# Uniross Hybrios are Eneloops...?



## Mr Happy (Mar 16, 2008)

I happened to look closely at some Uniross Hybrios I have, and I realised that they looked very much like Eneloops. Suddenly curious, I picked up some Eneloops and compared them. Here is what I found.

Appearance

The Hybrios have the same white top and squareish button that Eneloops have. They also have exactly the same shaped ridge on the negative end. If you took the wrapper off the cells and compared them side by side I doubt you could tell them apart.

Dimensions

Here are some measurements with calipers:

..................... Eneloop ... Hybrio
Length .............. 50.26 ..... 50.26
Diameter ............ 14.10 ..... 14.10
Button diameter ...... 5.43 ...... 5.41
Tail ridge diameter .. 9.55 ...... 9.55

Dimensions are in mm.

Weight

Weight of one cell in grams:

Hybrio ... Eneloop
26 ....... 26

Charging

Two Eneloops and two Hybrios were charged from a completely empty state on the MH C-9000 at 1.0 amp and left on the charger for 4 hours after Done for topping off.

 ............ Time .. Charge .. Voltage after charge
Eneloop 1 .. 121 ... 1827 .... 1.454
Enellop 2 .. 126 ... 1911 .... 1.454
Hybrio 1 ... 128 ... 1943  .... 1.450
Hybrio 2 ... 128 ... 1950 .... 1.450

Time is in minutes, charge in mAh. All cells displayed an identical voltage/time profile during charging.

Discharging

Discharged at 1 amp on the C9000.

 ............ Time .. Capacity
Eneloop 1 .. 121 ... 1820
Eneloop 2 .. 124 ... 1860
Hybrio 1 ... 122 ... 1839
Hybrio 2 ... 128 ... 1904

All cells displayed an identical voltage/time profile until the last few minutes of discharge.

Here's a second discharge test. The cells were charged at 200 mA for 12-14 hours until the voltage stabilized at 1.51 V (I didn't record the exact time but it was the same for all four). After a 12 hour rest and before the discharge test, the voltage on all cells was 1.44 V within a few mV. Discharged at 400 mA:

............ Time .. Capacity
Eneloop 1 .. 310 ... 1864
Eneloop 2 .. 316 ... 1892
Hybrio 1 ... 310 ... 1865
Hybrio 2 ... 323 ... 1928


Internal Resistance

The internal resistance of sample cells was measured by applying a load and measuring the decrease in voltage.

 ........ Eneloop .. Hybrio .. Kodak Pre-Charged
V(OC) .. 1.433 .... 1.430 ... 1.357
V(LD) .. 1.404 .... 1.402 ... 1.300
dV ..... 0.029 .... 0.028 ... 0.057
I ...... 0.58 ..... 0.58 .... 0.56
R ...... 0.050 .... 0.048 ... 0.102

Where:

V(OC) = open circuit voltage (volts)
V(LD) = loaded voltage
dV = V(OC) - V(LD)
I = load current (amps)
R = dV / I (ohms)

Other Eneloops and Hybrios were tested with not much variation in the results. The above results are typical. The result for a Kodak Pre-Charged is shown alongside to provide a third reference point. All cells were freshly charged before the test.

Self Discharge Rate

I don't have any numbers for this, but I have left the Hybrios for months and found them to remain very well charged when later tested. They definitely hold their charge well.

Conclusion

By every test and appearance, the Uniross Hybrios that I have are the same as Eneloops. Since they are available in Fry's at $9.99 per 4-pack, this makes them better value than either badged Eneloops or Duracell Pre-Charged (another Eneloop clone).

Curiosity

The Hybrio label says they are made in China, whereas Eneloops say they are made in Japan. This would suggest there are at least two factories making cells using the Eneloop technology.


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## TorchBoy (Mar 16, 2008)

*Re: Uniross Hybrios are Eneloops*

I think this is very significant, although Uniross Hybrios are even rarer here than Eneloops are. :sigh: I don't think I've ever seen them at all.

The Duracell might get reasonably common here eventually. Where are they made, and what capacity do they have?


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## Mr Happy (Mar 16, 2008)

*Re: Uniross Hybrios are Eneloops*

The label says "2100 mAh - Charging time: 7H-420 mA Made in China".

