If you're a gadget fan (and let's face it: you are) then there's simply no excuse for using disposable batteries. Environmental concerns aside, rechargeables have advanced such that it just makes economic sense to switch. We've been
unapologetic fans of Sanyo's Eneloop series of Ni-MH batteries for years. Hell, we like any
modern rechargeable that's sold fully charged and is capable of maintaining that state even after years inside the family junk drawer. Today, Sanyo is announcing its Eneloop lite series scheduled for a June 22nd launch in Japan with a global release set for sometime later. These cells are meant to tempt you by their relatively low, up-front purchase price of ¥780 (about $8.64) for a pair of 1.2V 950mAh AAs or ¥640 ($7.09) for a pair of 1.2V 550mAh AAAs -- each capable of about 2,000 recharges saving you at least $1,000 over their lifetime. They're not going to power your hotshoe flash but they will handle the relatively low to medium power requirements of all the remote controls in your life. Do it.
posted March 8th 2010 4:11AM
now put them inside laptop.
@Ming
This would be a wonderful addition to that cellphone which uses AAA batteries. :)
@Ming I've been using the Eneloop and Ray-O-Vac Hybrids for two or three years. Have nothing bad to say about either. Too bad not many people know about these.
@Ming
These 'lite' version eneloops are for very low-drain devices which are intended to go *years* on a single charge, e.g., remote controls, fire alarms, clocks, etc. These have less capacity than normal batteries, so you wouldn't want to use them in a high-drain device like a laptop or cell phone.
The reason this is news is because normal NiMH batteries self-discharge faster than their energy is used in low-drain devices, making them nearly useless for things like remote controls. These new 'lite' batteries have a much slower self-discharge rate, so it fixes that problem.
Those may be the coolest batteries I have ever seen.
I agree, would be awesomesauce when paired with my wiimotes!
@CaptainPlanet
Are you disappointed that there's no game out there yet featuring you, Captain Planet?
WB will by the rights to me, and then we will have a better game than batman! Be patient my fellow Planeteers!
Half the capacity of the regular ones ... as you say, remotes, clocks and such where the battery life is limited by self-discharge.
The downside is they don't cost that much less than regular eneloops yet they are far less useful.
@bebop
useless, unless you want to actually use them in remotes and clocks. i absolutely need this. the alternative is disposables. i'm not going to raid my appliances to power a camera anyway.
MOAR POWAH!!!
Saw this post and went straight to Amazon dawt com. I bought the original eneloops. And for just about the same price! Check out their ratings! 935 ratings with a 4.5 star average- crazy.
Yep. I'll be getting those.
Do these work with every normal device. I've never actually used rechargeable AA/AAA/ batteries because every device I've ever used always warns not to use them....
@Tiptup300
yup, they work perfectly
the warnings will exist mostly because rechargeable batteries usually have lower voltage, which could lead to problems with the device. but they will never cause any real damage to it...
just try them
@Tiptup300
95% are ok BUT! There are some that won't work with rechargeable because of the BATTERY SIZE! Yes you might not notice this but most rechargeable (including enloops) a so slightly bulkier than alkaline batteries. I had this issue with Tachyon XC helmet cam (Shame on you Tachyon!), rechargeable batteries will get stuck inside, while regular ones go in/out fine. They did have a warning tho, but I had to try :) It's really bad as those cams go thru batteries in less than 2 hours :(
@Bratan Really, cuz I think my eneloops are slightly smaller than alkalines. I use them in my 360 controllers, and I once got an alkaline stuck in there, but these slide in and out easily. Not to mention they last like 5x longer than the rechargeable battery packs MS sells for the controllers.
I have a bit of the eneloop batteries for my remotecontrols and use the HR-3UG 2700mAh batteries in my high power devices like RC stuff.
and I can recommend both types, Sanyo has always made great batteries in my book!
Yo Energizer, I'm really happy for you and I'ma Let you finish, but Eneloop has one of the best batteries of all time! OF. ALL. TIME.
@canarsieville
you sure i have 4 energizers rechargable AA which last 6 times longer than standard energizer and duracell, had them since early 2007 and still going
@OCEAN CLAK
I guess it depends what you use them for.
I've had terrible problems with Energizer batteries (except for the Lithium primary ones). CandlePowerForums also note them as one of the worst in battery tests.
the bottom pic is so funny
whats the point of showing aa and aaa bateries in that size. lol
@ahchar
because they look sexy
i didn't even know batteries could do that
950mAh? What is that some kind of joke?
@colinwilcox They are meant for devices that drain so little power that regular rechargeables would have self-discharged themselves before these eneloops are empty, even if they have 2800 mAh or so.
Btw. I have a couple of 2700 mAh etc., and the regular eneloops with like 2000 mAh or so. The high capacity ones never lasted as long as the eneloops, especially as they got older (in the end they lasted about 1 or 2 hours (after charging) and were dead then). I'm confident that my eneloops will be in better condition when they reach that age.
not good for some of my kid's toys, as it doesnt output enough power
1.2V? They already come near dead. After about 6 months they are unusable in some devices.
@ThomasBags 1.2V is the standard rating for NiMH batteries, it's perfectly fine.
So half the capacity of normal Eneloops in exchange for an even slower self-discharge rate? Think I'll stick to my regular Eneloops for my flashlights and whatnot. Even with normal Eneloops, I can go at least 12 months between recharges for idle devices and I don't pay a huge capacity penalty (2600mah for normal NiMH AA vs 2000mah for my Eneloop AAs).
