How do they really stack up? Twice the price, but twice as good? True capacity? Number of cycles? Variances?
I have been getting tenergy AA’s for a few years, have no clue as to the possibilities.
thanks
Good question. I have recently bought quite a batch of Tenergy Centuras in D and C sizes, not available in Eneloops. Been thinking of also going with the AA Centuras too though they are not available in high capacity form like the Eneloop XX batteries are. Actually considering AA Centuras or 2500 mAh Amazon Basics NiMH batteries which are listed as Japanese origin and are about half the price of the Eneloop XX batteries.
My impression after a few years of using them, is that Tenergy makes a pretty good battery.
I’ve always used eneloops but wouldn’t mind a less expensive alternative.
I have some that I have used for over 5 years and they seem to be OK. My son has put a few through their paces with his toys. I have no idea how many times that they have been charged or even what caoacity they have or even started with!
I plan on getting an analyzer/charger so I can be more aware.
My thinking is that any forum, on any given topic, has it’s darlings. Eneloops do seem to be a clear front runner but how do they stackup with these or others? I have read a good bit here and continue to attempt to wrap my head around these things.
Please feel free to educate the ignorant.
thanks
I just ordered 24 of the Amazon “Made in Japan” 2500 mAh Amazon Basics NiMH batteries as they are about 66% of the price of the equivalent Eneloop batteries at the best price I found for the Eneloop Pros. I have some of the Eneloop XX high capacity batteries so will compare them physically and for performance when they arrive. The Amazon batteries were $63 for 24. Tenergy Centuras would have been $43.85 with shipping for 2000 mAh batteries and the Eneloop Pro batteries at the best Amazon seller price I could find would have been $96 or 50% more. These were the latest Panasonic Eneloop Pros from a Japanese seller. The best Amazon Prime price from Amazon itself was about $104 for the Eneloop Pros so the Amazon Basics are a good buy if comparable to the Eneloop Pros. The Tenergy Centuras are also a much better price per cell but list themselves as lower capacity.
I suggest EBL for NiMH. They are dirt cheap and the performance is better than Eneloop in my testing. I have the EBL 2800mah AA and the EBL 1100mah AAA.
Including LSD performance? That’s an important consideration for many of us.
Per tests by N. Lee, the leading electronics tester on Amazon, the EBL batteries are not true low self discharge batteries. Better than standard it looks like but much worse than Eneloops or Amazon Basics cells at charge retention. Look down a few reviews from the top here to see the EBL reviews.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/AOEAD7DPLZE53/ref=cm_cr_dp_pdp
Did I read that right? Did you really say dirt cheap AND better performance? How is this possible? Do you have a reliable method of testing? What kind of “performance is better” are we talking here?
Yes, but I am strictly talking about discharge capacity when saying that they perform better. For example, if you run a discharge test with an analyzer like the OPUS BT-C3100, the EBL will offer over 30% capacity over the eneloop.
If you need the batteries to hold charge for many years, then you are probably better off with lower capacity eneloop or other NiMH.
Or even if you only need 6 months. If all you need is a lot of discharge capacity, medium discharge rates, and no LSD then there are probably several great options (and it sounds like EBL may be one of them). IIRC regular NiMH also doesn’t take high-discharge-rate abuse well, losing capacity and retention time maybe?? Due to my intermittent usage patterns [and love of fast-charging] I stick exclusively to LSD cells and haven’t really payed close attention to non-LSD stuff for the last few years.
My EBL AAA cells are now basically useless as I had bought a bunch to use in various device remote controls. Wasted $ for me 
How are they useless? Having to charge them every year makes them useless?
There’s a big problem with buying many kinds of stuff through Amazon — “commingled inventory”
Amazon - Google Search“commingled+inventory”“WSJ”
This seems unbelievable. But read the stories. It’s well documented out there.
Amazon will often show you multiple sources for something — and handles payment and shipping for a lot of different sellers.
Amazon collects the stock from both original suppliers of known legitimate products, for which you pay more, and from third party resellers — that often contain counterfeit products sold cheap.
Amazon combines all the “same thing” items — sticks Amazon’s same inventory number on all of them, and puts them all together in their warehouses.
People filling orders paid through Amazon don’t send you the item you bought that came from the seller you paid through the Amazon system.
Amazon’s stock clerks take the next piece with that inventory number off the shelf and send it to you.
This completely muddies up chain of authenticity — you can’t tell, and they can’t tell you, if what you bought came from the legitimate original source you paid, or from some frequently shrinkwrapper fake crap source.
I haven’t tried Tenergy, but Eneloops never fail to surprise me. A couple of days ago I was in an electronics store that’s closing out and picked up a half dozen 2-packs of Eneloop AAAs. According to the date on the packs they appear to have been made in June of 2006, but for $1.50 / pair I figured I didn’t have much to lose.
I tested them upon opening, and every one showed exactly 1.27 v. They claim to be rated at 750 - 800 mAh, but after a break in session on my C-9000, every one settled in at 810 to 815 mAh.
I think that’s pretty good, for having been hanging on a hook in a sun baked store window for 8 years.
hank;
In the case of the Amazon Basics batteries the ONLY seller and source is Amazon so I am not too worried about mixed stock.
Yeah, with those, which I haven’t bought myself, I wonder does Amazon do quality control on their own products?
I’d guess they supply the shrinkwrap Amazon product covers but I don’t think Amazon builds their own batteries.
After I read about the combined inventory, I kind of lost any trust I had that they know what they’re selling.
Which of course is true for a lot of sellers out there.
I don't like Tenergy. I find that there is a lot of inconsistency in rated capacity versus actual, in cell to cell comparisons. I have found the same with many other brands. That is why I stick with Eneloops, even though the rated capacity is lower than others. It's still a consistent cell and the actual high amp ability of them still exceeds any other cell I have found. When using multiple cell configurations, I don't want one cell dropping out in a few minutes, when others are still holding up. Eneloops are best for multiple cell use, as far as I am concerned.
The Amazon Basics NiMH batteries i have are 13 months old now and i have no complaints about them, I use them mostly with my fenix E11’s / E20’s so no idea about how they would handle high current draw.
I use Eneloops XX Pros in my LD41/D40’s purely because I know they can handle the draw. If anyone has any test data for high draw use or a url for a test please post them.