Where to buy good quality 16340 batteries for On The Road M3 Flashlight???

Guys

I am new here so apology in advance for newbie questions.

I am keen on a small footprint flashlight. With the GearBest sales that is happening this week, I stumbled across this flashlight that seems to fit the requirement and budget (<US$25 shipped).

My dilemma is this.

The FULL pack that includes a battery and charger is US$21.99 shipped to Australia, CODE: OTROAD

The SINGLE pack that does not include battery + charger is US$15.99 shipped to Australia, CODE: M3GIFT

I read on the forum somewhere the included battery charger overcharges the battery. I already have a LiitoKala Engineer Lii-500, which I will use for charging duty so the included charger is not really important to me, as I probably won't use it.

What I am keen to know is whether the included OTR 700mAH 16340 battery is worth the US$6 (difference between US$21.99 and US$15.99), or am I better off buying the single pack, and spend the US$6 elsewhere for better quality battery?

Another thing to consider is GearBest does not seem to ship batteries to Australia.

Ideally I will want a spare battery anyway. Thoughts please?

Thanks in advance :)

EDIT: Have placed an order for the flashlight without the battery & charger, so need to know where to buy good 16340 batteries that will ship to Australia. :)

I just noticed GearBest charges US$1.69 to ship the FULL pack, but there is no shipping charge on the SINGLE pack.

That makes it a difference of closer to US$8 now!

At this stage, I am leaning towards getting the SINGLE pack but will need to buy battery separately. So I need to know what good batteries to buy, and where from?

Don’t ever worry about or apologize for newbie questions. How are you supposed to find out what you want to know unless you ask, or read through a buncha posts? Who wants to read through a buncha posts, right? Sorry, but I don’t know about this OTR battery, but I think the package without batt and charger would be the way to go. Do you already have a 16340 you could use? You’ve got the charger already, if you have the battery, just get the light and spend the difference on other stuff. That’s what I would do, just sayin’n. Good luck.

I think I saw GB has issues shipping batteries to Australia?? Maybe, maybe not… Try IMR batteries here in the US. Their batteries are all genuine and no junk. You may pay a little more but it’s worth getting a good battery that won’t catch your gear on fire cause it’s a cheap Chinese knockoff. Never, ever buy a battery that has the word “fire” in it’s name. You are buying crap if you do.

I would forget the full pack. Get a decent charger and a pair of batteries.

One of the LiitoKala Li or Xtar chargers. And I see gearbest sells a pair of keeppower 16340’s.

Edit: And get the 5C version! :wink:

You must mean “UltraFire” batteries? I am definitely avoiding those ones. Got a couple of blue Ultrafire 18650 3000mAH batteries bought eons ago. When I first got hold of my LiitoKala Engineer Lii-500 charger, I put them in to analyze them, and was shocked that they were less than <300 mAH!! To be sure it was not a mistake, I did it a couple of times with the same results. Popped in the green Panasonic 3400mAH batteries, and the charger shows them to be around the rated capacity.

Do you know of any online shop that will ship IMR batteries to Australia?

These are the IMR batteries you are refering to, correct?

Can you please explain why the 5C version (Neutral White) is preferred over the 1A version (Cool White)?

LiitoKala Engineer Lii-500 is my main battery Li-Ion Battery Charger. I currently only have flashlights that use 18650 batteries. So unfortunately no 16340 batteries in the house.

Ofcourse this is a personal preference, but most people enjoy a neutral tint more. You can see colors and depth better and it’s less tiring on the eyes.

Hi, welcome to the BLF
I have the on the Road M3 in the 5C tint, its a good light especially that price. I paid more for mine.
Like you I bought the single pack with out the cell, I’m using an protected Olight 16340 for mine.
I recommend this light with a name brand cell
Efest, Olight, come to mind I only have one 16340 .

I also bought a dozen CR123 cells at a good price (for future use). Although these get to be pricey to use in the long term

I buy cells in the US, from these vendors:

Mountain Electronics
Battery Junction
Li-ion Wholesale
IMR

Shipping to Australia maybe a deal breaker for you though.
There are members of the forum from Australia , they may have better advice as to where to get cells for you.

