I'm stopping using Alkaline AA and AAA batteries: LI-ION is here... 

Awesome review, Lee! 😃 I won a little charger and 4 AAA batteries from that brand from Gal Kremer. They are in the pressure measuring thingy my father uses... They're in use for about 2 or 3 weeks. He removed them yesterday to check and they're still full! 😂 "Normal" AAA batteries never last that long! Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

Never had any problem with Eneloop NiMh batteries. They don't self discharge in years, which is a giant advantage.

Thanks for sharing. These XTAR batteries look to be a game changer. The reason you could not get AA and AAA LI-ION is not because they could not make them small. The issue was the voltage. The chemistry that original AA and AAA were based on creates 1.5V. The problem is that LI-ION chemistry produces about 3.6V - which would blow out your 1.5V based devices. So, what changed? The 1.5V LI-ION batteries have a built-in converter that can drop the voltage. There are several batteries out there that can do that but the challenge is how do you charge them? For most brands, there is a special charging connector but this adds to the cost of the battery. What XTAR has done is make a battery that can be charged using the standard power pins. They do that by charging with a higher voltage (3.5-5V) which the circuit inside the battery detects and shifts is into charging mode. Very clever.

I am using those AA sized Li-Ion cells for my wireless microphones and wireless in-ear monitoring. It has been a game changer. No need to mark matching NiMH pairs, no need to fully discharge before recharging, no unreliable delta-peak detection.

Interesting, it must have some sort of DC to DC regulator built in to the cell to step down to 1.5v?

That's a pretty clever little thing actually,.... Litium Ion chemistry produces 3.7-4.2v,.. it CANNOT generate 1.5v. Therefore, this litle device MUST have 4v to 1.5v DC conversion circuitry inside it, in addition to all the "battery" stuff, and in addition to various charging, and safety electronics for short circuit and current limiting protection (Li-Ion goes boom!) Impressive that they can get those mAh capcities in such a small form factor, shared with a bunch of conversion and saftey electronics.(not surprised they're like $5 each!) Of course, If you're powering a device that uses multiple 1.5v cells, it's probably better to use a custom Li-Ion pack with one single DC-DC conversion rather than one in every 1.5v cell as each conversion has inefficiencies. (e.g 2 x AA => 1Li-Ion + 1 x 4.2v-3v BMS, 4 x AA =>2 x Li-Ion + 1 x 8.4v-6V BMS)

This kind of "cell" is a Li-ion cell and a DC-DC converter together in an AA or AAA size package. One small problem is a small amount of radio interference emitted by the DC-DC converter. This means I can't use them in my portable short wave radios without getting poor reception. Also they often don't hold charge quite as long as one might hope (still better than most Ni-MH or Ni-Cd though).

You hit the key point explaining why NiMH are not the perfect replacement for Alkaline: they have different voltages! Nominal voltage is 1.2V and 1.5V respectively, and sure, that's only the nominal voltage and during the discharge cycle, the alkaline loses voltage faster than the NiMH so the voltage spread between the two diminishes as they discharge. But what if the appliance I'm using requires higher voltage? Then, as you pointed it out, it just won't work. I just think that the international standard for batteries is a little outdated and something needs to be done to modernize

Thanks for a clear and concise review. Obviously these need to have a buck converter built in, which means they have a much higher static discharge than a regular battery. I mostly use AA & AAA cells in multimeter and similar portable instruments as well as remote controls which means that becomes an issue. If it's not too much to ask, could you put a single cell on a long term test and see how long a cell lasts with no load?

I have had some for a few months. One thing I have found is that standard AA ones last longer in fact many times longer. There are good for the finicky devices that want full voltage. I have a device that runs on 4 AA's will not use NIMH. But I can also take 2 lithium batteries in series and operate it. A bit over voltage but it does not seem to mind. How ever at 25 bucks for 4 of them they are pricy. As always any change of state of power has a loss. The circuit that reduces the voltage has loss. Loss equals less run time. Alkaline batteries still have a place with good shelf life. Also if power is out you can always throw a fresh set in. Energizer batteries are best for not leaking. And they say will replace device if they do leak.

