Sanyo Eneloop AA NiMH Pre-Charged Rechargeable Batteries - 4 Pack
by SANYO
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sanyo Eneloop AA NiMH Pre-Charged Rechargeable Batteries - 4 Pack
Customer Review: Some new facts about LSD cells you should know...
Summary: 5 Stars
[Updated Oct 24, 2008]
My original review on the Sanyo eneloop NiMH cells was written nearly two years ago. Since then, I have learned a lot more about the characteristics about eneloop and other low-self-discharge cells. So it is time to clear up some inaccurate information I wrote about eneloop's self-discharge rate.
1. I was told that the Sanyo eneloop cells were not 100% fully charged when they leave factory. This makes sense because new cells are fast-charged in the factory to save time. In order to avoid problem with heat and gas built-up, they cannot be charged to 100%. I have tested some eneloop cells that were manufactured 20 months ago, and they still maintained about 70% charge. On the other hand, cells manufactured 6 months ago contain about 75% charge. This confirmed that the discharge rate is much lower than I previously estimated.
2. The self-discharge rate of eneloop (and other LSD cells) is not linear! My own testing showed that a fully charged eneloop may lose 10% of its initial charge during the first month of storage, but in the second months it may lose just 2-3%. The rate becomes even slower after three months. In fact, my 5-month self-discharge test using various brands of LSD cells gave nearly identical results as my previous 3-month test.
3. When an eneloop cell is freshly charged, its capacity actually measures at about 5% higher than its rated capacity (2100mAh vs. 2000mAh). In my previous tests, I used measured capacity as base to calculate the percentage loss. This results in apparently higher percentage loss. Had I used the rated capacity as base value, the self-discharge rate would be about 5% lower.
Based on the above revelation, I believe Sanyo's claim about eneloop (maintain 85% charge after one year, 80% after two year) to be accurate. Therefore the title of my previous review ("The News of LSD Has Been Slightly Exaggerated") has to be replaced.
Over the past two years, I have tested several different brands of LSD cells available from Amazon.com, including Rayovac Hybrid, Kodak Pre-Charged, and Duracell Pre Charged. They have all performed very well - practically no difference from the Sanyo eneloop. So the bottom line is: just pick which ever brand of LSD cell is on sale, and you can't go wrong.
Customer Review: A battery is a battery, so what?
Summary: 5 Stars
I mean, this isn't rocket science, is it? One AA battery should be about as good as any other AA battery, right? Wrong. Well, at least they should be in the same ballpark, no? No. It's amazing how little I know about batteries, but luckily NLee the Engineer knows just about everything about them, so if you want to read only one review, skip mine and go directly to his.
So why did I buy these fairly expensive 2,000mAh NiMH rechargeable batteries? Because I read NLee's review. I also wanted to replace the 24 (yes, 24) 600mAh NiCad batteries that came with a 12-set solar lighting system for my walkway. Being the great genius I am, I quickly deduced that I should get almost 3-1/2 times more lighting usage out of the 2,000mAh batteries than I would the 600mAh batteries that came with the solar lights. The 600mAh batteries couldn't keep these solar lights on long enough after a few nights of use. This has to do with the solar cell not collecting enough light during the day (short day, it being winter time at the time of this review) to charge these batteries enough to run all night long. For once, I was right (although I'm not sure if the mAh number is the only reason ... it may also be the difference between NiCad and NiMH). Actually, I got well over 4 times the usage. Now I find that quite startling. More than that, it dumbfounded me. I don't think I'll look at batteries quite the same way any longer.
So how do I rate these batteries. This is pretty simple. They are so far superior to the other batteries I had (yeah, those were really cheap ones), that I give the Sanyo batteries a 9 out of 10 or a 5-star rating (I'm far too ignorant about batteries to give it 10 out of 10). How would these batteries compare to other NiMH batteries with identical mAh rating? Sorry, I don't have a clue. All I know is that these have performed even better than I thought they would.
There is one other thing that baffles me, and that is the price of the 4-pack versus the price of the 8-pack. I required 24 batteries, so the cost of getting 6, 4-packs were $55.14, while the price of 3, 8-packs would be $59.97. Since it would no doubt cost less (another ingenious deduction on my part) to pack 3-sets, than it would to pack 6 sets, one would think the 8-pack would be cheaper. Wrong again. So forgo the 8-pack and get the 4-pack. Of course price is always subject to change, so make sure you confirm this before purchasing.
Customer Review: Best Rechargables Yet
Summary: 5 Stars
I own close to 100 of these eneloop batteries. I have them in kids toys, flashlights, smoke detectors, remotes,wireless mice/keyboard and in three different digital cameras. I have used these since 2006.
I had only one bad experience in 3 years(2009 review). I put charged batteries into my Canon 590IS . Upon arrival at my 3rd childs kindergarten graduation the camera was saying low battery. I reinstalled the eneloops, but still the same error. Later in the event, my camera started working and reading full power.I think that there was a glitch in the camera. It has happened only once.
I have had to throw one battery out. It leaked , I think it was dropped too many times. BE CAREFUL DO NOT DROP.
I have bought these from Amazon and [...]. The [...] set(4 AAA+ 8 AA) comes with a charger and adapters for C and D batteries for about 25-30 dollars. I tried the D adapters to run a fan. It lasted about 3 hours, a Duracell D ran the same fan for 8+ hours.So I will still buy disposable c and d's but never a AAA or AA. I used to buy a case of them(Duracell 36 pack) every 6 months.
Some of the Eneloop sets I bought came with a charger that will work on 120 or 240 volts. Just look at the back of the charger and it will read 100-120 volts or 100-240 volts.So I have a charger if I ever travel out of the country(someday?).
These batteries went with us on our big family vacation to southern california in fall of 2008. We took 100s of photos. We hit Legoland, Seaworld, The San Diego Zoo, Universal Studios and Disneyland last. On the last couple of days the batteries finally required a charge. Yes, we took a charger with us and had extra batteries( and extra SD cards) in our camera cases.
I wish they made c and d cells and a 12 volt charger for use in vehicles. Other than that the best rechargable out there. Would give 6 stars for saving us from all those disposables.
Customer Review: I hate single use batteries
Summary: 5 Stars
As an engineer, I find it offensive that people actually sell single use batteries or design devices that require single use batteries and the fact that people buy single use cells drives me insane.
Stuff like digital cameras and flashes, cell phones (yeah, they used to use AAs a long time ago), remote controllers of all types, TOYS, flashlights. They should all use some type of rechargeable power because you use them a lot - you will be changing the batteries a lot.
Single-use batteries are expensive for that you get - the energy itself costs less than a penny. The label on the battery probably costs more than the actual energy is worth. Plus they are bad for the environment.
Unfortunately there really weren't any good alternatives to the single use Alkaline dry-cell. Lithium-ion/polymer is expensive, regular (non-Eneloop) Ni-MH leaked alot of energy overtime, and everything else was junk.
And then comes Sanyo with their advanced Ni-MH technology and they choose to market their stuff as "pre-charged". C'mon. That's not even 1/10th of what these batteries are.
These batteries are high-current, making them great in flashes and digital cameras. They are low-discharge so you can use them in devices that previously only made sense with alkalines, like tv remote controls. They also have a very high power density - so they hold more juice that a regular alkaline. And you can recharge them up to 1000 times.
Want a great comparison that most of you guys can pull off? Use the Eneloops in one of your Wii-controllers. Then use some (ack!) Alkalines in the other controller. My fiancee and I play the Wii constantly. Alkalines last like 4-6 weeks depending on what we are playing. I charged up some Eneloops and put them in one of the Wii-trollers like 3 months ago and they are still going. Still at all power bars according to the Wii. Incredible.
Customer Review: After all It is not only about milliampere hours
Summary: 5 Stars
I received several sets of Eneloops in February and label told they were produced in April - so they sat at warehouse for nine month. I put them into camera and they worked just fine. Kudos Sanyo!
I should also mention that Sanyo includes reusable battery holders with each set of four. These holders do not look very sturdy, but they perfectly usable.
Technically, Sanyo solved the main problem with NiMh technology - frightening self-discharge rate (up to 40% a month for standard cells). By doing this Sanyo reduced cell capacity down to 2000 mAh from today's top line of 2700 mAh.
Simple calculation shows that due to self-discharge a good 2700 mAh battery holds only around 2000 mAh after a month and a half.
So the answer to the question "which battery is better - Eneloop or standard NiMh" - lies in the usage pattern.
If you always keep batteries in your camera in top-notch charged condition, then standard 2700 mAh set is a winner. For occasional shooters who always forget to charge batteries (like me), Eneloop makes lot of sense because in three month I get around 1900 mAh out of Eneloop and only 1400 mAh from the standard cell. So Eneloop is a winner for everyone who keep batteries inside the camera or any other device for more than 6 weeks.
And, well, if paragraph above looks too technical with too many details and numbers - then Eneloop is a clear winner too, because it just behaves the way battery should behave - without forcing users to know how it works.
This observation made me buy additional sets of AAA Eneloops to use in my wireless mouse, keyboard, voice recorder and LCD flashlight. It should be taken into account that Eneloops are four times more expensive than Alkaline cells, so it is reasonable to use them for devices that require fresh batteries at least twice a year.