AW Li-Ion Batteries - Any opinions?

[RenaissancePuffer]

I have a couple of 18650's that I use right now that are great, but am always out to find the best product if I can. After reading some posts on the flashlight forums, it seems these AW batteries are pretty damn good.

Does anyone here use the AW Li-Ion batteries?

Here's the specs on the 2600 mAh battery, that discharge rate looks pretty impressive.

AW P18650 - 26 SPECIFICATIONS:

Constant Voltage : 3.7V
Capacity : 2600mAH ( rated at 0.2C discharge 4.2V - 2.8V @ 25℃ )
Operating Temp. : Charge 0 to 45℃ / Discharge -20 to 60 ℃
Max. Charge Rate : 2.6A ( ambient temp. 25 ℃ )
Max. Discharge Rate : 5.2A ( ambient temp. 25 ℃ )
Dimensions :18.52 X 68.16mm ( +/- 0.3mm )

I'm thinking about getting my hands on these when my current 18650's start to fade out.

 

[opuscroakus]

While I don't have the 18650's I do have the AW 14500's. I prefer them over the TrustFire and UltraFires I have. The AW's are more expensive which is somewhat of a deterrent to me replacing all my 14500's with them.

The AW's are much more accurate on the mAh and seem to charge to 4.2v every time where the other 2 brands always seem to stop between 4.03v and 4.12v.

 

[RenaissancePuffer]

Those particular cells are priced at $14.75 each! Ouch, but, hopefully you get what you pay for?

One other thing that I noticed in the product description which piqued my interest.

"Anti-explosion Vent / PTC ( mechanical thermal protection ) in addition to the electronic PCB protection."

 

[youngunner]

From what I understand the AWs are one of the better higher end bats- it seems like everyone over on the flashlight forums all prefer the AWs. I would think those guys know alot about bats and they all rave about AW bats

 

[Deschain]

Pretty much the best you can get.

Great guy to deal with as well.


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[Scottes]

I also did some research over on candlepower.com, and came to the same conclusion about AW batteries. And ordered some.

When it came time to place another order I wanted to get a year's supply. And I just couldn't justify the price increase. AW is almost twice as expensive as Candlepower for Ultrafire or Tenergy for the same model of batteries.

Like AW 18650 2600mah for $15, vs BatteryJunction Ultrafire 18650 2600mah for $9.

Even if AW is not over-rated and Ultrafire is... Is it really worth the money to buy AW? I'm just not sure. But I'm no battery guru, and I've never seen any scientific tests on batteries attached to atomizers. I'm just not sure if they're worth the extra cost.

So what am I missing?

 

[scrubadub]

I also did some research over on candlepower.com, and came to the same conclusion about AW batteries. And ordered some.

When it came time to place another order I wanted to get a year's supply. And I just couldn't justify the price increase. AW is almost twice as expensive as Candlepower for Ultrafire or Tenergy for the same model of batteries.

Like AW 18650 2600mah for $15, vs BatteryJunction Ultrafire 18650 2600mah for $9.

Even if AW is not over-rated and Ultrafire is... Is it really worth the money to buy AW? I'm just not sure. But I'm no battery guru, and I've never seen any scientific tests on batteries attached to atomizers. I'm just not sure if they're worth the extra cost.

So what am I missing?

Safety and QC seems to be a big part of it over there. This thread about how to handle batteries properly has quite a lot of discussion about Ultrafires vs AWs on safety grounds

Using Li-ion cells in LED flashlights safely - CandlePowerForums

I'm quite happy (maybe irrationally) to buy the cheaper batteries in smaller sizes but the 18650s scare the crap out of me.

 

[Nuck]

I just got 4 of them in and am going to try them in my next mod. The build quality is excellent so I'm feeling a bit optimistic at this point. The 2C discharge is what originally sold me on them.