TrustFire 14500-size batteries with a capacity of 900 mAh

This review falls into the spontaneous category: I ordered the product without really planning to write about it. But I genuinely liked these batteries, so I ended up putting together a full review with tests. This information may well come in handy for someone, since finding decent 14500 batteries on AliExpress turned out to be surprisingly difficult.


This is probably already my fourth review of similar batteries, covering both TrustFire and the 14500 form factor.
Several years ago—about five, to be precise—I bought a lot of these batteries to rebuild batteries for Kenwood radios. To get ahead of myself, all of those batteries are still going strong.
Now I needed to do another rebuild, so I needed more batteries. I first checked Nkon. They had batteries, including some from well-known brands, but the price worked out higher. I started looking on AliExpress. There were options, but either the price was wrong, the quantity was wrong, or something else didn't work out. In the end, I settled on one listing with the best overall combination of factors, placed the order, and received it. They took a long time to arrive, though, and it looks like they took a roundabout route: from China to Russia, then to Belarus, and only then to us.

I ordered 20 batteries: five lots of four, so I received five neat, sturdy little boxes, each containing four batteries. At this point, I have no complaints about the seller, except perhaps the delivery time—but the listing did state a 60-day buyer protection period.


I've already published a review of these exact batteries, also with protection and a raised positive terminal. I also reviewed a version with blue heat-shrink tubing. As far as I can tell, they're essentially the same thing.

These batteries have protection circuits. I could have bought unprotected ones, but this option was simply more convenient for me, and they're safer to solder to as well (I don't have a spot welder yet).


One small detail I missed last time: all the batteries have serial numbers, and each one is unique. For some reason, though, the numbers on some pairs of batteries are stamped in a larger font.


Their dimensions and weight are almost identical to those of the batteries I tested earlier.


For the test, I took two batteries from different packages. The “conditioning” discharge at 250 mA yielded 896 and 897 mAh. The batteries were initially charged to about 60–70%.


The battery's actual capacity is still a little below the stated 900 mAh, so a full charge at 0.5C takes only a little over two hours.


Charging at 1C also proved effective: it took 1 hour and 13 minutes.


Since the batteries have protection circuits, let's test those too.
The protection tripped at 4.1–4.2 A on both samples tested, which is very good, especially considering how small these batteries are.


Tests at 0.2C, 0.5C, 1C, 2C, 3C, and 4C, respectively, with 1C defined as 900 mA.
The batteries were charged at 0.5C (450 mA), with charging cut off when the current dropped to 50 mA. Discharge was stopped at 2.75 V.

At 0.2C (180 mA), the battery delivered 867 mAh, not much less than the stated 900 mAh. I originally planned to limit the discharge current to 3C, but it turned out the battery would also attempt 4C—unfortunately, not very successfully.


Temperature at discharge rates of 3C and 4C (2.7 and 3.6 A).
Since the 4C discharge was so brief, the battery didn't even have time to warm up. But I was genuinely pleased that it could handle 3C without any problems. The capacity is lower, of course, but I think that's because of the protection circuit: it causes a slight voltage drop, so the discharge ends a little earlier.


At 4C (3.6 A), I tried continuing the discharge as an experiment, taking breaks of about a minute. After four attempts, I got almost 800 mAh. I got tired of it after that, especially since this is clearly not a normal operating mode for the battery.


The second battery delivered comparable results in both capacity and temperature.



In general, the batteries' characteristics were very similar. I deliberately chose batteries from different packages, with different serial number fonts.


From photos of the protection circuit boards used in these batteries, as far as I can tell, they use a single dual MOSFET, the 8205, with a total resistance of 50 mΩ, as in these batteries. The protection trip current here is not half of those values, but higher, since a different controller is used instead of the DW01.
If that's the case, the battery's internal resistance is about 20–24 mΩ, which explains its pretty good performance at 3C.
Resistance measurements before testing, after “conditioning,” and at the end.


I didn't stop there. Before writing my review of the order, I decided to test all 20 batteries.


There is some variation, of course, but overall the results are pretty good. That said, it's hard to say how much of it is real, since these were tested with a much simpler charger than the one I use for my main tests.


So, in summary:
All 20 batteries either reached the full 900 mAh or came very close to it.
They handle a prolonged discharge at 3C without any problems. 4C is also possible, but the voltage sag becomes quite noticeable.
The protection trips at 4.1–4.2 A.
Judging by the unique serial numbers, these batteries are genuine. I know it sounds funny to say that, but TrustFire batteries are indeed counterfeited, because the originals are actually pretty decent.

Now, about their lifespan. About five years ago, I modified a number of radios and fitted them with blue TrustFire 14500 batteries. Not long ago, some of those battery packs came back to me with complaints that they wouldn't charge.
Testing showed that they had gone into “shutdown” mode. The charger used for them charges at a very low current until each cell reaches 3 V, and if the radio itself isn't switched off, they won't charge at all.
I “jump-started” them from a power supply, then fully charged them while measuring capacity. It turned out that after four years, they took about 1.5 Ah to charge (the pack is 2S2P). After roughly subtracting the current drawn by the charger itself and the active balancer, I estimate that about 700 mAh remained from the original 850–880 mAh, which is excellent in my book.


So, if you need 14500 batteries from AliExpress, I recommend these. I'm happy with them.