But I don't believe what the label says about the capacity. 

I haven't had the patience to run a full break-in cycle, but I did a long slow timed charge overnight and I'm going to discharge at 400 mA now to see what I get. I'll post the results tomorrow.


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## Ray_of_Light (Mar 16, 2008)

*Re: Uniross Hybrios are Eneloops*

Thank you for posting it. I come to the same conclusions. I'm very interested since here in Italy Hibryos are available in every supermarket and specialty store, while Eneloops are much harder to find and more expensive. 
Uniross is a French-British venture and seems they "invaded" Europe with their product.

Edit: I run the capacity test on the Uniross Cell. The label states 2100 mAh, I measured 1900 mA/h at 1 A (discharge current) after three full cycles, and 2000 mA/h at 300 mA. May be they will give 2100 mA/h capacity at 20 mA discharge current, but I don't bother measuring it...

Anthony


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## chewy78 (Mar 16, 2008)

*Re: Uniross Hybrios are Eneloops*

I believe these cells are made in europe


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## Mr Happy (Mar 16, 2008)

*Re: Uniross Hybrios are Eneloops*

I added a second discharge test to post #1 as measured after a slow timed charge.


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## UnknownVT (Mar 16, 2008)

*Re: Uniross Hybrios are Eneloops*



Mr Happy said:


> Conclusion
> By every test and appearance, the Uniross Hybrios that I have are the same as Eneloops. Since they are available in Fry's at $9.99 per 4-pack, this makes them better value than either badged Eneloops or Duracell Pre-Charged (another Eneloop clone).


 
Thank you for this very interesting report, from the evidence of appearance and measurements you presented I would draw the same conclusions.

Up to now I had thought of just about all the LSD batteries the Uniross Hybrio were the most dissimilar to the eneloops -

............. Hybrio ....... eneloop
Capacity 2100mAh .... 2000mAh
Cycles ...... 500 ......... 1,000
Made ...... China ........ Japan

Some previous threads about Hybrios -

Uniross Hybrio - CandlePowerForums

Hybrio -v eneloop - CandlePowerForums

This thread actaully has a lot of debate on Hybrio vs. eneloop -
Lowest cost Low Self Discharge

Post #*123* in Eneloop AA are not that good due to reduced capacity
reference for the Hybrio % capacity retention - a UK site (US Hybrio site no longer seems to be working)

LSD cell comparo at DPReview.com which points to Low self-discharge AA comparison @ dpReview -

also the same poster @ dpReview AA and AAA NiMH low self-discharge tests--... these measurements seem to show the Uniross Hybrio with higher capacity than eneloops.


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## Mr Happy (Mar 16, 2008)

*Re: Uniross Hybrios are Eneloops*

Interesting links. One thing to note about all these tests is that the age and condition of the cells plays a part.

The Eneloops I have were manufactured in 2006, so they are getting on for two years old now. I do get the impression that these cells have a gradual loss of performance with age. When I first tested some Eneloops I got capacity measurements up to 1980 mAh, but I can't achieve that these days.

The Hybrios I tested do seem to have a slight edge on performance over the Eneloops, but it's only slight. Since the Hybrios are apparently made in a different factory, perhaps they have a more recent manufacturing date. Perhaps too the Hybrio factory has a better quality of manufacture?

I have many Eneloops and there is a good bit of variation between them depending on how many cycles they have had and how they have been charged. So I wouldn't tend to conclude too much from differences observed in spot tests between two different brands of cell. I could test two Eneloops that might vary by as much.

When it comes down to it I think the Hybrios are solid performers, and assuming the ones in stores now are the same as the ones I bought, I would have no hesitation in buying more of them.


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## UnknownVT (Mar 16, 2008)

*Re: Uniross Hybrios are Eneloops*



Mr Happy said:


> The Hybrios I tested do seem to have a slight edge on performance over the Eneloops, but it's only slight. Since the Hybrios are apparently made in a different factory, perhaps they have a more recent manufacturing date. Perhaps too the Hybrio factory has a better quality of manufacture?


 
This is a very interesting thread - since up to now it was believed that there were only two LSD technologies 
- and only two (maybe three) manufacturers of LSD cells - Sanyo in Japan and Yuasa in China.

