good numbers here:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?308451-18650-battery-test-with-capacity-curves-for-many-cells
the graphs are a real bitch to read, there are so many lines with similar shades… I ended up using the eye-dropper tool in photoshop to nail things down. I think that’s because he’s using the software that came with his CBA instead of a separate graphing package.
Looks like the “black/fire” trustfires are the ones to get among cheap cells. You gotta spend a lot (~4x as much) to get better cells than that. Right now I’m looking to put a 3A load on some 18650’s, so the TF “fire” ones are the only cheap option I think I have…
and 3A is clearly a stretch while trying to maintain 3.35v+
Digging deeper, here is an older 18650 roundup by the same guy:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?257543-LiIon-18650-battery-comparison&highlight=18650
This one has actual 3A discharge curves, very useful to me!
It looks like the “black/fire” cells from trustfire hold their voltage under a 3A load as well as anybody else in the roundup to me. they hold 3.4v all they way up to the 900mAh discharge mark. They hold 3.2v foralmost as long as AW’s 2600mAh cells, but at about 1/3 the price! (and that’s before AW’s $4.50 shipping charge…) http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?200812-AW-s-LiIon-Batteries-Sales-Thread-*Part-11*
For those looking to drive older (or dedicated thrower) Cree XR-E based flashlights, we can assume you need a vF in the 3.5-3.7v range if your XR-E emitter is driven @ 1Amp. More, depending on what the losses in the driver are. Looks like the spread is about the same, actually. I’d say that AW’s 2600mAh cells are noticeably better than the “fire” trustfires when you look at the 1A discharge (red line in graphs)… but again, 3x as expensive as the trustfires: