Saturday, August 3, 2013

Buy Eneloops! (AKA the best rechargeable AA batteries.) Or Duraloops! (Duracell Eneloops.)

Why? Because they're pretty!



Okay I'm not sure if it's just me but they look really nice and clean. But more importantly is that thy are pretty much the best rechargeable AA battery. They have low drain (up to 3 years with 75% capacity), and work well under heavy loads. Normal alkaline batteries are what? $1 each? An eneloop is around $2.50 (MUCH cheaper for me from costco. More on that later.) And it's rechargeable for 1500 times. It's a no brainer. Saves money, batteries, garbage waste, and it's better than an alkaline anyways. What's more, these are extremely reliable. Alkaline batteries sometimes leak or fail. Eneloops are very consistent from battery to battery, and can hold a charge for a long time, without leakage or failure. That's what makes them such a big deal.


I got mine from costco:
8 AA batteries. 2 AAA batteries. (1 of each are in my flashlights and not shown). 2 C-Cell Adapters. 2 D-Cell Adapters. 1 Charger. 

So on Amazon the prices would be:
8AA batteries= $20
2 AAA batteries ~ $5
4 Adapters ~ $6
1 charger ~$5

Total: $36. But no! From costco, these were only $24! Which is pretty much the price of the batteries themselves. If there's one near you, I'd go buy it! (No, I'm not paid to say this.)

Note: These are usually white with blue letters (Like the adapters). However, they make different colors, and special edition, including Disney batteries. 

These batteries are amazing in high-drain applications. In my Zebralight SC52 (I will do a review on it sometime), the light pumps out 280 lumens on one AA battery. It's an amazing amount of light.. but puts a lot of stress on batteries. Alkaline batteries get around 20 minutes before they die. With an Eneloop, I can get closer to 50. The reason they're so different is that the eneloops have lower resistance, and when the Zebralight tries to take out so much power.... that's where the main difference is. Low drain, they're probably around the same as alkaline. Say in your TV remote, whatever. But have you ever opened up something and seen that your alkaline has leaked? I've never heard of these leaking. And there's the whole recharging thing. 

So if you have anything that uses AA batteries, I'd consider switching to Eneloop. However, if you run a flashlight or some high drain thing off of AA batteries, I'd definitely be using Eneloops. 

However, if you don't live near a Costco, don't want to buy online, or need an Eneloop in a hurry, you can always buy a Duraloop! Essentially, these are Eneloops repackaged as Duracells. (Well, to be honest, no one's ever proved they were Eneloops. However, they look the same, and they work the same. So either way you're getting Eneloop performance.) 

The problem with Duraloops is that they're actually rechargeable Duracells, and some of them are chinese batteries which.. suck. Well not suck, but they don't have the same low drain and reliability. So here's how to tell them apart. (The real Duraloop is always next to the Eneloop.) 



Duraloops are made in Japan. It's hard to see, but the top one, the bottom right text states Made in China, while the middle one, the bottom left text states Made in Japan. 

The tops! Duraloops, like Eneloops, have white tops. The black one to the right is an IMPOSTOR!

The bottoms. Notice how the fake one has a full metal bottom, while the real Duraloop is wrapped around the bottom. Additionally, there's a clear raised circle on the Duraloops, while the fake one has a slight incline.

Yup yup, so I'd say go get your Eneloop/Duraloops! Seriously, these things saved my Zebralight. I was gonna trade the flashlight after only getting 22 minutes of runtime. (I would have had to change my batterys every 6 miles while biking. Now I easily get double the original.) 

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