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Comment by blibble | Hacker News Reader

you're paying for the brand, shelf position and other advertising

cheap and reputable supermarket brand ones last just long

GP meant price for alkaline batteries did not come down.

Another point to consider is if you leave the alkaline battery in for too long will the chemical leak and ruin your device? The damage to your device from a broken battery could easily exceed the cost differential. I don't have solid evidence that brand names work better in this regard but I have definitely experienced repeatedly generic batteries having white corrosive crystaline stuff formed all around them.

People should quit buying alkaline batteries anyway. NiMH batteries are great for just about every application you'd use a throway for, and you only have to recharge them about twice to "get your money back."

The starting voltage is lower and drops faster making them not ideal for some applications and just annoying for some others (ie. motors start slow and get slower quicker than Alkaline).

Charge speeds also suck unless you get some of the fancy expensive chargers.

Yeah, there are some things they aren't great on but for most things they are fine.

> Charge speeds also suck unless you get some of the fancy expensive chargers.

This has been a total non-issue to me. I have 30 or 40 batteries running around total, keeping 4 spares on the charger is no big deal

>cheap and reputable supermarket brand ones last just long

Absolutely not. There are plenty of Youtubers testing this theory. Here is a pretty credible reviewer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7-ghrTqA44

I personally have had nightmarish results with Amazon Basics Alkaline. In my experience these batteries have a greater tendency than other brands to leak over time and have destroyed multiple electronic equipment that I have owned. It was a big mistake on my part because I bought a large package of them, installed them and then didn't realize that many of them leaked until it was too late and they have eaten away many terminals in the different devices I put them in.

> I personally have had nightmarish results with Amazon Basics Alkaline.

I did say reputable!

re: the video, he should really test more than a single pack of batteries of each type...

How do you tell the difference between a battery brand that is more expensive because the battery has greater capacity (“heavy duty”, “extra long life”, etc.) and a brand that is more expensive because of the brand name? Last time I looked in the supermarket there were no comparable metrics printed on the packaging.

You can't, and you don't know who is private labeling what, either. If you can get a data sheet, the better companies have more detailed data sheets.

Personally, I like the Energizer (primary, i.e. disposable) lithiums for nice things like my old HP logic dart that will sit in a drawer for a long time between uses, and Panasonic (formerly Sanyo) Eneloop NiMH batteries for most other things, and the cheapo Costco batteries for when I really don't care.

The three major US brands of alkaline batteries all have warranties for corrosion damage. I don't know of any other brands that do. I have seen corrosion in every brand of alkaline battery I've ever bought but have never tried to collect on any warranty.

“Energizer will repair or replace, at our option, any device damaged by leakage from Energizer MAX® Alkaline batteries either during the life of the battery or within two years following the full use of the battery.” https://www.energizer.com/about-batteries/battery-leakage

“Duracell guarantees its batteries against defects in materials and workmanship. Should any device be damaged due to a battery defect, we will repair or replace it at our option.” https://www.duracell.com/en-ca/technology/battery-care-use-a...

"In the unlikely event of alkaline battery leakage, any battery operated device that is damaged by RAYOVAC® Alkaline Batteries will be repaired, replaced or refunded, at our option, as long as the batteries have not expired or been mixed by expiry date and/or battery type.” http://www.rayovac.com/support/warranties-and-guarantees.asp...

I have a unproven suspicion that Rechargeable Energizer may actually be Panasonic cells. I tend to see them both marked as made in Japan and they both seem to be great quality.

Could be. I have no special insight into Energizer, but generally, the private-label product you buy today might not be the same six months from now. And even if they are Panasonic cells, they might not be identical to Eneloop, either.

The private-label guessing game cuts both ways, too: there are 2nd-tier alkaline manufacturers that swear they are a contract manufacturer for at least one of the major US brand names, with portions of their factory they can't show you because then you'd find out. Even if it's true, it doesn't mean the battery they sell you will be built to the same standards, with the same materials, or put through the same QA as the battery they make for someone in the battery business.

Looking at a couple stores, the difference is around 50 cents per AA vs. 70 cents per AA at moderate pack sizes. That's good in comparison but it's about the same price it was a decade ago. Even comparing to 1990, when "alkaline" wasn't yet the default, they were about the same price. "Alkaline: These cost about $2 to $3 a pair for C or D flashlight cells, and about half that for the AA and smaller AAA penlight batteries."

At best you can say they've dropped along with inflation, which is a factor of 2.

No question. Same thing you see in the generic pain relief aisle (ibuprofen, acetaminophen, et al), and many common grocery items.

10 pack of AA Rayovac batteries at Walmart: $3.20

Eight pack of AA Duracell: $7.47

Pretty ridiculous. For $7.78 you can get a 24 pack of ACDelco AA batteries (granted I don't know how that brand stands up on quality).

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