3 AA Battery Brands To Steer Clear Of, According To Consumer Reports

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You might find yourself focusing pretty hard on car battery models to steer clear of or mistakes that are ruining your power tool batteries. But simple AA batteries might not get anywhere near the same level of scrutiny, especially considering their size and low cost. Regardless, Consumer Reports has rated numerous AA battery brands to gauge their longevity, and those rankings put CVS, Eco Alkalines, and Dynex at the bottom of the pack. But what makes these brands the worst of the bunch?

Consumer Reports measures the effectiveness of these batteries by seeing how long they last in everyday household items. In particular, these batteries are given separate ratings for their performance in flashlights and toys. Price isn't given much consideration, since cost tends to matter less than reliability for most buyers. You might not be able to find some of these battery brands unless you're buying them secondhand, in which case steering clear of them should be your priority regardless.

Whether you have a stance on the debate over lithium vs. alkaline batteries, you aren't going to need to do much research to figure out what Eco Alkalines use. Despite advertising a long lifespan, these batteries end up far below most others in the Consumer Reports rankings. While they manage to last a decently long time in flashlights, they don't maintain that lifespan when used in toys, making them a poor choice for families. It doesn't help that the company behind them, LEI Electronics, has been questioned regarding claims about how eco-friendly the batteries actually are.

A pack of 24 AA Eco Alkalines batteries is listed at Walmart for around $17. However, this product is currently out of stock, and the brand isn't easy to find elsewhere. Even if you wanted to choose them over a more reputable brand, you likely wouldn't be able to unless you get extremely lucky searching other stores. At that point, it'll be a whole lot easier to just bite the bullet and stick with something that might be a couple of bucks more expensive.

We previously mentioned CVS batteries as sharing the ninth spot with other store-name offerings in our list of battery brands ranked from worst to best. They don't fare much better in the Consumer Reports rankings, showing the opposite problem of Eco Alkalines, with decent toy battery life and worse flashlight longevity. The CVS brand's relatively high cost only complicates the matter further, even with the constant question of whether expensive batteries are really better than cheap ones. For a 24-count package of these batteries, CVS prices them at around $20, putting them at a similar price point to more consistently reliable competitors.

In spite of all this, CVS actually has a second type of battery with much stronger results. Consumer Reports ranks CVS MAX batteries separately, and they perform well enough to earn a recommendation. In fact, those batteries are able to stand up to some of the biggest competitors out there, including Duracell and Energizer. It's less the CVS brand itself that should be avoided and more its base battery model, as the gap between that model and the MAX AAs is wider than with any other brand.

Although it's technically ranked above Eco Alkalines in the Consumer Reports rankings, Dynex batteries post the lowest scores for flashlight and toy use. Dynex is a Best Buy brand, but you might not be very familiar with it today. That's because just about every product under that brand has been discontinued, including all of its batteries. You can't even find pricing for the AAs online anymore beyond an estimate from Consumer Reports, leaving their quality far more of a mystery than the question of whether Best Buy's other budget brand, Insignia, is any good.

On that subject, it should be kept in mind that Consumer Reports is not currently testing new AA batteries. Considering how some of these brands aren't even available new anymore, it shouldn't be too difficult to avoid them in the first place. But if you happen to find them on other websites from unofficial sellers, you should think twice before jumping on what seems like a good deal. And when it comes to CVS batteries, you might as well spend a couple extra bucks on something you know you can rely on.