Test / Review: Panasonic NCR18650B 3400mAh (Green)

NCR18650B are outdated.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’.

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.

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

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

It depends if he needs protected or unprotected cells!

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

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

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

thank you for the clarification.

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.

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.

No, you wouldnt have any noticable difference.

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

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.

Nive review.

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]

I like the color of it.
How long is it used?

Has anyone tried those cells in a high current drain flashlight?

They are only rated at:
Discharge_Current_max = 6.5A

What will happen if you stress them?
After what time and at which current will it happen?
(they will probably catch fire and explode…?)

I tried a half-discharged 18650B in Emisar D4 with 219c. Worked OK for a couple of minutes, then I got bored. I think there was a thermal stepdown.

What was the discharge current?

See the graphs and read the text in the OP.
It’s not a high drain cell at all, so you don’t use it for high drain appliances.
It’s a great battery up to 3 Amperes, but with the high internal resistance you get too much voltage sag when you draw more current from it. The losses are translated into heat = the battery will get warm.