The short answer. All three measure the same way and to the same accuracy, per Victron. The differences are around the shunt. The SmartShunt has no screen, no alarm and no relay, and you read it on your phone. The BMV-712 adds a panel display, an alarm, a relay and Bluetooth. The BMV-700 has the display, alarm and relay but needs a dongle for Bluetooth and has no second input.
You’ll need
- One shunt battery monitor: Victron SmartShunt 500A, Victron SmartShunt 1000A, Victron SmartShunt IP65 500A, Victron BMV-712 Smart or Victron BMV-700
- The fused sense cable that comes with it (all three include one, per Victron)
- For a start battery, midpoint or temperature reading: a SmartShunt or BMV-712, plus Victron’s optional temperature sensor if you want temperature
- A bank size you trust. The monitor needs your real amp-hour figure, so check it with the Battery bank size calculator
Good news first: you can’t pick wrong on accuracy. Put the four Victron datasheets side by side and the resolution and accuracy lines match on all four. So you’re really choosing three things. Where you’ll look at the numbers. Whether anything should beep or switch off when the bank runs low. And how wet the spot is where the shunt goes. Let’s take them one at a time, then fit it.
What’s the difference between a SmartShunt and a BMV-712?
Victron prints the answer on the SmartShunt datasheet. Compared with the BMV-712, the SmartShunt has no programmable visual and audible alarm and no programmable relay. It also has no display. Victron puts it like this: your phone is the display.
On measurement there’s nothing between them. Victron lists the same specs for both: 0.01 A current resolution, current accuracy within 0.4%, voltage accuracy within 0.3%, a 1-9999 Ah capacity setting, and an operating range of -40 to +50 °C. The BMV-700 shares those figures too (measured with a 500 A shunt). Whichever you pick, state of charge comes from the same kind of counting.
Side by side: the datasheet numbers
| SmartShunt 500A / 1000A | SmartShunt IP65 500A | BMV-712 Smart | BMV-700 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | None (phone app or GX device) | None (phone app or GX device) | Panel display, flush mount | Panel display, flush mount |
| Bluetooth | Built in | Built in | Built in | Separate VE.Direct Bluetooth Smart dongle |
| Second input (start battery / midpoint / temperature) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Alarm | No programmable visual or audible alarm | None on the unit; alarms only in VictronConnect or on a GX device | Programmable, visual and audible | Programmable, visual and audible |
| Relay | No | No | Bistable, 60 V / 1 A, normally open | 60 V / 1 A, normally open |
| IP rating | IP21 | IP65 | IP55, not for outdoor use | IP55, not for outdoor use |
| Shunt size | 500 A or 1000 A, built in | 500 A, attached to the unit | 500 A / 50 mV included; settable for shunts up to 10,000 A | 500 A / 50 mV included; settable for shunts up to 10,000 A |
| Supply voltage range | 6.5-70 VDC | 6.5-70 VDC | 6.5-70 VDC | 6.5-95 VDC |
| Self-consumption | Under 1 mA | Under 1 mA | Under 1 mA, backlight off (0.7 Ah a month at 12 V) | Under 4 mA, backlight off (2.9 Ah a month at 12 V) |
All cells from Victron’s datasheets for each model (sources at the bottom).
Do I need a display, or is my phone enough?
Start with where you’ll check it. A BMV display has a 63 mm round front (or a 69 x 69 mm square bezel) and a 52 mm body that sits 31 mm deep behind the panel. Victron runs a 10 m cable from the shunt to the display, so the shunt can stay down by the batteries while the numbers sit at the helm or the nav station.
The SmartShunt skips all of that. Bolt it in on the battery negative, set it up in VictronConnect, and read it on your phone. That means one less hole in the panel and one less cable through the boat. The trade is that nobody notices a low battery unless they open the app.
Is Bluetooth reliable on a boat?
Mostly, but read Victron’s note before you choose. The SmartShunt datasheets say the shunt and the cables cut Bluetooth range down to about 10-15 m. A metal vehicle chassis or seawater around the hull can cut it further, to a range Victron calls unacceptable. Their fix is a VE.Direct Bluetooth dongle placed somewhere better, with the SmartShunt’s own Bluetooth switched off.
