Author: John Muchow

Bottom Line: This is a rewrapped and ridiculously overrated 20A 2500mAh cell. In addition, one of the two that I purchased from Kdest was a dud cell (see test graph below). The one I could test performed close to, but worse than, the blue Samsung 25R5. Both Kdest cells were visually identical to the 25R2 (not the newer green 25R5).

Kdest has printed “MADE IN KDEST” on the metal can which is interesting considering that this is a rewrapped Samsung cell.

Pulse testing was not done as this is a rewrapped 25R2. The 18650 ratings table has been updated to include this cell.

The two cells were purchased directly from Kdest (http://www.kdest.com) for the purposes of testing.

Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/kdest-black-35a-2500mah-18650-bench-test-results-ridiculously-overrated-one-was-a-dud.777941/

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

18650 current ratings and safety grades: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/18650-safety-grades-picking-a-safe-battery-to-vape-with.7447

Bottom Line: This tested out as a poor performing 17A 2800mAh cell. The 20A 3000mAh Samsung 30Q delivers about 1600mAh at 20A down to 3.2V. This Gpower only delivers about 790mAh. And that was only after two cycles at moderate current levels to “break it in”, something that should never be required.

This cell doesn’t match the appearance or performance and of any Samsung, Sony, LG, Panasonic, or Sanyo battery I have seen. It appears to be a China-manufactured cell and not a rewrap. It has “ICR” on the wrap but I don’t know which battery chemistry they’re using. “ICR” is used for both the chemistry that is in LiPo’s, lithium-cobalt (LCO), and for the “hybrid” chemistry that is in 25R’s, HE2/4’s, VTC’s, and other batteries, nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC).

While the cell does list the continuous current rating in very small print on the “back” of the wrap it has its useless “pulse” rating in huge print on the “front” of the wrap. I feel this is misleading and I encourage all battery companies that sell to the vaping community to only use the continuous current rating in large print or to use both, e.g., “20A/40A” for this cell.

The 18650 ratings table has been updated to include this cell.

Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/gpower-yellow-black-20a-3000mah-18650-bench-test-results-a-poor-performing-17a-2800mah-battery.777193/

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

18650 current ratings and safety grades: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/18650-safety-grades-picking-a-safe-battery-to-vape-with.7447

Bottom Line: This tested out as a poor performing 19A 2500mAh cell. The 20A 2500mAh Samsung 25R delivers about 1300mAh at 20A down to 3.2V. The 20A 2600mAh Sony VTC5 delivers about 1250mAh. This Gpower only delivers about 750mAh. And that was only after two cycles at moderate current levels to “break it in”, something that should never be required. When discharged at its 25A continuous rating it became almost hot enough to boil water.

This cell doesn’t match the appearance or performance and of any Samsung, Sony, LG, Panasonic, or Sanyo battery I have seen. It appears to be a China-manufactured cell and not a rewrap. It has “ICR” on the wrap but I don’t know which battery chemistry they’re using. “ICR” is used for both the chemistry that is in LiPo’s, lithium-cobalt (LCO), and for the “hybrid” chemistry that is in 25R’s, HE2/4’s, VTC’s, and other batteries, nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC).

While the cell does list the continuous current rating in very small print on the “back” of the wrap it has its useless “pulse” rating in huge print on the “front” of the wrap. I feel this is misleading and I encourage all battery companies that sell to the vaping community to only use the continuous current rating in large print or to use both, e.g., “25A/40A” for this cell.

The 18650 ratings table has been updated to include this cell.

Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/gpower-yellow-black-25a-2600mah-18650-bench-test-results-a-poor-performing-19a-2500mah-battery.776965/

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

18650 current ratings and safety grades: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/18650-safety-grades-picking-a-safe-battery-to-vape-with.7447

Bottom Line: This is an accurately rated, but poor performing, 20A cell. The 20A 2500mAh Samsung 25R delivers about 1300mAh at 20A down to 3.2V. This Gpower only delivers about 700mAh. And that was only after three cycles at moderate current levels to “break it in”. Something that should never be required

This cell doesn’t match the appearance or performance and of any Samsung, Sony, LG, Panasonic, or Sanyo battery I have seen. It appears to be a China-manufactured cell and not a rewrap.

While the cell does list the continuous current rating in very small print on the “back” of the wrap it has its useless “pulse” rating in huge print on the “front” of the wrap. I feel this is misleading and I encourage all battery companies that sell to the vaping community to only use the continuous current rating in large print or to use both, e.g., “20A/35A” for this cell.

The 18650 ratings table has been updated to include this cell.

Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/gpower-yellow-black-20a-2500mah-18650-bench-test-results-accurately-rated-poor-performing.776679/

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

18650 current ratings and safety grades: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/18650-safety-grades-picking-a-safe-battery-to-vape-with.7447

Bottom Line: This is an ridiculously overrated 15A battery. It’s great that it doesn’t have the useless “pulse” rating in large numbers on the wrap but its claimed 30A continuous rating is a huge disappointment. The Imren Gold 20A 2500mAh cell was accurately rated. I don’t know why they decided to exaggerate the current rating so much with this cell.

Perhaps it’s due to a misreading of the datasheet for the cell they rewrapped? This Imren looks and performs identically to the Sony VTC6 (but this can change at any time). As clearly shown in the VTC6 datasheet, it is rated at 30A only if you stop when the temperature reaches 80°C. Since this battery gets hot enough to boil water when discharged continuously at 30A this cannot be a 30A-rated battery.

The 18650 ratings table has been updated to include this cell.

Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/imren-gold-30a-3000mah-18650-bench-test-results-a-ridiculously-overrated-battery.776371/

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

18650 current ratings and safety grades: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/18650-safety-grades-picking-a-safe-battery-to-vape-with.7447

Bottom Line: Writing this test report is a real pleasure. Not only is this cell accurately rated, it doesn’t have the useless “pulse” or “max” rating in large numbers on the wrap. This is a good performing 20A 2500mAh cell that looks and performs identically to the LG HE4. The 18650 ratings table has been updated to include this cell.

Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/imren-gold-20a-2500mah-18650-bench-test-results-an-accurately-rated-battery.776175/

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

18650 current ratings and safety grades: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/18650-safety-grades-picking-a-safe-battery-to-vape-with.7447

Bottom Line: This Sanyo is one of the new generation of slightly larger cylindrical cells being brought to the market primarily for automotive use. It is 20mm in diameter and 70mm long, a 20700 battery. Other sizes and designations for similar cells from other manufacturers include 20650 and 21-70.

I am rating this cell at 15A 4000mAh. It runs a few degrees hotter than the HG2 (which is why the Sanyo has a lower rating) but at 10A and 20A continuous down to 3.2V the Sanyo lasts about 25% longer.

There is also a Sanyo 20700A cell which is rated at 3100mAh and about 30A. You’d have the capacity of a VTC6/30Q/HG2 plus a 30A rating for just a small increase in battery size.

Either of these Sanyo’s could be a very good choice to 3D print a custom battery sled for. City of Cloud was kind enough to send me a couple of their samples of the 20700B for this testing but no 20700A’s were available. I hope to get a couple of the 20700A’s soon.

I don’t know if any of these larger cells will eventually replace the 18650 but the Sanyo 20700B is hopefully just the first alternative cell that I’ll be testing that offers a good current rating and extra capacity over our 18650’s for just a small increase in size.

Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/sanyo-20700b-4000mah-20700-bench-test-results-a-peek-at-the-future.775809/

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

Bottom Line: This is great performing 10A 3300mAh-rated battery. The 18650 ratings table has been updated to include this cell.

Panasonic bought Sanyo’s battery business a few years ago so you can also find this cell being sold as a Panasonic.

Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/sanyo-ncr18650ga-10a-3300mah-18650-bench-retest-results-a-great-12a-battery.774493/

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

18350/18500 ratings and pulse performance data: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/18350-safety-grades-and-pulse-performance-data.7566/

18650 current ratings and safety grades: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/18650-safety-grades-picking-a-safe-battery-to-vape-with.7447

26650 ratings and pulse performance data: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/26650-safety-grades-and-pulse-performance-data.7554/

Bottom Line: This is a good 10A 3000mAh-rated battery. The 18650 ratings table has been updated to include this cell.

Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/panasonic-ncr18650bd-10a-3000mah-18650-bench-test-results-an-good-10a-battery.774265/

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

18350/18500 ratings and pulse performance data: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/18350-safety-grades-and-pulse-performance-data.7566/

18650 current ratings and safety grades: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/18650-safety-grades-picking-a-safe-battery-to-vape-with.7447

26650 ratings and pulse performance data: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blog-entry/26650-safety-grades-and-pulse-performance-data.7554/

Bottom Line: This is a good 10A 3400mAh-rated battery that will often deliver 100mAh more at low current levels.

The 18650 ratings table has been updated to include this cell.

Test results, discharge graph, photos: https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/lg-mj1-10a-3400mah-18650-bench-retest-results-an-good-10a-battery.774181/