- 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.
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