# Test/Review of GTL 18650 5000mAh (Blue)



## HKJ (Aug 8, 2012)

[size=+3]GTL 18650 5000mAh (Blue)[/size]







This is a very cheap battery ($10 for four, including shipping) with impossible specifications.

Official specifications:

RECHARGEABLE 3.7 V 18650 5000mAh li-ion Battery GTL
5000mAh 3.7V 18650 rechargeable Battery
No memory effect, recharge up to 1000 cycles
100% quality Japanese battery cells
100% Q.C. of every battery
Manufactured by Hi-Capacity power products.
Battery Dimension: Approx: 65mm(height) x 18mm (diameter)






The capacity is nowhere near the specified 5000mAh, not even all batteries together is enough.



























The two batteries has slightly different capacity, but not that much.


























This is interesting, they has very different current delivery capacity, i.e. it will be a very bad idea to use them in series with high power lights.






With the low capacity they are very fast to charge.



[size=+3]Conclusion[/size]

The batteries is as expected: Not very useful and with the low capacity they are not even good value for the money.
With unknown and obvious low quality cells in a unprotected battery I will rate these batteries bad.



[size=+3]Notes and links[/size]

How is the test done and how to read the charts
How is a protected LiIon battery constructed
More about button top and flat top batteries


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## shadowjk (Aug 8, 2012)

So they weigh as much as normal batteries, their internal resistance looks too good to be old crap, yet their capacity is only 1Ah, they aren't high discharge rate batteries since they do so poorly at 5C. Doesn't add up?  Are these ghost shift batteries with the expensive separator swapped out for a paper separator, etc?  I bet their cycle life is terrible


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## Robert_M (Aug 8, 2012)

Thanks for testing these ... its just as important to know which batteries to avoid!!!


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## HighlanderNorth (Aug 8, 2012)

For $2.50 apiece, with free shipping, you'd certainly think that they would have 5000mah capacity! From what I've read, there are other cheap 18650's that purport to have even more capacity. I'm sure there will be people that fall for it and buy them though. Just probably not many from here......


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## HKJ (Aug 8, 2012)

HighlanderNorth said:


> For $2.50 apiece, with free shipping, you'd certainly think that they would have 5000mah capacity! From what I've read, there are other cheap 18650's that purport to have even more capacity. I'm sure there will be people that fall for it and buy them though. Just probably not many from here......



There will always be people that buys these, but it is not even cheap: With these batteries you get 400mAh for 1 $, if you buy some 2600mAh Sanyo you can get about 380mAh for 1$ ($13 for two). This is not much difference between these "cheap" batteries and quality batteries.


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## Shadowww (Aug 9, 2012)

HKJ said:


> There will always be people that buys these, but it is not even cheap: With these batteries you get 400mAh for 1 $, if you buy some 2600mAh Sanyo you can get about 380mAh for 1$ ($13 for two). This is not much difference between these "cheap" batteries and quality batteries.


Pair of Sanyo 2600mAh's is $11 on KD, which makes them ~450mAh per dollar, so they're actually even cheaper than those GTL's


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## tobrien (Aug 9, 2012)

GTL = Gym, Tan, Laundry?


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## moozooh (Aug 9, 2012)

Robert_M said:


> Thanks for testing these ... its just as important to know which batteries to avoid!!!


Anything that claims specs rivaling or exceeding those of top-of-the-class cells while being noticeably cheaper is to be avoided like plague. At least now we know just _how_ utterly bad these are.


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## can'townenough (Nov 22, 2013)

I would advise against most all 18650s that aren't Panasonic or atleast have a known brand such as sanyo, or Samsung. I have encountered some claiming to be sony 3000mah which after using them for a few weeks they would only power my TM11 on turbo for about 15 seconds followed by another 20 of hi, 30ish of medium and maybe 2 minutes of low then nothing. These sony impersonating batteries don't say what country they are from and say Warningo not dispose of in fire, nor short circuit. Do not insrt batteries wit he (+) and (-)reversed. Other than that all the label says is SONY rechargeable LR18650 3000 mAh Li-io BATTERY 3.7 V pretty much just like that. Beware of these batteries where the producer doesn't want to be associated with the problems there inferior and dangerous product cause. I have seen GTLs destroy a Xtar S1 in only a minute or less of use. There are multiple examples on Ebay of these which I would avoid... usually anything that has the word fire in it is bad news and may cause one.


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## Kueh (Nov 22, 2013)

I was shipped these batteries instead of another generic blue brand. The one that I've tested seems to be okay. My guess-timate is about 2000 mAh capacity. It works well in my PD32UE in all modes. I tested it on turbo, pressing the side button as soon as it stepped down. It ran an hour and fifty-five minutes before the thermal shutdown stepped the light down. Voltage reading was 3.27V down from 4.24V. The charger was also substituted, not sure if it is charges individually or in a pair. Terminal voltage is 4.30 V. I'll have to test the other three cells to be sure as to the performance. 

