Buy the SmartShunt unless you need the relay. That is the whole decision, and it is not the one most comparisons of these two describe.
They are the same instrument. Same 500A/50mV shunt, same ±0.4% current accuracy, same ±0.3% voltage accuracy, same resolution to the digit, same Bluetooth, same auxiliary input. Victron’s own datasheet lists exactly two differences under a heading that says so — no programmable alarm, no programmable relay — and the third, the display, is visible from the photographs.
So this is not a measurement decision. It is a question of whether you need a gauge on a wall and a contact that can switch something, and the relay is the half that gets ignored.
This page assumes you have already decided you want a shunt-based monitor. If your battery has Bluetooth of its own and you are not sure one is needed, start with do you need a shunt if your battery has Bluetooth — the answer depends on which of three quite different things your battery is.
- Bluetooth
- Yes
Victron SmartShunt 500A
SmartShunt 500A/50mV
The shunt alone, with Bluetooth. Your phone is the display. Sold in 300A, 500A, 1000A and 2000A, all 50mV, in IP21 and IP65 housings.
$$
Check price at Victron Energy(opens in a new tab)- Bluetooth
- Yes
Victron BMV-712 Smart
BMV-712 Smart
The same 500A/50mV shunt plus a panel head unit, a programmable visual and audible alarm, and a 1A relay that can be driven from any threshold.
$$$
Check price at Victron Energy(opens in a new tab)Specification by specification
| Specification | Victron SmartShunt 500A | Victron BMV-712 Smart |
|---|---|---|
| Shunt The same 500A/50mV part. The BMV-712 ships with it; the SmartShunt is it | 500A / 50mV | 500A / 50mV, supplied |
| Current accuracy Identical. Neither reads current more precisely than the other | ±0.4% | ±0.4% |
| Voltage accuracy Identical | ±0.3% | ±0.3% |
| State of charge resolution Identical — the number the whole device exists to produce | ±0.1% | ±0.1% |
| Current resolution | ±0.01A | ±0.01A with the 500A shunt |
| Supply voltage Same 6.5V to 70V range, so both cover 12V, 24V and 48V systems | 6.5V to 70V DC | 6.5V to 70V DC |
| Bluetooth Both pair with VictronConnect. The head unit does not replace the app, it duplicates it | Yes | Yes |
| Auxiliary input One input on both — second battery, midpoint, or temperature. Not all three | One input, used for a second battery's voltage, midpoint deviation, or a temperature sensor — one of the three, not all | One input, used for a second battery's voltage, midpoint deviation, or a temperature sensor |
| Display The visible difference, and the one people buy on | None — the phone is the display. This is the whole design difference from the BMV-712 | Head unit with backlit display, 2.5 in round, panel-mounted — the design difference from the SmartShunt Better |
| Programmable relay The invisible one, and the only capability a phone cannot substitute for | None — the datasheet's second listed difference from the BMV-712 | Yes — 1A normally open, and the function can be inverted. The second feature the SmartShunt lacks Better |
| Programmable alarm Audible and visual at the head unit rather than a notification that needs the app running | None — Victron's datasheet lists "no programmable visual and audible alarm" as a difference from the BMV-712 | Yes, visual and audible — one of the two features the SmartShunt does not have, per Victron's own datasheet Better |
| Warranty Same 5-year term — stated in Victron's site footer rather than on either datasheet | 5 years — stated in Victron's site footer as a standard term, not on the product datasheet | 5 years — stated in Victron's site footer as a standard term, not on the product datasheet |
| Price The SmartShunt is the cheaper way to get identical measurement | $$ Better | $$$ |
The same instrument, and Victron says so
Most comparisons frame this as a premium model against a budget one. It is not. The SmartShunt datasheet has a section headed “Differences compared to BMV-712 Battery Monitor”, and it contains two bullets:
No programmable visual and audible alarm.
No programmable relay.
That is the manufacturer’s own complete list. Everything about measurement — the shunt, the accuracy, the resolution, the supply range, the auxiliary input, the Bluetooth, the VE.Direct port, the 30-day history — is common to both.
It matters because it inverts the usual buying instinct. With most product pairs, more money buys a better version of the same job. Here, more money buys two extra outputs and a screen, attached to an identical measuring device. If you do not want those outputs, there is no residual “but it’s the better one” argument left over. There is no better one.
The relay is the real differentiator
A display reports. A relay acts. That is the whole distinction, and it is the only thing on the BMV-712 that a phone in your pocket cannot replicate.
It is a 1A normally open contact, and its function can be inverted, driven from a threshold you configure — state of charge, voltage, or a few others. In an RV that means:
- Shed a load before the bank gets too low. Drop an inverter or a fridge circuit at 30% and you protect the bank without being there.
- Drive a warning lamp or buzzer somewhere you will actually notice it.
- Signal a generator autostart input, if you have one.
Each of those happens while you are asleep, outside, or three hours away. A phone notification cannot switch anything off, and a panel display cannot either — only the relay can. If any of that describes your setup, the BMV-712 is not the expensive option, it is the only option of the two.
If none of it does, the relay is a terminal block you will never wire.
What the display actually buys, honestly
The case for the head unit is weaker than its prominence suggests, but it is not nothing:
- It works with no phone. A flat battery, a phone left in the truck, or a guest who has not paired the app — the panel still shows the number. The SmartShunt in that situation is measuring perfectly and telling nobody.
- It is glanceable. Walking past a gauge is a different act from unlocking a phone, opening an app and waiting for a connection. Over a season that difference changes how often you actually look.
- It is shared. Anyone in the rig can read a wall gauge. Bluetooth is a per-device pairing exercise.
Against that: you are carrying the phone anyway, VictronConnect shows more detail than the head unit does, and the app is where you configure either device regardless.
