Feature comparison of 26650 battery vs 18650 - which is better

In the competition between cylindrical batteries we have compared 4680 battery vs 18650 and 18650 vs 14500 batteries. And the 26650 battery we don’t seem to have talked about, today I will briefly talk about what is the 26650 battery, and the comparison of 26650 battery vs 18650.

What kind of battery is a 26650 battery

Every user wants the best from their devices, and a high-capacity battery is a way to go. This is what the 26650 battery offers and more. The 26650 battery is a kind of lithium-ion battery that is rechargeable. Due to its low discharge rate, huge capacity, and long life-cycles, the 26650 battery is the perfect choice for high-energy draining gadgets. Despite its high capacity to generate energy, the 26650 battery is highly efficient and safe, making it the top choice for devices such as heavily powered LED flashlights.

Interestingly, lithium-ion 26650 batteries have many similarities in terms of features to lithium-ion 18650 batteries. As a result, it is difficult to differentiate between both batteries and highlight their uses and peculiarities. However, several distinct functions differentiate both batteries.

What is battery 18650 – its pros and cons

The 18650 battery is a form of a lithium-ion battery, a dimension of 18 mm by 65 mm. This implies that this battery is larger than the AA battery. The battery dispenses a voltage of 3.2 – 3.7 volts and a current of 2600 mAh and 3500 mAh. The battery is also a form of high power battery built to generate a lot of voltage and current to meet the requirements of the device it powers. The 18650 battery has a peculiar quality that allows all of its energy to be drained to 0% while retaining the ability to get it fully charged again. However, this is not healthy for the battery’s life, as it can damage its overall performance.

Pros of using a 18650 battery

●It has a huge capacity: The 18650 battery has a huge capacity that spans between about 1200 mAh and 3600 mAh.

●Long service life: The 18650 battery has a long service life which has a cycle life of up to 4000 times, which is at least twice the cycle life of a normal battery.

●Safety: 18650 lithium battery is safe and less likely to explode and catch fire. The battery also has an excellent performance, which involves its life cycle, temperature resistance and the devolution of electricity efficiency. To deal with short circuit batteries, the electrodes of the 18650 battery are separated and protected with a protective plate to prevent battery overcharge and enhance the life of the battery.

●Production of high voltage: The 18 650 battery produces a voltage of 3.2 – 3.7 volts which is higher than the voltage produced by the nickel-metal hydride battery and nickel-cadmium battery voltage which is 1.2 volts.
●No memory effect: The 18650 battery is easily rechargeable.

●Small internal resistance: The 18650 battery has an internal resistance that is smaller than that of liquid batteries and polymer batteries. In fact, the internal resistance of 18650 batteries is lesser than 35 m ohms, which reduces the rate of power consumption of the battery and increases the time of usage.

Cons of a 18650 lithium-ion battery

One of the major cons of the 18650 battery is that their overall performance is reduced by cold temperature. And 18650 batteries have limited capacity due to their fixed physical volume.

Difference between 26650 battery vs 18650 lithium-ion batteries

To differentiate the 26650 battery vs 18650, there are a lot of criteria involved. Some of them are:

●Size: The 18650 batteryk has a diameter of 18 mm by 65mm, with 18mm representing the diameter, 65 mm for the length and zero representing its cylindrical form.26650 lithium-ion battery represents 26 mm in diameter, 65 mm in length and 0 for its cylindrical form. However, the diameter of the latter is larger than the former, thus accounting for the only difference in size.

●Capacity: The 18650 battery has a capacity of about 1200mAH to 3600mAH. The capacity of battery life of 26650 is larger than 18650, which is about 5200mAh.

●Cell voltage: There is no difference in voltage between the two types of lithium-ion batteries. Lithium battery voltage depends on the battery material, ternary lithium battery nominal voltage is 3.7V, lithium iron phosphate battery voltage is 3.2V.

Charge and discharge capacity: How long the battery will last is connected to the capacity of the battery. Therefore, a battery with a higher capacity will last for longer, while a battery with a shorter capacity will last shorter. Therefore 26650 lithium-ion batteries will have a higher discharge capacity compared to 18650 lithium-ion batteries.

