Purple Efest vs. Sony VTC4 vs. MNKE vs. AW IMR, all 18650s

[PhatRon]

So I have a question concerning the above mentioned batteries in the title.

Which one performs the best as the remaining voltage charge begins to decrease over time whilst using them off a charger (from 4.2v-3.7v)?

They all have a high enough amp rating and I do not tend to go below anything less than 0.7 ohms.

I just notice there is a significant drop in power that my VTC4s put out when it gets around 3.7-3.8 volts remaining. This is not a bad observation because it lets me know that I need to throw them on my Nitecore i2 soon, I just wanted to know if the other brands tended to act the same way because I am looking to purchase some more 18650s for my Nemesis and want the best performing batteries I can get.

Thank you for all your input and advice in advance and if anyone has any links to any testing charts it would be much appreciated!

vape on ECFers!

 

[PhatRon]

bump since ECF is back online.

 

[Jimi D.]

The AW 1600's are the best.

 

[Baditude]

• AW IMR 18650 2000mah 10Amp
  
  
• AW IMR 18650 1600mah 24A
  
  
• MNKE IMR 18650 1500mah ​20A
  
  
• Sony us18650vtc4 2100 mAh 30A
  
  
• Efest 18650 2500 mAh 35A

Most of the high drain battery shootouts are 3 - 4 years old and not really applicable to today's offerings. Below are a couple that are more current, but may not cover the above batteries specifically. You may want to visit PBusardo's Taste Your Juice website; he has battery comparison graphs in his battery info section (no linking from ECF).

18650 High Drain Battery Shootout

The great 30A shootout Sony US18650VTC3 vs Efest 30A

Post #6 18650 rechargeable batteries | EDCForums

 

[inanitydefined]

The AW 1600's are the best.

not from what I've seen. Sony vtc4 smack just about everything else out there down but the Samsung INR batteries, which have a lower max amperage.

also, efest are liars and MNKE are highly overrated from what I've seen. Its sony for 18650 and AW for 18350/490 only for me.

BTW, there are rumors of a new sony 30 amp battery coming. one that actually will do what the purple efest claim

 

[Froth]

I can say for sure that the Purple 2500mah Efest 35A BY FAR out lasts the MNKE 1500mah 20A as I own them both, I put a little comparison test in the Efest 2500mah 35A thread that is in this sub forum. Personally, I'm a sub-ohm guy and I generally like to vape around 25-35 watts but lately I've been bumping it up to close to 50 watts with a Dual twisted 26ga .35 build, the Efest lasts MUCH longer than the MNKE and has less noticeable drop off, I check my batteries often(VERY often) and I swap them out at anything under 3.6-3.7v I can very readily tell the difference between the MNKE at 3.6V VS the Efest at 3.6v, the Efest is a much better performer IN MY OPINION once they're already drained down to a resting 3.8v. I have no comparison with the Sony VTC4, as I do not own them. Personally I'm going to keep using the purple Efest.

Now, this is not to say my MNKE's are bad - I actually REALLY like the MNKE 1500mah batteries I just get a noticeably shorter life out of them before I notice drop off which I completely expected due to the lower mah rating. I still use my MNKE 1500mah and I just rotate them in with my Purple Efest batteries. If I had to do a numbers comparison, I would personally say that the Efest is at least 20-25% better as far as battery life goes over my MNKE's. When both batteries are fully charged at 4.2v, they perform exactly the same and I wouldn't be able to tell you which battery was in my mod if someone were to swap them around and ask me.

 

[joecil]

I own a couple of each of the Sony, Efest and MNKE. All I can say since I've not tested them other than how long they last the Efest last the longest buy a bit more than I expected when I got the first one. Someone recently posted a tread on them with some tests he did which also showed they worked better than either the Sony or MNKE.

 

[Alchemy]

AW 1600 are the best for mechanicals imho because they hold voltage at the 4.2-3.7v range the longest.

 

[CMHero]

The great 30A shootout Sony US18650VTC3 vs Efest 30A

There's one. I saw another a while ago that had the Sony winning vs the Panny and AW in terms of higher output for a longer period. Note that the Sony barely beat the AW in the test I saw, so I didn't find it that conclusive. I think the Panny won that for total time output when the voltage hit around, crap, can't remember, but I think it was around ~3.7. At that point the Sony and IMR just dropped off and the Panny kept going.

I don't have the Efest, but I have regularly used the IMR, Sony, and Panny batteries. In my experience, the IMR beat the Sony for clouds for about a week then dropped off and the Sony kept its ability to be recharged to a much higher point than the IMR and I haven't noticed a dropoff yet (3 months). The IMRs I own are noticeably weaker than the Sonys now to the point I really don't even use them anymore. For longevity with still good solid production, the Panny batteries will outlast both of them a lot. At home I never use them, but whenever I think I'll be without access to charging I'll always take one with me in case my 3 Sony batteries drop off... I chain vape at sub (.3) ohm and go thru an average of 5.5 ml/day, so I swap batteries constantly between my 3 Sonys.

