For those of you in Canada (maybe elsewhere?), costco.ca is having their annual Eneloop sale. I picked up my normal yearly supply I don’t need. 16xAA for $43.99 and 12xAAA for $29.99. Canadian dollars. That’s like $1.25 US, or something like that.
I think their AAA’s are the best deal, compared to most other places.
The ladda’s are good, but someone did some tests on the other forum and the self-discharge is different and capacities vary more. I suspect the lada’s are similar to 1st generation eneloops. Which is still good, but it’s older tech.
I know some people claim they’re all made in the same factory and so must be the same battery, but they don’t test that way. They’re still good cells, though.
IMO, rechargeable batteries are so cheap per charge, that I may as well get the best ones even if it works out to 0.5 cents more per charge. I don’t skimp on lithium-ion cells anymore, either. (Though that’s more for safety reasons.)
If anyone finds a deal on eneloops in the US, please post up a link. I have been watching for more than a week and have come up with zero.
I was really hoping they would be on sale blackfriday or cybermonday but I haven’t seen a deal yet.
I gave up, and just went to Ikea and ordered 2 packs of AA Ladda 2450’s and 2 packs of the AAA 900’s. Suppose to be eneloop pro’s.
$35 bucks for all shipped.
Every Eneloop thread on the internet gets at least 1 comment; IKEA... as if nobody knows the difference ;)
Eneloops are famous for their Standard Eneloops, the best LSD batteries in the world, and IKEA loops are not Standard Eneloops, but PRO and Lite. FYI... I will have to repeat this hundred times ;)
However, when I use HKJ’s battery comparison to compare “regular” 2000mAh AA Laddas vs regular AA Eneloops, the voltage curves are very different at higher drains. The Eneloops sag much less, though they deliver about 100mAh less capacity overall.
So, regular Eneloops appear to be very different than the Ladda equivalent.
The Ladda “pros” are very similar to the Eneloop Pros, though. At least when it comes to the voltage curves. But this CPF thread describes very different self-discharge rates from the Ladda pros vs. Eneloop pros. It seems that Ladda self-discharge down to about 70% after just 6 months, whereas the Eneloop Pros are still holding at 80% after 2 years (and 75% after 3 years).
But, even if the Ladda Pros aren’t as good as Eneloop Pros when it comes to self-discharge, it’s probably not that important. You’re buying the high-capacity cells for long run-time at higher outputs. The regular Eneloops are the ones you buy if you want slow self-discharge and lots of cycles. It would be interesting to see the 2000mAh Ladda self-discharge rates.
Anyway, I don’t think the Laddas are the same as Eneloops, either the regular or the high-capacity “pros”. But given the price difference, I can certainly see why they’re popular.
This is how I knew the Ikea Ladda 2450’s and 900’s where Eneloop Pro’s. Complete rewrapped Eneloops list 2024 ~ by ChibiM
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Great eneloop info site you have there ChibiM. Thanks for sharing your knowledge :+1: .
The 2450mAh Laddas may indeed be an early-generation of Eneloop Pros. Certainly the discharge curves are almost identical. The self-discharge of the Laddas is much worse, however. Though that’s probably not too important for most people.
The 2000mAh Laddas are certainly not regular Eneloops. The discharge curves are way different. The Ladda’s voltage sags much worse under high drain.
Personally, I prefer the regular Eneloops. I value the very slow self-discharge, high number of cycles, and long shelf like. If I need extra capacity, I simply use an 18650 light.
Most of my flashlight use nowadays is 18650 lights. But I still like to use AA and AAA lights for placing around the house where they’re handy. Great for indoor lights, where you don’t need 1000 lumens. Since they might not get used for months, I like that they’re stocked with low self-discharge Eneloops.
I haven’t used an alkaline AA or AAA battery in anything, in over a decade.