A high capacity protected 18350 cell from Keeppower. The actual cell is also high current, but the protection limits this a bit.
The batteries has good discharge curves, they tracks fairly well and capacity only drops slowly with current. 5A works fine, 7A is limited by the protection.
I did not trip the protection during this test, but as can be seen from the discharge curves it will trip at 7A after some time. I just used an estimated 8A in the info block.
Conclusion
This battery is from the new generation of smaller cell with much improved performance. This means that this battery is one of the best 18350 at the current time. The protection means slightly lower output voltage at high current, a limit on maximum current and overdischarge protection.
Notes and links
The batteries was supplied by Keeppower for review.
Can I please get an update on these batteries. Have the worked as expected or better? Were the ones from AliExpress real or fakes? I would like to buy some if they turn out to be real and are as good as tested.
Thanks I just put in a small order with Illum to test these batteries. It would be great if these batteries work in my flashlights with all that extra power and the higher discharge rate.
Keeppower, Vapcell, Shockli and such rewrap cells from OEMs, and pretty sure they are rewrapping the same cell. In the absence of updated formal testing, it can be safe to assume the performance of the cells is somewhat inferior to what you see here.
Thanks for the info. I haven’t been keeping up on new batteries and was about to buy more of the batteries I already own to make sure I had plenty of batteries in case there is a large tariff or blockade of stuff made in China. But you guys gave me an education that really helped me. I didn’t realize the improvements made in the 16340s and 18350s.
So I ordered a small bunch of batteries and gave them a capacity test in my Liitokala-500 charger. I learned a couple of things. These newer batteries had a higher discharge rate which worked great in my flashlights making them brighter which is always a good thing. But because the discharge rate is higher I was afraid the batteries would empty faster but because these new batteries have a higher capacity they seem to last as long as my older lower capacity batteries but are much brighter. A win win for me.
Here are my test results. The 16340s were tested at 300Ah and the 18350 were tested at 500Ah.
Vapcell INR18350 1100 tested at 1097 and a second battery at 1115.
Vapcell INR16340 800 tested at 797 and a second battery 765.
Keeppower IMR 18350 1200 tested at 1156 and a second battery 1152.
Efest INR 16340 700 tested at 731.
The one battery that didn’t test as well was the Keeppower 18350 Button top w/protection circuit 1200 tested at 983. Since I only had one of these batteries I let it sit for 24 hours and then tested it again and this time the 1200 tested at 1068. A small improvement. Maybe if I had tested it at 300Ah rather than 500 it might have tested better.
Now that I know how well they tested I already put in a second small order before the tariffs come in and the new supply goes up in price. I added a couple of 18350’s and one 26650. I’ll post those results when they arrive.
Thanks again. My old 16340s and 18350s aren’t that bad so I will keep them in storage for an emergency.
First of all let me say analyzing chargers measure a bit differently depending on bay or channel (termination voltage, sense resistor and related components' accuracy, etc). Having said this, the above not so good consistency is typical of lesser tier battery OEMs.
The overrated KeepPower 18350 “1200” cell is the same as the Vapcell 1100, and none of 'em are what they used to be. But well…
The Vapcell 1100 and the Keeppower 1200 may be different cells b/c the Vapcell is listed at a max discharge rate of 9A while the Keeppower is 10A continuous and 15A pulse. The keeppower seems a tad wider although it could just be the wrapper. I think the Keeppower 1200 is te same as the Shockli 1150. I may buy a few to check them against the Keeppower.