These make sense for devices sensitive to voltage, because they were poorly engineered to use the wrong battery or # of cells such that they can't keep working until the full capacity of the cells is consumed. Outside of those cases, it is a very expensive way to power things that don't need them, and their voltage droops on high drain devices so you again run into the issue of whether that voltage droop causes the device to cease operating prematurely. Personally I like to just avoid devices that can't get the full charge out of the batteries they were designed for, and will return products due to this design flaw. Since I do that, I am fine continuing to use LSD NiMH AA and AAA, but it puzzles me how the video seems to pretend that they take longer to charge because they don't if you simply pick a suitable charger, if your priority is fast charging. However if you have LSD cells, and want to throw money at your problem anyway, then I just have spare sets of cells so I can grab an already charged set to swap into a device and then let the discharged cells charge slower, which promotes longer life as well. Don't expect these Li-Ion cells to live up to their recharge cycle rating. It is very unlikely that they will if adhering to industry standards of % capacity remaining by the time the cells reach their recharge cycle rating. At the same time this is not necessarily as important to someone as the runtime using a specific device, if they can't or don't want to replace it with something designed to use Li-Ion out of the box.

I got fed up with leaking alkaline batteries, caused hundreds of dollars of damage/lost equipment. I been using EBL Li-Ion AA & AAA for almost two years with no issues. Even had brand new Duracell batteries still in package leaked and they are not expired.

How about doing a teardown of these cells? Using the unregulated cell of this size is very intriguing for other RC applications.

I also use the XTAR 1.5V cells. I have a couple of battery powered wall clocks which need a higher voltage than NiMH LSD cells (Eneloop, etc) can deliver. So, I've been burning throiugh alkaline cells until now. Very happy. One application where the Xtar cells fails is in my old Sony portable radio. The switching regulator inside each cell makes enough electromagnetic noise to interfere with the radio - particularly on AM bands (LW, MW, SW). I also use the Xtar's in my rear bike lights but I'm conscious that they will fail without warning when they're out of juice. On the whole, I'm very pleased.

Where I used to work, they decided that they were spending too much for alkaline AA batteries for the theatrical headset beltpacks. So they started using nickel metal hydride and suddenly I start getting calls that the headset beltpacks aren't working correctly. Each headset takes six AA batteries, so you can see the voltage drop problem.

I have a bunch of these already, both AA, AAA and 9V varieties. Chargeable over USB (USB-C or MicroUSB). They are life savers because in absence of shop nearby (or at night) you can get device powered with them back on track in less than a hour if you have working phone charger, computer or power bank and USB cable with you. These cells have noticeable difference with sibling alkaline cells though. They are always full ... until they doesn't 🙂 Because of that they are not recommended for RC transmitters because you may only guess when you radio will go dark together with your quad or plane.

Good review. I have tested several brands. All did not have the 1.1 volt warning. All did not come close to the promised capacity. I just replace them on a schedule. Will take a look at these

I was using AA size protected Li-on 3.7v batteries years ago in custom e-cig mods. My first 2 megapixel digital camera from way back would eat alkaline batteries like crazy, also the Ni-cd's would not work due to the 1.25 volts. I eventually solved the problem with rechargeable AA Ni-Zn 1.5 volt batteries. They worked great in my camera. I was able to buy AAA, AA, and 9 volt sizes at the time.

Interesting, I'll have to try and track one down. I'm a bit disappointed with the charger though, as it's only half done, you need an existing USB charger to make it all work as opposed to just plugging it into a power outlet. Also there is the questing of how many amps the cells can deliver, can they handle high demand use like camera flash guns and toy racing cars that normally drain a cell very quickly. Then there is the other extreme, things like clocks, it'll be interesting to find out. Now to find out where to get them - not seen at my regular shopping haunts.

My insulin pump EATS alkaline batteries. Unfortunately, the low voltage protection circuit in a lithium battery and the discharge nature of the cell will not provide ample warning or time when the cell " turns off." This video did bring this to light, but I just wanted to post a practical example. Bravo, great video !

Started using Melasta 9v, and 1,5v AA Li-Ion a few years ago. The best thing about these is that they give you full power until they are drained.

These have one mayor drawback, self draining, that’s why you should not use them in low powered devices, for instance in a remote, this battery drains faster than the remote itself does. Typically I change remote batteries once in a year or much longer, these will drain much…Much faster. Reason is the conversion from 3.7 volts to 1.5, it uses a buck converter which always uses power, and there’s also the protection electronics, also drain the battery overtime. These are low draining currents but it will drain the battery overtime.

