Test / Review: GTL 18650 5000mAh (Blue)

GTL 18650 5000mAh (Blue)




This is a very cheap battery ($10 for four, including shipping) with impossible specifications.

Official specifications:

  • RECHARGEABLE 3.7 V 18650 5000mAh li-ion Battery GTL
  • 5000mAh 3.7V 18650 rechargeable Battery
  • No memory effect, recharge up to 1000 cycles
  • 100% quality Japanese battery cells
  • 100% Q.C. of every battery
  • Manufactured by Hi-Capacity power products.
  • Battery Dimension: Approx: 65mm(height) x 18mm (diameter)




The capacity is nowhere near the specified 5000mAh, not even all batteries together is enough.









The two batteries has slightly different capacity, but not that much.











This is interesting, they has very different current delivery capacity, i.e. it will be a very bad idea to use them in series with high power lights.



With the low capacity they are very fast to charge.



Conclusion

The batteries is as expected: Not very useful and with the low capacity they are not even good value for the money.
With unknown and obvious low quality cells in a unprotected battery I will rate these batteries bad.



Notes and links

How is the test done and how to read the charts
How is a protected LiIon battery constructed
More about button top and flat top batteries

HKJ, once again we thank you for your tests!
After a lot of crap batteries, I think the most budget protected betteries are the HiMax 2600 mAh.
Have you tested them?

Your works and input are invaluable HKJ, a big thanks!

I just feel sorry for all those uninformed and naive fellows that will fall victims of those unscrupulous sellers.

Not yet, but the are waiting next to the testing station (I have a few other that goes before).

Looks better than expected quality for GTL.

Sad state of affairs. Thankfully people such as HKJ (among others) are exposing these frauds!

Keith

Gym, tan, laundry? :D

Gin, tonic & lemon.
:slight_smile:

Batteries like these makes using li-ion batteries a moot point.

Thank you for uncovering the good & bad for us. You rock!

These batteries were made purely because, “Its *G*ood *T*o *L*augh”.

Haha, they’ve wrapped one cell with 5000mAh instead of the full, 4 cell pack :bigsmile:

BTW, want to thank you for your efforts on your web improvement :beer: That “new” cell comparison is awesome! Great job, man :crown:

Thanks for that… not very surprising, but good to have the numbers/charts to see.

1000mah? good enough, lolol

Through some oversight, I managed to purchase a few of these GTL batteries at a time when I mistakenly purchased some low cost junk. One by one, they DROP DEAD.
Steer clear of GTL batteries.

These batteries are total junk, they are 500mAh at best, and often after discharge won’t charge.
I purchased several, and ended up throwing away even the unused ones !!!

I purchased similar (identical looking blue shrink wrap with white disc on top) when I didnt know any better except they are similarly printed on the outside shrinkwrap in black text: “+ GOOD 18650 5000mAh 3.7V -” and underneath this “www.acce-mall.com” which seems to be a dead site. They are about 750-500 mAh for certain, assessed via comparison of runtimes on several lights versus Orbtronic 3400mAh batteries.

I tested them about 10x too on various walks of recorded run time this winter. I use them in my SRK, they last in total one walk approximately if I dont use the light for most of the trip, then I take them out and charge them….never keep them in the light or take them on any trips I drive to and I’ll probably discard them as soon as I get more, I just wanted to get SOME use out of them and I was kind of curious about seeing if they show any signs of getting old/used batteries…I test them with a voltage meter when the SRK dims and before I charge, and voltages are always within .01-.02V of each other, so I’m also pretty certain they are actual 500-750mAh batteries purposefully mislabled, not used batteries.

Yes, those are the ones, they should have called them “BAD 18650 5000mAh 3.7V -”
I have found the UltraFire red and silver batteries also suck. A lot of China battery cheating going on, but what’s new.
They will learn like Japan did years ago, and now produce high quality items.
The UltraFire Black Gold 4000 mAh are not bad, and actually come in at around 2000mAh and are really protected by a pc board with a chip on the end of the battery. I also tried the white ENERGY batteries that are also not too bad.

Yes, my guess is they were old “500mAh” formula 18650s that a factory produces and got relabeled as “5000mAh” to sell. Check out HKJ’s links above, he does great battery tests and reviews on his site. Ultrafire brand in general is “LiarLiarPantsOnFire” for battery mAh and flashlight lumens, and worse for batteries. This is gone over on other threads here, but Ultrafire is one of the worst since lots of other factories produce and/or relabel low quality batteries under the Ultrafire name. I’d go with Orbtronics or AW protected cells if you are the new to Li-ion cells kind of guy I’m assuming you are (I was also when I bought the “GOOD 5000mAh” batteries). And welcome :slight_smile:

They probably meant to print “1/5th of 5000mah” on the sides of those cells. Hey… its a simple mistake that anyone could make, right?? :smiley: :smiley: At least they fall in line with the rest of GTL batteries ——-> slingshot ammo!