A Few TrustFire 16340 Batteries and Testing Them

Not long ago, I wrote a review of TrustFire 14500 and 18350 batteries. I also mentioned that I’d ordered another size, but it had got stuck somewhere in transit.
The batteries I ordered arrived recently, so I decided to put together a quick mini-review of how they turned up.

There was a bit of a problem with getting the batteries, too. The seller shipped them via Mist Express. I’d never had any problems with this service before, so I’d rather not complain, but I’m going to have to.
The batteries arrived at customs on November 24. I waited almost a month for some sign of progress, but in the end, nothing happened.
So I decided to call the carrier. I dialed their number and waited: six minutes listening to the same tune, then they hung up.... Fine, I called again. Twenty-four minutes listening to the same music—Marquis de Sade would have been impressed. Finally, a woman answered, and the first thing I asked was—
Do you have a conscience?
O_O

Anyway, moving on. I asked where my package was. It turned out the Chinese side had held it up O_O. They gave me the phone number for their office on the Chinese side and said I should call them instead. After a bit of a struggle, I got through and explained the problem. They said everything was fine and to wait. A couple of hours later, the package was on its way again.

Everything worked out, the women were polite, and I got the problem sorted, but as in that joke about the spoons, the bad taste lingered. Why had the package been sitting at customs for a month, and why had nobody called or notified me about it…

Anyway, I got my package, so on to the review.
The current price is shown in the title. When I bought them, there was some sale or other, and they cost $54, which works out to $2.70 each.
The stated capacity is 880 mAh.

Batteries are considered rather hazardous goods to ship, but the seller packed them very thoroughly, so full marks to them for that.


Besides their own packaging, the batteries were tightly wrapped in film. It would be pretty hard to damage them like this; I think you could even play soccer with them if you wanted to.


No issues with the quantity: there were 20, just as ordered. Interestingly, only one pair had holograms. I set those aside right away to compare them with the batteries without holograms.


Appearance-wise, these batteries aren’t much different from their 14500 and 18350 counterparts.
The positive terminal is the same as on the batteries described in my previous review.
These batteries have protection circuits, which is why they cost a little more than the usual versions.


I once reviewed batteries in this form factor and found that they were either counterfeit or defective. They also lacked the advertised protection circuit.
The bad ones are at the top of the photo; the ones I received recently are at the bottom.


The batteries are a little longer than the stated 34 mm, measuring 36 mm. That’s because they have protection circuits.
The diameter is almost 16 mm—16.5 mm, to be exact.
The weights of the batteries with and without holograms differ slightly. The one on the right had a hologram on its packaging.


I ran the batteries through a couple of capacity tests. The first was at 0.5 A, the second at 1 A.
The capacity was noticeably below the stated 880 mAh, measuring 620–629 mAh at 0.5 A. On the other hand, the variation in capacity was quite small, which is pretty good. Batteries from lesser-known brands often vary much more.
At a discharge current of 1 A, the variation increased noticeably, with readings of 638–660 mAh.


Since I don't really trust this charger, even though it gives fairly consistent results, I took batteries No. 1 and 4 (without and with a hologram, respectively) and tested their capacity using a battery tester I trust more.

Battery No. 1 measured 566 mAh on the tester, while the regular charger showed 627 and 651 mAh at 0.5 and 1 A, respectively.


Battery No. 4 (with a hologram) delivered a little more: 583 mAh. The basic charger showed 628 and 660 mAh at 0.5 and 1 A, respectively.


In short, these batteries have significantly less capacity than claimed. The only real plus I can think of is the excellent packaging.
But batteries in this form factor usually have a capacity of 650–750 mAh, so why did the manufacturer claim 880…

Perhaps someone can recommend better protected 16340 batteries priced at up to $2.7–3 each. I'd be very grateful.

That's all for this little review. I hope it was useful :)