I got my M3 last month. I bought a couple of Efest V2 700 mAh high drain cells to use with it. They’re working fine. My Lii-500 reports that their capacity is closer to 600 than 700 mAh, but that could be partially because the charger does not take them all the way down to 2.5V, and partially because Efest over rates them a little, but I haven’t been able to find name brand 16340 cells from Panasonic/Sanyo, Samsung, or LG, which may have been more true to their claimed rating. Anyway, they work just fine for my needs.

Unfortunately, I don’t know where you can get them in Australia.

As for the tint, I agree with previous posters, the 5C tint is really nice. You do give up some lumens, but it’s not an issue for me.

The cell that comes with the OTR M3 is very good though.

I was referring to imrbatteries.com. They surely ship to Australia. Checkem’ out, they sell the best quality cells.

Looks like they only ship to US and Canada only. :frowning:

International Shipping

We currently offer FedEx ground shipping to Canada only. Please note carrier and customs delays are not within our control. The quoted shipping cost is for delivery to the destination address only - the receiver of the package assumes all obligations to pay any applicable duties, fees, or taxes assessed to the order.

If you are outside of US/Canada and would like to place an order, we suggest using a freight forwarder in the US who can arrange for international forwarding and customs clearance on your behalf.

Guys,

Thanks for your inputs so far.

I have gone ahead and ordered the flashlight from GearBest for US$15.99, that does not come with the battery charger and battery.

So now, I am on the hunt for a couple of good 16340 batteries (was thinking of buying 2 different brands for comparison sake??) and will need to know online websites that will ship to Australia.

Banggood sells the Keeppower branded one for US$5.99 shipped, and they will ship this to Australia. What do people think of this?

KeepPower 16340 CR123A 700mAh Protected Rechargeable Li-ion Battery - US$5.99 shipped

KeepPower is a pretty well known brand, but I am just not sure a protected cell like this is a good match for the M3. This cell will not be able to deliver high current, so you will not do your M3 justice if you want to see it shine to its full potential in turbo mode. The M3 is going to want to draw somewhere around 3 Amps of current, and this cell will struggle to deliver that.

M3 has low voltage protection. It’ll shut down the light once voltage drops below 3V, so I don’t feel the need to use protected cells in it. Others may disagree.

Thanks, I definitely want max output from the flashlight, so will strike keeppower off the list.

Here is to hoping someone knows of an online website that has good quality 16340 batteries at good prices, and will ship to Australia. I am probably asking too much!!

Hi, m3 battery is very good, not probe personally lumintop 16340, can be nice.

https://es.aliexpress.com/store/product/2PCS-16340-RCR123A-3-7v-Lithium-ion-Rechargeable-Batteries/2529001_32813937439.html?spm=a219c.12010615.0.0.22a292ffOLWi6f

Hey guys,
Ordered the same light today, without battery and charger.
Chargers i have, but i have no 16340 batteries…
I’m considering trying PKcell, because their 14500 seems to be good and because they’re cheap.

@ ssschen
I’ve been following this thread ’cause I also wanna buy a 16340 flashlight (not sure if Olight S1R, OTR M3 or M1, Klarus Mi1C or Jetbeam E20R) and I also have doubts about the batteries!

On AliExpress I found these from Klarus (700mAh): https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2-pcs-Klarus-LiR-16340-700mah-Li-ion-rechargeable-battery-3-7V-2-59Wh-protection-board/32805117726.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.oRa0vF

Also these from Keeppower (700mAh): https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2-pcs-Keeppower-16340-70mah-3-7V-3-59Wh-protected-Li-ion-rechargeable-battery-Original-P1634C/32647828926.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.VWvZJI

I went to HKJ battery comparison test and noticed that they are almost the same, and seem to be better than Olight and Nitecore batteries! I guess both can be shipped to Australia even if you have to pay extra for shipping! Take a look! There are not much in AliExpress that seem to worth be bought, but these are apparently good.

@ Jerommel
Does PKcell have 16340? I’ve just seem some CR123A, non-rechargeable! Gotta take a look!

EDIT: just seen the PKCELL: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4-x-PKCELL-700mAh-16340-CR123A-3-7V-Li-ion-Rechargeable-Battery-For-Flashlights-Torch/32815656784.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.wV3Kbd