I would love to know how they do long-term. Will they expand like the 'regular' Li-Ion packs, will they leak like Alkaline, how do they do temp wise and - can they catch fire/explode... Until then, I'll continue using the regular Lithium AA/AAA batteries. Yes, they're not rechargeable, but I need them for their long-time stability in low power devices (I use NiMH which also extremely rarely leaks, a 'deep' cycle once in a while them keeps them 'fresh')

woohoo! I've been waiting for 1.5V rechargeable batteries for years. put a charged 1.2V into something and half the time it doesn't work 😕 I'm looking forward to 1.5V being maintained right up to being drained. I'll believe it when I see it. I'm ordering right now 😀

Bought a dozen of these ..diffrent brand.. and I'm sold for use in devices that I use a lot. However , I find they don't last quite as long as alkaline batts and devices won't register the charge state like they do with alkaline. Much better by far than NIMH batts.

Been using Li-ion AA & AAA for several years, they are fabulous, they have outlasted all my NiMH cells which eventually stop holding a good charge or start leaking. The best thing you can do to make them last at least a decade and possibly a lifetime is to not let them drain all the way down, the worst thing you can do which is sometimes an immediate killer is to forget about the cell in a device that you rarely use which has a parasitic drain so even if you aren’t using it the battery drains and several months later you try to revive the cell but have severed much of its useful life which is why I’d only recommend to use them in higher drain and daily used devices that you don’t leave in your hot car either since they aren’t exactly cheap, and are a slight fire hazard when careless but when taken care of you can far exceed the usual 1,000-1,500 charges. If you like Li-Ion technology the next question you will ask yourself why you didn’t hear of these sooner is your car battery, yep, they exist, and are even cheaper than a lead acid battery at your local store, at a very small fraction of the size and weight with much more amperage and way more charge cycles.

LiIon in those sizes has been around for years. I was already using 14500 batteries 15 years ago. The difference is there's a buck converter inside these that lowers the voltage.

Very interesting. At aproximately 7.50 per battery and 20 plus for the charger it's quite expensive as an initial investment. However, I imagine these will work out as more economical long term.

Nice idea but I can't see them gaining in popularity at the current price - £50 for a pack of 8 AA's is a lot to ask.

Very good value. Great review video. I have a 4 pack of the xstar 3300mah batteries. So far the batteries and charger are working very well. I also plan on getting some more. 👍😎

I've been waiting for these for a long long time! Awesome.

Did you ever messure the capacity of the batteries? Had bad expirience with xtar😢

Thanks for sharing this video. I've used Li-Ion 21700 packs and 18650 cells in the drone hobby but I've never used AA or AAA Li-Ion cells. Embarrassingly, I didn't even know they exist😅. I regularly use NiMh rechargeable AA and AAA cells because I hate purchasing alkaline one use cells in remotes, flashlights etc etc. I plan to pick some of these up and give them a go. I wonder if D cells, C cells, and 9v Li-Ion cells are on the horizon. Thanks again for creating interesting, informative, and entertaining content. Happy flying amigo 🫡 🍻.

How did you guessed that this video will be on purpose for me ? 😅 My NiMH cells are getting old and unreliable. It may be a good move to change them and you come with these ones. Thank you a lot. Cheers.

i really like the idea of putting nimh to rest. sadly, all those alternatives supply a constant voltage and drop suddenly when empty. that really messes with basic battery level indicators in all kind of electronics like microphones etc. i wish they made them a bit more intelligent and simulate the discharge curve of a normal battery to make them more compatible

Interesting product! You mention NiMH shortcomings but if anyone wants good ones Ikea 1900mAh Japanese made AAs are £5 for 4 and testing side by side in two identical DAB radios they lasted slightly longer than basic Duracells that cost £2.50 and can be uses once.

I went and ordered this charger along with some batteries as a combo. Look forward to trying this out!

I’ve been waiting for years for this to enter the marketplace. Hasn’t trickled down yet into the mainstream suppliers/shops in my country though.

Hi Lee, that's a great idea, I'm constantly buying AA batteries and throw them away when they are empty. If I can recharge them it would save me a lot of money. Thanks for the video and information about this charger and batteries.

Been looking for 1.5v Li-ion but the XTAR ones got rather bad reviews in Amazon and the price is so expensive... rather just stay with 1.2v for now

I use low self discharge ni-mh and charge them in 15minutes on a duracell fast charger that has a fan. I like being able to leave it for months and know it'll work when I go to use. These are intriguing for things I use often.

2 amps max discharge is not what i call "high drain device compliant" I've been using EBL li-ion AA for 2 years and i love them.

