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Technical Details
- New improved NiMh rechargeable battery technology
- Already charged and ready to use
- Stays 85% charged after 1 year of storage
- Recharge up to 1000 times
- Battery Capacity: 2000 mah
Product Details
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Product Description
Sony's newest rechargeable battery technology seeks to bridge the gap between regular alkaline batteries and NiMH rechargeable batteries. Cycle Energy rechargeable batteries do not require initial charging and have a very low self discharge rate. They maintain 85 percent of their charge after one year and can be recharged up to 1,000 times. This new technology offers consumers the convenience of a ready-to-use rechargeable battery that is longer lasting.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 37 people found the following review helpful
The Sony Cycle Energy 2000 mAh Pre-Charged AA Rechargeable Batteries are low-self-discharge NiMH type, similar to the more well-known SANYO eneloop. Even their marketing claims sounded almost identical, such as:
- 'Stays 85% charged after 1 year of storage'
- 'Recharge up to 1000 times' (2nd-gen eneloop cells actually claim to achieve 1500 cycles)
- 'Battery Capacity: 2000 mAh'
Naturally, this leads to speculation that SONY Cycle Energy is just Sanyo eneloop under a different wrapper. But apparently it is not the case, based on the following observations:
1. There are minor differences in shapes of positive and negative terminals between those two brands. (See my Customer Images uploaded, and judge for yourself)
2. SONY Cycle Energy cells are made in China, while Sanyo eneloop cells are only manufactured in Japan.
Of course, the real important question is: Do SONY Cycle Energy cells perform just as well as Sanyo eneloop cells? The answer is YES - based on my own test data so far.
I have tested a set of those SONY Cycle Energy AA cells, using my La Crosse BC-900. Here are my findings:
- Right out the box, the average remaining charge in those cells is 1431mAh, or about 70% of rated capacity
- After the first recharge, their average capacity improved to 2032mAh
- After one more recharge/discharge cycle, the average further improved to 2082mAh
Date code imprinted on those SONY cells is '1005', which I interpret as 'May 2010'. That means they were manufactured 7 months ago. Note that similar to eneloop cells, those SONY cells were probably not charged to 100% when they left factory. That explains why they arrived with only 70% of full capacity.
Also note that on each SONY cell it says 'typ 2100mAh, min 2000mAh', while Sanyo cell says 'typ 2000mAh, min 1900mAh'. But in my experience, the measured average capacity of eneloop cells is actually around 2080mAh
So my conclusion is: The electrical characteristics of those SONY cells are practically indistinguishable from that of Sanyo eneloop. Therefore just pick whichever brand is on sale, and you can't go wrong.
[Update on Feb 14, 2011]
Do not confuse this product with the newly introduced Sony Cycle Energy NHAAB4RN 1000 mAh AA Pre-Charged Batteries. The latter is currently priced at about 25% less, but its capacity is 50% lower!
- 'Stays 85% charged after 1 year of storage'
- 'Recharge up to 1000 times' (2nd-gen eneloop cells actually claim to achieve 1500 cycles)
- 'Battery Capacity: 2000 mAh'
Naturally, this leads to speculation that SONY Cycle Energy is just Sanyo eneloop under a different wrapper. But apparently it is not the case, based on the following observations:
1. There are minor differences in shapes of positive and negative terminals between those two brands. (See my Customer Images uploaded, and judge for yourself)
2. SONY Cycle Energy cells are made in China, while Sanyo eneloop cells are only manufactured in Japan.
Of course, the real important question is: Do SONY Cycle Energy cells perform just as well as Sanyo eneloop cells? The answer is YES - based on my own test data so far.
I have tested a set of those SONY Cycle Energy AA cells, using my La Crosse BC-900. Here are my findings:
- Right out the box, the average remaining charge in those cells is 1431mAh, or about 70% of rated capacity
- After the first recharge, their average capacity improved to 2032mAh
- After one more recharge/discharge cycle, the average further improved to 2082mAh
Date code imprinted on those SONY cells is '1005', which I interpret as 'May 2010'. That means they were manufactured 7 months ago. Note that similar to eneloop cells, those SONY cells were probably not charged to 100% when they left factory. That explains why they arrived with only 70% of full capacity.
Also note that on each SONY cell it says 'typ 2100mAh, min 2000mAh', while Sanyo cell says 'typ 2000mAh, min 1900mAh'. But in my experience, the measured average capacity of eneloop cells is actually around 2080mAh
So my conclusion is: The electrical characteristics of those SONY cells are practically indistinguishable from that of Sanyo eneloop. Therefore just pick whichever brand is on sale, and you can't go wrong.
[Update on Feb 14, 2011]
Do not confuse this product with the newly introduced Sony Cycle Energy NHAAB4RN 1000 mAh AA Pre-Charged Batteries. The latter is currently priced at about 25% less, but its capacity is 50% lower!
90 of 105 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
I am an electrical engineer, and I have tested many, many batteries. The Sony CycleEnery batteries are the best batteries in the world. No other battery has performed as well for me. I highly recommend this battery above all others.
There are two things that make the Sony CycleEnery battery perform so well:
First, if you weigh the Sony battery on a scale, you will find that they are several grams heavier than any of the other brands. This means that there is more material inside, which yields a higher battery life span.
Second, the voltage curve of this battery stays above 1.2 Volts throughout the majority of its life span. The reason this is important is that most electronic devices, such as digital cameras, stop working once the voltage goes below 1.1 Volts. Normal NiMH batteries can have extremely high mAh ratings of 2500 or more -- but you can't actually make use of all those mAh's because the voltage drops below 1.1V relatively early -- this is not the case with the CycleEnergy. Sony has done something to keep the voltage up at 1.2V, so even though the battery is only rated at 2000mAh, they last much, much longer than normal NiMH batteries. I usually get 2-4x the life span out of CycleEnergy batteries, compared to normal NiMH (even the Sony ones!).
