AmazonBasics Alkaline Batteries (Pack of 20)

I've avoided the big name brands for batteries for a couple of years now unless they were on sale. I never noticed a difference in battery life from any of those other brands (Kirkland, Maxell, etc), but I have noticed that these Amazon Basics batteries just don't last very long. Some examples:

I replaced the batteries in my wireless mouse in November with Amazon Basics AA. Yesterday (December 31) those batteries died and needed to be replaced again. Normally I go between 1-2 years, but this time I didn't even make 8 weeks.

My daughter got an LED snowman light at the beginning of December that took 2 AA batteries (used the Amazon batteries). In 4 weeks, I had to replace the batteries 3 times.

We rarely use our Wii, but I replaced the batteries in my Wii remotes with Amazon batteries at the end of October to play a few games with my daughter. We didn't play again until Christmas day, and the batteries were dead already.

I'm not ready to give up on these yet, but my current experience has not been that good. I got some Duracell AAs on a deal in December, so I am doing some comparisons now.

Never in a million years would I have thought these batteries would outperform Duracell Alkaline batteries. I read recently that a consumer magazine recommended buying batteries based on price and not brand name. My limited testing agrees with that advice.

AmazonBasics AAA alkaline batteries performed better than two types of Duracell Alkaline batteries, and was on par with Kirkland Alkaline brand. The bigger surprise is how well Enloop batteries performed in my testing. The Kirkland and AmazonBasics alkaline batteries were roughly 20% longer lasting than the Duracell alkaline batteries. Freshly fully charged Enloops (NiMH) performed 20% better than AmazonBasics and Kirkland Alkalines.

What can you say about these batteries? Yes they are AAA, they fit in devices that require this size battery, and they last a good long time. I wanted to do some accellerated testing, put the batteries through some heavy drain use in a controlled manner. Since I don't have a testing rig like the one NLee the Engineer uses to test batteries, I came up with a standard device a small electronic flash that uses two AAA batteries.

The test setup: load two batteries into the flash, when the ready light glowed, fire the flash. I counted how many flashes each battery type could make in five minutes. I repeated the test with fresh batteries twice for each brand / model of battery. At the end of the test the batteries were pretty warm and none of them were exhausted. A battery tester showed all the batteries were about 30% spent, so there was still a good bit of life left in them.

Qualitatively, the Kirkland and AmazonBasics Alkaline batteries recycled the flash very fast during the first minute of the test. Recycle times tapered off to a constant level after that. The Enloops (NiMH) seemed to deliver a rapid recycle time throughout the test.

Kirkland and AmazonBasics Alkaline batteries fired 97 times

Duracell Alkaline and Duracell Ultra Alkaline fired 77 times

Enloops (NiMH) fired 117 times

The consumer advice seems to be accurate, purchase AAA batteries based on the lowest per cell price you can find. Enloops are the best alternative, they are rechargeable and deliver great service (Sanyo Eneloop Ni-MH Charger and 8 Rechargeable AA and 4 Rechargeable AAA Batteries). If you do search out rechargeable batteries, the best advice in the world can be found in NLee The Engineer's reviews.

Buy AmazonBasics Alkaline Batteries (Pack of 20) Now

Amazon has gone into the battery business! These batteries are a great alternative to the more expensive name brands. And so far, the quality seems just as good. The price is great and it's even better if you use "Subscribe and Save". Also, they came in a nice box ("frustration-free" packaging) which fits just perfectly in my drawer (I just cut off the lid). It kept the batteries from rolling around in the drawer.

And, really, who doesn't want that famous Amazon smiley on their batteries?? lol

Read Best Reviews of AmazonBasics Alkaline Batteries (Pack of 20) Here

Batteries are commodities, and "premium" batteries that promise more power at a higher cost seems kinda silly to me. I found out about the Amazon brand of batteries by accident, but I'm glad I did -The battery life is good, the price is great, and the packagine is easy to open and is completely reclycable. I go through batteries a lot (peripherals for my computers, hand-held devices, etc) so I'm glad I found a set of affordable and dependable batteries. Don't forget to properly recycle your used batteries!

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Some Amazon Basics items are well worthwhile, this one is not. I use Energizer and Duracell alkalines in my gear (digital camera, GPS, LED headlamp, flashlights (LED and incandescent), and couple of other devices), and thought I'd give these a try. Unfortunately these Amazon Basics AAs are consistently miserable in their longevity compared to the others mentioned. Too bad, seemed like a bargain but is not.

Could be worse, though: they could be DOA or promptly start leaking, but these have not been the case.