Efest batteries are the only IMR non-hybrid batteries on the market that can compete with AW at this time that I am aware of. They are good batteries for most mechanical mod situations. They handle high drain very well. AW does score higher in one area of the testing but overall, Efest is a great brand and they have fantastic customer service as well. They are well aware that they are fueling the APV market next to AW and they will personally answer questions via e-mail. They say they are always working towards manufacturing better batteries for the flash light and E-cigarette PV communities. AW is the gold standard in our hobby and AW is my brand of choice. Any other IMR high drain battery has at some point disappointed the battery testers that I followed on youtube and over the web. If you can find Efest batteries for cheap and they are from a trusted vender that sells only NEW batteries, they are worth the investment. But try AW as well. I believe Efest tests BETTER than AW batteries for some situations, with AW beating them and matching them in other areas of the tests i've seen. As far as the "cheap" charger you bought, it will serve you just as well as a nitecore SUPER DELUX $45 MAGA Multi channel charger for a quarter of the price. I am still using the same three $5 chinese made chargers I got 5 & 3 years ago with no problems from any of them. They charge them fast and they never come off higher than 4.2 volts.
Plumes 91, My experience with Efest Batteries is that they work fine to begin with. After around 1-3 months they lose performance. The AW hold up for a longer period of time. So the AW is more expensive to begin with but you make it up because when your Efest battery is gagging an puking and can't hold a charge, your AW is marching Blithely along.
I had a Bogger Box VV that didn't have undervolt protection, so I really abused my batteries. Then I got to the point where I didn't know which batteries were good. So I investigated and bought a Soshine SC-7 single battery charger it detects bad batteries and will show you when a battery won't hold a charge.
I had both AW and I had Efest 189350 Batteries. Most of the Efest batteries either were detected as bad. Most of the AW were good. And I had the AW at least a month or two longer then the Efest.
Yes you will initially get close to the same performance out of an Efest, but based on my experience you will end up spending double or triple in replacement batteries.
We'll leave the Hybrids out of the equation on this post.
I recommend the Xtar Chargers. Just because they've been in the market longer and I've had 3 of them and never an issue. They make a 6 Bay charger that kicks Ash. You can never have too many battery bays!!
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