I don't care for the test results above as an end all, be all... I currently own 3 Sony 30a, 3 AW IMR, and 2 Panny batteries, should I add an Efest to my collection?

 

[Kemosabe]

for 18650s, i have MNKEs, Sony VTC3, AW 1600, and the red efest 30A. they all seem to last the same amount of time. i do alternate mods quite frequently so it would be a major chore to sit there and test exactly how long each last and with each atomizer. i find it so much less stressful to just carry spares with me than to do the math, crunch the numbers and research which batt is going to last me x amount of time longer. when the batt gets weak, i just swap it out. boom. done. as long as my batt can handle the amp load, im good. once it gets weak, i swap it out and get on with my day.

 

[69CamaroSS]

After WAY too much time researching which would be better and watching comparison reviews by many way more knowledgeable than I including pbusardo (who goes into graphs and all the details that would appease an electrical engineer!), I ended up getting the Orbtronic IMR 18650 SX30 2100mAh 30amp Ultra High Drain Hybrid batts and Nitecore i4 charger. The Zmax V5 has been chucking clouds for days on the first one I put in and I double vape each hit until the 10 second protect circuit kicks in....currently well over 500 of those type vapes according to the Zmax's counter!!

 

[iacchus]

The new Sony US18650VTC5s are on some shelves now. I just got a few in the mail today. 30A, 2600mAh rating. I far prefer the Sony 18650s to any of the other offerings, and I say that as a loyal AW battery consumer since Andy started selling in '05.

The only thing I am yet to see is if the Sonys have a cycle life as impressive as all their other specs.

 

[twentysacked]

I've noticed that my VTC4s are the same :/ Pretty noticeable drop in performance around 3.75-3.85 mark

 

[Kemosabe]

I consider vaping down to just 3.7 not only unproblematic, but actually ideal. Lithium batts prefer shallow charges. To prolong the lifetime of your batt, it's best to charge it at 50% (3.7v).

IMO, getting into mechs was the best thing I've done for my battery usage. Now if I could just get myself to recharge my laptop, tablet and phone at 50% I'd be golden.

 

[joecil]

The new Sony US18650VTC5s are on some shelves now. I just got a few in the mail today. 30A, 2600mAh rating. I far prefer the Sony 18650s to any of the other offerings, and I say that as a loyal AW battery consumer since Andy started selling in '05.

The only thing I am yet to see is if the Sonys have a cycle life as impressive as all their other specs.

I have been using the Sony US18650VTC5s now for a week that I got from 101 Vape (get most of my batteries there). To be honest they haven't lived up to the hype compared to the EFest purple batteries. First they don't last as long nor seem to hit as hard when fully charged though they show the same voltage. I am getting about 2 hours more out of the Efest 2500 mAh compared to the C5 which are giving me the same as the C4 rated at 2000 mAh. I might add the C4 do last a bit longer than the red Efest 2000 mAh batteries however.

This is based on both a Lambo v6 and a Nemesis mechanical which is where I use the higher amp batteries only. I also use between 1.2 to 2.0 ohm setups.

 

[desrever]

Thoughts on VTC5s vs the Samsung 22R? I have VTC4s but have been reading good things about the samsung's in regards to voltage dropoff. I stick to 0.35-0.45ohm range. Would just like a little more run time above 3.7v and am debating between the 2.

 

[Kemosabe]

Thoughts on VTC5s vs the Samsung 22R? I have VTC4s but have been reading good things about the samsung's in regards to voltage dropoff. I stick to 0.35-0.45ohm range. Would just like a little more run time above 3.7v and am debating between the 2.

i remember seeing results on the sammy 20R vs sony vtc3 and 4 but im not sure about the 5. it did hold voltage better than the sonys at resistances higher than your range. at your range, i believe the results were the same for the sammy and the sony, regardless of the stated mah. sorry i cant find the charts. the tests do exist though if that helps.

 

[rocky111]

I use both AW IMR and the sony batts , coil resistance between .5 - .8 ohms and sometimes .3 omhs when i use my dual coil Gens. I feel that that sony hits harder than the AW IMR around those resistance.

But we have to consider that these batteries are not created equal, I have 4 IMR AW 18650 where 2 of them performs great even after a year and a half and the other 2 can seems to perform aswell as the other.

 

[catilley1092]

not from what I've seen. Sony vtc4 smack just about everything else out there down but the Samsung INR batteries, which have a lower max amperage.

also, efest are liars and MNKE are highly overrated from what I've seen. Its sony for 18650 and AW for 18350/490 only for me.

BTW, there are rumors of a new sony 30 amp battery coming. one that actually will do what the purple efest claim

I use the AW 18490 batteries myself & can state that they're really good batteries. Efest makes good chargers (I have the LUC V2 digital), but their batteries aren't quite as good. Maybe they're outsourced, or they simply have a better charger than battery design.

Cat