What are the best 18650 batteries in 2019 ?

i bought 4x Ultrafire BRC 18650 4000mAh 3.7v Li-ion batterys from amazon.co.uk in april 2014 for £10.99 ( im in the UK England) for use in a laser pen and as of november 2019 they still work ( i cant have recharged them more than 5 or 6 times as i dont use them a lot)

anyway i just bought a new torch that uses 4 of this type of battery a : JETBEAM T6 Outdoor Flashlight CREE XM-L LED 4350 lumens High Brightness Multi-Functional Portable Search Flashlight for about $110

so im wondering has anyone done a test of this type of battery ( 18650) from multiple manufactureres/sources to see what are good ? i recall joining this forum years ago after i found a really good side by side test someone had done on AA batterys

im looking at amazon.co.uk/ ebay.co.uk/ or alibaba.com to shop from soon , im worried about fakes on ebay as other battery sizes ive bought on ebay in the past turned out to be well below the alleged capacity printed on them eg unbranded D cells from china claiming to be 10000mah lasted less then genuine branded 2000mah ones ! i only bought them as they were cheap..now i know why.

tell me what brands/models to buy and why thanks
Dave
ps dont ask about Brexit !

CPF member @HKJ does exhaustive ongoing testing of 18650 cells (among many others) and reports his findings here, as well as on his own website. At the website, there is an interactive (searchable / sortable) list available which is kept up-to-date, as well.

Here's the link for HKJ...
https://lygte-info.dk/info/roundCellChargerIndex UK.html

Don't buy from Amazon, the chances are that you'll get crap.
Look for Ecolux Uk in your favourite search engine. Norb, the guy that runs it is reliable and doesn't sell rubbish.
He will always point you in the right direction if you ask.

Sorry, we take out batteries seriously here, we try and avoid anything with ***fire in its name unless it's Surefire.

Buy from Norb, it's worth it.
P

Here's HKJ's review of the Ultrafire BRC 18650 3000 mAh. Though not the 4000 mAh you were thinking of, it give you an idea (read his conclusion at the bottom).

this seems to be an excellent battery:


https://illuminationgear.com/products/18650-3600mah-eagtac-li-ion-rechargeable-battery

wow thanks everyone thats replied so far, exellent help thanks a lot ok so ultrafire seem crap ! good to know , theres lots on ebay and amazon in 9800mah 4 for £8.99 i just dont believe that capacity at that price
i will read all the info and use the links provided to shop
if you think of anything else carry on adding to the thread as itll be a few weeks before the new torch arrives so i have until then to choose good batterys for it
cheers
Dave

Currently the highest legitimate capacity 18650 is about 3600mah. Over that, they are fibbing.
P

Sorry, I sent you the charger page, here's the battery page...
https://lygte-info.dk/review/batteries2012/Common18650IndividualTest UK.html
P

Norb at ecoluxshop as Pete suggests is the one . The main brands, sony, panasonic, LG, samsung and sanyo. Samsung 30Q are a good all rounder, just make sure what you need for the light. Be it button top or flat tops. Sony VTC6 are another decent cell, if using more than 1 in a light, make sure all same brand/make. So if choose the 30Q's, and need 4 of them, buy 4 and use together with the light. Also as important........charger! . Xtar, nitecore,opus are just 3 brands to look at. Dont use any cheap ebay junk. Ideally get one with a % or voltage read out, keeps it easy to know where your up to, also how much your using(mah and V wise).

vote here too for norb at ECOLUX UK.
Excellent Genuine Everything!.

peter yetman said:

Sorry, I sent you the charger page, here's the battery page...
https://lygte-info.dk/review/batteries2012/Common18650IndividualTest UK.html
P

Click to expand...

good god he has tested a lot ! , flaw with that is thats too much info, like most buyers i want a conclusion,, what are the best batterys to consider after he has tested all those ? otherwise ive got to look at each seperate test and i dont want to spend hours on this decision. if i have to i will look at some seperate reviews of the brands he tested but can you or any1 tell me has he written a conclusion anywhere ? thats is whats needed or a ratings marking next to each battery he tested.