●Costs: The prices of the batteries differ and vary; however, 26650 lithium-ion costs more than the 18650 lithium-ion battery.

●Performance: Battery performance is also related to capacity. Therefore, In these respect, the 26650 lithium-ion battery performs more than the 18650 battery, as it has a larger capacity and can last for longer.

Application: Both 26650 battery vs 18650 lithium-ion batteries can be used in many applications such as lamp batteries, power tool batteries, energy storage stations, industrial supporting lithium battery packs, power lithium battery packs, electric bicycle batteries, and solar energy storage batteries. But the 18650 battery has more applications, because it is the most mature and standardized cylindrical battery.

●Durability: Due to the larger space the 26650 lithium-ion battery has, it has more space which leads to better durability compared to the 18650 lithium-ion battery, which has a smaller diameter. 26650 vs. 18650 when they are in packs.

26650 lithium-ion batteries are much more efficient than 18650 lithium-ion batteries when they are in packs. The pack help increase the length of 26650 of durability and its charge life cycles.

Are 26650 lithium-ion batteries better than 18650 lithium-ion batteries

It is quite difficult to choose between 26650 battery vs 18650, as they are better than each other with different criteria and applications. However, if you intend to choose between 26650 battery vs 18650 in terms of performance and use, a clear distinction is power and capacity. The 18650 lithium-ion batteries are more mature than the 26650 lithium-ion battery, while the 26650 lithium-ion battery is superior in terms of its capacity.

Cost can also be a criterion considered to choosing the most suitable battery. Durability is also a factor that several battery users consider to determine which of the batteries are better. Even at that, it is difficult to decide on the most durable battery, as there are no clear-cut criteria to determine this.

How to choose the right 26650 battery vs 18650

The 26650 battery vs 18650 are one of the best lithium-ion batteries around and have become the standard for other batteries. However, despite how excellent these batteries are, they are different from one another.

Therefore, you must know how to choose the right 26650 battery vs 18650 for the job. However, an important criterion that is common to all of these batteries is the amperage capacity or continuous discharge rate (CDR). Therefore, you must relate the CDR of the battery to the device.

There are also protected and unprotected 26650 battery vs 18650 that can be purchased. The protected batteries’ terminals and circuits are packed into packaging. The packing of the battery has ends that are different from each other. This packing helps prevent excessive charging and discharging, exposure to extreme temperatures and short-circuiting.

Through the design of the packaging, the device in which it is used is protected and prevented from linkages or explosions. This explains why it is advisable to choose a protected 26650 battery vs 18650, which will protect your device even though it’s expensive compared to the unprotected battery.

Are all 26650 batteries the same

26650 lithium-ion batteries are the same in terms of their dimension and size, as the name of the battery represents the size. There is a major difference in 26650 batteries, as there are differences in the chemical compounds in the battery, protected or unprotectedness, amongst others.

For instance, there are different 26650 batteries with different chemical compounds such as lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4), lithium cobalt oxide (LiCo2), and Lithium nickel cobalt oxide (LiNiCo2), Lithium nickel cobalt aluminium oxide (LiNiCoAlO2).

What battery can I use instead of the 18650 lithium-ion battery

Most battery users who use high draining batteries such as 18650 lithium-ion batteries favour the use of batteries such as 21700 batteries, 26650 batteries and 20700 batteries. In car batteries, motorcycle starting systems, toys, etc.

These batteries can replace 18650 cylindrical batteries, and we all know size of 26650 battery vs 18650 is different, some devices such as some electric induction trash cans are fixed to use the size of 18650 batteries. Among them, we have written the comparison details of 21700 battery vs 18650 battery.

How long do 26650 battery vs 18650 lithium-ion batteries last

Although there is are estimated time for 18650 or 26650 batteries as their life cycle, the right care and maintenance can affect the batteries. How long 26650 battery vs 18650 last after one charged depend on their specific capacity. And it also depends on the power of the load appliance.