- Right out of the box, their average remaining charge is 1946mAh.
The spread is very small, ranging from 1933 to 1959mAh. Note that the
date code on those cells says 'MAR2011', so they probably left factory
just two months ago. Still, those numbers are really impressive.
-
After just one recharge/discharge cycle (done at 700/350mA), the
average capacity improved to 2217mAh. That is about 11% higher than the
rated capacity of '2000mAh'. Again the spread is small, varying from
2200 to 2250mAh. Those numbers remain unchanged in subsequent
recharge/discharge cycles.
It is interesting to note that: performances of those AmazonBasics Pre-Charged AA cells are nearly identical to that of
AA cells, which I have tested last November. So I won't be surprised if
those 'AmazonBasics' cells turn out to be rebranded GP ReCyko.
Just for comparison, the
cells are also rated for 2000mAh typical, but the average capacity I
measured is around 2130mAh, or 'only' 6% higher than rated. On the other
hand, Sanyo claims the second-generation eneloop cells can be recharged
up to 1500 cycles, whereas GP and AmazonBaisc NiMH batteries are rated
for 'only' 1000 cycles. In real life, most people will probably never
notice the difference.
In summary, all three brands I mentioned
above (Sanyo, GP and AmazonBasics) are excellent products. They all live
up to the claim of "pre-charged and ready to use right out of the
pack", and offer even higher capacities than rated. So just go by which
brand is on sale, and you can't go wrong.[Aside]
Most battery makers are touting their products as 'Advanced',
'Platinum', 'Ultra', and so on. Why oh why does Amazon simply call
those superior batteries 'AmazonBasics'? If this is 'Basic', I can't
wait to test the 'AmazonPrime' batteries!
[Aside#2]
Those
AmazonBasics Pre-charged NiMH batteries are in black, which (to me)
makes them look like disposable alkaline cells. On the other hand, the are in white, which makes them look like rechargeable cells. I really wish the color scheme were the other way around.
[*Update on Apr 14, 2012*]
Long term self-discharge data of AmazonBasics batteries were disappointing, so I have to downgrade my rating from 5 to 4 stars.
I
tested one pair each of thos AA cells after 3, 4 and 8 months of
storage. The average remaining charge measured were 82.3%, 79.4% and
67.6% respectively. That means they have already failed the claim of
"maintains 80% of capacity after 1 year". If the present linear trend
(-3% per month) continues, I expect them to retain only 55% of original
charge after one year. In contrast, my previous test data with Sanyo
eneloop and GP Recyko+ showed that they can retain at least 80% after 12
months.
New bottom line: For most applications, those
AmazonBasics cells are good enough. But for mission-critical
applications, I have to recommend Sanyo eneloop instead.
I've been using AmazonBasics AA and AAA batteries for my kids'
high-battery-demand toys (a remote controlled car, toy trains, and
several hand-held devices) for months now, as well as my wife's camera,
so I was happy to receive these, the "AmazonBasics AAA NiMH Precharged
Rechargeable Batteries (12 pack, 800 mAh) to review. (More batteries =
more toys I can use these in).
I've found these AAA batteries (as
well as the AA's) to be at least as good as the other rechargable
batteries I own (I also own Eneloops and Duracells, as well as an
off-brand or two), while being a little less expensive than the others. I
have not had any batteries fail on me, and nor have I seen any steep
decline in the rated capacity over time, as confirmed by my La Crosse
battery recharger.
While some rated reviews give you the techical
specs and other hard data, I can say from the casual user's point of
view that these are good rechargeable batteries and will save you money
in the long run if you, like me, have lots of items that frequently need
new batteries. Five stars.
I got these batteries after being very happy with the Amazon Basics AAA
batteries and charger I got a couple of months ago. In our house we are
always needing AA batteries for wireless mice, keyboards, remotes,
flashlights, cameras and radio controlled models so this 16 pack was
perfect.
They came pre-charged and ran for a long time out the
box so it looks like they hold their charge well when not in use. I was
actually surprised how long the LED lamp I slowly discharged some of
these on lasted. The lamp definitely lasted longer than I expected for
2000 mah capacity nimh rechargeable batteries.
The batteries are
sold as 2000 mah batteries but when I went to charge them with my
computerized charger at 0.5 amps, when the charger had finished charging
the display showed that they had charged to 2545 mah which is 25% more
capacity than stated making these even better value than I had
anticipated.
I haven't had them long enough to test longevity.
But so far I have been very happy with amazon basics products and expect
these will prove to be as good as value for money as the other amazon
basic products I have.