The install difference runs the other way
This is usually left out, and for a lot of rigs it decides the question.
The shunt installation is identical for both — battery negative, with every other negative connection landing on the load side. But the BMV-712 also needs a hole cut for the head unit and a cable run to it. The SmartShunt needs neither: it lives in the battery bay and nothing else has to be mounted anywhere.
In a van conversion where wall space is scarce, a rig you would rather not cut, or an install you want reversible, that is a genuine advantage and not a small one. It is also the difference between an afternoon and a weekend for anyone who is not comfortable cutting panels.
One more thing only the SmartShunt does
The SmartShunt is sold in 300A, 500A, 1000A and 2000A, all 50mV. The BMV-712 is supplied with a 500A shunt.
Most RVs never need more than 500A — a 3,000W inverter pulls around 294A, and Xantrex publishes 400A as the starting surge on its 2000W unit — so this is irrelevant to the majority. But a large inverter bank or a 24V/48V system with serious loads can pass it, and at that point only one of these two has a catalogue entry for you. The reasoning behind those numbers, including the millivolt rating that makes shunts interchangeable in the first place, is in what size shunt do you need.
Which one, for you
| If this is you | Buy |
|---|---|
| You want to know your state of charge and you carry a phone | SmartShunt |
| You want something switched automatically at a threshold | BMV-712 |
| Other people in the rig need to read it | BMV-712 |
| You would rather not cut a hole in a wall | SmartShunt |
| You need more than 500A | SmartShunt, in 1000A or 2000A |
| You already run a GX device or Cerbo | SmartShunt — the display is already solved |
| You want the cheapest accurate monitor Victron makes | SmartShunt |
The pattern is not subtle. The SmartShunt wins on price, install and range; the BMV-712 wins when something has to happen without you, or when the reading has to be visible without a phone.
If neither is settled yet, both sit alongside the Balmar and Renogy alternatives in best RV battery monitors — which also covers the one case where a Victron is not the answer.
The default, for almost everyone
- Bluetooth
- Yes
Victron SmartShunt 500A
The same measurement engine for less, with no hole to cut. Your phone is the display.
If you need the relay or a panel gauge
- Bluetooth
- Yes
Victron BMV-712 Smart
A 1A programmable relay that can act on a threshold — the one thing a phone cannot do.
Related guides
- What size shunt do you need for a battery monitor? — the two ratings behind both of these, and why the millivolt one is the trap.
- RV battery calculator — sizing the bank these will be measuring.
- Best RV lithium batteries — the flat discharge curve that makes a shunt necessary rather than nice to have.
- What size inverter do I need for my RV? — the load that decides whether 500A is enough.
- The electrical section collects everything published so far.
For how products on this site are selected and what we do not claim about them, see the editorial policy.
Questions worth answering
What is the difference between the Victron SmartShunt and the BMV-712?
Victron's own datasheet answers this in two lines. Under "differences compared to BMV-712 Battery Monitor" the SmartShunt lists: no programmable visual and audible alarm, and no programmable relay. Add the obvious third — the BMV-712 has a panel display and the SmartShunt does not — and that is the complete list. The shunt, the accuracy, the resolution, the Bluetooth and the auxiliary input are identical.
Is the BMV-712 more accurate than the SmartShunt?
No. Both publish ±0.4% current accuracy and ±0.3% voltage accuracy, with the same ±0.01A, ±0.01V and ±0.1% state-of-charge resolution, using the same 500A/50mV shunt. They are the same measurement engine in two packages. Anyone telling you the head unit reads more accurately is guessing.
Is the BMV-712 worth the extra money?
If you need the relay, yes, unreservedly — it is the only capability the SmartShunt cannot reproduce with a phone. If you want a gauge that is always on and readable by anyone in the rig without pairing an app, also yes. If neither of those is true, you are paying for a display you will look at through your phone anyway, and the SmartShunt is the same instrument for less.
What can the BMV-712 relay actually do?
It is a 1A normally open contact whose function can be inverted, driven by a threshold you set. In an RV that usually means shedding a load before the bank gets too low, triggering a warning lamp or buzzer, or signalling a generator autostart input. The important part is that it *acts* rather than reports — a phone notification cannot switch anything off while you are asleep or away from the rig.
Can I add a display to a SmartShunt later?
Not a BMV head unit, no. But the SmartShunt has a VE.Direct port, so it can feed a Victron GX device or a compatible display, and that is the normal upgrade path in a larger system. If a screen is the only thing you want, though, buying the BMV-712 up front is cheaper than a GX device.
Do both work without a phone?
The BMV-712 does — the head unit shows and logs everything on its own. The SmartShunt does not have any local readout at all: with no phone and no GX device, it is measuring correctly and telling nobody. That is the honest case for the head unit, and it matters more in a shared rig than in a solo one.
Which one for a bigger bank or a large inverter?
The SmartShunt, if the answer is above 500A. It is sold in 300A, 500A, 1000A and 2000A versions, all 50mV, while the BMV-712 is supplied with a 500A shunt. Most RVs never need more than 500A — see what size shunt you need — but a large inverter installation can, and that is a decision only one of these two makes easy.
Do they need different wiring?
The shunt install is identical: battery negative, with every other negative connection landing on the load side of it. The difference is downstream — the BMV-712 needs a hole cut for the head unit and a cable run to it, and the SmartShunt needs neither. In a van conversion or any rig where you would rather not cut a wall, that is a real advantage rather than a small one.
Is the auxiliary input the same on both?
Yes, and it is worth knowing what it is not. Both have one auxiliary input, usable for a second battery's voltage, midpoint deviation, or a temperature sensor — one of the three, not all three. If you want starter battery voltage *and* battery temperature, neither of these does it alone.