Test / Review: Samsung INR18650-20R (also AW dethroned)

I've got almost anything from 1A to 20A but most is not really interesting. Up to 10A you are better off with the Panasonic NCR18650PD. And from 10A up the Samsung 20R is the way to go. I can think of 2 cells that might be better but those are exclusively used in battery packs.

Can u post 2c for comparison purposes. I’m not familiar with the Panasonic’s but I’m pretty sure at 2c they will sag more than these.

Sorry to keep asking for graphs.

These are not IMR but INR for low discharge the 3.4ah is good but the 2.9 is better and sags less

2C is a wide range. ;)

2C is 5.8A for Panasonic -PD, 3.2A for AW IMR 1600mAh and 4A for Samsung -20R.

So here are 5A and 7.5A.

At 5A, there is no real surprise. Up to 5A I'd say stick with the Sanyo -FM if you already have them. If you need more runtime, the -PD.

At 7.5A the Sanyo -FM would be beyond specs and gets hot. We dont want that, so no graph for that cell.

The three cells have a very similar discharge curve with the -PD having a lot more capacity. In this graph it was only discharged to about 2.9V. Discharging it to 2.5V would give about 800mAh more capacity.

/edit:

Ignore kreisler, he is just trolling. :P Protected cells are for girls btw.!

Why do you recommend the Sanyo FM? Because it is the better choice at 3A…?
In the 5A and 7.5A diagrams the PD is the best…?

In the last third the -FM has a higher voltage than the -PD. But you are right, I should have said it differently and therefore edited my post. I'll explain:

It all depends on the light. I have single cell lights exclusively. Now if you are like me or mainly use single cell lights, the 3A and 5A discharge curves are those that matter.

Triple or quad XPGs might pull up to 5A while still having a relatively low vF of about 3.2V @ 1.5A if I remember correctly. In the last third of the discharge curve, the Sanyo -FM is still well above 3.2V while the -PD isnt. Also, most people already have Sanyo -FM based cells while the -PD is rather new.

So if you wont draw more than 5A from one cell, the Sanyo -FM is still great.

These tests were all made with unprotected cells, right?
I looked a lot at the discharge curves from HKJ and recognized that protected cells have lower voltage curves, it seems they are just shifted parallel a bit down.

Yup, all unprotected. Protection lowers the voltage quite a bit due to more resistance. The more amps you draw from a cell, the higher the difference will be.

Will the Samsung cell vent when abused? As in, will it be have like an IMR? Thanks

Well, they are IMR cells. No regular cell would hold such a high voltage under load or even get through that without melting. For example, the Panasonic NCR18650E rated for 20A got so hot at 20A that the shrinkwrap around the negative terminal crumpled.

The Samsung -20R is UL listed and used in some power tools made in Germany.. so I consider them as being save. ;)

Thanks for the response!

When you do these discharge tests, do you usually log temps as well?

I didnt do them and no. But touching the cells after discharging works well. :D

Is it UL tested so far?
I thought that this will come later this year…?

I assumed it. An engineer of a well known German power tool brand told me that they have to use UL certified cells if built in Germany. Maybe he was talking just about an internal "law" in his company?

Will you write up a regular review test thread of these new Samsung INRs?

What do you mean with regular review test thread? The guy that tests them for me has nowhere near the equipment HKJ has. So all I have are discharge curves. We might publish an IMR shootout in the future, but some people were interested in the new Samsung cells. And because the recent king of IMR was AW I decided to share a few curves upfront. :)

Ah, ok, the discharge curves are very confusing, 20A 2Ah, 7.5A 1.3Ah? etc.

I just asked HKJ some minutes ago if he could test it. I will get one myself but I can’t test discharge much or make curves.

Yeah, I put a value wrong when plotting the 7.5A curve. Fixed it now, thanks for pointing that out. What else is confusing?

Oh, if you can regenerate them, use a single axis scale, so all graphs have the same X and Y values, min, max, step.

I guess that was the only one wrong. 5A seems correct I think maybe tiny bit lower than 7.5A, who knows. 10A seems longer than the previous two.

Hmm I guess just sort out the X axis values, put them true, not fictional :wink: