How trustworthy are Sofirn batteries?

If you get a Sofirn battery bundled with the flashlight I find it’s much cheaper on Ali or their website

That sounds legit.

Here’s my discharge test of the PLB 26650 5000mAh 10A cell Sofirn now stock.

The datasheet shows a maximum discharge temp of 60 degrees Celsius. Though the 20A discharge performs well, it exceeds the max temp at 74 degrees.

Keep in mind the results are slightly lower on the graph than the actual voltage due to resistance

5A - 0.01v
10A - 0.02v
15A - 0.03v
20A - 0.04v

Here’s a comparison vs the Sofirn 26650 HD 5000mAh

Can you add a picture of each cell? I didn’t know Sofirn sold a PLB cell. The common PLB cell most are familiar with is the 5750mah. Pictures might help to clear things up.

The Sofirn PLB 5000mah is this one, right?

The High Drain you tested was this one that says 25A on the label?

Even though the older PLB 5750mah (Shockli 5500mah, etc…) was better than this new one (higher continous amps 20 vs 10-15, plus higher capacity) this newer 5000mah is still beating the cells Sofirn uses in their HD version? Man, that’s high praise to PLB. I wish they hadn’t discontinued the older, better cell.

Yes, that’s the correct PLB cell I tested

Also the same Sofirn 25A HD button top

I was rather disappointed the older cell had been discontinued as I had placed a bulk order from my supplier. I had to then change to these PLB 5000mAh but I’m not disappointed.

I’ll run another discharge at 15A to check the temp. Pretty certain it was around 50 degrees Celsius

Okay, I ran another discharge test at 15A and the temp reached 62 degrees Celsius. Slightly exceeding the max of 60. I reckon 14A continuous would be fine

I wonder what the ideal room temp is meant to be for an accurate test. Room temp tonight is 20C.

I’m not sure what’s up with this cell on capacity as almost every discharge shows a different result. Then again my charger hasn’t got a reliable cut off, sometimes 4.20v and others up to 4.25v.

This test at 15A got just over 5400mAh and battery was 4.23v

I received four button top 18650’s in a BLF LT1.

Sofirn 18650 3000mAh Test #1 (2020-11-06)
Room temp: 17C
Capacity (mAh):
3060, 3071, 3051, 3091
Internal Resistance (mOhm):
51, 59, 53, 46

Measured with a Vapcell S4+.

Is 2A continuous charge ok for these when around 3.8V?

i have similar findings with their 18650, all measured just a tad over the rated 3000, but their 26650, which is supposedly PLB re-wrapped, rated at 5500, one of them measured at 5480, which is close enough ill let it slide, but the other is 5331, a bit disappointed with that. the no brand 26650 that came with my ft03 was over 5500, but it was only rated 5000

I personally wouldn’t charge at 2A for a cell that has no datasheet. I no longer use Sofirn batteries, I stick to the big brands

Like Funtastic said, without a data sheet its risky. You can try as long as your willing to monitor the temperatures to make sure they don’t get too hot. I would feel more comfortable at 1A to 1.5A.

Surely you are not referring to the PLB 5500mah cells relabeled by Shockli, etc… No one has ever said they are related. They are definitely not related. They use a local Chinese made cell. Some measure closer to 5000 and some closer to 5500 and they separate them into two groups and label them appropriately. They are quite generic and nothing special.

The PLB 5500mah on the other had is a top quality cell. One of the best in its capacity.

i mean, it literally says that right on their site , even the ones that come with lights , are you saying they straight up lying? they dont say anything for their 18650s, and other manufacturers dont do this either, so i dont see why they would go out of their way to do this if its not true?

Looks like they’ve just recently switched. The flat top PLB wouldn’t connect in series and so their factory rewrapped them and added a button top.

Might of been helpful to drop a link right from the start since the PLB button top has just been released by them. Jason was talking about the previous Sofirn 26650’s that came spec’d at 5000mAh and 5500mAh

Sofirn 26650 HD Battery 25A Button Top, Rewrapped PLB Cell

We may be confusing the batteries. Their 5000mah HD 25A cell is a different version. They have 2 different 5000mah cells.

The regular 5000mah (and 5500mah) that are flat top (looks like button top is a new option) are not HD and have no amperage rating.

Then they have their newer 25A HD cell.

PLB stopped producing the 5500 that was so great and now produce a 5000 that is a bit less impressive. Don’t ask me why they stepped backwards.

I don’t think Sofirn said anything about their Heavy Duty 25A 5000mah being an actual PLB cell when they came out. They are definitely saying it now, at least on that Sofirn website. I checked their Ali store and there is no mention of PLB at all. I got a pair of these HD cells when they first came out and they are pretty impressive.

I have not gotten any of the new 5000mah PLB cells to compare them to. I also haven’t read any reviews comparing these 2 cells to each other.

So I dont know if the 25A HD are PLB rewraps or not.

Their other black 26650 is definitely not a PLB rewrap.

oh ya im not aware of that, i literally came into the flashlight scene like 2 weeks ago, so i just assumed sofirns been doing this for a while

Ah. I had assumed that there would be a datasheet and some independent tests when I got the BLF LT1 kit. :person_facepalming:

Perhaps I should get a few more Sanyo NCR18650GA. :smiley:

I’ll see how these go… don’t want to waste them.

im a little confused, actually very confused.

first, i dont know what you mean by their regular 5000mah that are flat top and looks like button top, are they selling that? i only see one battery option on their site, and its 25A HD, which they claim to be PLB, and 5000mah. wheres this regular one you’re talking about?

second, the one i got says 5500mah on the wrap. and i checked amazon.ca description, thats where i got them, they came with sp70. and it doesnt say PLB wrapped, it just says “(Sofirn 26650 5500mAh Button top batteries included).”
but on their own website, the sp70 listing does say it comes with PLB wrapped 26650, but it doesnt say the capacity. so does this mean the ones that come from amazon are the “regular” ones you’re talking about? and only if i buy them separately, or buy sp70 from their website, it comes with PLB cells?

i think im gonna need to have a word with their customer service and clear the air…