Li-ion: MNKE IMR-26650 and Queen Battery QB26650 discharge capacity test

This time I've tested two high drain 26650 Li-ion batteries - MNKE IMR-26650 3500mAh/30A and Queen Battery QB26650 5000mAh/20A.

The MNKE is a very strange cell without any datasheet available online. The manufacturer's websites (mymnke.com and mymnke.de) are down and i tried to find some info looking into Google Cache. The specs i found were more than strange - 3.8V nominal voltage, no discharge cut-off voltage, etc. After that i decided to use the specs provided by the supplier and/or guess the missing ones. Anyway, it's not being sold anymore.
Li-ion: MNKE IMR-26650 and Queen Battery QB26650 discharge capacity test

The cells were bought from Queen Battery about 5-6 months ago and weren't used until now.

Positive poles: Li-ion: MNKE IMR-26650 and Queen Battery QB26650 discharge capacity 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 used the v2.0 of my battery holder (with 0.3mm thick pure copper pads instead of steel ones)

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 the 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 (24-25°C to be honest).

Discharge cut-off voltage is 2.75V for QB26650 and i decided to use the same value for MNKE.

MNKE IMR-26650 3500mAh

This orange cell doesn't have any rating or marking on its wrapping. There seems to be a marking under the heat shrink but it's covered by the letters.

Specifications:
Capacity: 3500mAh
Max continuous discharge current: 30A
Discharge cut-off: N/A (i've discharged down to 2.75V)
Standard charge current: N/A (i've charged at 0.5C/1.75A)
Max charge current: N/A
Charge end voltage: 4.2V

Capacity test results:

At 0.2C/0.7A it showed almost 3700mAh even being discharged down to 2.75V, not 2.5V. The 20A rate it held easily and showed 3472mAh (!!!) / 11.18Wh. This seems to be a great cell with only one drawback - its capacity.

Queen Battery QB26650 5000mAh

Queen Battery uses stickers on it's cells with quite detailed specs which is a good idea i think.

Specifications of Queen Battery QB26650 according to its datasheet (pdf):
Capacity: 5000mAh
Max continuous discharge current: 20A
Discharge cut-off: 2.75V
Standard charge current: 2.5A
Max charge current: 5A
Charge end voltage: 4.2V

QB26650 capacity test results:

At 0.2C/1A, 5A and 10A the curves and the results are quite good, but i really didn't like the voltage sag at 20A. I think 20A is not the rate at which this cell should be discharged. The maximum current i'd recommend is 10A or maybe even 15A, but 20A is too much for this guy.

Side by side

I can't compare a 3500mAh cell with a 5000mAh one but sometimes it's interesting to try:)

Just look at the 20A curves of both cells.

Verdict

Both cells have serious drawbacks which keep me back from recommending them.
QB26650 has 5Ah capacity, but does not so well at 20A.
MNKE shows very nice curves but 3500mAh for a 26650 cell is way too low.

I can't imagine any application in which this biggies can be preferred more than 18650s. No happy end, sorry guys:)

I've made the video version of this review. Watch it on YouTube.

Check out my YouTube channel for batteries, chargers and other stuff reviews.

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