Rated to last for 1600 charges and able to hold 80% of their charge over a year, the Panasonic HHR-4MVE AAA batteries appear to be ideal for low-drain uses, such as remote controls. In my tests, the batteries didn’t deliver as much capacity as I’d hoped for, plus the cover of one battery had begun to peel off.
Pros
- Huge number of recharge cycles
- Retain charge
Cons
- One battery had its label peel off
- Not very good capacity in my tests
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TypeThese are AAA NiMH rechargeable batteries -
CyclesYou can charge these batteries a total of 1600 times
Introduction
Built to keep their charge and capable of being charged up to a couple of thousand times, the Panasonic HHR-4MVE AAA rechargeable batteries would seem to be a good competitor to the Eneloop AAA batteries. The total capacity in my tests wasn’t as good as I’d hoped for, however, while the label of one battery started to peel off.
Design and Charges
- Takes a huge number of charges
- Keeps up to 80% of its charge over one year
Longevity is key for rechargeable batteries and, on paper, the Panasonic HHR-4MVE promises to deliver. Capable of being recharged 1600 times, these AAA batteries can be used time and time again. Only the Eneloop AAA batteries perform better in this area.
In addition, the Panasonic batteries are designed to retain up to 80% of their charge over a year, which means that you can either charge and store them, or use them in low-drain devices – such as remote controls – without losing power too quickly.
That’s all good news, but the set of batteries that I had bought for review didn’t deliver the best build quality. After using the batteries in testing them and storing them, one of the batteries had an issue: its plastic wrapping had begun to come off, with a small amount of beige liquid visible. I wouldn’t use that battery again.
While this doesn’t speak for the quality of the battery series as a whole, it’s disappointing to have one battery out of a pack fail int his way. None of the other rechargeable batteries that I’ve tested has developed a similar fault.
Performance
- Capacity declined slowly
- Batteries delivered underrated capacity in my tests
Rated as 750mAh batteries, I put these models through my standard tests using an Ansmann Energy XC3000 battery tester. First, I measured the starting voltage, which should be a minimum of 1.2V. Here, voltage was 1.29V.
Next, I measured the initial capacity, using the high-drain test (600mA, +/-20% with a cut-off voltage of 0.94V). The initial result of 736mAh is a little below the rated 750mAh, although my tests usually show results that are a bit higher.
Next, I ran 50 charging and discharging cycles, testing every 10 cycles. Here, the batteries were fairly stable in the results until 40 cycles in, at which point the results dropped below 700mAh.
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Should you buy it?
If you need a set of batteries that are rated to last for a lot of charges and can find these at a reasonable price, they may be a good choice.
If you want the most charge cycles out of a battery, or you want the highest capacities, there are better options.
Final Thoughts
While it’s likely that the battery whose cover had started to come away was a one-off, overall the Panasonic HHR-4MVE don’t stand up to the competition. If you want batteries that last a long time and hold their charge, the Eneloop AAA are better. The Ansmann Micro AAA 1100mAh are better if you want maximum capacity.
How we test
Unlike other sites, we test every rechargeable battery we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
We use an Ansmann Energy XC 3000 to drain batteries, so that we can test capacity in mAh. After the first run, we charge and discharge 50 times, measuring the capacity every ten runs.
We measure the initial voltage of the batteries, checking that the starting voltage is at least 1.2V.