My biggest complaint about regular batteries is their leaking when you leave them in a device and don't get back to them in a while. Are Li-ION batteries prone to leaking? Especially when you've left them unattended for long periods of time?

Tempting, but just a bit too pricey. LSD NiMH are great for most things, I don't have many things that complain about the lower voltage. You will need to be careful not to put these li-ion cells into a normal charger I think (and that no family members do so!)

Just don’t try to charge them if they are below freezing. LiON batteries can be damaged if you do that

These have more capacity compared to the ones I've been using. USB chargeable AA and AAA batteries. the AA have a USB-A and the AAA have a USB-C. give up a little bit of space for the charger/port. As said Lithium batteries run from 3.5-4.2v so there is a 1.5v regulator in each battery. great for flashlights, no dimming you get 1.5v until the Lithium cell is empty. Great for my remotes. Also I have a 9v version for my smoke alarm.

I had some of these before....they were junk. They over discharged and did not recover. Maybe I'll try again.

How much does the voltage ripple?

The secret of rejuvenating a "dud" Li-ion battery, is to slowly raise the Voltage over time, while charging. Nice to see it on this charger.

Hmmm... Not for me, I think. After the horrors of nicads ("Eeeek!") I switched straight to Ni-Mh rechargeables and have had no regrets. I've used the same set of 16 Panasonic white/blue Eneloops in my studio macro camera gear and RC equipment for years without any problems. No idea how many cycles they've had, but they're all still healthy and reliable, so the recommended 'smart' charger I bought when I got them [Techno-Line BL-700] is clearly doing its job. I understand the need for 1.5V cells in some high-demand applications, but I don't seem to have anything that needs more than the Ni-Mhs' 1.2V. Lucky old me, eh? I can't remember the last time I bought a one-use battery.🤔 I must admit that I'm not a fan of lithium technology in general, and lithium-ion cells in particular. Too fussy, too demanding, too temperamental, too high maintenance - Why, that sounds a lot like me... 😁

Nice technology but they are pricey - over $5US each (even in volume). I can get rechargeable for a $1 and disposables for about 1/4 that. I think I'll wait until the price comes down a bit.

nice video. I have just ordered some of the Soshine types with build in USB-C port and charger. both AA and AAA. one thing: could we please soon kill the proprietary Qualcom QC charging standard!!! just use USB PD please!!🙏

Wish we had these back in the Gameboy days......

Are there any 1.5v rechargable Li-ion batteries that can be charged with regular NiMH battery chargers?

Great idea that really helps poluting our planet way less ... I am always feeling bad when restocking these one way batteries for a few devices that have sadly never been designed to operate on 1.2 V cells or are supposed to but just practically don't. That is a great concept, even if these cells may have less real life endurance compared to the traditionell one way cells, is so worth it👍

Thanks for the info Lee. I wonder would they degrade much if left at full charge for a long period of time?

I use for long time the lithium rechargable AA and AAA batteries with usb connection

Why not just get the USB rechargeable Li-On AA/AAA batteries? No need for a special charger, you can plug them into any USB charger, and they usually come with a USB C "squid" cable to charge four at a time from a single USB port, which is super useful.

When I started FPV, I quickly learned AA batteries were for kids. Lmao. Big boys use Li-ion.

Thanks for bringing these to my attention. Didn’t realise they were a thing. Just bought some of these for my cat flap 🤣

I personally use ikea laddas who are rebranded eneloops

i think it's not worth, as for me main benefit of normal AA is safety. Worst case scenario - when they are left in some device and will leak out. no fire, no explosion, no rapid burst of flames. can be used into kids toys or any device and will not be a danger. For DIY users, who just need a lot of AA/AAA batteries - I owuld say it's advanced DIY/crafter, so replace power source from AA to any prefered rechargable source should not be a problem. I do not see any big potential in this product, rather only more problems when they would be mixed with nornal AA/AAA at some point :(

I did this 20+ years ago and recommend this to everyone.

I've been using these AA's for a while. Really pleased with then. But the drop off is brutal....Like instant

I like this idea a lot, BUT am very wary of those unwary of the potential differences in charging etc using them unwittingly 😬

Duracell AA capacity is around 3000mah@$1ea. At this price point the breakeven point is if you get around 20 recharge cycles out of it. It sounds good so far. But on my Samsung door lock (4AA), I need to recharge every 6 months, so it will take me 10 years to breakeven... The good thing about these cells is they won't leak fluid like the Duracell does and the weight is very light. I also think that they are more susceptible to dropping due to the voltage regulator built inside.

