By Mr Bazon, January 30, 2017
I've been using a variety of Ni–MH batteries for a while now but for sheer reliability and longevity the Eneloop ones are hard to fault. This is the 4th generation of the Eneloop range the first coming to the market in around 2005, over time the number of charges has increased from the original 1000 cycles up to a claimed 2100 as well as extending the charge they retain in storage for longer. Since Panasonic took over Sanyo in 2013 they retain the Eneloop branding.
It's easy to spot the newest model purely because they are Panasonic branded
The cells are quoted as retaining up to 70% of their capacity for 5 years and are ready to use out of the box
I tested the pack I got and the capacities ranged from 2020-2078 mAh this can vary a bit but you're guaranteed a minimum of 1900 mAh. Unlike some other makers you can be sure you'll get the quoted capacity Despite the higher cost per battery the longevity of the Eneloop batteries has been very good I've had sets for a good while now (over 5 years) and they're still going strong where as some budget offerings have lost their capacity or worn out after a few years. I've also never had a problem with the Eneloop cells fitting, in the past a few makers have played around the standard AA size and some are a bit longer or larger in diameter this can cause problems on some devices fitting wise.
On the packaging Panasonic recommend using their own chargers, but I've never had a problem with a good quality third party smart/intelligent charger like Battery Charger Model #7500-CH4A with any make of battery it's well worth investing in one of these as it can extend the life of cells and avoid overcharging problems that some timer/manual chargers have.
There are some cheaper batteries out there, and some decent budget offerings too. But despite the higher cost, this seems to be levelled out with the lifespan of the batteries. Hard to fault really, a very reliable and solid offering and suitable for use in a wide variety of appliances even heavy drain items like flashes and digital cameras.