Duracell vs Energizer – Ultimate battery showdown

mybroadband.co.za/news/energy/244152-duracell-vs-energizer-ultimate-battery-showdown.html

Jamie McKane

Duracell and Energizer are top battery brands which consumers know for long-lasting
performance.

The brands are known for their “longest lasting” and “best in high-power devices” products
by many South Africans.

To see which batteries delivered the most battery life under a constant high-drain test, we
bought dozens of batteries and put them to work.

Duracell Plus Power, Energizer Max, and Duracell Ultra alkaline AA batteries were selected
for the test, due to their similar offerings.

The batteries’ packaging states they hold their power for several years, and all batteries
were within their sell-by dates.

Based on the standard price of the respective battery packs on Takealot, the following per-
battery pricing was calculated:

Duracell Plus Power AA – R16.25

Energizer Max AA – R17.25
Duracell Ultra Power AA – R18.75

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The tests
For the tests, we used a West Mountain Radio CBA IV – which is designed to test small
cells and batteries.

The CBA IV is capable of testing batteries at load currents from 10mA to 40,000mA.

After consulting with battery testing experts, we were advised to purchase eight of each
battery and test them at a draw of 800mA.

This simulates the lifespan of a battery in high-draw applications and minimises the effect of
extraneous variables on the performance of the cells.

We took each battery – 24 in total – and tested how long it took for each to drop below their
suggested cut-off voltage limit of 1.10V.

All tests used an initial test voltage of 1.5V.

Results

Battery Test Lifespan at 800mAh

Duracell Plus Power

Duracell Plus Power 1 27:33 mins

Duracell Plus Power 2 23:05 mins

Duracell Plus Power 3 24:29 mins

Duracell Plus Power 4 26:19 mins

Duracell Plus Power 5 27:21 mins

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 Battery Test Lifespan at 800mAh

Duracell Plus Power 6 22:08 mins

Duracell Plus Power 7 22:27 mins

Duracell Plus Power 8 23:08 mins

Energizer Max

Energizer Max 1 30:15 mins

Energizer Max 2 23:05 mins

Energizer Max 3 24:27 mins

Energizer Max 4 29:30 mins

Energizer Max 5 27:17 mins

Energizer Max 6 28:33 mins

Energizer Max 7 23:02 mins

Energizer Max 8 23:05 mins

Duracell Ultra Power

Duracell Ultra Power 1 19:08 mins

Duracell Ultra Power 2 16:07 mins

Duracell Ultra Power 3 06:22 mins

Duracell Ultra Power 4 23:09 mins

Duracell Ultra Power 5 21:13 mins

Duracell Ultra Power 6 15:19 mins

Duracell Ultra Power 7 26:02 mins

Duracell Ultra Power 8 07:10 mins

The image below details the first two test batches.

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Based on the results, we calculated the average time until depletion for each batch of
batteries.

We then used the price and lifespan of each battery to calculate the average minutes per
rand each product provided at this level of drain.

The average lifespan and minutes per rand for each battery, calculated from the test
results, are shown below.

Battery Average lifespan at 800mA Price Minutes per rand

Duracell Plus Power 24:34 mins R16.25 1.51

Energizer Max 26:35 mins R17.25 1.54

Duracell Ultra Power 16:49 mins R18.75 0.90

The results show the Energizer Max AA lasted just under 8% longer than its Duracell Plus
Power counterpart – at an 800mA drain level – on average.

The Duracell Ultra Power’s lower lifespan is not necessarily indicative of its overall
performance, as this test only measures lifespan at a single power drain level.

The data gained from the tests also showed that battery life can vary between different
batteries of the same model.

While the Energizer Max had a longer lifespan under the test conditions, performance could
vary under different drain levels and in real-world applications.

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