Test / Review: Panasonic NCR18650B 3400mAh (Green)

Batteries and Chargers Rechargeable Batteries
53

My 3400mAh Panasonics NCR18650B batteries (8 of them) arrived yesterday, first thing I did is charge them at 200mAh, with my Opus BT-C3100 v2.2
They charged up to 4.18V or 4.19V and each battery only took in 2000mAh of power.
Could the batteries already been somewhat charged from the factory?
Or do they need to be discharged and recharged a few times to be able to hold 3400mAh?

54

Normally batteries are shipped at storage voltage of around 3.6 to 3.9 voltage.
You need to run charge and discharge test on your Opus charger

55

Usually they are kind of precharged. It should not be necessary to cycle them.

56

Are these still the best 18650 you can buy?

57

No.

In terms of capacity there are 3600mAh capacity batteries available (Panasonic as well), although hardly for consumers. There are 3500mAh cells available (LG 18650MJ1).

For high drain batteries the NCR18650 where never the best in town.

But they are getting cheaper, so I still buy these.

58

NCR18650B are outdated. The have been succeded by NCR18650BF.

NCR18650GA, LG INR18650 MJ1 and Samsung INR18650-35E are currently the ‘best’ batteries.
All 3 are usually offered as ‘3500mAh’ cells.
GA and 35E are specified as 3450mAh ‘typical’ capacity, 3350mAh minimum.
MJ1 and are rated 3500mAh typical and 3400mAh minimum.
In reality, we can excpect them to be closer to minimum than to ‘typical’.

59

I was able to order 8 of them (NCR18650B 3400mAh button top) for $35.50, from Gearbest.
Shipping took almost a month.
So I’ll let you judge if they are a good deal.

60

Any suggestions for the best deal on high discharge 18650s?

61

I just saw this chart from an earlier thread of yours. Over 3A, the NCR18650GA wins.

62

It depends if he needs protected or unprotected cells!

63

Protection affects all cells in the same way, i.e. it won’t change the ranking (provided the same protection circuit is used).

64

i was wondering why are there gold plated and non(plain silver) negative terminals? is there any difference? these are both originals right?’

thank you

65

That would be the colour of the protection board's contact, not the battery itself.
There are different protection boards, some better than others.

66

thank you for the clarification.

67

Generally a gold plated board means it is a better quality circuit and most likely seiko. Most cheap protected cells I’ve seen don’t have gold plated contacts.

68

Hi, I’m using 2 of these protected green batteries to power a Nitecore EC4SW.

I’m wondering if there would be a noticeable difference between these vs more expensive protected NCR18650B based cells from EVVA, KeepPower, Orbtronic, etc.

Or if there are other batteries better suited to maximize safety, runtime, or output in the EC4SW.

Specific make/model info would be appreciated.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

69

No, you wouldnt have any noticable difference.

You could try something like: Samsung INR18650-30Q or LG HG2…

70

I have a feeling this battery will continue to live in for long time it’s a classic. Most edc lights are 3amps and under anyways. They work great in my powerbank. GB has them on sale from to time. The price isn’t always the same from the listing until you click to open the page. The ones I got I played $27 for 8.

71

Nive review.

72

Is it OK to replace Samsung ICR18650-26F 2600mAh included in the OEM Laptop battery with the more powerful Panasonic NCR18650B 3400mAh
I’m worried both batteries have different power output and might cause any problems with the laptop.

ICR18650-26F 2600mAh Specs:

NCR18650B 3400mAh Specs:
Test/Review of Samsung ICR18650-26F 2600mAh (Pink) [NCR18650B]