Coast USB-C Rechargeable lithium ion 1.5 volt AA and AAA batteries

Hooked on Fenix

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 13, 2007
Messages
3,555
Found out Costco is now carrying Coast Zithion-X batteries. It was an 8 pack of 4AA and 4AAA with a 4 way USB-C charge cord. Pack was just under $28. I was curious so I bought a pack. AAs claim 2400 mAh 1.5 Volts 3 Watt hours. AAAs claim 750 mAh 1.5 V 0.94 Wh.

Tested one AA using an old Fenix L1D Q5 on Turbo (120 lumens). 2 hours 7 minutes to shut off. There was some flickering early on. I suspect the battery didn't like the heat build up and throttled down a bit.

Tested a AAA using an Olight i3E EOS 120 lumen version. Lasted 1 hour 7 minutes to shutoff. Not bad. However, these batteries would not fit inside my 2AAA l.e.d. Maglite. Too tight to fit. Both sizes are normal length for AA and AAA though.

Now I'm tempted to get the Pale Blue USB-C rechargeable 4 pack of 123As I saw at REI's website and get more use from my 1 and 2 123A lights that don't work with rechargeables. I'll have to wait until I have more money for that though.

It's nice to see more of these types of batteries becoming available in stores. I'm seeing Cs, AAs, AAAs, and 123As so far. Be nice to see USB-C rechargeable Ds at some point made from a large lithium ion battery.

Edit: It appears Paleblue did make Ds as well as Cs. I think they could have done a lot better on capacity in those sizes though.
 
Last edited:
Tested 4Sevens Quark Pro 2A on 85 lumen high using 2 of the Coast batteries. Runtime was 6 hours 27 minutes until shutoff. At 6 hours 10 minutes, light started flickering on and off a bit, moreso at 6 hours 23 minutes. Took batteries out to cool down and gave light a ten minute break before putting them back in as the light was pretty warm. Batteries only lasted 4 more minutes. Seems the batteries causing flickering is a warning that the batteries have become too hot. Probably like a thermistor throttling back the power to reduce the heat. Since alkalines last 5 hours at this setting, 6 hours 27 minutes is pretty good for usb-c rechargeable batteries.
 
Found out Costco is now carrying Coast Zithion-X batteries. It was an 8 pack of 4AA and 4AAA with a 4 way USB-C charge cord. Pack was just under $28. I was curious so I bought a pack. AAs claim 2400 mAh 1.5 Volts 3 Watt hours. AAAs claim 750 mAh 1.5 V 0.94 Wh.

Tested one AA using an old Fenix L1D Q5 on Turbo (120 lumens). 2 hours 7 minutes to shut off. There was some flickering early on. I suspect the battery didn't like the heat build up and throttled down a bit.

Tested a AAA using an Olight i3E EOS 120 lumen version. Lasted 1 hour 7 minutes to shutoff. Not bad. However, these batteries would not fit inside my 2AAA l.e.d. Maglite. Too tight to fit. Both sizes are normal length for AA and AAA though.

Now I'm tempted to get the Pale Blue USB-C rechargeable 4 pack of 123As I saw at REI's website and get more use from my 1 and 2 123A lights that don't work with rechargeables. I'll have to wait until I have more money for that though.

It's nice to see more of these types of batteries becoming available in stores. I'm seeing Cs, AAs, AAAs, and 123As so far. Be nice to see USB-C rechargeable Ds at some point made from a large lithium ion battery.

Edit: It appears Paleblue did make Ds as well as Cs. I think they could have done a lot better on capacity in those sizes though.
Next time I'm at Costco I'll look for these.
 
They are quite a bit more expensive than eneloop. What advantage do they have outside of the USB charging?
How are they more expensive than Eneloops? They are $28 for 4 AAs, 4AAAs and a charge cord. That's $14 per 4 pack plus the cord. Eneloop Pros can cost $20+ per four pack. The AAs are 2400 mAh in this kit. Regular Eneloops are 2000 mAh. The AAAs are comparable in capacity to regular Eneloops on paper, but since voltage is regulated at 1.5 volts, the light stays on longer before shutting off. I got longer runtime on high in my Fenix E01 v.2 with these batteries than an alkaline or Eneloop. If you go to REI or somewhere else and buy these batteries, yes they are expensive at $30 per 4 pack. At Costco, they are less than half that price.
 
I've been curious about these, but I've read many people mention they don't have the low self-discharging characteristics of eneloops. I really like eneloops for the low self-discharge ("set it and forget it" for lights), and the inherently less dangerous nature of a lower energy cell (especially if kids are using them).

Tied to that, I'm a little worried that something might go wrong, and they end up frying a light. They're regular lithium 4.2v cells inside, but have a little circuit that outputs the 1.5v, and they apparently still charge at the normal 5v via USB.

I'd really hate to use one on a light that can't handle more than 3.3v, have something go wrong, and kill it. That could be expensive, whereas an eneloop simply cannot generate the voltage to burn out the lights it'd be in.

Also, because they are really just 4.2v Li-ion cells inside, I'm skeptical of the capacity stated. I've seen some reviews that tested other brands (Xtar), and the capacity was overly optimistic as amperage increased:


The other weird thing I've seen radio people complain about is that these definitely put out EM interference, so they cannot be used in anything sensitive to that.

Overall, it seems like a neat idea, but I'm not sure if they're really an upgrade to Eneloops, which are fairly stable at 1.2v, and I don't think you're going to see a huge increase in brightness from that 25% extra voltage (you MIGHT notice it, though).

I know some people have had issues with protected cells' circuitry dying, so I can't imagine these wouldn't have a similar failure rate versus bare cells (reliability decreases as complexity increases).
 
I've been curious about these, ...

Just a word of caution about such RF garbage generators. They can not only cause malfunctions w/ RF devices they're installed in, as well as likely others in proximity; they are also known to cause malfunctions in other digital applications whch do not themselves involve RF, per se:

Here's a quote from a user of a Tenavolt variant:

"Yeh, I got a clock/thermometer that takes 3 AAAs. 1 is for something and 2 are for something else. Forgot which is for the backlight-only and which is for the digital innards.

Either way, the backlight always works fine, as it's not picky, but when I switched from alkaleaks to… think they were Tenavolts… the buttons to set the clock, etc., just plain wouldn't work. It kept time, starting from 12:00:00 of course, but you couldn't set the time, switch from C/F or F/C, nuttin'."
 
Just a word of caution about such RF garbage generators. They can not only cause malfunctions w/ RF devices they're installed in, as well as likely others in proximity; they are also known to cause malfunctions in other digital applications whch do not themselves involve RF, per se:
That's interesting.

I have to say, the RF interference didn't inspire a lot of confidence, as it was pretty bad from some of the stuff I read/watched.

For me, I can't see that .3v being worth the downsides from Eneloops, which are kind of amazing. Plus, I'm extra skeptical about these because, across the board, the specs seem to be somewhere between misleading and overly optimistic.

That's why I still haven't gotten any of these or the 3v ones to replace CR123 batteries...
 
Top