Large CR2032 battery test

Prices for different CR2032 lithium batteries differ tenfold. I was always interested to find out how cheap batteries of this type differ in capacity from expensive ones and which ones are more profitable to buy.
I tested 14 models and found out everything.

CR2032 batteries are used in watches, remotes, thermometers, motherboards, and a variety of other devices. The cheapest batteries of this type cost 7 rubles apiece, the most expensive 150 rubles.

CR2032 batteries are designed for very low load currents. The manufacturers of these batteries indicate typical discharge currents of 0.2-0.6 mA and a typical capacity of 220 mAh, maximum continuous current of 3 mA.
However, sometimes these batteries “squeeze out” currents of tens and even hundreds of milliamperes (as an example, I will cite a Chinese bicycle headlight powered by two CR2032 batteries).

I tested all the batteries in the discharge mode with a 1 kΩ resistive load up to 2.0 V (during the discharge, the current varied from 3 to 2 mA).

Tested with a Chemical Power Source Analyzer Yarostanmash ASK2.5.10.8…

List of tested batteries, sorted by price per battery.

FLARX batteries from Fixprice stores cost 55 rubles for a blister with 8 batteries, but only four of them are of the CR2032 type (two more CR2025 and two CR2016), therefore, if only CR2032 is needed, the price of one battery is doubled and it turns out not 6.9, but 13.8 rubles …

TMMQ, HUANQIU and YCDC batteries were purchased on Aliexpress in the fall of 2020, while TMMQ did not have a release date or expiration date at all, and YCDC were released in the summer of 2019.

The tests were carried out in February 2021. Test results:

Surprisingly, one of the cheapest batteries – IKEA (149 rubles for a blister of 8 pieces, 18.63 rubles apiece) turned out to be the best, slightly ahead of even the expensive Duracell.

Batteries of Chinese brands from Aliexpress are significantly worse than all the others: their capacity is 2.5 – 3.5 times less than that of IKEA.

FLARX batteries provide 40% less energy than IKEA, but they are the cheapest and are quite suitable for many applications, and FixPrice stores, unlike IKEA, are often located within walking distance.

The quality of battery production can be judged by the stability of the capacity of several tested samples – the closer the results, the higher the production level. Two copies of IKEA batteries showed the same results – 616 mWh, two copies of FLARX differed significantly – 370 and 413 mWh, the “Chinese” with Aliexpress had even more differences – YCDC 76 and 111 mWh.

The pivot table also contains the results in milliampere-hours, in addition, I tested five batteries in high current discharge mode – resistive load 150 Ohm (current from 20 to 8 mA), discharge up to 1.25 V.

In the near future, I plan to conduct additional testing of CR2032 batteries: I bought IKEA batteries from a newer batch (I hope they are just as great), SONY and Panasoniс on Aliexpress (I suspect that they are not real) and several other battery models.

Thanks to the YAROSTANMASH company and personally to Yaroslav Menshikov for the provided ASK2.5.10.8 device. Video review of the device: https://youtu.be/UZ_PWCizbzM…