Why choose a battery with a lower mAh rating?

ssssnake529

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May 4,

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Utah

• May 9,

• #1

When choosing rechargable batteries, are more mAh always better?

I'm looking at getting some spare batteries for my Fenix headlamp. ( size.)

On the Fenix site, there are two batteries, both . One is mAh. The other is mAh.

The mAh version is a few dollars more expensive than the mAh version.

Why would I buy the one with ? There's nothing about it that indicates that it is special. It's not designed for cold temps.

What am I missing?

Fenix ARB-L21-P Rechargeable Battery - Fenix Lighting

ARB-L21-P is a high-capacity Li-ion rechargeable battery built for more power and longer runtimes. Battery capacity mAh. 500 charging cycles.

Fenix ARB-L21- Rechargeable Battery - Fenix Lighting

ARB-L21- is a high-capacity Li-ion rechargeable battery built for more power and longer runtimes. Battery capacity mAh. 500 charging cycles.

hamhanded

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Dec 16,

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PNW

• May 10,

• #2

In general, lower mAh ratings for a given chemistry can indicate a higher current capability/lower internal resistance, lower self-discharge rate, higher rated cycle count, some combination of the three… or sometimes just that the cell is cheaper (and the manufacturer is honest about the reduced capacity that comes with that).

pc_light

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Old Dominion, USA

• May 10,

• #3

+1 what @arrgh said.

sss... said: What am I missing?

See the specifications for the batteries' power output capabilities in the references you indicated. The -P is capable of Maximum Output of 18A burst and 10A continuous. Whereas the -P as 7.5A max current.

For example, for high output lights designed to be driven at the higher/highest current draw the lower max current battery might not be capable of delivering the maximum output.

ssssnake529

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May 4,

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Utah

• May 10,

• #4

I missed that issue of power output.

That makes sense.

So, the version will provide steady power for longer, but the may burn brighter on the highest settings.
(assuming that the flashlight needs more than 7.5A current to take full advantage of its brightest light setting.)

I appreciate the help.

alpg88

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Apr 19,

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5,785

• May 10,

• #5

it is not always the case, larger capacity does not always mean better power handling, (mostly true for identical chemistry batteries) but in general it is quite the opposite actually, higher power batteries use different chemistry which allows for higher current, but lower capacity
Fenix does not make batteries, they rewrap quality brands, so you really want to find out what cell is inside, mah may be a different chemistry vs mah. but your light is not a power hungry light. you should be able to see longer runtimes from mah,

Havok

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Jun 28,

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• May 11,

• #6

I'm not sure what's under the mah wrapper, but under the wrapper of my mah was an LG M50T.

Are you sure? Do you have the pink ones or know some place selling them?

Please visit our website for more information on this topic.

For more information, please visit SINC.

It seems they are all yellow at the moment. If you have info about the pink, I would like to find out about it.

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit mAh  .