Blackube AA 2250mWh USB (Black)



Official specifications:

• Voltage: 1.5V
• Energy: 2250mWh
• Output current: 1800mA
• Charging current: 5V/500mA
• Charging time: about 1.5h
• Cell type: Li-polymer
• Life time: 1000-3000 cycles
• Weight: 16.3g

This is a USB charged 1.5V battery, there is a LiIon cell, a buck converter and a charge circuit inside.













Behind the black dot on the front is a red and green led, it shows red while charging and green when finished.



Included with the batteries is a 4 way USB charging cable, i.e. any 2A USB charger can charge four batteries simultaneous.



The capacity depends a bit on the load current, but output voltage is stable.



At low current the capacity is also lower, because the internal regulation also needs some current. The battery can last for months at low current draw.











A load sweep shows that the current limit is around 2.5A



The electronic circuit makes the internal impedance look strange.



The voltage from an electronic circuit is not as stable as battery voltage, with some equipment it will affect performance.



It looks like the buck regulator runs at about 1.4MHz



Conclusion

These batteries has less capacity than normal NiMH, but run at a higher voltage. This makes them ideal for most equipment that has trouble with NiMH batteries. They also weight considerable less than NiMH, this can be significant in some circumstances. There is one disadvantage: Battery meters do not work with them.
The USB charging makes it very easy to find a charger for them.



Notes and links

The batteries was supplied by Blackupe/roca-sup.com for review.

How is the test done and how to read the charts
Compare to other AA/AAA batteries: Alkaline/NiMH/Lithium