Test/Review of Panasonic Lithium Power CR123

Batteries and Chargers Consumable Batteries
1

Panasonic Lithium Power CR123


Official specifications:

  • Nominal voltage (V): 3
  • Nominal capacity (mAh): 1550
  • Continuous standard load (mA): 20
  • Operating temperature (C): -40 ~ +70




A small battery that can deliver a lot of energy.











The battery starts at 3.2 volt when new, when loaded the working voltage is closer to 2.5 volt.
Notice the strange discharge curve at 3A, this is probably because the PTC in the battery got hot and disabled it.










Conclusion

This is the first CR123 I test, making it impossible to comment on performance, except saying that this small battery size packs a lot of power.
See the CR123A article linked below for more information about CR123 batteries.



Notes and links

How is the test done and how to read the charts
CR123A and rechargeable substitutes

2

Thank you for the review.
I haven’t bought Panasonic CR123 in years, long ago they were black label and performed very well similar to duracell.
I haven’t seen this new copper labeling before, looks nice.

From the pictures it seems you bought single package batteries.
Was it pretty expensive buying them in singles?

3

Thanks! :)

4

Thanks for the review, sure does outperform some XXXFire 18650’s. :smiley:

5

Thank you.

6

I bought them in 10 pieces boxes, that was about $2.50 each (This price includes 25% VAT and also shipping). With Danish prices it is fairly cheap.

7

I was just planning on buying a box of 50 of either Panasonic or Rayovac for storage. So this may be the answer to the question I haven’t asked yet.
I use Titanium Innovations for everyday use, but have heard they are not the best for storage.
Even if batteries have a 10 year shelf life, I have read to not use old batteries in multi-cell lights. So what is the longest you can keep them and safely use them in multi-cell lights.

8

Thanks, I wanted to see a serious.discharge curve on these like forever.
Do you plan to add them to your comparator? I would like to compare the eneloops with the nice lithium as well, it could be done with browser window but on a iPad it ishard.

Could you please provide a not zoomed discharge curve?
I am interested in the voltage break in

9

I do not plan to add them to the comparator or make a new one in the near future.

I have compared some AA cells and also compared CR123 to some other batteries.

Sorry about that, I was doing some rescaling on the NiMH and alkaline batteries and forgot to exclude the CR123 cell. I will fix it immediately.

10

:quest: