High drain 20650 Li-ion cells' discharge capacity test: Sanyo NCR20650A, LG HG6, Queen Battery QB20650
Hi guys! I've tested 3 20650 cells from Sanyo, LG and Queen Battery at 0.2C, 5A, 10A, 15A and 20A discharge rates.
The cells were bought from Queen Battery, a Chinese supplier of genuine batteries, who specializes mainly on EV and eBike market. Queen Battery has a branch in Europe, but they also work with customers from Americas, Russia, etc… They also have their own brand cells line and one them you will see in this test.
As always, I've tested with ZKETECH EBC-A20 and a self-made battery holder. It's a PC-connected battery tester supporting 4-wire measuring and discharging at up to 20A.
I've followed all the prescriptions of the IEC61960-2003 standard concerning battery's capacity measurement. Before each discharging cycle each battery was charged at standard current mentioned in its datasheet to 4.2V (cut-off at 0.1A, which is the lowest supported by EBC-A20). Before each discharging or charging i've held a 1-1.5hrs pause. The environment temperature was 20-25°C (20-23°C to be honest).
Discharge cut-off voltage was 2.5V for Sanyo and LG and 2.75V for Queen Battery (following their datasheets).
The main specifications of SANYO NCR20650A according to its datasheet:
Rated capacity: 2900mAh (at 20°C)
Capacity (min): 2950mAh (at 25°C)
Capacity (typical): 3100mAh (at 25°C)
Discharge cut-off voltage: 2.5V
Max continuous discharge current: 30A (suggested, not mentioned directly in the datasheet)
Standard charge current: 2065mA
Max charge current: 6A
Charge end voltage: 4.20V
Max continuous discharge current and 0.2C current in Amps are not specified in the datasheet, so i took the first as 30A based on the second page of the datasheet and the 0.2C current as 0.59A based on the minimum capacity of 2950mAh.
So let's take a look at the capacity test results:
Curves are without sudden falls but the capacity at 0.2C is just a bit higher than the minimum declared. At 20A it was almost 2800mAh, which is an impressive result.
The main specifications of LG INR20650 HG6:
Capacity (typical): 3000mAh
Capacity (min): 2900mAh
Discharge cut-off: 2.5V or 2.0V
Max continuous discharge current: 30A
Standard charge current: 1500mA
Max charge current: 4A
Charge end voltage: 4.20V
Discharge cut-off voltage is mentioned as 2.5V and 2.0V at the same time, so i don't know which one is the right one. I discharged down to 2.5V to not harm the cell.
LG HG6's capacity test results:
The curves seem very nice to me, the results are very close to those of the Sanyo cell, the difference is miserable. I think 2766mAh at 20A is a brilliant result.
The main specifications of Queen Battery QB20650 according to its datasheet:
Capacity: 2600mAh (at 0.2C)
Discharge cut-off voltage: 2.75V
Max continuous discharge current: 25A
Standard charge current: 1300mA
Max charge current: 2.6A
Charge end voltage: 4.20V
The specs are nice except the discharge cut-off voltage. The 2.75V cut-off means that if you are going to add a protection PCB to this cell you will have to find a suitable one, because the majority of PCBs are set to 2.5 or even 2.4V. But let's look at the discharge capacity test results:
At 0.2C (0.52A) it shows 2549mAh/9.37Wh - lower than declared, but at 20A it gave out 2368mAh/7.54Wh - a good result in my opinion.
For those who prefer watching rather than reading I’ve made the video version of this test with demonstration of size difference between AAA, AA, 18650 and 20650 batteries.
Check out my YouTube channel for batteries, chargers and other stuff reviews.
The cells were bought from Queen Battery, a Chinese supplier of genuine batteries, who specializes mainly on EV and eBike market. Queen Battery has a branch in Europe, but they also work with customers from Americas, Russia, etc… They also have their own brand cells line and one them you will see in this test.
As always, I've tested with ZKETECH EBC-A20 and a self-made battery holder. It's a PC-connected battery tester supporting 4-wire measuring and discharging at up to 20A.
I've followed all the prescriptions of the IEC61960-2003 standard concerning battery's capacity measurement. Before each discharging cycle each battery was charged at standard current mentioned in its datasheet to 4.2V (cut-off at 0.1A, which is the lowest supported by EBC-A20). Before each discharging or charging i've held a 1-1.5hrs pause. The environment temperature was 20-25°C (20-23°C to be honest).
Discharge cut-off voltage was 2.5V for Sanyo and LG and 2.75V for Queen Battery (following their datasheets).
Sanyo NCR20650A
This cell's marking is SANYO L NCR20650A 6219. The letter L means that it was made in Japan by Sanyo Energy Higashiura Co. Here is the .pdf datasheet of NCR20650A.The main specifications of SANYO NCR20650A according to its datasheet:
Rated capacity: 2900mAh (at 20°C)
Capacity (min): 2950mAh (at 25°C)
Capacity (typical): 3100mAh (at 25°C)
Discharge cut-off voltage: 2.5V
Max continuous discharge current: 30A (suggested, not mentioned directly in the datasheet)
Standard charge current: 2065mA
Max charge current: 6A
Charge end voltage: 4.20V
Max continuous discharge current and 0.2C current in Amps are not specified in the datasheet, so i took the first as 30A based on the second page of the datasheet and the 0.2C current as 0.59A based on the minimum capacity of 2950mAh.
So let's take a look at the capacity test results:
LG INR20650 HG6
I didn't find any official datasheet for this cell, but i found a couple of sites containing something very like a datasheet and i took the specs from there. The cell's marking is LGDBHG62065 P073C131A2.The main specifications of LG INR20650 HG6:
Capacity (typical): 3000mAh
Capacity (min): 2900mAh
Discharge cut-off: 2.5V or 2.0V
Max continuous discharge current: 30A
Standard charge current: 1500mA
Max charge current: 4A
Charge end voltage: 4.20V
Discharge cut-off voltage is mentioned as 2.5V and 2.0V at the same time, so i don't know which one is the right one. I discharged down to 2.5V to not harm the cell.
LG HG6's capacity test results:
Queen Battery QB20650
The QB20650 is rated at 2600mAh, thus it doesn't play in the same division as Sanyo and LG. This cell has no marking on its heat shrink tube, but has a sticker with the most important information about the cell and a link to the Queen Battery's website. Here is its .pdf datasheet.The main specifications of Queen Battery QB20650 according to its datasheet:
Capacity: 2600mAh (at 0.2C)
Discharge cut-off voltage: 2.75V
Max continuous discharge current: 25A
Standard charge current: 1300mA
Max charge current: 2.6A
Charge end voltage: 4.20V
The specs are nice except the discharge cut-off voltage. The 2.75V cut-off means that if you are going to add a protection PCB to this cell you will have to find a suitable one, because the majority of PCBs are set to 2.5 or even 2.4V. But let's look at the discharge capacity test results:
CONCLUSION
Sanyo and LG showed very close results and both are great cells to buy. LG's results are just slightly lower than Sanyo's. Queen Battery QB20650 is from another division, so i can't compare it with two previous cells. It's a good cell but one should pay attention to its 2.75V discharge cut-off voltage.For those who prefer watching rather than reading I’ve made the video version of this test with demonstration of size difference between AAA, AA, 18650 and 20650 batteries.
Check out my YouTube channel for batteries, chargers and other stuff reviews.