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Comment by Steltek | Hacker News Reader

Rechargeable AAAs are crap though. Power density sucks. Voltage level sucks (and voltage regulators will suck the battery dry before your micro does). And the form factor sucks.

I'd sooner have a 18650-family (e.g. 14240 or 14500) become standard than a bunch of AAAs.

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Panasonic Eneloops and similar modern low-self-discharge NiMH batteries are really nice. Their capacity is not quite as high as alkalines, but their internal resistance is an order of magnitude lower. At loads over 100mA, they're a far superior battery in both ability to deliver power and effective capacity. They have low self-discharge, so you can charge them after using them instead of discovering you need to charge them before using them. And I've never had one leak, but I assume they can.

> Rechargeable AAAs are crap though. Power density sucks. Voltage level sucks (and voltage regulators will suck the battery dry before your micro does). And the form factor sucks.

Not in my experience: our main TV is connected to a 2008 computer running Linux Mint that we use for netflix and amz prime. I've been using it in this way since 2016. The remote is an off-the-shelf wireless pointer thingy with a few buttons on it (works like a Wii controller) that takes 2x AAA batteries.

I've been recharging those 2x AAA batteries since 1996, and it still works fine enough that I don't feel compelled to replace them.

> Rechargeable AAAs are crap though.

Not compared to alkalines, not since about 2005. Voltage regulation (i.e. a boost converter) plays well with NiMH rechargeables too, though not with alkalines.

That's assuming one of them is an appropriate size and voltage for the application. If more than one starts to seem like a good idea, consider a larger cell, higher voltage chemistry, or both.

I use a lot of rechargeable AAAs and AAs. For AAA, 1100mAh are pretty good, which almost up to the ~1250mAh of an Energizer alkaline. For AA, there are 2800mAh rechargeables available, which is on par with an Energizer alkaline.

Battery hipsterism. Oh HN, you keep giving.

It was a valid point. There's a significant performance/weight reason most of the devices with non-removable batteries and built-in charging are using Li-ion instead of NiMH.

Getting a bunch of consumers used to buying spare Li-ion cells and using external chargers might be a non-starter, but it's possible to have both onboard charging and removable cells so the upgrade path is there for those who want it.

I've had a series of Canon powershot cameras that have all used more-or-less the same Li-ion cell design[1] and I've been able to swap batteries with them. They're big enough that third parties have even offered replacement batteries.

There is probably room for standardization of a compact, rectangular, rechargeable battery of roughly those dimensions. Is someone pushing for it?

[1] https://www.apotelyt.com/camera-power/canon-g7-x-mark-iii-ba...

I don't think anyone is pushing for that, though sometimes a company will design a device around another company's battery design. There's quite a bit of small photo/video lighting that uses Sony NP series camera batteries. Those are just a pair of 18650s in series inside a plastic box.

It seems to me the size of the G7X could have been designed around a 14500 cell instead.

Thank goodness I haven't heard a hipster sing the praises of carbon-zinc "heavy duty" batteries from Harbor Freight and dollar stores... yet.

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