Obviously the Uniross Hybrio (made in China) being so similar from your testing to eneloops has really now thrown this for a loop.

It's somewhat ironic you suggesting that the Hybrio China factory may have a better quality of manufacture than the Sanyo Japan factory......

Especially considering this concurrent thread -
Duracell Pre-Charged Rechargeables - Buyer Advisory 

where it was pointed out that Duracell Pre-Charged were suspected re-badged eneloops only if they were *made in Japan -* 
whereas there are now Duracell Pre-Charged made in China 
(although with different appearance - eg: black surround +ve button)


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## Mr Happy (Mar 16, 2008)

*Re: Uniross Hybrios are Eneloops*

I think that when a company like Sanyo really wants to get the most return from its investment, it may not want to (or have the capacity to) keep a monopoly on manufacture. Once the technology is defined and patented, Sanyo can license it to other manufacturers in return for license fees and royalties. Sanyo engineers could work with the licensee to build a factory that makes cells to exactly the same specifications as the Sanyo manufactured cells. It's possible, even probable, that this is what has happened with the Hybrio cells.


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## TigerhawkT3 (Mar 16, 2008)

*Re: Uniross Hybrios are Eneloops*

That's odd - I got some AAA Hybrios a while ago, but they didn't come pre-charged and couldn't even hold a charge, so I returned them. I got some Sony CycleEnergy AAs (rebadged Eneloops), and they did come pre-charged, as well as holding a charge quite nicely. :thinking:


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## TorchBoy (Mar 16, 2008)

*Re: Uniross Hybrios are Eneloops*



UnknownVT said:


> It's somewhat ironic you suggesting that the Hybrio China factory may have a better quality of manufacture than the Sanyo Japan factory...


In the post immediately before your one Mr Happy suggests the Eneloops are two years older.  :ironic:


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## UnknownVT (Mar 16, 2008)

*Re: Uniross Hybrios are Eneloops*



TorchBoy said:


> In the post immediately before your one Mr Happy suggests the Eneloops are two years older.  :ironic:


 
Yes, indeed - I was merely quoting and responding to -


Mr Happy said:


> Perhaps too the Hybrio factory has a better quality of manufacture?


perhaps you missed that quote in my post?


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## TorchBoy (Mar 16, 2008)

*Re: Uniross Hybrios are Eneloops*

Probably did - I didn't entertain the idea at all. The Japan-made Eneloops have two years production experience, and Mr Happy's Eneloops have two years use. If they are made in different countries I'm amazed they're as similar as his tests indicate. I wonder what his Eneloops were like when new...


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## UnknownVT (Mar 16, 2008)

*Re: Uniross Hybrios are Eneloops*



TorchBoy said:


> The Japan-made Eneloops have two years production experience, and Mr Happy's Eneloops have two years use. If they are made in different countries I'm amazed they're as similar as his tests indicate. I wonder what his Eneloops were like when new...


 
Perhaps a small point to consider - I think that two years on the eneloops was from date of manufacture -


Mr Happy said:


> The Eneloops I have were manufactured in 2006, so they are getting on for two years old now. I do get the impression that these cells have a gradual loss of performance with age. When I first tested some Eneloops I got capacity measurements up to 1980 mAh, but I can't achieve that these days.


(I'm not sure if Hybrios had any manufacture date). 

Mr Happy will be able to tell us when he started using those eneloops.


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## Mr Happy (Mar 16, 2008)

*Re: Uniross Hybrios are Eneloops*



UnknownVT said:


> Mr Happy will be able to tell us when he started using those eneloops.


They have a date code of May 2006 and were purchased in August 2006. I have not put that many charge cycles on them, perhaps half a dozen or so. Eneloops never run down, so they rarely need charging.


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## TorchBoy (Mar 17, 2008)

*Re: Uniross Hybrios are Eneloops*

OK, so they're not very used (compared to some, at least). That means they are well matched in age, and very well matched in performance. These Hybrios don't perform like those in previous tests. A reformulation, or a new contract? Could the packaging be wrong when it says made in China?


