Author: John Muchow

This “40A” cell is overrated by a LOT. IronSmith’s rating is even useless as a “pulse” rating. The first pulse at 40A on a fully charged cell dropped the voltage to under 3.10V.

The 23A 2100mAh VTC4 easily outperforms the IronSmith cell. The VTC4 hits harder and runs for a bit longer.

I do not know what cell IronSmith is using. I thought it might be one of the LG HD Series cells because of its four “leg” top contact and ratings but the metal can and tooling marks don’t match any of the LG HD Series cells I have here. LG might have changed the can or it could be a China-manufactured cell.

IronSmith gave this cell a 7A charge rating. This is higher than the fast charge rate of any 18650 and is guaranteed to shorten the life of your battery. I recommend 2A charging maximum for long cell life.

I am rating this IronSmith at 25A and 2050mAh.

The two cells that were tested were donated for that purpose by IronSmith Group. Thank you!

Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/bench-test-results-ironsmith-40a-2050mah-18650-hugely-overrated-vtc4-performs-better.831997/

All my test results to date: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/list-of-battery-tests.7436/

This “35A” cell is so overrated I am again at a loss for words. This AWT appears identical, and performs almost identical, to the not-so-great performing Samsung 35E. I rated that Samsung at 8A.

AWT’s 35A rating is even useless as a “pulse” rating. The first pulse at 35A on a fully charged cell dropped the voltage to under 3.0V.

The wrap has “IMR 18650” on it but this cell does not use the battery chemistry often associated with the IMR model number prefix. It uses the chemistry associated with the INR prefix.

I feel strongly that each of us is free to buy whichever batteries we want but I urge you to consider whether or not you want to support a company like this.

I am rating this AWT at 8A and 3500mAh. For best performance I recommend not using this cell at over about 5A, 15W-20W or so.

The two cells that were tested were purchased for that purpose by me.

Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/bench-test-results-awt-35a-3500mah-18650-laughably-overrated-only-an-8a-battery-do-not-buy.830411/#post-20057635

All my test results to date: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/list-of-battery-tests.7436/

This “50A” cell is so overrated I am at a loss for words. It is a Sony VTC6 rewrap, performing and appearing identically to that cell. I rated the VTC6 at 15A

AWT has three 3000mAh rewraps, with the true ratings ranging from 15A-20A. AWT rated them though at 35A, 40A, and 50A. I am appalled at the extent of the rating exaggeration that AWT is using to entice us to buy their batteries.

I feel strongly that each of us is free to buy whichever batteries we want but I urge you to consider whether or not you want to support a company like this.

I am rating this AWT at 15A and 3000mAh.

The two cells that were tested were purchased for that purpose by me.

Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/bench-retest-results-awt-black-50a-3000mah-18650-obscenely-overrated-do-not-buy.830275/

All my test results to date: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/list-of-battery-tests.7436/

This “40A” cell is the exact same one as AWT’s “35A” 3000mAh, a rewrapped Samsung 30Q. Enough is enough, just don’t buy this cell.

I am rating this AWT at 19A and 3000mAh.

The two cells that were tested were purchased for that purpose by me.

Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/bench-retest-results-awt-red-40a-3000mah-18650-enough-is-enough-just-don’t-buy-it.830103/

All my test results to date: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/list-of-battery-tests.7436/

This cell has “35A” on the wrap, a useless overrating. It’s not even close to its true rating and can’t be a “pulse” rating because we don’t know the pulse length, the time between pulses, or the criteria used to set the rating. This means we can’t use the rating to compare this battery to any other…it’s useless.

The wrap has “IMR 18650” on it but this cell does not use the battery chemistry often associated with the IMR model number prefix. It uses the chemistry associated with the INR prefix.

This AWT performs identically, and appears identical to, the Samsung 30Q. I am rating this AWT cell at 15A and 3000mAh.

The two cells that were tested were purchased for that purpose by me.

Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/bench-test-results-awt-red-35a-3000mah-18650-ridiculously-overrated-not-imr.829827/

All my test results to date: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/list-of-battery-tests.7436/

This cell has “50A” on the wrap, an insane overrating. Even if we consider the 50A rating to be a “pulse” rating, which is useless, it’s still overrated.

This was a retest. The previous testing was done in October, 2016 and this cell was found to be an overrated rewrap that was identical in performance and appearance to the Sony VTC5. It is still a VTC5 rewrap but the performance of the two AWT’s I tested was a bit worse this time. They appear to be lower grade cells.