My issue with these, and most rechargeable batteries, is that they don't work in the devices that chew threw batteries (camera, flash pods, etc), and the manufacturer actually recommends their use in regular devices (simply toys, remotes, wireless mice, etc), which on a bad year I might swap batteries once, and will NEVER get near 20 charges in it's life, let alone 2,000.
When they're making high output, high capacity, LiIon or LiPo batteries that I can run in high power devices with equal life and response to the lithium AAs I'm forced to use today, they can give me a call. I'd expect these batteries to charge both quick and slow, and that there will be a cheap intelligent charger that I can swap batteries in and out of at will and it simply tells me when they're charged (the NiCad chargers I have are all dumb, and even though they can take 8 batteries, I have to put all dead ones in, i can't simply take 2 charged ones out, out 2 dead ones in, and have it charge only those 2, keeping the others in peak state all the time.
@zelannii
"My issue with these, and most rechargeable batteries, is that they don't work in the devices that chew threw batteries (camera, flash pods, etc)"
Have you tried those Sanyo 2700's in the comparison picture above ? Or any other 2700mah NiMhs for that matter ? I've been pretty surprised by the difference between 2700s and the more common 2500s. As you say, high draw applications usually murder 2500s. My father was complaining to me the other day that his camera (which takes 2 AA batteries) dies after only about 10 shots or less using his 2500s. I told him he should try mine, and lent him 2 Lenmark 2700s (I purchased the Sanyos a couple years ago in Japan and have since purchased others in that power range here). He got 35 shots the next day, most with flash, and the warning light still wasn't flashing.
The other option he was considering was NiZN (Nike-Zinc) batteries. Like NiMhs, their voltage doesn't drop off until they are nearly dead, but unlike NiMhs they start off at 1.6 volts instead of 1.2 volts. There only seems to be one company selling them right now (PowerGenix), but the reviews I've read so far have been pretty good...
I am generally happy with my 2700's. I am a big fan of NI-MH for digital cameras, iPods and cell phone chargers. I can't imagine wanting to keep track of which ones go in which device. I only want high mAH batteries, so I don't mind spending a few extra yen. Also, I think my batteries last better than the graph above... I mean with medium use I don't notice any reduced capacity even after three years.
Sorry, Engadget, but my Sega Nomad won't run from any 1.2v rechargeable batteries.
@Dr Blight Honestly, it can barely run on Alkaline batteries. I could never finish a game of Madden on a single set.
Costco has a brick of 24 AAA batteries for $13.50 , and they are DURACELL.... 2 AAA batteries here cost $8 and it will only be able to power 1 devices that uses 2 batteries at a time.
sorry but untill they are as cheap as or cheaper than regular batteries I aint switchin (and don't say it can't happen. it happened to compact fluurescent lightbulbs)
@roger27
I purchased about $100 worth of Enloop batteries from Costco a couple of years back. I think I have like 30-40 AA, and 16 AAA, C and D adapters (which owrk pretty well), 3 chargers.
I have not purchased any batteries since.
@desertblade That's what I did, at about the same time. Back then there was the "Kit" that came in the blue case. CostCo had them for dirt cheap for what you got ($28 for 8 AA, 4 AAA and 2 C & 2 D plastic adapters, plus a recharger).
I bought about 10 of those kits at the time. They are not sold anywhere that I can see. Not on eBay, Amazon or CostCo.
I still need batteries.
As for use, they power up my digital cameras with flash just fine. My Flip camcorders work fine too and my Kodak Z8 gets about an hour on, with display running.
The only problem device is my 3w LED flashlights where the eneloop does not have enough power to turn on the light.
As to using regular batteries, based on price alone, those people are idiots. First, you get far more for your dollar with eneloop batteries. Second, how about not destroying the environment by using regular alkaline batteries.
So basically, they're Eneloops that failed quality control for the regular Eneloop brand, but are able to operate at reduced specs.
Has anyone used these in a wii controller or a wireless sensor bar? If so, how much play time between charges?
@TheLoveDr
i turn the volume down to lowest setting before mute.
the lasted about as long as the Nyko pack.
Better then Nyko is that they don't need to sit on the charger till the next time you want to use them.
I am referring to the Original Eneloop batteries... Don't use these for that.
At first I was excited but the news as I love my Eneloops (Wow that rhymes!) But then as someone mentioned, they will mostly likely be used in remotes and clocks which usually don't need a battery change in 1-2 years, so there's not much benefit there... Especially since price of light is only slightly lower than regular Eneloops...
I will probably buy those if they get to the 1/2 price of the regular ones on Amazon.
What's the difference yo? From eneloop "normal vs eneloop "lite"?
@Atkins
This site is called Engadget and not EnAmnish after all.
I love Sanyo Eneloops, and I hope these sell really well. I haven't bought new AA or AAA batteries in about two years now thanks to them.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but I bought these already at Costco in Pittsburgh in December. They were for my family, so I can't say if they are the real deal. They came in a package of 8 AAs and 4 AAAs with adapters for C and D batteries that worked with the AAs. They looked kinda funny when I bought them and now I know why.
Sanyo should've work on C, D and 9V batteries instead of this Eneloop lite update.