Tests and reviews of different batteries to help you find the Right One…
The 1.2V AA 3000 mAh VTEC Ultra Capacity 2 NiMH batteries are being distributed by LRP and NOSRAM, popular names in the remote control models and are supposed to be of high quality and true to specs. So if these guys say that the batteries from their VTEC brand are supposed to offer a given capacity you are expecting them not only to meet it, but also exceed it. Now, these VTEC batteries are being sold as 3000 mAh capacity (clearly written on LRP and NOSRAM websites), though on the batteries themselves only 3000 is written and not a single rating mentioning capacity in mAh. Anyway, let us see if these batteries are able to offer the performance they are supposed to or not…
Starting our test of the 1.2V AA 3000 mAh VTEC Ultra Capacity 2 NiMH batteries as we normally do with a low constant current discharge rate of 0.2A and the result we got was just 2178 mAh as capacity. As we’ve already mentioned the VTEC brand by LRP/NOSRAM is supposed to be offering high quality products that do not come at a very affordable prices, so we repeated the test multiple times with different batteries, but the result was pretty much the same. And we are sure these are not some fake Chinese batteries branded as VTEC as we got them form an official distributor of NOSRAM. Getting less than 800 mAh capacity at lower discharge rate than the supposed capacity is a real disappointment, we really expected a much better result. Even if we take into account that the higher the capacity of NiMH batteries goes the faster they self-discharge in the first day after being fully charged, loosing so much in terms of capacity is just a few hours is way too much to be considered an option. And while the performance remains good when increasing the constant current discharge rate at up to 2.0A in our tests, these batteries clearly should’ve been labeled as 2200 mAh and not as 3000 mAh. Again, these VTEC batteries have shown us really unsatisfactory performance and have disappointed us quite a lot, so there is no way we would recommend them as there are much better alternatives.
The performance of the 1.2V AA 3000 mAh VTEC Ultra Capacity 2 NiMH Batteries in our tests:
– 2178 mAh at 0.2A load
– 1967 mAh at 0.5A load
– 1839 mAh at 1.0A load
– 1805 mAh at 2.0A load
– 2.729 Wh at 0.2A load
– 2.407 Wh at 0.5A load
– 2.179 Wh at 1.0A load
– 1.938 Wh at 2.0A load
There are many types of single use and rechargeable batteries available out there and you have many options for use in devices that operate on the more common types of batteries, but the important question is what types of batteries will work best in different devices and situations? Starting with Carbon-Zinc batteries, these you would probably want to avoid as they are just a bit cheaper than the more standard Alkaline batteries, however their life and capacity are usually a few times less than what a standard Alkaline battery would offer, let alone a high capacity ones. So go for Alkaline batteries in devices that do not require a lot of power or are not always on such as remote controls for various devices, Alkaline batteries are also good for low power consumption device that are operating all the time. You can of course also use Alkaline batteries for devices that require more power such as a digital camera or a flash for a digital camera if you are not using it very frequently for example. If you’re looking for the best battery at cheapest price, CR1632 battery is your best choice. If you are looking for batteries that need to handle higher current loads frequently, then you better think about going for rechargeable instead of primary batteries.
So, going for rechargeable NiMH batteries, but what type to use – the standard HiMH or the newer Low Self Discharge ones? Well, again it depends on the device you are going to be using them in. For example the standard NiMH batteries are not the best choice for use in low power devices such as remote controls, because of their faster self discharge even when not being used. On the other hand you can go for LSD NiMHs in a remote control without worrying about them self discharging in a year or two even if you don’t use the remote. Now, we said you can use the LSD NiMHs for low power applications, but for a remote control for example Alkaline batteries might be much better choice because they should normally last for a few years and will be much cheaper than a NiMH battery. The real strength of NiMH batteries is that they can handle pretty well in high load applications such as digital cameras or flashes that you are going to be using a lot and very frequently. Usually with NiMH batteries you would charge them right before you plan on using them with the idea that they will most likely be discharged from use like for example going to an event where you will take a lot of pictures. With LSD NiMHs you don’t need to recharge them right before you plan on using them, so it is more convenient, not to mention that when you pick them up at a store they will be pre-charged and ready to be used unlike with standard NiMHs that need to be charged prior to being used for the first time.
Generally speaking, there is no need to always go for the best or more expensive batteries as sometimes they may not work as well as you might expect in the device you got them for. You should consider what you need the batteries for and then decide which of these batteries will work best, and them you may consult our test results to see what battery performs best…
The 1.2V AA 2700 mAh Sanyo Superlattice Alloy EVO NiMH batteries (model HR-3U) we test here are from the traditional NiMH type and not the newer Low Self Discharge (LSD) NiMHs even though Sanyo is also making LSD batteries and is considered as one of the top names for Rechargeable batteries. The NiMH batteries from Sanyo we are testing here are rated as 2700 mAh (that is the typical capacity and 2500 mAh minimum) and that is one of the highest capacity NiMH batteries on the market currently available. What we are expecting from these Sanyo NiMH batteries is to actually provide the said capacity and not behave like some unknown brands making batteries that are marked with very high capacities of over 3000 mAh, but hardly capable of delivering even half of that capacity. What is the most interesting thing here for these Sanyo NiMH batteries, besides their high capacity, is that they are rated as capable of handing very high loads such as 2C (two times their capacity or 5.4A) while till providing very good capacity.
We started the tests of the 1.2V AA 2700 mAh Sanyo Superlattice Alloy EVO NiMH batteries with a constant current discharge rate of 0.2A and they were able to provide us with 2527 mAh or a bit over the minimum rated capacity, and at a lower discharge rate they should be able to get closer to 2700 mAh. The important thing here is that Sanyo has a proper rating for these batteries, nothing less than what we have expected from them anyway. Furthermore these batteries are able to handle high current loads very well as you can see even at 2A constant current load they provide close to 1900 mAh capacity. So in overall the 1.2V AA 2700 mAh Sanyo Superlattice Alloy EVO NiMH are very good rechargeable batteries that are suitable equally well for use in applications requiring either low or high current load. They however excel at providing great capacity with very high loads.
The performance of the 1.2V AA 2700 mAh Sanyo NiMH Batteries in our tests:
– 2527 mAh at 0.2A load
– 2498 mAh at 0.5A load
– 2338 mAh at 1.0A load
– 1868 mAh at 2.0A load
– 3.141 Wh at 0.2A load
– 3.002 Wh at 0.5A load
– 2.664 Wh at 1.0A load
– 1.949 Wh at 2.0A load
– Download the specifications of the Sanyo HR-3U 2700 mAh NiMH batteries