What is currently the best value in 18650 batteries

I need to buy 4 more, and have not kept up on 18650 threads lately.

Not interested in spending $10 per battery, looking for reasonable quality at a lower price point.

Protected cells are preferred. Thanks

xtar's are still good value

I’ve only used trust fires for 5 years with no problems , I did have one aw die in first year however:) gonna get me some flames next to try:)

Trustfire 2400mah flames.

I have been buying mine for around $8 a pair shipped lately.

Please mark the above as spam...

I’ve only used Trustfire 2500 mAH for several years now with no issues.

You could also consider these.

I thought the first Trustfire 3000 from Manafont tested good @ 2600mah but the ones purchased later only tested 2000 or 2100 mah or so. This was a recent thread from BLF and a reason I didn’t order any.

EDIT reread the thread 2100 to 2300 mah.

Test/review of TrustFire TF18650 3000mAh (Flame)

The best value are the Sanyo UR18650F/M. They have consistent results, unlike the Trustfires.

To get those protected you have to buy the XTARs, or the Sparks.

One interesting aspect of Trusfire cells, that has not been tested yet, is if the capacity reduces randomly in time (not all cells loose the same capacity) in the same way they seem to be made with random capacities. Probably cells the cells are not "binned" as LEDs by CREE for example.

Arent Senybor also Sanyo based? Edit: actually it seems they are coy about this info but removing the wrapper has shown Panasonic apperance.

This guy is a seller but I have no reason to not trust his results:

http://www.torchythebatteryboy.com/p/batteries_21.html

How about these.. http://www.pandawill.com/2pcs-xtar-18700-2600mah-37v-rechargeable-battery-p54212.html Mine arrived in 4 days. Great value for these xtars.

I do not know what are they based, I only know they are made be a Chinese company in Shenzhen.I know that in UK there's a lot of buzz with Torchies cells. Well that is primarily because of all those 1A comparisons he did. He says 1C discharge and then the discharge is done with 1A, Then at 2C the discharge says 1A also. If you look at the graphs there's no voltage sag...... Actually the sag is lower on the 5.6A discharge, which is not possible.

I haven't bought high quality 18650s for a while. Are these HI-MAX batteries still a good value?

http://www.ebay.com/sch/pingyi.co.ltd/m.html?_nkw=18650+2600mAh

Hmm, I have some more Senybors now and really should get round to doing some more tests but in my tests they outperformed the @&£)fire cells. I will get the internal impedance tester on them also.

Aren't these fake? Some weeks ago found these and there were some doubts in connection with the company.

here: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/6137

What about those 3100mah from Intl-Outdoor? Are they good?

If you might consider unprotected, I've been looking at these for a while, Sanyo 18650 2600mAh from Intl Outdoor, at $5.85 a piece. Free shipping if bought 3pcs above.

Its brother (2100mAh) has been tested to get 1800mAh, around 85% of claimed. Since it's Sanyo cell, I believe that result will be consistent, and for a 2600mAh cell, good chance you will get a good 2200-2300 mAh from these. Still a great value for the price.

No, they are the real deal. They have a US and China warehouse. After reading the bad reviews, I decided to risk and purchase them. So far I've had good experiences with Pandawill.

I recently had a DX Trustfire Flame go bad on me. Not in a bad way, it just wouldn't charge up anymore. I'd probably had it for a couple of years, but not real heavy use. So I bought some more XTAR 2600's from the longstanding group buy. I think those are very good batteries for a little more than Trustfires. Still a lot less than AW's and equivalents.

I have 4 TF 3000 soon here, wait a while before ordering. Quality may vary, going to test them…
Xtars with groupbuy price are the safest bet.