One of the big problems with these batteries is the misunderstanding and ignorance of the purchasers.
They can be useful but have a fairly narrow band of optimal uses. They work, but aren’t very cost effective for most very low drain applications, nor do they work well in high drain uses. The voltage converter heats up. Not good for camera flashes/strobes.
Some devices that really seem to require the 1.5v and have modest drain do well. Some small devices work better: battery operated beard trimmer, nose hair trimmer, electric toothbrush and the like.
I now have 12 of a brand called [Tenavolt], and generally like them….so far. Long term use to be determined.
Only buy them on special at about $2.50/cell. Full price is exorbitant.
The one thing about these Tenavolts cells is that they don’t have a usb port, so you’d better not lose the supplied charger, but if you have 12 of them, then I guess you already have 3 of their chargers as well.
Easy to get another ‘charger’. Do you lose your chargers?
An advantage, If you want to call it that, is it only takes one USB connection to charge 1 > 4 cells. Personally I think I prefer that over the USB direct connection.
The charger is a box barely larger than a storage pack for AA. If you buy it with the charger, that’s what it gets shipped in. I guess you could store them in it. Don’t know if there is a low grade drain, but I think not.
A splitter cable, good idea.
Seems then that it comes down to preference, IF you care to bother with these. The USB port adds one more bit of electronics to the cell, which is a pretty cramped space.
By my measurements using a ZB206B+ (an FET discharger, not resistance) I get about 140mAh more than HJK for the Blacktubes. 0.5A and 100mAh for 1.5A. I think the difference may be that port. I didn’t push beyond that since it’s evident the buck converter seems to overheat and fail. I had hoped to use them for underwater strobes and it became evident it was not a serviceable idea.
If they are a tech that works for you, either would seem to suit. Not sure how they’ll show themselves for the long haul. Thus, the purchase and experiment. I’ve got a bunch of Eneloops going on 12+ years old that need replacing so thought I’d try these out for ….some……uses.