Sent from my SGH-I317M using Tapatalk


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## Changchung (Nov 22, 2013)

Thanks for the review, I hate all this kind of battery. I keep with sanyo, lg, samsung and panasonic.


Sent from my phone with camera with flash and internet on it...


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## markr6 (Nov 22, 2013)

It's crazy these things are still sold. But as long as (uninformed) people keep buying them, they'll keep selling them! I probably would have fell for it a couple years ago if it wasn't for CPF!


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## MrElvey (Dec 19, 2013)

I bought a 4-pack of "5000 mAh" batteries on eBay that perform like these. They're just like these visually and, except instead of "GTL", they say "ICR". They say "+ ICR 18650 5000mAh 3.7V -" and even the font is the same. Different is that they come shrink-wrapped, individually, each in its own white box. One was DOA (Dead on Arrival). Performance-wise, the rest are like these, to the extent that I could measure their capacity and voltage. Seller sent replacements, when I explained they didn't come close to spec - were under 1000 mAh. They were as bad as the three that weren't DOA. Opened a dispute. Seller eventually offered a half refund. I declined. Seller offered a full refund. Received. So at least the immediate seller didn't make money on these. But seller is still selling them. I provided negative feedback.


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## MrElvey (Dec 19, 2013)

I think there's a lesson here for Panasonic, Sanyo, and Samsung: Honestly label your batteries. Don't sell batteries that don't meet spec. If you do, consumers will trust you less, and be more likely to go with competitors, who will be even more dishonest than you, and in the cesspool you've made, they'll beat you because they're willing to play even more dirty than you. Take the high ground from the start.

At least that's what happened with me. AA's from the big brands are honestly labeled. And so I've bought only big brand AA batteries. 

It's a good thing that DealExtreme is now listing two capacities for the batteries they sell, e.g. "Capacity: 3000mAh (actual 1800mAh)"


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## tobrien (Dec 19, 2013)

MrElvey said:


> I think there's a lesson here for Panasonic, Sanyo, and Samsung: Honestly label your batteries. Don't sell batteries that don't meet spec. If you do, consumers will trust you less, and be more likely to go with competitors, who will be even more dishonest than you, and in the cesspool you've made, they'll beat you because they're willing to play even more dirty than you. Take the high ground from the start.
> 
> At least that's what happened with me. AA's from the big brands are honestly labeled. And so I've bought only big brand AA batteries.
> 
> It's a good thing that DealExtreme is now listing two capacities for the batteries they sell, e.g. "Capacity: 3000mAh (actual 1800mAh)"



i doubt Panasonic, Sanyo, Samsung, et al even make these.


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## MrElvey (Jan 22, 2014)

tobrien said:


> i doubt Panasonic, Sanyo, Samsung, et al even make these.



Huh? I didn't say they they made the ones that are the topic of this thread. But the reviews HKJ has posted on his site (and I think here) indicate that even _Panasonic, Sanyo, and Samsung _don't honestly label their 18650 batteries. I do think they make their own stuff. But they are at least close to spec. By comparison, see NLee's reviews on Amazon of NiMh batteries: example, where he notes:


> - Sanyo eneloop AAA batteries are rated "800mAh typical, 750mAh minimum". Actual measured capacity (using the La Crosse BC1000 charger/analyzer) is around 830mAh.
> - Tenergy Centura AAA batteries are also rated for 800mAh typical. Actual measured capacity is close to 900mAh.


Hmm. I see there's a referral bit in the URL of the links in that quote: …ref=cm_cr_asin_lnk. Per the guidelines the only discussion of referral links refers to on-site links. So we're good. FYI, the referral link isn't mine.


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## Mr. Tone (Jan 23, 2014)

Ah, yes, the irony of the 18650 claiming the highest capacity actually have the lowest capacity of any 18650!:fail:


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## markr6 (Jan 23, 2014)

Mr. Tone said:


> Ah, yes, the irony of the 18650 claiming the highest capacity actually have the lowest capacity of any 18650!:fail:



Let's hope the same thing doesn't happen with LUMENS....oh, wait :shakehead


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## StorminMatt (Jan 23, 2014)

Even a high draw LiFePO4 (like the A123 Systems 18650) has a higher capacity than this piece of garbage.


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## Kueh (Jun 27, 2014)

Using a newly arrived hobby charger, a preliminary test discharge for one of these cells yields about [email protected] from 4.19v to 3.00v. Running a second test at 1.0A now.

Well, tested three of the four @1A discharge. They gave me 1560, 1560, and 1650 mA readings.


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## fivemega (Jul 1, 2014)

Kueh said:


> Well, tested three of the four @1A discharge. They gave me 1560, 1560, and 1650 mA readings.



*Total capacity of all 3 is even less than what claimed on each.* :thumbsdow :thumbsdow :thumbsdow


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## Kueh (Jul 5, 2014)

I'm thinking these are unused unsold cells that have been repackaged. It's probably just chance as to what capacity cells that you receive.

Having checked some Canadian e-cig sites, good quality cells can be had for "decent" prices. Still others are charging ...high markup prices.


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