Which AA Lithium Rechargeable Battery Brand Wins?
We compared 23 aa lithium rechargeable battery options head to head. Vapcell came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
Vapcell
Price shown in test: $35.28 for four batteries ($8.82 each), the most expensive of the 11 lithium brands tested
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Smart Tools
Price shown in test: $16.99 for four batteries ($4.25 each), the least expensive of the 11 lithium brands tested
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Spec | Weight | Diameter | Voltage under 250 mA load (start of capacity test) | Capacity, rated vs actual | Fan runtime test | Voltage | Voltage under 250 mA load | Category | Capacity, rated vs actual after 700 days | Capacity test | Fan runtime test (primary lithium comparison) | Voltage/signal-bar demo | Capacity, rated vs actual after about 1 year 9 months (not the full ~2 years) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Vapcell$35.28 for four batteries ($8.82 each), the most expensive of the 11 lithium brands tested | rated 1,800 mAh (2.7 Wh), protection circuit in the anode, made in China | 19.4 g, the heaviest lithium battery tested | 14.24 mm | dropped to 1.38 V | rated 1,800 mAh, actually produced about 1,999 mAh, the only one of the 11 lithium brands to EXCEED its advertised rating (by almost 200 mAh) | 233 minutes, the longest of all 11 lithium brands, 45 minutes longer than any other lithium brand (though 22 minutes shorter than the eneloop NiMH reference battery's 255 minutes) | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 2Smart Tools$16.99 for four batteries ($4.25 each), the least expensive of the 11 lithium brands tested | rated 2,600 mWh, type-C rechargeable via included adapter, charges two batteries at once, rated for 1,200 charge cycles, made in China | 18.6 g, 5 g lighter than a Kirkland alkaline AA and 8 g lighter than an Eneloop NiMH AA | 13.99 mm | not tested | rated 2,600 mWh / 1,733 mAh, actually produced 1,470 mAh | 193 minutes, second-longest of the 11 lithium brands (after Vapcell) | 1.52 V measured, close to the nominal 1.5 V lithium rating; showed 3 of 3 bars in a two-way radio test, unlike a fully charged NiMH which only showed 2 of 3 bars | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 3AmpTorrent$27.99 for four batteries ($7.00 each, same price as Maxwel) | rated 3,000 mWh, the most ambitious capacity claim of all 11 lithium brands; kit includes 4 batteries, a charger, and a cable; made in China | 19.6 g, the heaviest lithium battery tested up to that point in the video | 14.19 mm | not tested | rated 3,000 mWh / 2,000 mAh, actually produced 1,988 mAh, described as very impressive and coming very close to its rating | 188 minutes, third-longest of the 11 lithium brands | not tested | dropped only to 1.43 V, doing well at the start of the test | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 4Pownergy$19.99 for four batteries ($5.00 each) | rated 2,960 mWh, 5V USB direct charging, all four batteries can be charged at once, solid red LED while charging, made in China | 18.97 g, the heaviest lithium battery tested up to that point at its position in the video | 13.98 mm | not tested | rated 2,960 mWh / 1,973 mAh, actually produced 1,751 mAh, taking the capacity lead from Optic Plus at that point | 179 minutes | not tested | dropped to 1.43 V, the best (highest) reading up to that point | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 5Optic Plus$19.60 for four batteries ($4.90 each), the second-least-expensive of the 11 lithium brands | rated 2,800 mWh, 1.8 hour fast charge, magnetic absorption, rated for 1,000 charge cycles, requires the included battery charger, made in China | 17.7 g, nearly a gram lighter than Smart Tools | 13.99 mm, same as Smart Tools | not tested | rated 2,800 mWh / 1,866 mAh, actually produced 1,606 mAh, taking the capacity lead from Smart Tools at that point | 186 minutes, explicitly identified in the transcript as 'the second least expensive brand,' which by price matches Optic Plus | not tested | dropped to 1.25 V | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 6Maxwel$27.99 for four batteries ($7.00 each, same price as AmpTorrent) | rated 2,600 mWh, type-C rechargeable, comes with an adapter to charge two batteries at once, rated for 1,200 charge cycles, made in China | 18.3 g | 13.98 mm | not tested | rated 2,600 mWh / 1,733 mAh, actually produced 1,436 mAh, almost 300 mAh short of its rating | 172 minutes | not tested | dropped to 1.4 V | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 7Blackube$29.99 for four batteries; per-unit price is garbled in the transcript ('dollars and fifty cents each' with the leading digit dropped), but $29.99 / 4 = $7.50 unambiguously, so $7.50 