Posts Tagged ‘9V’

9V Maxell Zinc Battery Test

29, Mar 2019

Time for another quick deja-vu with our second attempt to test the 9V Maxell Zinc battery as the last time we have tried over 5 years ago the battery we received was past its expiration date and although we tested it we did not include the results in our test for comparison with other batteries. This time around the battery we got was a fresher one with expiration date 08-2020, so close to a year and a half left, so not going to skit the results this time around.


We started with a deja-vu this post as the usable capacity of the 9V Maxell Zinc battery we got this time was almost the same as with the expired battery we have tested a while ago. At 95 mAh capacity in our 0.05A constant current discharge test the results are not great, but it is to be expected from a Carbon Zinc battery anyway. So apparently even at the end of its shelf life you can expect similar performance to the one at the middle and maybe not that much different even with freshly produced battery of this model… if properly stored of course.

The performance of the 9V Maxell Zinc batteries in our tests:

– 95 mAh at 0.05A load

– 0.690 Wh at 0.05A load

9V GP Powercell Heavy Duty Carbon Zinc Battery Test

29, Mar 2019

We are not big fans of Carbon Zinc single use batteries as a cheaper alternative to alkaline batteries, but from time to time we still pick up some cells to test and reaffirm that we do not like them. Carbon Zinc batteries are designed to be used on devices with smaller power consumption and they do not offer as much capacity as their alkaline counterparts, but they do come cheap and are widely available in various stores. We are giving the 9V GP Powercell Heavy Duty another chance as we have tried to test one of these a couple of years ago, but it has arrived with at the end of its shelf life. The one we received this time is slightly fresher with 10-2019 expiration date, so this time with half a year left of its shelf life we have decided to include it in our test results.


As expected the 9V GP Powercell Heavy Duty Carbon Zinc battery did not do much better than our previous try, it has managed to give out just 32 mAh capacity at our constant discharge test with 0.05A. The previous test of expiring 9V GP Powercell Heavy Duty battery with just one month left was a bit better with 38 mAh, but this can be a result of different storage conditions. Anyway, we warn you once again to be careful when buying Carbon Zinc batteries to always check the expiration date and always go for fresh ones (never buy these online if the expiration date is not stated!), or better yet – go for alkaline batteries instead.

The performance of the 9V GP Powercell Heavy Duty Carbon Zinc batteries in our tests:

– 32 mAh at 0.05A load

– 0.234 Wh at 0.05A load

9V Amazon Basics Alkaline Battery Test

25, Mar 2019

The Amazon Basics alkaline batteries are regular alkaline batteries made for Amazon and sold online through the retailer’s websites. They should normally come pretty fresh as the volumes are high with a big online retailer and no time for batteries to expire, so it is a good idea to go for these as fresher alkaline batteries do manage to perform better. According to the Amazon website the 9V Amazon Basics alkaline batteries are with 3 years shelf life, but looking at the expiration date on the battery we have tested (01-2024) it seems that they are actually 5 and not 3 years. Amazon sells these at 4-pack and 8-pack only, so you cannot purchase just a single battery should you need only one and that can be a bit of a drawback as the rest of the batteries will be sitting in a shelf until you need them.


Our test of the 9V Duracell Industrial Alkaline battery at the standard constant current discharge rate of 0.05A has shown a usable capacity of 481 mAh and that is really good result – one of the top ones so far in our tests. The 1st place however is still taken by IKEA with their 9V Alkalisk alkaline battery that manages to perform slightly better compared to the Amazon Basics battery, but the Amazon one still did really well and it if comes cheaper to your door than the IKEA one it is still a great choice (or the IKEA one is not available).

The performance of the 9V Amazon Basics Alkaline batteries in our tests:

– 481 mAh at 0.05A load

– 3.657 Wh at 0.05A load


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