Sanyo announces Eneloop Pro and Eneloop Plus cells

[ScaryFatKidGT]

So Pro=XX and Plus=extra money for overheat protection?

 

[beerwax]

..................

 

[Burgess]

Waiting for these to FINALLY be available in U.S.A.



_

 

[EZO]

Waiting for these to FINALLY be available in U.S.A.
_

This is America, Dagnamit! Why ain't these available here first! It must these Republi...cans.......or the Demo...crats or maybe those Tee...Partie...erz, or sumpin'. :huh:

 

[Marc999]

Sexy looking wrappers. I picked up the Sanyo xx awhile ago. They're fine but certainly not worth the premium paid for that extra ~25% capacity. I also see no reason to get the Eneloop Plus if you already have a stockpile of regular/tones/glitter whatever loops. At least they're keeping the name Eneloop fresh in our minds.

 

[ecrbattery]

Anybody else seeing this

and this

The original high-res photos are here: (you will need to zoom in)

Eneloop Pro
Eneloop Pro with charger

Eneloop Plus
Eneloop Plus with charger

 

[Wrend]

Anybody else seeing this

The two cells have the same + end?

 

[PapaLumen]

vent hole?

 

[ecrbattery]

vent hole?

Yup, look like the eneloop signature vent holes are back.

Did Sanyo read the comment by Mr Happy?

My observation about this is that Sanyo has made a big marketing mistake. Wittingly, or unwittingly, Sanyo established a particular design in everyone's mind as a trademark of the Eneloop cell. When they then changed it, they confused everyone, as evidenced by the huge amount of discussion and number of questions generated. If Sanyo had been properly aware of this they would not have changed the design in the way that they did.

Look like Sanyo may have to update their FAQ again from this:

Why is there no vent holes on the top of an eneloop battery?
The eneloop battery without vent holes is a design change for improvement (performance and appearance) by our factory in Japan. These newly configured batteries were changed from November 2010 shipping.

To this:

Why is there vent holes on the top of an eneloop battery?
The eneloop battery with vent holes is a design change for improvement (capacity and overheat protection) by our factory in Japan. These newly configured batteries were changed from July 2011 shipping.

 

[Wrend]

Now that's funny, and a little suspicious.

Wonder if my older Eneloops have "overheat protection," unlike my newer crown ones... Does Plus translate into, "venting holes for explosion prevention," or something?

It sounds to me like Panasonic might be having Eneloop market growing pains.

Except for those in the know, most people over here (in the USA) have never even heard of Eneloops, let alone Eneloop varieties.

I've always been rather baffled how that could be, because they seemed to clearly offer such an advanced and attractive product.

...

Anyway, if you look at the surface textures on the + ends, they look practically identical. Kind of odd.

 

[ecrbattery]

Anyway, if you look at the surface textures on the + ends, they look practically identical. Kind of odd.

I noticed this too. It does look like someone in the marketing department is photo-chopping the positive end for all the photos. Either that or the quality control is so good that all batteries are identical clone. We will just have to wait and see

I do believe the eneloop plus is a new design. Sanyo stated that it has a PTC thermistor for thermal protection. It also have a different product number of HR-3UPT. Like others here, I wonder how the thermistor will affect the current and voltage of the battery. It may not be compatible in device like the Sanyo KIR-SL2S hand warmer which heat up the batteries quite a bit in "Turbo" mode.

 

[ScaryFatKidGT]

Its the same battery they just photo shopped the wrapper on

 

[beerwax]

..........

 

[Bolek]

According to the marking on the Sanyo eneloop marketed in Europe as XX 2500mAh they can be recharged only 500 times

 

[Lite_me]

According to the marking on the Sanyo eneloop marketed in Europe as XX 2500mAh they can be recharged only 500 times

Yeah but, IF you were to recharge them about once a week, they'd still last you close to 10yrs! Good enough for me! Something even better may be available by then... if I'm even still here.

I just picked up a 4-pack of the XX to play with.

 

[yliu]

wait... does it mean that the eneloop pro is the same as the eneloop XX?

 

[Eismagier]

wait... does it mean that the eneloop pro is the same as the eneloop XX?

Yes, Sanyo specifically states that on the page linked in the original post.

 

[cave dave]

Waiting for these to FINALLY be available in U.S.A.

You might need a few more bags of popcorn. According to the press release:

The "eneloop pro" will be available from July 21, 2011 and the "eneloop pro" charger set will go on sale from September 21 in Japan only. The "eneloop plus" and its charger set will be available from December 1, 2011, also in Japan only.

 

[flame2000]

More than a month ago I wrote Sanyo SG an email asking if there are any plans to release XX over here (I was looking for a higher capacity LSD NiMh) and I was inform that XX is for the European market and there is an equivalent Harmolattice 2500mAh (with the Eneloop technology) for the Asian market. Unlike the XX, Harmolattice are not pre-charged. Now they announced the Eneloop Pro and Plus. Are these only for the Japanese market?

Edit: Saw cavedave post, so it's for Japan only. Think I'll just go for the XX or Harmolattice instead.

 

[Eismagier]

Wouldn't importing from Japan be cheaper for US resellers than importing from Europe? I'd assume imported Eneloop Pro cells will replace imported XX cells before too long.

Whether Sanyo will bring them to the US officially will probably depend on the recovery of the dollar.