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## Mr Happy (Apr 22, 2008)

It has become apparent that there is more than one kind of cell being badged and sold with the Hybrio name. Since I neglected to do it before, therefore, here are some pictures of the Hybrios tested in this thread. The Hybrio is shown side by side with an Eneloop.

Negative end:






Positive end:





Side view:





And the packaging they came in:










This package is as found in Fry's at $9.99.

I also weighed them since I forgot to do that in the first post of the thread. The Hybrio and the Eneloop both weigh 26 grams.


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## VidPro (Apr 23, 2008)

good stuff Meester Happy.
i compare to the pics, and everything i see , and that you show, measured, looks the same as the enloops i have got ,both from years ago, and rescentally.

looks like, in that situation you got a cell that is as close as can be in similarity, so close i would wonder if they didnt all come from the same factory reguardless of the label (saying china/japan).

your "resistance" test should be enough to figure if there is the voltage drop too.

the only reason i mention is, some hybrio tests have shown a LOT more voltage drop under load than an enloop, which is the only thing that scared me. some tests were displaying "runtime" without concideration of the voltage. 

made me appretiate Silver Foxes Graphs with the voltage shown , even more than before. plus the Watts too.


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## Mr Happy (Apr 23, 2008)

Just as you wrote that, VidPro, I was completing the very kind of test you mention.

So here is a discharge test of some Hybrios like the ones pictured at 1000 mA on the C9000. Each cell voltage was recorded at various points during the discharge:

Capacity (mAh) Voltage
.... 150 ...... 1.25 ... 1.26 ... 1.25 ... 1.26
.... 500 ...... 1.20 ... 1.21 ... 1.20 ... 1.21
... 1000 ...... 1.19 ... 1.20 ... 1.19 ... 1.20
... 1500 ...... 1.16 ... 1.17 ... 1.16 ... 1.17
... 1700 ...... 1.13 ... 1.14 ... 1.13 ... 1.14
... 1800 ...... 1.11 ... 1.12 ... 1.12 ... 1.13
... 1900 ...... 1.07 ... 1.05 ... 1.08 ... 1.08

The final recorded capacities at the end were: 1972, 1937, 1976, 1984 mAh.

I would have liked to see voltages in the 1.25 - 1.30 V range at the 500 mAh point, but truthfully I don't think I've seen Eneloops manage that either.


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## Fallingwater (Apr 23, 2008)

*Re: Uniross Hybrios are Eneloops*



Ray_of_Light said:


> Thank you for posting it. I come to the same conclusions. I'm very interested since here in Italy Hibryos are available in every supermarket and specialty store, while Eneloops are much harder to find and more expensive.
> Uniross is a French-British venture and seems they "invaded" Europe with their product.


You can find Eneloops at the Euronics stores. Euronics generally suck (Mediaworld tends to have better prices for, well, everything), but for some reason they seem to be the only ones carrying Eneloops. They also carry Hybrios, strangely enough, while you can find both Hybrios and Panasonic Infiniums (but not Eneloops) at the aforementioned Mediaworld. I've seen no other LSD cells on sale around here.


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## bob_ninja (Apr 23, 2008)

I must be missing something here regarding pricing.
When I look at these batteries at Thomas Distributing:

Eneloop $8.97 4-pack
Hybrio $9.97 4-pack
NEXCELL ENERGYON $8.37 (mentioned in another post)

Seems Eneloop is only slightly more expensive than the cheapest choice and is actually cheaper than Hybrio. So what is the point here? How do you save money with Hybrios?

Unless you are talking about outside of US where Hybrios are easier to find.
My Happy is in California so why can't you simply order cheap Eneloops from TD?


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## Mr Happy (Apr 23, 2008)

It's just out of interest and curiosity. How is it that a "Made in China" cell seems for all intents and purposes to be the same as an Eneloop?

Price wise, Eneloops in Fry's cost $12.99 compared to $9.99 for the Hybrios. All other B&M retailers charge a similar price for Eneloops, and the "Made in Japan" Duracell Pre-Charged have a similar $12.99 price (at places like Target), so that makes the Hybrios seem like a good purchase for anyone close to a Fry's.

I agree that TD has a good deal but it is a special offer valid only until the end of the month, and you have to pay shipping charges on top. If I add a pack to my cart the checkout price is $15.68.


