To be fair to eneloop competitors, the batteries tested in this thread are not a comparison to any decent NiMH. This thread is not saying buy eneloops!
Before you think that eneloops are the only cells worth buying you really need to try the following:
I've driven hundreds of other batteries over the last 20+ years ..I was trying to show some old sanyos I bought probably 20 years ago . 1200mah nimh AA dark green rebadged sanyo white tops for a company named bt&t controls I bought about 20 AA's and the next year at this electronics show all that could be had were sort of a lime green 1300mah cell I bought 50 of them AA and AAA's and everyone of those are dead , every energizer / rayovac kodak I've bought since then are all dead time and time again it's been sanyos that are still kicking .Some of these batteries don't last a year .Buying anything but eneloops or rebadged sanyos is just wasting your money . duraloops on sale were less than a buck .Thats not rolls royce prices . They are always on sale and worth stocking up on.
I have several non-sanyo cells that are still in A1 condition after 5 years. You seem to be talking about “lime green” 1300mAh cells vs old Sanyos - hardly a universally conclusive result in Sanyo’s favour… no offense but I think you need to take a little adventure and try some other brands, those 1300mAh days are long gone.
The PowerEx cells I got with my charger are rated at 2700 mAh and test at 2600. The Duraloops I got at Target were 1900. The black top Chinese Duracells tested a little higher at about 2000. I know with LSD cells you sacrifice some capacity, but I think the point is that there are other cells that can be good. The question is, do you want to stick with what you know, or take a chance?
I thought I should comment that my experience differs, and if I recall correctly, did not HKJ test the Recyko’s?
Anyway, I have had very good results from my GP AA and AAA Recyko batteries in both flash units and my SPark SD52 headlamp, as I also have Eneloops, I can say they are almost the same except the GP’s give me about 10% more run time.
If you are tempted to not consider GP due to heyho’s ad hoc comment, I’d suggest you do more research before you potentially talk yourself out of better value for your dollar.