Best value AA batteries

When Which? tested alkaline batteries a few years back, the results for Lidl "Aerocell" were so close to "Duracell" that I am willing to bet they're the same thing. Two quid for eight is more than bulk buys, but is still pretty good.
 
ghostlymoron said:
CPC don't seem to stock multi pack any more.
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How many do you need? They still do a pack of 500 or a discount if you buy 3 packs or more.

I seem to get very variable performance with the cheaper alkaline batteries but at 20p a unit you can't go far wrong
 
Modern rechargeables work as you'd hope they would, just get some with a high power rating. I've pretty much completely converted to them now, using Duracell
 
bedouin said:
How many do you need? They still do a pack of 500 or a discount if you buy 3 packs or more.

I seem to get very variable performance with the cheaper alkaline batteries but at 20p a unit you can't go far wrong
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I was actually mistaken in my statement that packs of more than 4 were no longer available. I've been using Pro Elec brand for a few years now and find them cheap and good quality but couldn't find them on CPC website but closer examination revealed that they are still available in packs of 40. However, CPC have changed their T's and C's and now longer do free delivery on orders> £17.50 so I'll be buying from Aldi or Lidl in future. (The current need for batteries is Christmas lights!)
 
I now use only Costco own brand (Kirkland). I've found that for most purposes they outlast Duracell and are a fraction of the price. AAA £12/48. AA are similar (but I can't immediately find them on the website.)
 
I asked another forum of this in posts one- and two years ago.

In various tests (Which? etc), Aldi, Lidl, Ikea and Costco's own-brand disposable batteries came out top. Aldi Activ Energy, Lidl Aerocell and Costco Kirkland Signature all come out at £0.25p per AA cell.

Ikea's are the best rechargeable batteries - as they share the same charging and discharging patterns, they are believed to be rebadged Eneloop Pros, which sell at 4x the price.

Disposable batteries are made in two different chemistries - alkaline and zinc carbide. Zinc carbide are significantly cheaper (you might find a pack of 12 or 16 for £1 at the pound shoppe) but should be avoided because they have an abysmally short lifespan.
 
KompetentKrew said:
In various tests (Which? etc), Aldi, Lidl, Ikea and Costco's own-brand disposable batteries came out top. Aldi Activ Energy, Lidl Aerocell and Costco Kirkland Signature all come out at £0.25p per AA cell.
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When Which? tested AAs a few years back they gave the "Best Buy" award to lithium disposable costing (iirc) five times as much as alkaline for only twice the capacity. They defended this by saying that Ah was all they counted, not Ah per pound, which even by Which? standards is pretty weird.

We use some lithium AAs on the boat because their discharge curve is much flatter than alkaline and my crew has a camera which is extraordinarily sensitive to low voltage. Alkalines last a day or two (it rejects them at 20% used) while lithiums give a month. All lithium AAs are not the same, though - the last lot, bought in a packet of 20 from Amazon, were barely better than alkaline and have been relegated to clocks and torches.
 
Andrew_Trayfoot said:
I got a big box of Amazon own brand and they are rubbish.
Ikea ones are pretty good value
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SWMBO’d has bought a pile of the Amazon rechargeables and they are meant to be 2000ma but they don’t last long at all in LED Christmas lights. A couple of days maximum and I expected a week+. I must try some other batteries to compare.
 
JumbleDuck said:
When Which? tested AAs a few years back they gave the "Best Buy" award to lithium disposable costing (iirc) five times as much as alkaline for only twice the capacity. They defended this by saying that Ah was all they counted, not Ah per pound, which even by Which? standards is pretty weird.....
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They did exactly this a couple of months ago - unless it was a very old copy of Which I saw recently. I though they were being a bit thick really, couldn't understand their logic.
 
JumbleDuck said:
When Which? tested AAs a few years back they gave the "Best Buy" award to lithium disposable costing (iirc) five times as much as alkaline for only twice the capacity. They defended this by saying that Ah was all they counted, not Ah per pound, which even by Which? standards is pretty weird.
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Checking again I find that the specific claim was that Aldi's Activ Energy was Which?'s cheapest "Best Buy" AA battery, but I'm only quoting someone else and this was a couple of years ago.

Also cited were these two tests:
 
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