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## Black Rose (Apr 23, 2008)

Mr Happy said:


> ...and the "Made in Japan" Duracell Pre-Charged have a similar $12.99 price,


You folks south of the border have great prices and great choices for LSD cells at B&M stores.

The "Made in Japan" Duracell Pre-Charged are $17.98 up here at Wally-world, Kodak Pre-Charged are $20 and up (if you can find them). 
Eneloops are all over the place, depending on where you find them ($20 for 4AA or $20 for 6 AA & 2 AAA).

ROV Hybrids are the only ones that are decently priced, at $8.97 for 4AA or AAA cells.


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## UnknownVT (Apr 23, 2008)

Mr Happy said:


> Price wise, Eneloops in Fry's cost $12.99 compared to $9.99 for the Hybrios. All other B&M retailers charge a similar price for Eneloops, and the "Made in Japan" Duracell Pre-Charged have a similar $12.99 price, so that makes the Hybrios seem like a good purchase for anyone close to a Fry's.


 
The problem with Hybrios as you are finding out - is they appear to have at least 3 different versions - although one seems more easily distinguishable - ie: different color wrapper and labeled as UltraLast - there appears to be another very similar in appearance that does not seem to be an eneloop "clone".

I have said earlier from your results I would also surmise your sample of Hybrios are the same/similar to eneloops - 
however until this thread I had thought Hybrios were probably the most dissimilar LSDs to eneloops.

Pricing of eneloops -

1) $9.96/4 listed at Circuit City B&M

_*EDIT to ADD*_ - after reading Mr Happy's post of Circuit City being out of stock - I checked my local CC and they were also all out of stock - 
then I noticed on a separate search for eneloop - 
there was another listing for eneloop 4AA at $14.99 
- all local locations had stock at this price!!!!

2) I have read of people getting eneloops at $7.99/4 ($9.99? normal price) @ HH Gregg (in-store only - not listed on their website - link is to their store locator - phone to confirm....) B&M

3) CostCo had an eneloop pack with charger ~$26 for 8xAA 4xAAA, 4-position charger and C&D adaptors - even throwing away the charger and adaptors - these work out at just over $8/4...... B&M

4) Search on Froogle.com for "eneloop 4 AA" and sorted by price now finds lots of listings from $7.27 and below $8 - but shipping costs can be high.


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## Mr Happy (Apr 23, 2008)

The Circuit City price for Eneloops depends on actually finding them in a store -- they are out of stock in all the stores in my area.

Ritz Camera also carries Eneloops at $11.99, but again they may not be in stock. Their web site has this interesting message:

"Ships when received from manufacturer - Order Now!"

It seems there may really be a shortage of new supplies in North America.


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## Black Rose (Apr 23, 2008)

I've noticed at the two Costco's that I go to that the pallet's of Eneloops are dropping fairly quick now and both of them have about half a pallet left.

I figure this weekend will be the last time I'll be able to pick up a couple of 6AA & 2AAA packs before they are gone.


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## bob_ninja (Apr 23, 2008)

Happy & Black,

Well even with shipping for us in Canada it is still a great deal. Costco package I think (not sure) is $20 for 6AA and 2AAA, which is about $2.50 per cell. That is the best deal I've found here so far. Most others are $3 and higher and usually don't even have Eneloops.

So TD is little bit cheaper than Costco and you get bit more 8AA for 2 x $9 = $18 (not to mention the free holder)

Now I happen to order other things from him that I cannot possibly find here, so shipping is usually unavoidable. For instance I wasted a ton of time looking for AA-D adapters, while he has superb ones at a fair price.

Anyway for myself I found that deals offered by the common big retailers are so poor (with a few exceptions like Costco) that even with shipping TD has better prices.

BTW, fair enough. More knowledge is better, so by all means experiment. thanks


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## Bones (Apr 23, 2008)

TorchBoy said:


> ...
> That means they are well matched in age, and very well matched in performance. These Hybrios don't perform like those in previous tests. A reformulation, or a new contract? Could the packaging be wrong when it says made in China?