each is used here as a derived, not guessed, figure | rated 2,775 mWh (also stated as 1,850 mAh), lithium-ion technology, up to 2,000 mA output current, rated for 1,000 charge cycles, all four batteries chargeable at once, made in China | just under 18 g | 14.03 mm | not tested | rated 1,850 mAh / 2,775 mWh, actually produced 1,830 mAh, described as doing fairly well | 168 minutes | not tested | dropped to 1.41 V | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 8Tenavolts$34.99 for four batteries ($8.75 each) | rated 2,775 mWh (also stated as 1,850 mAh), rated for 1,000 charge cycles, solid blue LED while charging, made in China | 17.9 g | 13.99 mm | not tested | rated 1,850 mAh, actually produced 1,692 mAh, coming up a little short | 154 minutes | not tested | dropped to 1.39 V | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 9Sorbo$21.99 for four batteries ($5.50 each) | lithium polymer, rated 1,200 mAh, low self-discharge claimed, rated 1 amp continuous output, made in China | 13.9 g, by far the lightest lithium battery tested | 14.03 mm, same as the Kirkland alkaline reference battery | not tested | rated 1,200 mAh, actually produced only 959 mAh | 102 minutes, the first (worst) lithium brand to give up in the fan endurance test | not tested | dropped to 1.4 V | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 10Safeloop$23.99 for four batteries ($6.00 each, same price as Maxlithium) | lithium-ion technology, rated for up to 1,000 charge cycles, micro-USB charging, includes a protection circuit, all four batteries chargeable at once, made in China | 16.2 g, second-lightest lithium battery tested | 14.39 mm, the largest diameter of all 11 lithium brands | not tested | rated 1,250 mAh, actually produced 1,103 mAh | 115 minutes, second-worst of the 11 lithium brands | not tested | a pretty big drop to 1.25 V at the start of the test | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 11Maxlithium$23.99 for four batteries ($6.00 each, same price as Safeloop) | max continuous discharge 1 amp claimed on the packaging, though the battery itself is printed with 800 mA; rated 2.8 Wh, rated for over 300 cycles, made in China | 17.4 g | 13.97 mm | not tested | rated 2,800 mWh / 1,866 mAh, actually produced only 1,593 mAh | 144 minutes, third-worst of the 11 lithium brands; also struggled with RPM from the start of the fan test, running noticeably slower than most other brands | not tested | dropped only to 1.43 V, doing well at the start of the test | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 12Rayovac | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | NiMH, secondary/follow-up test (see videoNotes), tested after nearly 2 years (700+ days) of outdoor use in solar rechargeable lights | rated 1,350 mAh, produced 1,116 mAh, down 151 mAh from the prior year's measurement | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 13Thunderbolt | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | NiMH, secondary/follow-up test | rated 2,200 mAh, produced only 1,676 mAh, down 409 mAh from the prior year, the largest year-over-year capacity drop of the 12 NiMH brands | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 14Amazon Basics Black | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | NiMH, secondary/follow-up test | rated 1,900 mAh, produced 1,117 mAh, down 162 mAh from the prior year; narrator notes it is 'no longer functioning properly' | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 15Amazon Basics Silver | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | NiMH, secondary/follow-up test | not tested | the battery analyzer REJECTED this battery due to a high voltage condition; no capacity figure could be obtained, treated as a test failure rather than a low score | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 16Energizer | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | NiMH, secondary/follow-up test | rated 2,000 mAh, produced 1,858 mAh (transcript states this with an extra stray digit as '1 1858', read here as 1,858), down 61 mAh from the prior year | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 17EBL | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | NiMH, secondary/follow-up test | rated 2,800 mAh, produced 2,331 mAh, transcript states this is 'down 61 from a year ago,' the exact same year-over-year drop figure stated for Energizer; kept as stated but flagged as a possible caption duplication rather than corrected | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 18Panasonic Eneloop | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | NiMH, secondary/follow-up test; also used throughout the PRIMARY lithium-vs-NiMH comparison as the baseline reference battery (fan runtime, voltage/bar-count demo) | rated 1,900 mAh, produced 1,848 mAh, down only 30 mAh from the prior year, called very impressive | not tested | 255 minutes, the longest of every battery in the fan endurance test (23 minutes longer than Vapcell, the best lithium brand), despite running at a noticeably lower RPM throughout due to its lower voltage | fully charged, measured 1.42 V (nominal 1.2 V) and only showed 2 of 3 signal bars in a two-way radio, versus 3 of 3 bars for both a fresh alkaline battery and the lithium rechargeables | not tested |