i have some cheap chargers off ebay, they dont show % charged so yes i will look at buying something better thanks.

found this to show the torch they are for https://www.batteryjunction.com/jetbeam-t6.html so its button top 18650's not flat tops im after , thanks for all the help everyone : ) just had a red fox in my garden and got it on video using another torch, cant wait to try the new one when it arrives.fox videos caught using light from a coleman torch thats i think 450lumens will be here running off 4 d cells https://www.youtube.com/user/AwesomeFullHDvideos/videos

found the seller lots mention eg https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-18650...696968&hash=item2ac00f46d5:g:TPgAAOSwJ5Bdsuwl now thats £9 per battery
verses the £2 per battery of ultrafires eg https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-x-1865...i-ion-Flashlight-Torch-Low-Drain/392143119907 ive not timed how long an ultrafire lasts in my laserpen but im sure i get a few hours use from it, the new torch seems to say it will run for 2 hours at brightest level off 4x 18650 https://www.batteryjunction.com/jetbeam-t6.html but that doesnt say if the batterys would be drained after 2hrs..i assume thats what they mean ?

can any1 tell m in a rough approximation how long cheap ultrafires would last in this torch ? what i may do is buy 4 cheap ultrafires and 4 good 18650 batterys eg those £9 each ones so i can compare them in the same torch to see if i get same brightness and how long they last..thats what i should do ! 4 cheap and 4 good plus a new charger

Dave

To avoid these threads turning into spam magnets, we don't really need a ton of direct sales links (especially from auction sites)

Most of the regulars around here can manage just fine with brand name and model number, when discussing batteries and / or torches.

External (non-commercial) references and links, like the website managed by @HKJ are generally ok.

Thanks

buckyball said:

.... what i may do is buy 4 cheap ultrafires and 4 good 18650 batterys ....

Click to expand...

Oh, and hopefully you know this already, but you never (ever) want to "mix-n-match" bad'n'good cells ...

sorry just trying to explain exactly what i was doing as the links have pictures of exactly what batteries i was talking about..i wont put ebay links in again
yes i wont mix good and bad i will test 4 good then anther day test 4 cheap ones
thanks
Dave

Norb's Ampsplus cells have never let me down. He's rebadging something like Sony cells and they're a little cheaper. He's also at ampsplus.co.uk
P

hi again im looking up chargers for 18650 batterys and found this [h=1]XTAR VC4 4-bay 18650 Battery Charger with a review here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re1VtN5O_RE is that good enough? not sure that shows % but does show volts i think, or can you recommend any other models to look at ? many thanks[/h]Dave

buckyball said:

hi again im looking up chargers for 18650 batterys and found this XTAR VC4 4-bay 18650 Battery Charger with a review here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re1VtN5O_RE is that good enough? not sure that shows % but does show volts i think, or can you recommend any other models to look at ? many thanks

Dave

Click to expand...

For a lot of charger reviews in a consistent style I would suggest you check here: https://lygte-info.dk/info/roundCellChargerIndex UK.html

Most Xtar chargers are fairly good, but it depends one what you want (Voltage, mAh, etc. display, fast charging, same speed with one or multiple batteries).

thanks HKJ how do you test so many products? is it part of your job ?anyway thanks for all your efforts : )
the XTAR VC4 https://lygte-info.dk/review/Review Charger Xtar VC4 UK.html i see you tested, i
already own a maha battery charger that does AAA AA C D , and i have some very cheap 18650 chargers off ebay ( probably only cost £2 or £3 each)
that charge 2 batterys and simply have a small red light that turns green after a few hours to show theyre recharged ! , new 18650 charger i would like it if it has a display that shows voltage, & mAh for all 4 batterys, that XTAR VC4 seems to only display for 2 batterys
doesnt have to be a fast charger so long as it does a good job ...you know so much more than me i probably cant even explain properly what i want , i need to know condition of each battery maybe a % its charged would also be useful so i can see how drained each 18650 battery is when i put them in the charger
let me know if you know any chargers that i should consider if/when i buy a charger i will happily add a link to your website in my youtube unboxing video i will make as a thank you.

Dave