The Best Rechargeable AA Batteries in Canada of 2023

Disposable batteries are cheaper upfront, but investing a good set of rechargeable AA batteries that'll provide years of service in toys, flashlights or TV remote controls will save you money in the long run. Lots of it.

After hours of testing, the Energizer Recharge Universal (available at Amazon) ended up being our top pick. They provide the best balance of capacity and price, holding about 2200 mAh of charge and supporting up to 1000 charge cycles. Interestingly, Energizer lists the capacity of these batteries at 2000 mAh, but we found them to hold more in our real-world tests.

For a less expensive alternative, we recommend AmazonBasic Rechargeable Batteries (available at Amazon). Each individual cell holds about 1800 mAh of charge so your devices won’t run for as long as they would with the Energizers or other higher capacity batteries.

There are less expensive rechargeable AA batteries out there, but they come in packs of 12 at a minimum—this drives the price up and most people don’t need that many batteries, anyway.

How We Tested Rechargeable Batteries

The Tester

I’m Richard Baguley, and I have been testing and breaking technology for over 20 years. In that time I have tested everything from automatic coffee makers to wearable computers. Until 2012, I was the VP of Editorial Development at Reviewed.com, where I created the testing protocols that are still used for products such as TVs, dishwashers, coffee makers, and refrigerators.

The Tests

The most important things about rechargeable batteries are how much charge they can hold and how quickly they can deliver it.

So, we tested them by doing just that, using two high-end rechargeable battery chargers (a La Crosse BC700-CBP and a SkyRC MC3000) to measure the amount of charge that each of the batteries could hold, testing four of each and averaging the result. We tested AA batteries as these are the most commonly used size for modern electronics such as TV remotes, as well as some smart doorbells and outdoor security cameras.

To see how long the batteries in our test group would last, we used them to run two devices: a small battery-powered fan and a powerful flashlight. Drawing 0.6 and 1.4 Amps, respectively, these devices allowed us to measure how long each battery can run during low-drain and high-drain use. For these tests, we ran our fan at maximum speed, recording how long it kept rotating. Our flashlight was operated at maximum brightness—roughly 350 lumens—as we recorded how long it stayed lit.

When the blades stopped turning, the time was noted and the test was stopped. In instances where I had to step away from observing the test, I set up a GoPro camera to record the operation of the fans, just in case one stopped running before I got back.

What You Should Know About Rechargeable Batteries

Rechargeable batteries are pretty simple devices, but there is a lot of jargon surrounding them. Here’s our guide to the things you need to know to make an informed choice.

• NiMH: Nickel Metal Hydride. The chemistry inside the battery that stores the electrical charge. One side of the battery is made of Nickel Oxide Hydroxide, and the other is made of an alloy of several rare earth metals. When the battery is charged, the Nickel Oxide Hydroxide gives up a Hydrogen ion, which is absorbed by the alloy. When the battery is used, this is reversed, creating a flow of electric charge out of the battery.
• Charger: the device that controls the flow of charge into a battery. You should never use a NiMH battery (like the ones in this guide) with a non-NiMH charger, as this can damage them.
• LSD: Low Self Discharge. All batteries lose a certain amount of charge over time, even when they are not connected to anything. This is called self-discharge. Typically, a NiMH battery will lose up to half its charge if stored for a year. Some batteries minimize this by adding extra insulation inside the battery.
• mAh: milliamp-hours. A measure of the amount of charge that can be stored in a battery. 1 mAh is a flow of one milliamp over an hour, so a 2500 mAh battery can deliver 2500 milliamps (or 2.5 Amps) for one hour, or 250 milliamps for 10 hours.
• Cycles or Recharge Life: Each full charge and discharge is one battery cycle. All batteries lose capacity when used, meaning that they can store a little less charge with each cycle. Manufacturers offer a cycle life, a number of cycles that the battery can go through before it loses a certain amount of its capacity. This is defined in a standard called IEC 61951-2.
• Other Sizes and Adapters: We focused on rechargeable AA batteries for this guide as they are, by far, the most commonly used battery size. They can also be used to power devices that require C- and D-size batteries, too. All you have to do is pop them into an appropriately-sized adapter and you’re in business. This adapter set from Eneloop is a great option for anyone interested in doing this.

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Other Rechargeable AA Batteries We Tested

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