To summarize -- these are the best rechargeable batteries on the market right now (2008).
Regards,
~Chris Sebastian
There are two things that make the Sony CycleEnery battery perform so well:
First, if you weigh the Sony battery on a scale, you will find that they are several grams heavier than any of the other brands. This means that there is more material inside, which yields a higher battery life span.
Second, the voltage curve of this battery stays above 1.2 Volts throughout the majority of its life span. The reason this is important is that most electronic devices, such as digital cameras, stop working once the voltage goes below 1.1 Volts. Normal NiMH batteries can have extremely high mAh ratings of 2500 or more -- but you can't actually make use of all those mAh's because the voltage drops below 1.1V relatively early -- this is not the case with the CycleEnergy. Sony has done something to keep the voltage up at 1.2V, so even though the battery is only rated at 2000mAh, they last much, much longer than normal NiMH batteries. I usually get 2-4x the life span out of CycleEnergy batteries, compared to normal NiMH (even the Sony ones!).
To summarize -- these are the best rechargeable batteries on the market right now (2008).
Regards,
~Chris Sebastian
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
I bought two sets of AA and one AAA of these Sony Cycle Energy batteries from a large NY-based and internet camera store during an 8 USD/AA 4-pack deal was posted on slickdeals a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to relay my experience. (Though I do buy most everything else at Amazon!)
All of the batteries were made in China as per prior posts. They all came out of the package with decent voltage (1.3v? I don't recall exactly) but at maybe 50% of the rated charge of 2000 mAH. I personally don't much care since I was going to charge before using anyway. I had encountered a significant variation with 4 of the 8 AA batteries -- 3 from one pack and one from the other pack.
I use the La Crosse BC-700. I did a simple charge of all of the batteries first. That did not bring the charge up near the rated level. On the first 4, I did a single full discharge-charge cycle and they went up as high as almost 2400mAH! Great! The other 4 did not fare as well. A discharge-charge cycle still did not get them up to 2000 mAH, though mostly in the ballpark. I then did a full "refresh" (repeating discharge/charge cycles until no improvement) and 2 made it to 2030 mAH, while the other 2 only 1970mAH.
SUMMARY:
With discharges and refreshes, all of the brand new Sony's were able to get within an acceptable tolerance +/- of the rated charge and some went far beyond the rating. My main point being that not all of these Sony's are created equal. I'm still using a set of Eneloops for my SLR flash, but these are just fine for wireless mice, WiiMotes, toys, and the like.
All of the batteries were made in China as per prior posts. They all came out of the package with decent voltage (1.3v? I don't recall exactly) but at maybe 50% of the rated charge of 2000 mAH. I personally don't much care since I was going to charge before using anyway. I had encountered a significant variation with 4 of the 8 AA batteries -- 3 from one pack and one from the other pack.
I use the La Crosse BC-700. I did a simple charge of all of the batteries first. That did not bring the charge up near the rated level. On the first 4, I did a single full discharge-charge cycle and they went up as high as almost 2400mAH! Great! The other 4 did not fare as well. A discharge-charge cycle still did not get them up to 2000 mAH, though mostly in the ballpark. I then did a full "refresh" (repeating discharge/charge cycles until no improvement) and 2 made it to 2030 mAH, while the other 2 only 1970mAH.
SUMMARY:
With discharges and refreshes, all of the brand new Sony's were able to get within an acceptable tolerance +/- of the rated charge and some went far beyond the rating. My main point being that not all of these Sony's are created equal. I'm still using a set of Eneloops for my SLR flash, but these are just fine for wireless mice, WiiMotes, toys, and the like.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Went bad after only a few uses
Supposedly can be recharged 1000s of times. In my case I doubt if I recharged them more than 100 times, before they stopped working. Read more
Published 5 months ago by R. Mills
good
This product reached me in time and I can have fun with it. It is a good deal. I like it.
Published 5 months ago by lyoka
Works like a charm
Bought these batteries about a month ago to replace the ones in our video baby monitor. The batteries that came with it wouldn't last 5 minutes with the video on, if that long,... Read more
Published 7 months ago by woohhaa
Great For Xbox 360 Controllers
4 hour charge cycle. These things last For 25 - 30 hours of play time in an Xbox 360 controller. These have saved me alot of money on batteries and them recharge packs Nyko and... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Philip Brown
Great Product - Sony THE BEST
Great Product - Sony THE BEST. I don't need to buy new AA batteries and these batteries last for long time. Read more
Published 7 months ago by K. Oza
Great value and quality!
I purchased these to use in my daughter's Mobigo and was impressed with the length of time they hold a charge so much that I purchased a 2nd set. Read more
Published 9 months ago by M. Filtz
just what i needed
I bought a Summer Infant Best View baby monitor in Oct.2010 and while charging, it got incredibly hot and and then would only work when plugged in. Read more
Published 10 months ago by T. Lewison
Good but Eneloop rocks
I checked the break-in cycle results on this using Maha Powerex Wizard One MH-C9000 Advanced Battery Charger and Analyzer - Free Deluxe Storage Case Included where the reviewer... Read more
Published 10 months ago by geek
Great
I have four sets of these for a ZoomH4n recorder and so far they work great. I'm getting more for my xbox controllers and flash lights. Good run times so far with heavy use.
Published 12 months ago by Guiness Crowely
doesn't work
I bought 8 of these batteries. They do not hold a charge beyond 3 days. Bought from a reputable dealer, major electronics company, so I assume they are not counterfeits.
Published 13 months ago by Herbert J. Fellows
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