Customer Reviews

Sony Rechargeable AAA 900 mAh NiMH Batteries, 4 Pack

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Concise: I purchased 3 packs of these 900 mAh NiMH AAA batteries by Sony. All 12 batteries behave similarly, but none of the 12 come close to 900 mAh. The average is 690 mAh, with the minimum being 634 mAh and the maximum being 732 mAh.

Detail: For my testing, I used two battery analyzers, both Powerex MAHA MHC9000. All batteries weee used on each analyzer in turn. Before any battery usage, all batteries were put through the new battery conditioning routine, using the slowest possible charge and discharge rates (200 mAh charge, 100 mAh discharge) with the analyzer set to the batteries advertised capacity, 900 mAh. This routine took days to complete. After this, each battery was discharged (slow rate). The mAh ratings was recorded for each battery. Following this, each battery was charged (slow rate), allowed to rest for 24 hours and then discharged (slow rate). This cycle was done three times for each battery.

Results: After initial break-in and initial discharge, the batteries averaged 678 mAh, low 534 mAh, high 711 mAh. After the second discharge: average 685 mAh, low 632 mAh, high 734 mAh. After the third discharge: average 686 mAh, low 634 mAh, high 732 mAh.

Conclusion: Typical, but disappointing. These batteries range from actual capacity of 70% of advertised to 81% of advertised. In real-world usage (3 batteries used in my GPS Photo Tracker), the batteries behaved far inferior to Costco Kirkland brand AAA batteries (the really cheap ones). Said another way, my photo tracker turned itself off after less than 8 hours of use, 3 separate times.

I am using these batteries (now they come at 900mAh) for my baby monitor - it takes 3 AAAs.

The monitor is on up to six hours a day and a set of batteries lasts about a week.
People say that in digital cameras Ni-Mh last longer than regular alkalines, but this was not the case for me. A set of Duracell alkalines lasted a little longer than these and a set of ultra batteries lasted about 10 days. I guess that this is because the monitor is a low-drain device and batteries seem to behave differently when used in a low-drain or a high-drain device like flash or digital camera.

Anyway, rechargable are always a better choice, I am starting to save money already.

ADJUST YOUR EXPECTATIONS

The very high quality standard disposable (non-rechargeable) Lithium batteries that can be purchased from Energizer and Duracell have set my expectations too high for these Sony batteries to compete with. They simply do not last very long after a charge. You use it, and within a very short time, it's dead.

FREQUENT CHANGES
An example: My wireless mouse. I use it all day long. With a standard, non-rechargeable Lithium-type Energizer, I could use the same battery for 2 to 3 weeks or more. Using the Sony rechargeable batteries, I find I need to change batteries every 5 days or so. Fortunately, with a rechargeable, I walk over to the charger, and swap it out (single battery mouse) but there is a noticeable difference in the life of the battery.

NO REAL COMPLAINTS
Do they work? Yes. Have I had any trouble? No. Unfortunately, these batteries do not last long enough for heavy-use devices, such as digital cameras. They are fine for TV remotes or a wireless mouse perhaps, and other "light-duty" chores. I wish this was not the case, because I use my digital camera constantly, but rechargeable batteries burn of all their energy in as little as 30 to 45 minutes of (moderate) use, where a Lithium disposable might have lasted 3 to 4 hours. Obviously time varies from one set to another.

My suggestion: Buy plenty of cells, and keep the charger handy, so you can rotate the batteries out with use. Their individual charges appear to last 25-30% of the life of a disposable premium Lithium battery, so you'll probably be changing them 3 to 4 times more frequently. If you insist on trying to use them with a digital camera for your trip to Disney with the kids, I would advise taking along a large ziploc bag, with a full change-set of batteries for every 1-hour of anticipated use.

VERDICT:
Still a huge savings over time, and no real complaints other than the adjustment of expectations needed. A solid, light duty long-term pony, in a race filled with short-sprint, high-performance thoroughbreds.

The batteries are great. I walk to work everyday so my MP3 player gets a lot of use. The Rechargable batteries are saving me a ton of money.

u get 4 in this pack than the slightly cheaper 2 pack. and theyre the 900 mah than the standard 800. be aware how many AAA batteries your charger will charge at once. my charger can charge 4 AAs, but only 2 AAAs at the same time. no matter. these batteries work great and are a great price.

I have used sanyo eneloop's for a few years, but thought I'd try these sony's because they claim to be 900mAh (vs. the 750-800mAh eneloop's).

The eneloop's will last 10-11 hours in my MP3, but the Sony's last anywhere from 8 minutes to 50 minutes. We've charged them 4 times with the same result. If the vendor will not take them back, we will throw them out, it's just too much hassle to change batteries in the middle of exercising, etc. all the time. Our charger is a Panasonic BQ-390, which is an excellent smart charger.

Don't waste your time with these Sony batteries.

I bought 3 packs of 4 batteries and they were all terrible.
They charged up well enough but ran out of juice almost immediately.
I guess it was just a bad batch so I returned them which was easy enough, but I just may buy my batteries somewhere else in the future, Don't need this kind of hassle.

I bought these for my wife to use in her Digital Voice Recorder she uses for school. I really hate disposable batteries so I thought it was worth it. Normally she can record about 2 hours of audio on her recorder and listen to it for 8 hours. Fully charged, these batteries died in less than 1 hour.

These are the second-best NiMH batteries I've ever bought. The best are unquestionably Powerex as their charge outlasts all others, but they are much more expensive! So, you can buy many more of these for an equal amount of money. I've been using NiMH batteries for over ten years and it's the only way to go! The first ones I bought are still in use and perform the same today as they did ten years ago. I charge-discharge all my AA and AAA NiMH batteries in the MAHA MH-C401FS made by Powerex. This charger keeps them in pristine shape. I've used these batteries in kids toys, digital cameras, remote controls, flashlights, etc. all around the world and they have never let me down.

I needed some more rechargables and decided I would try shopping thru Amazon as for the last several years I have been extremely pleased with my purchaces. Well, I should have stayed with the supplier I had been using as this time I spent more per battery and after testing, 2/3 of the batteries purchased couldn't supply even half of the rated capacity of 900 mAh. 2 of the 8 supplied 800 the other 6 supplied barely 300. This testing takes 72 hrs to complete and I did it twice because I couldn't believe the results of the first test. I would NOT reccomend spending your hard-earned dollars on these Sony batteries.