The Problem With Panasonic Eneloop Batteries

Ready to use out the pack Panasonic Eneloop NiMH Batteries (Both AA and AAA) have been around for a while now. They are considered by many to be the best rechargeable batteries you can buy. From the standard (classic) Eneloops packing an extremely long shelf life, to the PRO Eneloop being especially suited to high-drain electrical devices, Panasonic Eneloop certainly tick a lot of boxes when it comes to a good rechargeable battery. 

Genuine Panasonic Eneloop BK-3MCCE/4BE Nickel Metal Hydride AA Batteries, Classic AA 4-Pack

I agree, they are the best. With Duracell and Energizer coming in at second and third. The standard Eneloops can be recharged up to 2100 times, while the PRO Eneloop (2500mAh) can manage a normal in comparison 500 recharges. That's still very good considering the high mAh, low self discharge and suitability for high drain devices. 

So, what's the problem with them?

 

Like other well-known brands of rechargeable batteries that lots of people buy, such as Duracell and Energizer, Panasonic Eneloop are faked like crazy. Fake Eneloops are very hard to avoid. As well as genuine Eneloop, many fake examples are for sale on eBay and Amazon, which consist of an unhealthy mix of easy to spot fakes and some that are not so easy to detect. 

In terms of packaging and battery labelling (wrapping), there's not that much difference. And if viewing small pictures on a sales listing with low quality pictures, it certainly makes it more difficult to be able to spot online before actually committing to buy them and opening the packaging to test / charge the batteries.

Besides, people just grab pictures from the Internet anyway and post them in their listing. So you may think you are buying some genuine Eneloop from the picture, but what you receive may look a bit different from the image used on the listing.

How to tell the fakes

 

There are some tell-tale signs that can distinguish the fake from the real. The most common being incorrect spelling on the batteries themselves. The second is the colour, which can be confusing as the colours of genuine Vs counterfeit can be very similar (see the links below for examples).  

Dates should be stamped / pressed into the battery wrapper / labelling. Furthermore, sizing can also be slightly different. And the batteries can have many more subtle signs that show their fake-ness. This is by no means an exhaustive run-down, but really just a quick list of common things to look out for.

If you want more information on what to look out for you can find more here and here. So that, is the issue. It is getting harder to find genuine Eneloops. 

And due to the fact that they cost around double the price of your average Duracell or Energizer comparisons (2000mAh+), it can make it a costly road to go down when trying to source and buy genuine Panasonic Eneloops online. Shame really, because they are the best rechargeable batteries.

I see some websites telling people not to buy Eneloops on eBay, but then they recommend buying them from Amazon. But this is flawed advice in my opinion, and I'll tell you why. First off, these days most people selling on eBay are also selling on Amazon. To add to the problem, the way Amazon is set up makes it very possible for the companies selling fakes to sell their useless fraudulent batteries on an Amazon listing that previously sold genuine Eneloops.

That's because when a seller runs out of stock, either Amazon themselves (if they have their own Eneloops in stock) or a new seller (potentially selling fakes) takes the place of the previous seller and gets to sell their stock to fill the demand if they have stock stored at an Amazon warehouse.

This is known as Fulfilment By Amazon (FBA). Or, I believe, even if they don't have stock stored at an Amazon Warehouse they can still use the "sell yours here" option or still be put into position as the main seller. That is when you see either sold by Amazon, or, in a quick example: "Dispatched from and sold by 7dayshop Limited" (which is a current seller of this product on Amazon UK).

This selling strategy can and does eventually destroy the reputation of the listing and Eneloop batteries themselves. Bottom line: It may not be as bad as eBay, but its not that hard to sell fakes on Amazon. And sellers do so regularly. This is also confirmed from some reviews I have read, where the customers were really disappointed with their "Eneloop" batteries.

Stating that they just don't hold a charge whatsoever. And this feedback was on listings where the previous reviews were excellent. Take from that what you will. Could it be down to a fault or quality control issue with original Eneloops, or someone who sells fakes got put in the selling spot.

I know which one of these scenarios I would go with. One of the key questions is how well do Amazon check their stock received from sellers (FBA) for being fake, and if sold by Amazon themselves, is that stock confirmed as genuine.

Of course, Eneloops, specifically the PRO versions, can be quite fragile in terms of what charger they are used in (best to buy them as a bundle kit that comes complete with an Eneloop specific charger), what device they are used to power, etc. So could some bad reviews be down to buyers not being aware of how delicate the PRO versions can be.

I'd have to say yes. But not all the bad feedback is down to that, as there are similar reviews on the standard 1900mAH Eneloops, which are much more compatible overall, so I would say occasional bad batches and fake batteries are the culprits.

With fake batteries being the most predominant. All you can do is educate yourself on how to tell real from fake, which of course not only includes the information provided here and at the useful links above, but also checking the reviews and company reputation of the sellers.

