About CTEK
CTEK was founded in 1997 in Vikmanshyttan, in the Dalarna region of Sweden, when Swedish inventor Bengt Wahlqvist developed one of the first consumer battery chargers to use electronic pulse-charging technology. The company remains headquartered in Sweden and has grown into a global charging-solutions brand, distributing to more than 70 countries and selling well over a million battery chargers a year. A pivotal early milestone came in 2002, when Porsche selected CTEK to produce battery maintainers under the Porsche badge -- a relationship that reflects the OEM-grade engineering CTEK built its reputation on and that several other European manufacturers have since relied on for their own AGM and EFB battery-management programs.
CTEK's best-known model, the MXS 5.0, was the company's best-selling charger for years and was ranked first among Top Product Reviews' picks for battery chargers. The NXT 5, CTEK's current-generation successor to the MXS 5.0, keeps the same 5A-class output while adding full LiFePO4 lithium support and an IP65 splash- and dust-proof rating. On RevRated, the NXT 5 is independently featured in our car battery charger coverage, where Mike Reeves' testing highlighted its Recond desulfation mode and multi-chemistry coverage as standout features for owners of European vehicles with demanding battery-management systems.
Brand website: ctek.com
What CTEK makes
CTEK's range runs wider than the products we review. The lines we know best from our own testing are marked with a star:
NXT smart chargers
current-generation 12V smart chargers with Recond desulfation mode and full lead-acid through LiFePO4 lithium coverage -- featured on RevRated — featured on RevRated
MXS series chargers
the long-running MXS 5.0 and related models, CTEK's best-selling charger line for over a decade
CS FREE portable chargers
battery-powered multi-source chargers that run off mains, solar, or a 12V source without an outlet
D250SE DC/DC chargers
dual-battery charging for auxiliary and leisure battery setups in vans and off-grid vehicles
CTEK Battery Sense
Bluetooth battery monitor that tracks voltage and state of charge from a phone app
EV charging solutions
electric vehicle charging hardware added through the 2018 acquisition of Chargestorm
Why we recognized CTEK
The RevRated Top Brand recognition isn't paid for and can't be applied for. We award it to the brands whose products consistently stand out in our hands-on category reviews. CTEK earned it on the strength of the products below, evaluated the same way every product on this site is: bought, run on real vehicles, and judged on merit.
CTEK products we rated highly
CTEK NXT 5 4.3A Fully Automatic Battery Charger
The NXT 5 carries a dedicated Recond desulfation mode that actively breaks down sulfate crystal buildup on battery plates -- a reconditioning step most consumer chargers skip entirely -- and full multi-chemistry coverage spanning WET, MF, Ca/Ca, AGM, and EFB lead-acid through lithium LiFePO4. Its IP65 splash- and dust-proof rating, a step up from the prior MXS 5.0's IP44, held up in our testing on a rain-soaked hood and in a damp garage, and it's one of our top picks among chargers built for European vehicles running demanding AGM and EFB battery-management systems.
Read the 7 Best Car Battery Chargers of 2026 guide →What earned CTEK the recognition
- Nearly three decades of dedicated battery-charging engineering out of Sweden, dating to the 1997 founding by inventor Bengt Wahlqvist and a 2002 partnership producing Porsche-branded maintainers.
- The NXT 5's Recond desulfation mode actively reconditions degraded battery plates, a capability our testing found missing from most consumer smart chargers.
- IP65 splash- and dust-proof sealing on the NXT 5 held up in damp-garage and wet-hood conditions during our review, the only sealed rating among the chargers we tested in that roundup.
- Full multi-chemistry support from flooded lead-acid and AGM through EFB and lithium LiFePO4 in a single unit, matching the voltage profiles that European stop-start battery-management systems require.
- The predecessor MXS 5.0 was CTEK's best-selling charger for years and was independently ranked first among Top Product Reviews' battery charger picks.