Tests and reviews of different batteries to help you find the Right One…
There are multiple battery sizes that are the most commonly used ones, these are the AAA, AA, C, D and 9V batteries that can be either primary (single use) as well as rechargeable. But these batteries also have many other names, some of which are used by different manufacturers and in some countries the other names may be more popular than the typical types mentioned above.
AAA Alkaline Battery – MN2400, LR03, E92, 4203/4003, K3A, AM4, 824, LR03, 24A, R03 (carbon–zinc), 24D (carbon–zinc)
AAA Rechargeable Battery – HR03 (NiMH), MIGNON, MINI-STILO, 4003, E92, K3A, R0, UM4, KR03 (NiCd), ZR03 (NiOOH)
The typical capacity of an AAA size alkaline battery is around 1000-1200 mAh, for Carbon-Zinc batteries the capacity is around 500 mAh and the rechargeable AAA batteries of the NiMH type usually offer abound 800-1000 mAh capacity.
AA Alkaline Battery – MN1500, LR6, E91, 4206/4006, KAA, AM3, 815, LR6, R6 (carbon–zinc), 15D (carbon–zinc)
AA Rechargeable Battery – HR6 (NiMH), MICRO, STILO, 4006, E91, KAA, R6, UM3, KR6 (NiCd), ZR6 (NiOOH)
The typical capacity of an AA size alkaline battery is around 1500-2500 mAh, for Carbon-Zinc batteries the capacity is around 500-800 mAh and the rechargeable AA batteries of the NiMH type usually offer abound 1600-2900 mAh capacity.
C Alkaline Battery – MN1400, LR14, E93, 4014, KC, AM2, 814, LR14, R14 (carbon–zinc), 14D (carbon–zinc)
C Rechargeable Battery – HR14 (NiMH), BABY, MEZZA-TORCIA, 4014, E93, KC, R14, UM2, KR14 (NiCd), ZR14 (NiOOH)
The typical capacity of a C size alkaline battery can be up to about 8000 mAh, for Carbon-Zinc batteries the capacity can be up to about 4000 mAh and the rechargeable C batteries of the NiMH type usually offer abound 4500-6000 mAh capacity. Alternatively there are also special plastic adapters that can be used together with an AA battery to make a C size cell, though the capacity would be lower in this case than what a C size battery would normally provide.
D Alkaline Battery – MN1300, LR20, E95, 4020, KD, AM1, 813, LR20, 13D (carbon-zinc), R20 (carbon-zinc)
D Rechargeable Battery – HR20 (NiMH), HR20, MONO, TORCIA, 4020, E95, KD, R20, UM1, KR20 (Ni-Cd), ZR20 (NiOOH)
The typical capacity of a D size alkaline battery can be up to about 12000 mAh, for Carbon-Zinc batteries the capacity can be up to about 8000 mAh and the rechargeable D batteries of the NiMH type usually offer abound 2000-12000 mAh capacity. Alternatively there are also special plastic adapters that can be used together with an AA battery to make a D size cell, though the capacity would be lower in this case than what a D size battery would normally provide.
9V Alkaline Battery – MN1604, 6LR61, 522, 4022, K9V, 6AM6, A1604, 6LR61, 1604D (carbon‑zinc), 6F22 (carbon-zinc), 1604LC (lithium)
9V Rechargeable Battery – HR9V (NiMH), HR9V, E-BLOCK, TRANSISTOR, 422, 4022, 6F22, K9V, 6HR61, 6KR61 (NiCd), 11604 (NiCd)
The 9V batteries essentially consists of multiple cells to bring up the voltage higher – 6x 1.5V cells for carbon-zinc; 3 cells for Lithium; 6, 7 or 8 cells for NiMH (7.2V, 8.4V or 9.6V) using 1.2V cells. Alkaline batteries can go up to about 500-600 mAh capacity, 400 mAh for the carbon‑zinc, up to about 1200 mAh for lithium (non-rechargeable), 200–300 mAh for NiMH and about 100 mAh for NiCd.
In our everyday lives we are surrounded by different devices that use batteries to operate, just count the number of remote controls you have in your home or office, your watch uses a battery, your digital camera or camcorder, your laptop, mobile phone, or a tablet and lots more. There are many types of different batteries, both based on the chemistry they use to provide electricity as well as their formats and sizes. There is one thing common between all of them and that is that you need to choose the right battery for the right job in order to have your battery powered devices functional for longer periods of time as well as be fully operating whenever you need them. Do you remember the last time you tried to use a flashlight or another battery powered device that you don’t often need, and when you actually needed it the batteries inside were dead? Or when was the last time you were using a digital camera to take some photos and whenever you needed it most the batteries got depleted and needed to be replaced?
Choosing the right battery for the right job can ensure that you will save yourself some trouble, but this is not always an easy task with some many different battery types out there. That is how we’ve got the idea to make this website – as a place where you can find information on how different batteries perform, so you can compare the performance results and find out what are the best batteries and what will work best for you. We use specialized equipment in order to provide accurate results, results that you can trust are exactly what we get. We do hope that you will find our tests useful…
As a general rule of thumb however you should consider using Alkaline batteries in low power equipment that you also may not use that often such as a calculator, weather station or smoke alarm, of course remote controls and clocks also fall in these categories. The reason for this is that Alkaline batteries can hold charge for longer periods of time when not being used and can last for years in low power equipment even though usually they are not rechargeable. For devices such as wireless keyboards and mouse, radio toys and flashlights that are more often used you might want to consider using NiMH batteries if you use them more often, as you would need to recharge the batteries more often. Have in mind though that normal NiMH batteries loose their charge faster even when they are not being used, though now there are also some ore expensive models that come pre-charged and offer low self discharge that can help in some cases. For devices that consume more power such as digital cameras, camcorders or photo flashes you should either go for NiMH or Lithium batteries with higher capacity. Lithum-based batteries do offer low self discharge when not being used and stored in suitable conditions.