However, the real proof is in the product. The genuine article still dominates most marketplaces overall. If you do some or all of the checks, are satisfied to proceed with the purchase and end up buying some genuine Panasonic Eneloop, they should perform really well and last many years. If they don't, there's a good chance they are not real Eneloop.

Duracell 4 Hour AA / AAA Battery Charger Review

Having owned the Duracell Ni-MH 4 Hour AA / AAA Battery Charger (CEF14UK4 model ) for a few months now, I thought I should write a quick review and give you my verdict. First off, I want to tell you what made me buy this exact model. I wanted a charger that actually lets the user know when the batteries are fully charged. I have owned an Energizer charger for a good while, and it has worked well enough.

But it does not have any indication for telling the user when the batteries are full, only for "charging" (constant solid red lights). So that was one main reason. The other reason was for wanting something which doesn't take all night to charge. Some battery rechargers take 12+ hours, which is way too long for me. As well as being too slow, I also think its a bit of a safety / fire hazard.

So the CEF14 Hi-Speed ticks all the boxes. I was going to buy a "Smart" charger by UNiROSS, but after reading through a lot of reviews on eBay and Amazon, one key design fault / complaint became apparent. That is, while these Smart chargers do have a digital screen that shows the charging state, they do not indicate when the batteries are fully charged.

What a silly feature to leave out of a supposedly "Smart" charger. Some of the buyers were very annoyed to discover this, after they had purchased the charger of course. I would be too if I only found out this problem after I purchased the item. But thanks to them leaving their reviews I knew not to make the same mistake.

So I thought its best to spend a bit more money and get something that is considered as more reliable in terms of indicating. The Duracell CEF14 uses LED lights to let a user know the current state of the batteries.

Those LED light indications are as follows:

No battery = Lights off.

Charging = Solid Red Lights.

Charge complete = Sold Green Lights.

Error / Bad Battery(s) = Flashing Red Lights.

 

How Does The Duracell 4 Hour AA / AAA Battery Charger Perform

 

So far very good. I'm glad I bought this model over the hundreds of others that are out there for sale. The charging time is indeed about 4 hours for 1300 mAh AA batteries to be fully charged. If not a little longer. But the charging time will obviously differ if using lower or higher capacity batteries. But make no mistake, compared to other chargers that can take a ridiculous amount of time to charge, this one is fast.

Duracell state: "It allows you to get up to 4 hours of use in just 45 minutes of charging". But for me, I wouldn't want to destroy the batteries by aging them prematurely, putting them on charge for just 45 minutes, when they are definitely not fully charged within that timeframe. 

However, Duracell claim that their technology allows for a safe partial charge that protects that batteries from any harm. I think I'll stick to a full charge for now. A cool feature that this model has is Overcharge protection. The batteries that turn green (full) will automatically stop charging (or trickle) when the charger is still plugged into the mains.

One other positive that has really surprised me with this charger, is how cool it stays. It hasn't got "hot" like some chargers do. Some get dangerously hot. In fact this one has remained just slighty warm in comparison to other chargers I have used.

However, I have only had it plugged in for around 5 hours maximum at one time, because that's all it needed before all the flat batteries were fully charged. 5 hours I hear you say, you said it took 4 hours to charge 1300 mAh AA's. Well yes, it's around 4 - 6 hours. But the reason for it taking a little longer is explained below.

How Reliable Is the Light Indicator System

 

The lights are very bright and clear, but the light indication is the one area that isn't as reliable, or as impressive as the rest of the product. Don't get me wrong, it isn't terrible by any means, and it works without fault most of the time. It's just that sometimes the lights can give out a false positive.

As in, one, or both sides will turn green much too fast, and I know for a fact that there is no way they are fully charged yet as they were totally flat. Also, there have been a few instances where I plug the charger in filled with 4 AA batteries, and one side will start to flash red. This indicates some sort of error.

But sometimes this can be due to the batteries being brand new and not fully broken in yet. It can take a few recharges for them to be fully woken up, as in all the cells are ready for action. Which I think was the case for me.

However, in all instances the quick and easy fix was to unplug the charger from the mains, give it a few seconds, and then plug it back in. This fixed it every time for me. So really its a small hindrance but not one that would make me hesitant to recommend this product. This is why the batteries can sometimes take a little longer to charge, because of a few plug outs from the mains and plug back in to reset the charger.

Most of the time that has elapsed is taken up by when I actually discover the error. So if its been sitting there for 30 minutes in that state before I notice it, that eats away at the charge time.

Please note: I have not used any triple A batteries in my CEF14. I only bought this model for double A's. But it can charge both types (4 in total at one time), and I suspect it would work exactly the same but charge AAA's even quicker, or around the same time.

My Duracell charger came with 2 AA's, but some models come complete with 2 AA's and 2 AAA's. Overall its an excellent little well built charger, and I'm glad I bought this one over the others. Compared to what else is out there for a similar price, I would not hesitiate to buy this exact same model again. Has worked well so far. There's also a five year Guarantee offered by Duracell for peace of mind. Read the excellent reviews on Amazon.