The best rechargeable batteries you can buy

I've been using Panasonic Eneloop and Amazon Basics batteries extensively over the past few years and found them to be excellent. They last for years, hold a decent amount of charge, and have proven themselves to be safe and reliable.

I also purchased a couple of sets of the Lankoo D cell batteries for testing and found that they worked great. They passed all my testing for capacity, current, and safety.

This chart will help you pick the right rechargeable batteries for you. 

*Lowest price at the time of writing. Please note that prices may vary based on retailer and available promotions, sales, or discounts.

Depends on what you need. 

Do you want a starter pack because you're starting out replacing your throw-away batteries with rechargeable, or are you someone who wants to buy some bulk batteries? Do you want the very best brand out there, or are you happy with a more budget buy?

There's not an awful lot to rechargeable batteries. But still, here are some things to take into consideration before buying some:

• Which ones do you need? The most common battery in use nowadays is the AA, with the AAA coming in second place. 
• How many? No point buying a dozen of each size if you only need two AA for a remote control. Similarly, if you need a good selection then a starter pack might be the way to go.
• Which charger do you need? If you have a lot of batteries to shuffle then you might need an all-singing, all dancing charger that takes multiple batteries. But if you only have a few batteries in use, you might be able to get away with a more basic unit.
• How much do you want to spend? Set a budget and stick to it. You can always buy more batteries down the line at a later date.

I've been testing and using rechargeable batteries for many years, some great, a lot junk. Over that time, I've narrowed down the field to the batteries and chargers that offer the best performance. 

Here's what I look for:

• Longevity: I need them to last dozens of recharge cycles over many months. 
• Performance: I want batteries that give decent performance with each recharge, as I don't want to be swapping the batteries in my TV remote control every few weeks. I test the capacity of batteries both with real-world usage and benchmark drain tests using a variety of loads.
• Value for money: Sometimes, it works out much cheaper to buy a big pack of batteries than it is to buy them in packs of two or four. In this list, we've included the packs that offer the best bang for your buck.
• Good shelf life: Most people charge up a rechargeable and store it in a box until needed. I demand that rechargeable batteries can hold at least 80% of their charge capacity for a year.
• Safety: During tests, I check the batteries' temperature both during recharging and under heavy load to ensure they remain safe.

mAh stands for milliampere-hour, a unit of electric charge commonly used to describe the capacity of batteries. It is a measure of how much electric charge a battery can store and deliver over time.

The mAh rating indicates the total amount of energy a battery can deliver at a constant rate over a period of one hour. For instance, a battery with a capacity of 1000 mAh can deliver 1000 milliamperes of current for one hour before it is fully discharged. Alternatively, it could deliver 500 milliamperes for two hours, 250 milliamperes for four hours, and so on, assuming the discharge rate remains constant and efficient.

A recharge cycle (or charge cycle) refers to the process of charging a rechargeable battery from 0% to 100% and then discharging it back to 0%. It is a complete cycle of battery use and recharge.

A recharge cycle can happen two ways.

There's a full cycle where the battery is charged from 0% to 100%, then the battery is used until it drops back to 0%.

The other, more common way is partial cycles, where the recharge cycle can also be made up of several partial charges and discharges. For example, charging from 75% to 100% and then using the battery down to 75% would be a quarter of a cycle. Four of those would be a full cycle.

The number of recharge cycles a battery can undergo before its capacity significantly decreases is a measure of its lifespan. For instance, a battery might be rated for 500 recharge cycles before its capacity drops to 80% of its original value.

Over time, as the number of recharge cycles increases, the battery's ability to hold a charge decreases. This is normal wear and tear -- called chemical wear -- and it mean the battery will not last as long between charges as it did when it was new.

Ni-MH stands for Nickel-Metal Hydride, which is a type of rechargeable battery commonly used in various consumer electronics, power tools, and hybrid vehicles. It is a significant improvement over its predecessor, the Nickel-Cadmium (Ni-Cd) battery, offering better performance, higher capacity, and a more environmentally friendly composition.

No, don't do this. 

Regular "disposable" batteries, also known as primary batteries, are not designed to be recharged. These include common types such as alkaline and zinc-carbon batteries. Attempting to recharge these batteries can be dangerous and is generally not recommended because of the risk of leakage or even explosion.