If the batteries live deep in a bilge locker, plan for that dongle, or pick a BMV, which keeps working through its display whatever the phone signal.
Do I need the second input?
The SmartShunt and the BMV-712 both have an auxiliary input you can use for one of three jobs:
- Start battery voltage. Handy when lithium runs the house loads and a lead-acid battery stays on the engine. The Boat lithium battery wiring diagram: 2 simple setups shows where that battery’s wires go.
- Midpoint. On a bank built from batteries in series, Victron says a midpoint reading that’s large or growing points to a bad cell or battery.
- Temperature. Needs Victron’s optional temperature sensor.
You get one of those three, not all of them. The BMV-700 has no auxiliary input. Victron sells the BMV-702 for that, and the BMV-712 also covers it.
Alarm and relay: when do they matter?
The BMV alarm is on the display itself: visual, audible and programmable. SmartShunt alarms only show up in the VictronConnect app or on a GX device, as the IP65 datasheet spells out. If nobody has the app open, the alarm goes unseen.
Victron rates the BMV relay at 60 V / 1 A and says it’s there to turn off non-critical loads or start a generator. The BMV-712’s relay is bistable, which Victron says stops it adding draw while an alarm is active. The SmartShunt has no relay.
SmartShunt or SmartShunt IP65?
The 500 A versions measure the same 46 x 120 x 54 mm and use the same M10 bolts. The difference is the case. The standard SmartShunt is IP21, fine in a dry battery box. The IP65 version is the one Victron calls water resistant, and it comes with its leads already attached: two 1.5 m fused sense cables and a 1.5 m lead ending in a VE.Direct socket. To connect it to a GX device you still need a separate VE.Direct cable.
Put the IP65 anywhere it could get spray or condensation. Anywhere dry, the standard one does the same job.
500 A or 1000 A SmartShunt?
Our advice: choose a shunt rated above the most current your system can pull or push at once, which on most boats means the inverter. The 1000 A model is physically larger (68 x 168 x 75 mm against 46 x 120 x 54 mm). Its zero offset spec is also a bit higher, under 20 mA compared with under 10 mA on the 500 A.
Does the monitor itself drain the battery?
A little, and it adds up. Victron rates the SmartShunt and BMV-712 at under 1 mA, and the BMV-700 at under 4 mA with the backlight off. That’s 2.9 Ah a month at 12 V.
The BMV-712 datasheet explains why this matters on lithium. Once a lithium battery shuts down for low voltage, about 1 Ah per 100 Ah of capacity is left. Victron’s example: a 10 mA draw may damage a 200 Ah battery left discharged for more than 8 days. On a boat that sits for weeks, the lower standby draw is a good reason to choose the BMV-712 or a SmartShunt.
Can a Cerbo GX show them on a screen?
Yes. Victron says a GX device can read all three over a VE.Direct cable, and a Victron Cerbo GX MK2 can show any of them on a screen. Per Victron’s Cerbo GX page, you view it on the separate GX Touch screen or a compatible boat multi-function display, and also through the VictronConnect app or the VRM web portal. So a SmartShunt now doesn’t rule out a screen at the helm later.
Which one should you buy?
- You check everything on your phone and the batteries are somewhere dry: Victron SmartShunt 500A.
- Same, but in a spot that sees spray or damp: Victron SmartShunt IP65 500A.
- A big inverter or a large bank: Victron SmartShunt 1000A, or a BMV set up for a bigger shunt.
- You want the numbers and an alarm at the helm, plus phone access, a start battery reading or a relay: Victron BMV-712 Smart.
- You want a panel display and alarm for one house bank, and don’t need Bluetooth or a second input: Victron BMV-700.
Still torn? The BMV-712 has every feature in the table. What it lacks is the IP65 case, and it needs a hole in the panel.
How do I fit a battery monitor? Step by step
Fitting a shunt is a good first job on your own system. Take it in this order.
- Switch off first. Loads off, chargers off, battery switch off, before you open the negative cable.