| 19Ikea Ladda | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | NiMH, secondary/follow-up test | rated 2,450 mAh, produced 2,356 mAh, down only 32 mAh from the prior year, did very well | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 20Duracell | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | NiMH, secondary/follow-up test | rated 2,450 mAh, produced 2,423 mAh, down only 65 mAh from the prior year, described as doing great | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 21PowerEx | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | NiMH, secondary/follow-up test | rated 2,600 mAh, produced 2,394 mAh, down 32 mAh from the prior year | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 22Varta | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | NiMH, secondary/follow-up test; entered the longevity test a few months late | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | rated 2,600 mAh, produced 2,280 mAh, down 67 mAh from the prior measurement |
| 23Active Energy | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | NiMH, secondary/follow-up test; entered the longevity test a few months late (same cohort as Varta) | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | rated 2,100 mAh, produced only 1,309 mAh, down 165 mAh from the prior measurement, the weakest result of the 12 NiMH brands |
How it was tested
- battery weight
- battery diameter
- voltage under a 250 mA moderate load (lithium batteries)
- milliamp-hour capacity, rated vs actual (both categories)
- fan runtime endurance test (lithium batteries vs an Eneloop NiMH reference)
- voltage and device signal-bar behavior (lithium vs NiMH vs alkaline)
- capacity retention after nearly 2 years / 700+ days of outdoor solar-light use (NiMH batteries only)
“so which lithium rechargeable battery is best the vap cell seems the best but it's also very expensive for that reason i would probably go with smart tools just to experiment to see if you like this style of battery”
Data notes and caveats
DUAL-CATEGORY VIDEO: the primary, title-framed category is a head-to-head of 11 AA lithium rechargeable battery brands (Vapcell, Smart Tools, AmpTorrent, Pownergy, Optic Plus, Maxwel, Blackube, Tenavolts, Sorbo, Safeloop, Maxlithium), for which Vapcell is the winner and Smart Tools is the explicit budget/recommended pick. The SECONDARY category is an unrelated 2-year (700+ day) longevity follow-up test on 12 NiMH rechargeable battery brands (Rayovac, Thunderbolt, Amazon Basics Black, Amazon Basics Silver, Energizer, EBL, Panasonic Eneloop, Ikea Ladda, Duracell, PowerEx, Varta, Active Energy) that had been in ongoing outdoor use in solar lights; Duracell is the explicit winner of THIS category ('after 700 days of use the duracell has the highest capacity'). Eneloop bridges both categories as the cross-comparison reference battery in the primary lithium fan-runtime test (where it actually posted the single longest runtime of all batteries tested, 255 minutes, due to running at a lower voltage/RPM throughout) as well as being one of the 12 ranked NiMH brands in the secondary test. Varta and Active Energy entered the NiMH longevity test a few months late (about 1 year 9 months of use rather than the full ~2 years) and are excluded from the closing top-6 NiMH leaderboard for that reason. Amazon Basics Silver's battery analyzer test was outright rejected due to a high voltage condition, a genuine test failure, not a missing-data gap. Several lithium brand names required heavy resolution against the description's Products Tested list, chapter titles, and the video's own explicit closing capacity/runtime recaps (used as cross-checks): Blackube appears as 'black goo'/'blackhood'/'black hub'/'blackhead'/'black ooze'; AmpTorrent appears as 'amp torque'/'antoran'; Sorbo is briefly introduced as 'high trends'; Tenavolts appears as '10 volts'/'tenavos'; and the 179-minute fan-runtime figure (introduced as 'an apology,' a phonetic dead end) was resolved to Pownergy purely by elimination against the other 10 already-placed lithium brands and the explicit closing recap list. Build note: given the fully separate product lists, test methodologies, and winners, this video is a strong candidate to be split into a lithium-AA-battery page and a NiMH-2-year-longevity page.