BeVigor CR123A Battery Review
The battery manufacturer BeVigor reached out to me recently and asked if I would be interested in reviewing some batteries, and if so, which ones. I opted for the BeVigor CR123A Battery. I’m one of those unusual people that use a LOT of CR123A batteries. Not only are they expensive usually, the ones I have used just don’t last that long.
The Company
I’m told the company name “BeVigor” is a play on words for “be vigorous”!
And sure enough my volt meter does imply strength and energy. I supply the enthusiasm. Allow me to demonstrate my enthusiasm by reading on.
Specifications
I won’t provide the entire list. But I will list the ones that are important to me (and hopefully you).
- Operating Temp Range is-40℃ to 70℃ (-40°F to 158°F)
- Chemical makeup – Lithium / Manganese Dioxide (Li/MnO2)
- Nominal Voltage – 3.0 volts (measured new with no load nearly 3.3 volts)
- Capacity – 1500 mAh (fairly standard)
- 10 year shelf life
Primary Uses
I have three main uses for these batteries.
- Z Wave Motion Sensors – I have them all over the house and they all use CR123A’s
- Z Wave Moisture Sensors – I have these located where there could be water leaks
- Tactical Field Lights – I actually use these on bicycle rides as a high powered blinky
- BONUS USE: Every once in a while I’ll find an old camera or flash that uses 123 batteries
Voltage Test
This is promising. Nearly 3.3 volts on each of the 12 batteries they sent me. I have seen big brand name batteries that only measure about 3.1 volts directly out of the shrink wrap. Some even less.
CR123A batteries tend to hold their voltage well over long periods of time but once they begin to degrade they fall off fast.
I won’t be able to speak to longevity here in this blog since I just got these, however I am impressed with the nominal starting voltage.
Longevity is very import to me since I have 2 moisture sensors that are located in the most ridiculous spots imaginable. One is in an attic with a tiny access and the other is in a hot water heater closet that is ironically in a small door inside the smallest of closets. I have to psych myself up every year to change those batteries.
BeVigor CR123A Battery Discharge Rates
Longevity testing is always the best indicator of a well performing battery. However, engineers and lab technicians will always find a way to simulate testing to predict discharge rates. CR123A batteries are no different. I asked BeVigor for a discharge rate study which they happily provided to me. But it doesn’t end there. Here at John’s Tech Blog I follow the words of our great American President Ronald Reagan. “Trust But Verify”.
Essentially, you put a resistive load across the battery, measure voltage every few hours, and record the results. I don’t have a tester for a non-rechargeable battery (other than a voltmeter) so I rigged up my own test jig.
I 3D printed a jig someone else designed. It has holes on the +/- ends which you simply feed a bare wire through and then snap the battery in. From there I simply clipped a 1/4 watt, 100 ohm resistor inline. This simulates a constant load on the battery which allows for measurement plotting. While my jig is DIY simplistic, so far my discharge testing reveals that their testing document is repeatable in the field.
My Results
My tests revealed perfect mirroring of their discharge rates. I’m stopping the test at 52 hours as the voltage will fall off very quickly at this point and it’s kinda dangerous beyond this point (well around 2.0 volts, anyway). 2 volts is considered completely drained for a CR123A battery.
A Real World Test
Backstory
This is very timely to me. I’m into Home Automation. Our garage lights were in nasty old fixtures and it just wan’t well lit. I bought some smart light bulbs and flood lights and paired them to some motion sensors. Now when we walk out into the garage from inside, or when we walk into the garage from outside your motion will illuminate the lights. Perfect! And they stay on for 3 minutes which seems adequate for us. Also they will text me during sleeping hours if they go off.
When I get one of those texts in the middle of the night I can silently slip towards that area strapped to the max like Clint Eastwood in a Dirty Harry movie. So you can see why the batteries in those motion sensors are so critical.
Brrrrrrrrrrr
It just turned cold here in Eastern North Carolina. And I have found that in the AM when it dips below freezing those motion sensors may trigger, or they may not trigger. If they do trigger the sensor state may not clear which means my 3 minute illumination period might not work and the lights stay on until manually turned off.
Not an acceptable condition.
So here is my real world test. Replace big name batteries with BeVigor batteries and see if there are failures during low temperatures.
Let’s see how the BeVigor fared after a few days of use in below freezing temperatures.
This is the first day below freezing since I installed these batteries. And remember, the batteries I had with name recognition were behaving very badly on mornings with below freezing temperatures. And I should point out that I installed them less than two weeks ago. They were brand new batteries.
And I should point out that while it is below freezing outside, it is a little warmer in the garage. 40’s ℉ roughly.
The following morning it was 24 ℉ outside and the motion detectors worked perfectly. I now know for a fact this was a battery issue.
To me, this is an important detail. The name recognition batteries I was using previously are a LOT more expensive and perform worse in cold temperature environments.
Cost
CR123A batteries are historically EXPENSIVE. You can search them on Amazon and most brands are 2-3x’s more expensive for SIX batteries compared to the deal in the paragraph below.
BeVigor batteries are currently on a Limited Time Deal for $11.99 for 12 batteries. at Amazon. Holy smokes! Even though they just GAVE ME 12 to test, I just bought 12 more at this price.
BeVigor has gained a customer in addition to a reviewer.
Besides, I have used 8 already in devices at home I am monitoring and I’m destroying the battery in the photo above in the name of science!
A Funny CR123 Story
CR123A batteries are easily obtainable in the US, but allow me to tell you a story. I was a Civilian DoD Tech Rep who certified USMC and Navy lighting and visual landing aid systems. I was embedded with the USMC for many, many years.
They had purchased tactical lights called VIP or VIPer lights which they intended to use in helicopter landing zones (LZ’s). Our first deployment was to Legaspi Philippines in Bicol Province. They had gotten slammed with 3 consecutive typhoons and had a massive mudslide which took out a small village. We made an LZ for a field hospital in a barn of all places. It wasn’t long after we installed them (and I left) that the Marines discovered that they couldn’t source CR123 batteries locally anywhere. They had to fly them in from Japan. Shortly thereafter the USMC abandoned that lighting system because of that.
That story has no relevance to BeVigor batteries other than I’ve been dying to tell the story in an open forum for years.
BeVigor or Big Brand CR123A Batteries?
The fact that I tested these and then subsequently bought some with my own money should tell you something. I don’t know for sure but I bet BeVigor would have sent me some more had I just asked.
As a tester/reviewer I was sufficiently impressed that I spent my own money to have replacement batteries for the next year or two.
I’ve been shopping battery prices the last few days and while there are some other start ups out there I haven’t tested them, and I have tested these. And they work exactly as advertised at an amazing price. You simply cannot go wrong with BeVigor CR123A batteries.
My last salient point will be that BeVigor sent me batteries with battery testing specifications that were repeatable in the field. They are exactly who they say they are. Vigorous.
JOHN’S TECH BLOG SAYS, GET THEM AT THIS PRICE WHILE YOU CAN. IT DOESN’T GET BETTER THAN THIS FOR PRICE AND PERFORMANCE.