Vapcell P30 batteries, 3000 mAh, with a discharge current of up to 20 A

A review of batteries that are pretty unremarkable overall: 3 Ah capacity, 20 A current. But people have already asked me about them, so I decided to compare them with their closest competitors, the HG2 and VTC6, as a follow-up.


Yes, these are typical 18650 batteries rated at 3 Ah, with a maximum continuous discharge current of 20 A. But it turns out they’re sold not only on AliExpress, but in local stores too, at least here.

They arrived in a branded case, which is how they’re usually sold. As I’ve written before, though, I think the case is unnecessary, since it adds to an already high price.


Specifications from the Vapcell website page
Model: P30
Size: 18.3*65.0mm
Typical Capacity: 3000mAh (0.2C discharge)
Min capacity: 2850mAh (0.2C discharge)
Nominal voltage: 3.60V
Max Continuous Discharge Current: 20A
Max Discharge Current: 35A
End-of-charge voltage: 4.20V
End-of-discharge Voltage: 2.5V
Weight: 48g ( Appr)
Internal resistance: 15mΩ ( Appr) （AC 1kHz）
Standard Charge: 1000mA,CCCV 100mA cut-off
Quick Charge Current: 4000mA

They’re wrapped in dark heat-shrink tubing, with the usual brief specs printed on it. The positive terminal is flat, though the contact itself has a slight contour. I think I’ve seen something like this before.


The dimensions are typical for this form factor. Interestingly, there’s a noticeable difference in weight.


They arrived at about 70% charge. The “normalization” cycle measured a capacity of around 3000 mAh, though there was a difference in capacity between the two cells.


According to the specs, there are two charging modes: 1 A and 4 A.
At a 1 A charging current, charging took 3 hours and 10 minutes. Personally, though, I think charging these batteries at that current is a bit ridiculous.


At a 4 A charging current, the process took just under an hour. The CV phase was clearly much longer; I’d recommend charging them at around 2 A.


The Vapcell page has discharge curves at 2, 10, 15, and 20 A, which are the currents closest to typical operating conditions.


As usual, I tested them at more familiar rates: 0.2C, 0.5C, 1C, and 2C, as well as 10, 15, and 20 A.
The first cell delivered 3100 mAh, more than the rated 3000 mAh.


Heating at 10, 15, and 20 A was pretty good, though it could have been lower.


The second cell, however, had a noticeably lower capacity: 2913 mAh (10.43 Wh), compared with 3100 mAh (11.08 Wh) for the first. That kind of spread isn’t very reassuring.


Its temperature was noticeably lower, too. Yes, the ambient temperature was also slightly different, but not by nearly as much as the battery temperatures differed.
On the one hand, a lower temperature is good. On the other, it shows that there’s a difference between the cells.


And yes, the comparison graph at 0.2C, 10 A, and 20 A shows a difference—not just in the results, but in the curves themselves. It feels like these are two completely different batteries. Without the 0.2C curve, you might think so.


There’s also a difference in impedance: it’s lower in the second cell, which partly explains why it ran cooler during discharge.


And of course, the comparisons. The Vapcell page had a graph comparing it with its closest competitors, the HG2 and VTC6. That makes sense, since their rated specifications are practically identical.
The comparison is for a maximum continuous current of 20 A.


I decided to make a more extensive comparison, so I put together the results at 1C, 10 A, and 20 A. In every case, I compared the first cell from each test pair. Keep that in mind for the P30, since the second cell performed worse.

Judging by this comparison, they’re pretty similar overall: the VTC6 does a little better, the HG2 a little worse, and the P30 falls somewhere in between. The same goes for temperature. At a continuous 20 A, the HG2 ran hottest (95–96 degrees), while the VTC6 was coolest (87–89 degrees), with the P30 in the middle again.


Conclusions.
I’d probably even praise these batteries: the test results put them close to popular cells like the VTC6 and HG2. But even setting the price aside, the large difference between the test results was disappointing. I got the distinct impression that these are two different batteries, with differences in capacity, impedance, and operating temperature. Even their discharge curves at currents of 10–20 A are different.

All in all, at this point I’d recommend buying the “classic” VTC6 and not overthinking it.

That’s all from me. I hope this information was useful.