I am rating this AWT cell at 20A and 2600mAh.

With all the other cells that are available to us, without this degree of overrating and without being lower grade cells, this one is a terrible choice and earns a Do Not Buy recommendation from me.

The two cells that were tested were purchased for that purpose by me.

Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/bench-retest-results-awt-red-black-50a-2600mah-18650-preposterously-overrated-now-lower-grade.829543/

All my test results to date: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/list-of-battery-tests.7436/

This cell has “40A” on the wrap which is far, far above its true rating of 24A. It’s capacity is also exaggerated and averages only 3650mAh for the three cells I tested.

I have spoken to iJoy though and they have agreed to rewrap the cell using more realistic ratings. I will retest when the new wrap is available.

There was a greater than typical variation in the capacities of the three cells I tested. It almost appears that there is no grading by capacity for the cells coming off the assembly line. It would take several days of testing to determine the true capacity rating of this cell but the 3650mAh rating I am giving it is close to its true rating.

This cell is outperformed by the 40A 3000mAh iJoy/Ampking/EBAT/Efest 20700 which hits harder and runs just as long at moderate to high power levels. I recommend using this cell at power levels of 50W or less to help prevent voltage sag from giving you early weak/low battery alerts in a regulated mod.

This iJoy cell does outperform the 15A 4000mAh Sanyo NCR20700B cell though.

While I am extremely disappointed with the degree of overrating of this cell by iJoy I am glad that they are willing to rewrap it with more realistic ratings.

This cell is not a rewrap of any other 21700 that I am aware of. I am rating this iJoy cell at 24A and 3650mAh.

The two cells that were tested were purchased for that purpose by me.

Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/bench-test-results-ijoy-40a-3750mah-21700-hugely-overrated-but-better-than-ncr20700b.827513/

All my test results to date: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/list-of-battery-tests.7436/

This cell has “25A CDC” on the wrap which I believe is a continuous discharge current rating. While this is a bit of an overrating I am delighted to say that there is no useless “max” or “pulse” rating on the wrap

The wrap has “IMR 18650” on it but this cell does not use the battery chemistry often associated with the IMR model number prefix. It uses the chemistry associated with the INR prefix.

This cell appears identical, and performs essentially identical, to the LG HG2. I am rating this Golisi cell at 20A and 3000mAh.

The two cells that were tested were donated by Golisi for that purpose. Thank you!

Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/bench-test-results-golisi-gold-g30-25a-3000mah-bit-overrated-appears-to-be-hg2.826671/

All my test results to date: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/list-of-battery-tests.7436/

This cell has “Max Continuous 40A ” on the wrap but this is a ridiciculous overrating. The “Pulse 85A” rating is completely useless. At 85A the voltage dropped to my 2.5V cutoff in a fraction of a second.

The wrap has “IMR26650” on it but I do not know if this cell uses the chemistry associated with the IMR model number prefix.

This is a very long cell, averaging 67.3mm, and will not fit in some mods. I do not have a list of which.

Compared to the Shockli Black 20A 5500mAh this Brillipower hits a little harder at the start but performs worse for the rest of the discharge. For low to moderate power vaping the Shockli is a better choice.

I am rating this Brillipower cell at 20A and 5000mAh.

The two cells that were tested were purchased for that purpose by me.

Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/bench-test-results-brillipower-pink-5000mah-40a-26650-comically-overrated-very-long-not-imr.826523/

All my test results to date: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/list-of-battery-tests.7436/

This cell has “80A” on the wrap. This is so much of an overrating all I can do is laugh. Even if we consider the 80A rating to be a useless “pulse” rating it’s still grossly overrated. At 80A the voltage dropped to my 2.5V cutoff in a fraction of a second.

The 4500mAh capacity of this cell is also exaggerated. It is a 4300mAh cell, at the most.

The wrap has “IMR26650” on it but I do not know if this cell uses the chemistry associated with the IMR model number prefix.

I am rating this Brillipower cell at 23A and 4300mAh. Now that we have better 26650’s to choose from this Brillipower will be removed from my Recommended Batteries table.

With all the other cells that are available to us, without this degree of overrating, this one is a terrible choice and earns a Do Not Buy recommendation from me.

The two cells that were tested were purchased for that purpose by me.

Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/bench-retest-results-brillipower-green-4500mah-80a-26650-laughably-overrated-not-imr.826373/

All my test results to date: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/list-of-battery-tests.7436/