VidPro said:


> ...
> looks like, in that situation you got a cell that is as close as can be in similarity, so close i would wonder if they didnt all come from the same factory reguardless of the label (saying china/japan).





Mr Happy said:


> It's just out of interest and curiosity. How is it that a "Made in China" cell seems for all intents and purposes to be the same as an Eneloop?
> ...



There is no way I can rationalize it, but the comments by TorchBoy and VidPro on whether the Hybrio variant which appears in every respect to be an Eneloop was even made in China certainly struck a chord with me.

In fact, if I had to place a bet on whether it was made in China or by Sanyo in Japan, I would put my money on the latter, especially after viewing the side-by-side images submitted by Mr Happy in post 15.

I would bet that the labels were made in China though, and perhaps even applied there, incidentally resulting in the cell being shipped from China and reducing the odds that anyone who matters would question its real origin ...


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## Bones (Apr 25, 2008)

As Mr Happy has noted in post 18, there is more than one cell being badged and sold with the Hybrio name.

Presuming that the preferred variant is the one I believe to be a re-badged Eneloop, besides checking their appearance as detailed by Mr Happy in post 1 and post 18, there may be another useful identier of a re-badged Eneloop.

While reading another thread on the Hybrio posted by a StuartP on Steves forum, I noted that the self-discharge rate on his image of the package backer differed from that on the backer image posted on this forum by Mr Happy.

The backer image posted by StuartP claims an 80% charge retention at six months and a 70% charge retention at one year, which is typical for most low self-discharge cells other than the Eneloop.

Conversely, the backer image posted by Mr Happy claims a 90% charge retention at 6 months and an 85% charge retention at one year, which is the same as the Eneloop.






While it is certainly interesting to note that Uniross is not adverse to claiming the increased performance benefits on its packaging for the re-badged Eneloop, it would be even more interesting to learn whether they also make the same claim on the packaging for the Hybrio variant that Mr Happy has identified as not being a re-badged Eneloop here, and on the packaging of yet another Hybrio variant that doesn't sound like a re-badged Eneloop that Power Me Up has identified here.

I also note that Uniross didn't reduce their typical capacity claim from 2100mAh to match the 2000mAh claimed by the Eneloop when redesigning their packaging.


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## Power Me Up (Apr 25, 2008)

Bones said:


> While it is certainly interesting to note that Uniross is not adverse to claiming the increased performance benefits on its packaging for the re-badged Eneloop, it would be even more interesting to learn whether they also make the same claim on the packaging for the Hybrio variant that Mr Happy has identified as not being a re-badged Eneloop here, and on the packaging of yet another Hybrio variant that doesn't sound like a re-badged Eneloop that Power Me Up has identified here.



The ones I've got came with a 70% after 1 year claim - the same as the image posted by StuartP above.


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## CdBoy (Jun 9, 2009)

*Found New Version of Uniross Hybrio*

======================
Uniross Hybrio LSD 1900mAh
----------------------------
Made in: China
Model#: AA/R6/Mignon *1900 mAh NiMH*
Rated: 1900mAh
Std. Charge Spec: 380mAh for 7 hrs.
Diameter: 14mm (Top) / 14.2mm (Bottom)
Length: 48.2mm (not including nib) / 50mm (including nib)
Positive Nib: 4.77mm (Diameter)
Cosmetics: White top, *NO vent holes* on side of nib, outer wrap does not wrap around negative post, protrusion on negative terminal ~9mm in diameter

found the abovementioned item in my local hardware depot.

I thought that Hybrio AA comes only in the 2100mAh flavor until now.


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## sbrads (Nov 23, 2009)

I've just had a look at my 5 sets of Hybrios and the older ones from nearly 3 yrs ago were definitely not Eneloops; the vents are more rounded and the step in the negative end is very tapered. The newest ones, about a year old, are identical to Eneloops I have recently purchased (U.K.).


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## Mr Happy (Nov 23, 2009)

sbrads said:


> I've just had a look at my 5 sets of Hybrios and the older ones from nearly 3 yrs ago were definitely not Eneloops; the vents are more rounded and the step in the negative end is very tapered. The newest ones, about a year old, are identical to Eneloops I have recently purchased (U.K.).


That's especially interesting that it's the newer ones and not the older ones.


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