Which Rechargeable Battery is the Best? Let's find out!

I like his vids

Interesting results, not what I expected.
I only have some old AA rechargeable. More recent NiMh purchases are all AAA, black Amazon and Eneloop.

Interesting results. Especially the value per output.

He’s right about the self-discharge component. I gave up on rechargeables 10 years ago because of this, only to discover eneloops 2 years ago.

I’m also interested in cycle life. I’m mostly using the Ladda 2450 and they’re rated at 500 cycles vs. 2100 for regular eneloops. But they cost just over half the price here and their output is great.

He’s also putting a lot of emphasis on percent of rated output. This is a matter of corporate integrity. But a battery that actually performed well was rated poorly because of the exaggerated number on the wrapper.

To me these types of tests are relatively meaningless in that they don’t show how the batteries hold up long term (and I grant that that’s very difficult to do) and under different conditions. My Eneloop’s have held up well with consistent results over the past 6-7 years, under light and heavily used/abused conditions. None of my other batteries, including the Duracell 2450’s that he likes, have held up nearly as well. Most of them self-discharge quickly or don’t have anywhere near the rated capacity after a few years of light usage.

I’d rather have a battery that has lower rated capacity but that I can depend upon when I need to use it, even if it’s been sitting unused in a flashlight or in storage for a year or more.

To me, for instant short lived applications such as camera flash, flashlights, toys, DMM (I change my DMM batt. about once per three months), the test was meaningful. You are right, for long run applications his test prove nothing. But that was a good test to show if printed labels lived up to manufacturer’s spec or not. Most people will expect to get for what they pay/look for.
I’ve been using black/white Eneloops for years and has zero complain except for the price. This is the first time I question myself if the Eneloop batteries capacity I have true to it’s spec or not. I’m done with black Eneloop because its capacity deteriorates quite fast (that was heavy camera flash application). And that’s as expected per Eneloop data sheet. I only get white Eneloop ever since for longer capacity over time.

- Clemence

That was my thoughts also, the best battery in his test is the battery that is closest to the advertised rated capacity.
What’s best needs more clarification. Best at capacity, best at rating, best at high drain, best at cell life or best at low self discharge.
Best would depend on what use they are intended for.

I just bought some Amazon Basics & LADDA’s to try them out.

BUT, they have a ’long row to hoe’ to be as good as the regular white Eneloops. :wink:

I have Eneloops that I first bought in 2006 that are still going strong.

One 4 pack with a 2006 date code was bought at WalMart on closeout in June 2007. Somehow, still in the WalMart bag with receipt; they were “lost” under the truck seat. I found them November 2011. :person_facepalming:

I figured they were ‘toast’ after being lost for 52 months under the seat in hot of summer & cold of winter for that long.

Much to my complete surprise they still contained probably at least 80% of their charge. That is a guess as I did not have an analyzing charger at that time. But I did run a couple AA MagLites for several hours off them. Then charged them up & they are still going strong to this day.

I was sold at that point. It has been Eneloops for me since that day. :+1:

And I have bought a bunch through the years.

Very interesting video. I notice the eneloops are not the pro version which i use a lot. Would it be logical to suppose that LADDA are similar to the eneloop pros?
I ask this as it is suggested without proof in the comments section of youtube that the LADDA are rebranded eneloop pros?
Also I can attest to the long reliable life of eneloops both normal and pros i have used for some time.

They roll out of the same factory in japan.

HKJ’s tests show that the Ladda roll off a bit faster at high drain than Eneloop pro’s. Roughly identical at low drain.

Absolute maximum capacity isn’t my primary criteria when purchasing batteries. I usually have more than one light around, as well as spare batteries. I find value in longevity. From the reports here of regular eneloops holding up after years and years I’m sold. They’ll pay for themselves over time.

I don’t intend to detract from this video at all. It was very well done and very useful as a direct comparison between new batteries and their value proposition.

He also said he’ll be following up on self-discharge in 3 month intervals. I’m looking forward to that.

I totally agree. . :+1:

I’m looking forward to this too. I will be greatly surprised if the regular white Eneloop’s do not win this hands down.

My amazon basics say made in Japan.

Yeah, I got some of those last week to see how they preform. I have heard good reports about them. Time will tell…… :+1:

I’ve got various AmazonBasics NiMH cells… white, grey, black… they all say “Made in Japan” and all perform well.

Yeah, don’t pay attention to tests like this.
A more scientific and accurate test from HKJ or another battery reviewer is much more important.
Performance at many different currents, discharge curves, watt hours, size and weight, etc. are all important to know, not just ‘how many mAh’ and ‘what price’
The price varies by your location anyway so that makes the values in this test almost completely irrelevant.

So the remaining choice for one of the value per dollar leaders is whether to buy your Ikea Ladda’s in Coquitlam or Richmond.

Still a fan of my eneloop, even if the maximum capacity is a bit oversell, as said before in this post i value longevity too, much more than the rest.

I bought a bunch of AAA and AA eneloop batteries a few years ago and they never failed me, capacity is still good after a few hundreds cycle.

Didn't bought a single alkaline since i got my first pack of eneloop and i'm happy with that. :)

Amazon basics silver batteries seems ok for the price, and easy to get since it's amazon... Useful to know if you need some batteries and a very fast shipping.

Yep said the same thing for years now …

A battery that lasts years and years beats a battery that looks good on paper and then dies 2 years in . The FDK /Eneloop/ Panasonic/ Fujitsu and all the rebranded cells using them are going to be your best bet . I also like the longer life lower mah cells that have 2000mah vs 2450mah and wouldn't be caught dead buying Chinese made cells .

The only rechargeable AA/AAAs I still use are the ones based on Ni-Zn. They do have to be periodically recharged, but other than that they are superior in every aspect compared to any other equivalent tech.

There’s a review and tests here : ‘Noua’ tehnologie Ni-Zn de acum 100 ani | The Borg Eternal Emperor's sector
It’s not in English but you can g00gleberg-translate it.

Recently switched to ikea LADDA and found a big difference over my 3 year old nimh, but now, I’m switching to li-ions.

Still worried about heat and li-ions inside the car in mid summer, so I’m going to keep track of it. If it goes past 130.F, it’s going to put a lid on switching over to li-ion for emergency lighting. Back to nimh flashlights. But only for the cars.

I’m looking forward to solid state li-ions because they are suppose to be be a year away…maybe. plus higher heat resistance.