RightBattery.com

Maxell makes two kinds of Alkaline batteries and since we’ve tested both the standard 1.5V AA Alkaline as well as the Super Alkaline version of these batteries we’ve decided to make a direct comparison between them in order to see what is the difference. These two types of Alkaline batteries are performing very well and are providing a capacity that is a bit below the one provided by the Duracell Copper Top batteries that we are using as a reference for the standard Alkaline batteries and the Super Alkaline batteries are a bit better than the Duracells.

You can see that at low current drain the difference is about 6% at 0.1A constant current load in favor of the Super Alkaline version, at 0.2A their advantage is about 8%, at 0.5A we are back at about 6% and at 1A it is the highest at about 17%. So the Maxell Super Alkaline batteries are offering slightly better capacity than the standard Alkaline batteries that the company makes and while the difference at lower constant current loads is below 10%, at 1A load the Super Alkaline batteries manage to perform much better.

Maxell – Alkaline – Super Alkaline
0.1A load – 2237 mAh – 2377 mAh
0.2A load – 1807 mAh – 1959 mAh
0.5A load – 1010 mAh – 1070 mAh
1.0A load –   483 mAh –   566 mAh

In the end it is probably up to the price difference between the two types of batteries that can help you decide which one to buy, the standard Alkaline batteries are a bit cheaper than the Super Alkaline version from Maxell as to be expected. And while in general the Maxell Super Alkaline batteries are providing a bit more capacity at all load levels they are doing their best at the 1A constant current load test, meaning that they are definitely the better choice for applications with higher power requirements, though for others with lower power requirements you might still be Ok with the standard Alkaline batteries from Maxell.