Tests and reviews of different batteries to help you find the Right One…
It has been a while since we have tested Eneloop batteries, so we were excited to check out what performance we can see from the latest gen Panasonic Eneloop Pro AAA NiMHs. According to Panasonic the BK-4HCDE Eneloop Pro AAA batteries should be able to deliver minimum capacity of 930 mAh, they come pre-charged and are low self discharge, meaning that they should be at retain 85% of their capacity in a year if not being used after a full charge. The Eneloop pro series is intended for high drain devices, meaning that it should handle better under heavier loads, the batteries are also suitable for use in low temperature conditions (-20 degrees Celsius) and are rated at up to 500 recharge cycles (if properly maintained). Of course the Eneloop Pro batteries are made in Japan and with all of the above said they are pretty expensive compared to other competing products, that is why we have high expectations.
The 1.2V AAA 930 mAh Panasonic Eneloop Pro NiMH (BK-4HCDE) batteries manage to deliver slightly more than 900 mAh at lower constant current loads of 0.1A and 0.2A in our tests and that kind of puzzled us, so we have repeated the tests multiple times just to be sure, however without much of a difference… we kind of expected to see the 930 mAh mark covered. Going up to 0.5A load we got at 888 mAh, a really good result and not much lower compared to the lower loads and then, jumping to 1.0A discharge test we see a more significant drop in the usable capacity at 634 mAh. We were a bit disappointed from the results at 0.1A and 0.2A constant current loads, even though the batteries did manage to perform very well at slightly over 900 mAh capacity in the test, we still expected to see a bit more.
The performance of the 1.2V AAA 930 mAh Panasonic Eneloop Pro NiMH batteries in our tests:
– 903 mAh at 0.1A load
– 901 mAh at 0.2A load
– 888 mAh at 0.5A load
– 634 mAh at 1.0A load
– 1.131 Wh at 0.1A load
– 1.103 Wh at 0.2A load
– 1.051 Wh at 0.5A load
– 0.658 Wh at 1.0A load
The LADDA brand of batteries is owned by IKEA and there are rumors that they are the same as the Eneloop Pro batteries, but much cheaper in terms of price and that is something that we do plan to check and confirm soon. After we make up to date tests of the latest Eneloop Pro products as our Eneloop XX AAA test data is already quite outdated. Do note that not all of the LADDA batteries are the same as some of them are made in China and others in Japan, like the 900 mAh AAA ones made in Japan is the same factory that apparently produces the low self discharge Eneloop batteries. These IKEA LADDA batteries are rated at 900 mAh typical capacity and they do seem to deliver a bit more according to our tests at lower loads making them get a good rating from us thanks to the low price you pay for them.
1.2V AAA 900 mAh LADDA NiMH batteries manage to deliver more than 900 mAh (their capacity rating) at lower current loads of 0.1A and 0.2A in our tests, going up to 0.5A load the capacity you get is still quite good, although a bit below the capacity rating. At 1.0A load which is over the battery capacity rating the usable capacity gets lower, but that is kind of to be expected. Overall very good results for the price you pay for these IKEA batteries, though probably they are best for low to mid-range loads.
The performance of the 1.2V AAA 900 mAh IKEA LADDA NiMH batteries in our tests:
– 926 mAh at 0.1A load
– 925 mAh at 0.2A load
– 863 mAh at 0.5A load
– 588 mAh at 1.0A load
– 1.153 Wh at 0.1A load
– 1.137 Wh at 0.2A load
– 1.013 Wh at 0.5A load
– 0.614 Wh at 1.0A load
The 1.2V AAA 1000 mAh BTY NiMH batteries are something that you may find in a lot of Chinese online stores as well as on eBay and what you will notice for sure with these batteries is that they are being sold very cheap for 1000 mAh capacity. The fact that these rechargeable AAA batteries supposedly offer very high capacity of 1000 mAh (among the highest for AAA size NiMHs) and their very cheap price should raise an alarm that the capacity rating is most likely lower than advertised. Normally in such cases it is a wise idea to avoid getting such batteries, but we got a pack of four in order to be able to test them and see what is the actual capacity that these batteries are providing and how much it differs from the advertised 1000 mAh. We were prepared for nothing more than half the advertised capacity, but going through a Break-In mode on the MAHA C9000 Charger/Analyzer we were not prepared for such a disappointment. On the photo above you can see the minimum and maximum measured capacity of the pack of four batteries and you will get why we were so disappointed. In fact what we got as available capacity was as follows: 134 mAh, 140 mAh, 144 mAh and 161 mAh and that is from batteries that are being advertised as being able to provide 1000 mAh capacity, not worth buying these regardless of the price, hell they are not worth even if somebody gives them to you for free.
Avoid buying 1.2V AAA 1000 mAh BTY NiMH batteries, they are really not worth it!!!