- Bolt the shunt onto the battery negative. It sits down by the batteries. Everything else (loads and chargers) connects on the system side of the shunt, so every amp passes through it.
- Connect the fused sense cable that came in the box.
- Use the second input if you have one. Start battery, midpoint or temperature. Pick one.
- BMV only: mount the display. Cut the panel hole at the helm or nav station and run the cable from the shunt.
- Set it up in VictronConnect. Enter your bank’s real amp-hour figure. SmartShunt setup for lithium: the settings that matter covers the rest.
- Check the signal. Close the locker and open the app from where you’ll sit. If it drops out, add the VE.Direct Bluetooth dongle somewhere better (on a SmartShunt, switch the shunt’s own Bluetooth off).
Give it a full charge so the state of charge has a starting point you can trust.
Does this comparison fit your setup?
This applies if: – Your bank runs 12V, 24V or 48V DC (all three cover 6.5-70 V; the BMV-700 goes to 95 V). – You have one main bank to watch, with or without a start battery. – You’re choosing between Victron shunt monitors and want the datasheet differences, not opinions.
This doesn’t apply if: – You’re above 70 V. Only the BMV-700 (to 95 V) or Victron’s BMV-700H covers that, and high-voltage banks need a qualified installer. – Your lithium battery’s own BMS already reports state of charge to your system. Check the battery maker’s manual before adding a second monitor. – The batteries sit outdoors with no cover. The BMV display is IP55 and Victron says it isn’t meant for outdoor use.
Products used in this guide
| Product | Why it’s here |
|---|---|
| Victron SmartShunt 500A | Phone-only monitor for a dry battery space. IP21, under 1 mA. |
| Victron SmartShunt 1000A | Same features, for systems that pull more current. |
| Victron SmartShunt IP65 500A | IP65 case for spray or damp spots, leads already attached. |
| Victron BMV-712 Smart | Display, alarm, relay, Bluetooth and a second input in one unit. |
| Victron BMV-700 | Display, alarm and relay for one bank. Bluetooth needs a dongle. |
Prices show live from the store. All five are listed in Battery monitors. For the rest of the parts around a new bank, see the Boat lithium upgrade kit. Once it’s installed, the SmartShunt setup for lithium: the settings that matter covers the settings.
Bundles for this job: Shore charger + battery monitor bundle, RV battery monitor kit, Victron smart system bundle
Quick answers
Does the SmartShunt have an alarm? Not on the unit. Victron’s datasheet says SmartShunt alarms show only in the VictronConnect app or on a GX device. If you need an alarm you can hear, get a BMV.
Can the BMV-700 connect to my phone? Yes, but only with Victron’s VE.Direct Bluetooth Smart dongle, which is sold separately. Without it you set it up with the buttons on the display.
Can a SmartShunt watch my start battery? Yes. Its auxiliary input reads a second battery’s voltage, a midpoint or a temperature, but only one of the three. The BMV-712 does the same. The BMV-700 can’t.
Is the BMV-712 more accurate than the SmartShunt? No. Victron lists the same resolution and accuracy for both: 0.01 A, within 0.4% on current and within 0.3% on voltage.
Will the SmartShunt’s Bluetooth reach my phone through the hull? Maybe not. Victron says seawater around the hull can cut the range too far, and suggests a VE.Direct Bluetooth dongle placed somewhere better, with the shunt’s Bluetooth off.
Related guides: Cerbo GX: do you need one on a boat?, SmartShunt setup for lithium: the settings that matter
Sources
- Victron SmartShunt 300A/500A/1000A/2000A datasheet: https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Datasheet-SmartShunt-EN.pdf
- Victron SmartShunt IP65 datasheet: https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Datasheet-SmartShunt-IP65-EN.pdf
- Victron BMV-700 series datasheet: https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Datasheet-BMV-700-series-EN.pdf
- Victron BMV-712 Smart datasheet: https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Datasheet-BMV-712-Smart-EN.pdf
- Victron Cerbo GX product page: https://www.victronenergy.com/communication-centres/cerbo-gx