I started buying rechargeable batteries around the time my first son was
born almost 6 years ago. When Amazon began selling their AmazonBasics
line of products I gave these batteries a try and these are the only
ones I buy for the most part. They are just as good as any of the
bigger name brands and I've only had one minor issue with a set of AAA
batteries where they were not "precharged" like the package says (I have
a review for the AAA ones as well). Overall, when comparing these to
other brands, if they are cheaper in price, this is a no brainer. Buy
them.
I have purchased the AA batteries of this brand prior to receiving
another set through the Vine program. I purchased them because they are
inexpensive and rechargeable, and seem to perform just as well as the
more expensive brands so when I got the opportunity to get some more, I
jumped at the chance.
I use the AA batteries in my XBOX 360
controllers because I have lost my 360 battery pack charger. Instead of
purchasing a new one, I decided to go back to rechargeable batteries
that can be charged using any battery charger instead of a special one
designed for XBOX 360 battery packs.
Battery life is good and I
while I haven't officially documented the time these last, I would say I
get between 25 - 30 hours per charge with my XBOX 360 gaming before
they need a recharge. I will use these from now on for my gaming needs
as well as any other device that takes AA batteries.
I haven't
had to use the AAA batteries yet because I have no devices that use that
type of batteries at this time, but I don't expect their performance to
be any different than the AA's I use on a daily basis.
I can't
find anything bad to say about these batteries, they work, they don't
leak, and they keep charges well. What else can I say? Sure they don't
look as flashy as Duracell or Energizer, but who cares?
I recommend these batteries if you want a good but inexpensive set of rechargeable batteries.
I bought two packs of these batteries to use on a rotational basis. I
have found that an alkaline battery will last about 30 percent longer
than these rechargeables. I don't know whether this is an industry
standard or not for most rechargeable batteries, but they seem to run
down pretty quickly to me. I tend to keep extra rechargeables on hand to
swap out as soon as one set runs dry. This method works pretty well and
compensates for the shorter run time. Nonetheless, these batteries are
more economical than alkalines and should prove their worth in the long
run.
If you know what precharged or low self discharge batteries are, you can skip down a few paragraphs.
Brief
history of rechargable batteries: In the beginning there was NiCad and
all was good, but people found that the cells of Nicad had memory and
that was bad. So then there were the cells of NiMH which could store
more power than Nicad and had no memory, and that was good.
But
these cells of NiMH also lost charge (self-discharge) fairly quickly, so
that in a few months they were dead, and this was almost worse than
memory. Alas, the men were angry and the women lamenting "Why have the
electrons of NiMH abandoned us?
Then the prophet Sanyo came and
said "I have made a NiMH cell that has a very low self discharge and I
will give it a name like no other. I will call it ENELOOP"
And
all the people said "Huh?" for the name was like no other. But soon the
land was filled with celebration as they found that these batteries
would hold their charge for months, even as long as a year!
Then
competition came to the world with others calling this "Pre-Charged."
and "Low Self Dischage" and Amazon too came to bring a cell which was
made in the form of the the cell ENELOOP.and discharges the batteries several times, I found that the
AmazonBasics actually outperformed the Eneloop (note: You really want a
sample of at least 6 to determine statistical significance: the AB came
in at 829, 817, 845, and 796 while the month old Eneloops came in at
780, 797, 826 and 815 mAH.
Note that the first Gen Eneloops said
they were good for 1000 recharge cycles, while the second generation
said they were good for 1500 cycles. These were made in China while the
Eneloops are made in Japan. I won't be able to tell you how these
perform in that regard for some time, but if you're looking for a
cheaper alternative, these may be them.I suppose for the price these are pretty decent, but I had one go bad
(will not charge) after only a couple charging cycles. (Hardly worth
the postage to return to Amazon though.) The others are lasting fine,
but their capacity, as reported by my charger, varies greatly by battery
-- some significantly less than advertised, and some more than
advertised. Since it's best to use NiMH batteries of the same capacity
together, it's pretty difficult to do with these...but I guess you get
what you pay for, and these were definitely less expensive than any of
the alternatives at the time.
Bought these rechargeable batteries to replace the worn out batteries in
my Panasonic cordless handsets. The Panasonic-branded batteries were
so much more expensive than these. Have had these for several months
now and there are no problems -- phones hold a charge for at least a few
days and can last for hours on a live phone call. (I am on some long
conference calls!)We put one to use immediately after receiving the package. Worked great right out of the box.
Being
rechargeable and precharged makes them better than most batteries.
Since AA is one of the most used sizes, this package is a winner.
