be tested indoors. Overload and short-circuit protection are electronic, with an auto-resetting fuse, and a cabinet heatsink and fan keep it cool. Thousands of owners give it an excellent owner rating. It is fixed-voltage, modest in current and heavier than it looks.

Jesverty’s SPS-3010 is the straightforward 30-volt, 10-amp supply for a first electronics bench. Voltage and current each get coarse and fine knobs, the traditional layout that makes it easy to sweep a value smoothly while watching a circuit respond, and a bright four-digit display reads volts, amps and watts together to 0.01 V, 0.001 A and 0.1 W. It moves between constant-voltage and constant-current automatically at the limits you set. The upright case is 7.1 by 3.35 by 6.1 inches and about 2.5 pounds, so it takes a hand-width of bench, and a power cord and test leads are in the box. Short-circuit and overload protection are built in. Thousands of owners give it a strong owner rating. Potentiometers cannot match an encoder for hitting an exact figure, there is no separate output switch in the listed features, and the USB port is a basic 5-volt, 2-amp outlet.

The Pyle PSV300 is the workhorse choice for a radio shack: 13.8 volts at up to 30 amps from a case small enough to sit beside the rig. That is enough current for a 100-watt HF or mobile transceiver on transmit, a linear amplifier for CB, or a bank of 12-volt accessories, and the input is switchable between 115 and 230 volts. Heavy screw terminals take ring lugs or bare wire, electronic overload and short-circuit protection shut it down before a fault does damage, and a built-in fan handles the heat. Thousands of owners give it a very strong owner rating. It is deliberately plain: there are no volt or amp meters on the front, no lighter socket and no Anderson Powerpole outlets, and the voltage is not adjustable. If you want those extras, look at the SPS-50II below; if you want dependable amps, this is the one.

This NANKADF supply is a close cousin of our top pick, and for many benches the two are interchangeable. It delivers 0 to 30 volts and 0 to 10 amps, set by an encoder knob you press to choose a digit and turn to change it, on a four-digit display that resolves 0.01 V and 0.001 A in constant-voltage or constant-current mode. The detail that sets it apart is the alarm: with overcurrent protection switched on, a short across the load stops the output and sounds a buzzer, which is useful when you are probing a board with your eyes on the work and not on the meter. An output enable button and an 18-watt USB fast-charge port round it out. Thousands of owners give it a strong owner rating. It tops out 2 volts lower than the first pick, and the buzzer is not subtle.

Pyramid’s 7-amp unit is the most convenient of the small fixed supplies. The front panel carries banana plug terminals, a cigarette lighter socket and two USB charging ports, so a handheld radio charger, a dash cam, a 12-volt LED strip and a phone can all be powered or tested without making up a single cable. Output is a regulated 13.8 volts at 7 amps peak and 4.5 amps continuous from 120-volt mains, with electronic overload and short-circuit protection, a rugged metal housing and an integrated heat sink. A power switch on the front saves reaching for the plug. Hundreds of owners give it an excellent owner rating. The continuous rating is the thing to respect: 4.5 amps suits scanners, CB receivers and accessories, not a transceiver keyed at full power. For a hobby bench that mostly tests car gadgets, it is the handiest box here.

Jesverty’s SPS-50II is the step up when 30 amps is not enough or when you want to see what the load is doing. It supplies a fixed 13.8 volts or, at the turn of a knob, anything from 9 to 15 volts, which helps when testing equipment at low-battery and charging voltages. Twin analog meters show volts and amps in real time, the main screw terminals are large enough for heavy cable, and the front adds two pairs of snap-in terminals and a lighter socket. For radio operators the noise offset circuit matters: it moves the switching noise to another frequency if it lands on the signal you are listening to. Forced-air cooling, short-circuit protection and automatic current limiting are built in. Hundreds of owners give it an excellent owner rating, the highest here. It costs more than the Pyle and has a shorter track record.

The FNIRSI DPS-150 is a different animal: a pocketable module that takes its input from a USB-C charger or a DC brick and turns it into an adjustable 30-volt, 5-amp, 150-watt output. A 2.8-inch IPS color screen, which flips 90 degrees for upright or flat use, shows numbers or live curves of voltage and current, six groups of settings can be stored and recalled, and the output can be programmed from a PC. Stated ripple is under 20 millivolts, constant-voltage and constant-current modes are both there, and eight protection mechanisms cover overvoltage, overcurrent, short circuit and overheating. Hundreds of owners give it a strong owner rating. Its ceiling is 5 amps, its real output depends on the charger feeding it, and the maker recommends adding a reverse-current diode when charging batteries. For a small desk or a travel kit, it is the clever choice.