So do you just use them instead of normal AA batteries? Or do you build things to power up a FC to power up a GPS pre-flight for example? I use a vifly gps mate for my 1st wing build, but could see this as a way to build a small powerpack for numerous things?

Funny… AliExpress will sell a xtar l8 charger to me here in Finland. They will, however, NOT ship those small AAA nor AA li-ion cells to me. Disappointing.

The battery operated device designer assumes that the battery is a low noise source. This kind of batteries include a buck converter. Ripple and emissions are unavoidable. Using them with noise sensitive devices is a gamble. They can degrade the specifications in ways difficult to predict.

I use trail cameras, which typically use 8 AA cells but won't work if the voltage falls under 11.5V. regular rechargeables would not even turn the camera on.

They are not but can't replace Alkaline for every ocassion. The poor(simple?) design causes them to loose charge when they are in storage. The DC-DC "wastes" power. If you, for example, power an analog wall clock with an Alkaline it can last maybe 4-5 months. With these it will last 1-2 months. They are suitable for moderate consumers. For that purpose they outdo the Alkaline. I use them on my pepper mill, auto dispensing air fresheners, etc. Also take note that some of them are badly designed and output more than 1.5V which can cause damage to sensitive electronics

dc-dc converter in these batteries can produce noise in some devices like old fm/am radio and make fast self-discharge, becouse of stable output voltage you don't know how much capacity left in the battery... and real capacity (is about 700 mAh for 4.2 volts and if calculate this for 1.5v 700*4.2=2940 2940/1.5=1960, without loss of dc-dc converter) is similar to ni-mh batteries or worse than enerloop...

It would be awesome if voltage drops like alkaline cells. Then we can see in device how many bars left.

I'm totally sold...one somebody tells me how they work with Blink Outdoor cameras

Thanks for the interesting video. I guess that in addition to having a step down voltage converter, it probably also has a charge circuit built into it. The charger is probably just providing a constant voltage to the cells and monitoring the current. Could you confirm this please? it would allow hobbyists to charge them using simple circuits.

Trying to locate a store, but the site keeps sending me to Warsaw!

Thanks for the info! 👍

How about testing the new Sodium-ion batteries for us?

would buy this asap were it LFP instead, I don't like fires much

Why write 3000mAh when it is 3Ah ?? Are people so puzlled by the metric system ? 😅 Idiots in marketing try to impress with big numbers. I doubt their ratings are accurate ! An AA with about the same capacity as a 18650 ?

Since they're Li-ION, do you need to hand carry these batteries instead of checking them in when flying in planes?

Neat. But I sure wish battery charger manufacturers would get away from the red/green lighting schemes - that's the most common type of color-blindness, and makes chargers that use the red/green color scheme somewhat problematic.

I'm thinking they might be better also because they shouldn't leak acid and destroy devices like the alkaline. Thanks for posting I will give them a try.

What about the self-discharge of these batteries? Anyone with experience? I use aa batteries in plenty in low power smart home sensors

How is the shelf life? Can you charge up a set and expect them to be fully charged a year later?

Hi Lee, would these cells be ok for powered dead bolts on smart locks? I know nimh don’t really keep up very well on the current draw and I’ve had to use single use alkaline batteries.

is there RU-vid clip for the power supply quoted in this clip

Do they only work on this charger? Or will they harm in a regular smart NiMh charger?

are the same as energizer lithium's???

2500 mah.. Not bad mah for a smaller cell. Do thev make 21700 cell size? For long range builds, nothing beats Molicel 21700 P42A 4200mAh 45A Batteries 10 for 4.65 US Ea 18650batterystore

4:56 👍

Most reviews I have watched of these types of batteries have failed miserably. Why are these ones different?

How does the XTAR L8 charger compare to the BC8?

I'm going to order one or two of these chargers. This hobby can get expensive, but it's only money.

Good review Lee

Another advantage: these won't leak and ruin gear like alkaline!

Ni-MH batteries seem to be the most reliable ones

I just hack all my devices and place a li-po battery and charging circuit, Haven't used standard AA/AAA/AAAA etc. in years

Whaahoo so good to hear/see this !!! Those horrible 1.2 pretend one's yuk .😉😎

How long do they provide power compared to an quality alkaline battery?