EBL 2800 mAh Ni-MH Rechargeable AA Batteries and EBL PJ-N806N Smart Battery Charger Review

The EBL PJ-N806N Smart Battery Charger and 16 rechargeable 2800 mAh Ni-MH batteries were provided unsolicited by the company — and I thank them for that. You find it on most amazon marketplaces, for example amazon.com (this is NOT an affiliate link…we are not salesmen on a commission).

You can buy the Loong set of 8 on amazon.ca for $28.99 CAD and the charger PJ-N806N with 8 regular 2800 mAh AA batteries on amazon.com for $25.99 USD.

Introduction

Today’s smartphones, computer mice/keyboards, DAPS, portable DAC-amp combos, and ANC headphones all contain integrated rechargeable, non-serviceable batteries, mainly for saving space. Once they have reached the end of their lives they turn their hosts into landfill.

Alarm/wall clocks, remote controls, radios, toys, and older audio gear such as my Bose QC15 ANC headphones, my Sony Discman, even some point-and-shoot cameras, work with regular AA or AAA cells. Just pop a new one in.

I have always been disgusted by the huge packs of disposable batteries in the big box stores. So much metal and toxic materials for the landfill after so little use.

Looking for environmentally friendlier solutions, I found rechargeable Ni-MH (or NiMH: Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries. Sadly, in the early days, these did not hold their charge very long when not in use or in constant light use (such as clocks or remote controls), and they could only be recharged 300 times. IKEA came to the rescue with their LADDA series, but not everybody lives near their warehouses, and they only come in AAs and AAAs.

When I was in dire need for D-cells for my two Sony boom boxes 5 years ago, I ordered the EBL brand, simply because they offered the greatest value: 10000 mAh capacity, laid out for 500 charging cycles. These batteries still work like on the first day. I mainly listen to the radio so that a charge is required only every 3 months.

EBL has been producing batteries and chargers since 1998, the company is registed in London, UK (EBL website), but is in reality from China.

When I was contacted by their rep to test EBL’s rechargeable AA cells including charger, I was easily persuaded. Since 2008 have I played with different chargers by Maha Powerex, IKEA, Radio Shack, and some no-names from aliexpress. My Powerex MH-C9000 gives me options to break batteries in, cycle, charge, and discharge them. The right tool for forming and testing the EBL cells.

In the current venture I had to deal with two unknowns, the actual battery capacities (how close to the nominal 2800 mAh are they?) and the charger’s performance (how much current can it squeeze into the batteries compared to other models?). Not all chargers are equal.

I therefore used the MH-C9000 as my reference for assessing the batteries, then compared the charging capability of the EBL charger with other models.

The EBL 2800 mAh Ni-MH Rechargeable AA Batteries

The supplied charger set contains 8 regular “white” Ni-MH (Nickel Metal Hydride) low-discharge batteries with 2800 mAh nominal capacity, which is one of the highest on the market. In addition, I received a set of 8 2800 mAh batteries of the “Year of the Loong” series.

In comparison, the best IKEA LADDA only offer 2450 mAh rated capacity. All these batteries can be re-charged 500 times. The EBL cells feature low-self discharge, promising 80% of their full capacity after 3 years of storage (can’t test that, or course). You find more information on their product page.

Battery Forming and Capacity Testing

The EBL AA cells are rated at 2800 mAh, the question is whether this their actual capacity.

New batteries become somewhat chemically de-activated and, unlike headphones and earphones, do need a break in. Battery forming is a charge-discharge cycle which forces a full charge into the battery at a very slow rate, needed for activation. This needs to be repeated two or three times.

Using the MH-C9000, I applied a 16h charge cycle at 0.1 times of the battery’s 2800 mAh nominal capacity (280 mA), let it rest for 1 hour, and then discharged at 0.2 times (560 mA), rest again, then charged again for 16 h. This break-in process took about 40 hours.

I did this first with 8 regular white EBL cells that came with the charger. I then repeated the test with another 8 2800 mAh batteries of the Year of the Dragon series [same technology, just different looks].

The results are reported in the table below.

The regular white cells accepted a charge way underneath their nominal capacity. Instead of the promised 2800 mAh, they all measured below 2200 mAh, an average of 27% less than rated (I charged and discharged several times using different chargers, but always discharged with the MH-C9000 @ 500 mA).

After one week of storage, the regular white cells retained between 93% and 95% of their charge at an average of 94%.

A battery is considered being obsolete and should be disposed of when dropping below 80% of its initial capacity. That does likely not apply in this case, as the cells’s full capacity is simply way below the advertised one to begin with. When buying the regular 2800 mAh cells, you only get around 2000 mAh.

There is a fitting German word for this: Etikettenschwindel (fake labelling)!

I came to that conclusion when reading the informed amazon reviews and by the fact that the performance of the 8 cells was consistent. Whenever consumers had applied the same testing method as me, their results were around 2000-2100 mAh in most cases. Check amazon.

I repeated the test with the Year of the Dragon (= Loong) series, which measured an average of 92% of their rated capacity. Better, but still not great.

In comparison, the 2450 mAh rated IKEA Ladda (Made in Japan, likely produced by Panasonic and technically identical with the famous Eneloop; $9.99 CAD for four) measured between 98% and 100% of their nominal capacity.

Some Amazon users also complained about the fact that the EBL cells had a slightly bigger circumference than disposable batteries, but this is normal and applies to all AA rechargeables. Other complaints related to the cells not holding their charge when unused, and failing after a few uses.

In summary, the Year of the Dragon series outperforms the white regular EBL cells. The “Loong” have still a higher measured capacity than the 2450 mAh IKEA Ladda (which measure very close to their rated capacity, and frequently exceeded it), but at a 50% higher price.

In any case are EBL pushing the envelope with their claims.

The PJ-N806N Smart Charger

Design and Features

The compact EBL PJ-N806N is one of the company’s countless models mainly offered on amazon marketplaces. It runs from 100-240 V, that is in any country, handles up to 8 AA and up 4 9V batteries (see specs below), and also offers two USB-A and one USB-C charging ports (for smartphones etc.).

Output is 400 mA for AA cells, it takes 5-6 hours to fully charge the 2800 mAh AA cells. This may sound long, but is actually very gentle on the batteries (and therefore good), which are damaged by frequent fast charging. Each slot works independently, so you don’t need to work in pairs as with the ancient chargers.

The charger is controlled by a microcontroller (MCU) and uses pulse charging. This prevents overcharging, over-discharging, over-current, and overheating. It lacks features of more expensive chargers such as a screen, cycling, break-in, discharge, and it also does not offer a fast charge option.

I like the compactness of this charger despite it capability of holding 8 batteries. Charging my phone using the USB ports was just fine. Charging batteries (EBL and IKEA Ladda) was a mixed bag. Fully depleted batteries frequently did not accept their full charge, the onboard sensors did not interpret the peak charge correctly and the cutoff appeared prematurely.

So I could never be sure whether a battery was fully charged or only half full. I’d call this unreliable and wonder whether it is caused by voltage fluctuations from an unstable power supply. In contrast, the $5.99 CAD IKEA Stenkol charger and my >20-year old Radio Shack model filled any battery to the brim every time.

Concluding Remarks

My analyses of the EBL 2800 mAh Ni-MH rechargeable batteries and the PJ-N8006N smart charger show somewhat mixed results. The cells work well but perform nowhere near their rated capacities and the charger is unreliable. EBL are advised to correct this.

As to the batteries’ longevity (which I could not test in the short timeframe), my perfectly working 2019-bought EBL D-cells cut from the same wood point to a decent lifespan of the EBL brand.

Until next time…keep on listening!