Are name brand batteries any better then off brand? They cost at least three times as much from what I can see. Do they last three times as long? If they are better what makes them better.

Harbor Freight Hercules Brand. Nuff said.

If you read the reviews like on Amazon, you'll see a lot of people happy with the knock off batteries. I'll try them on my Dewalt when the name brand wear out.

Many different brand batteries are made by the same company.

Seems to me to get less runtime and less power from a knockoff vs a name brand. Tried wish bosch tools.

I’ve been wanting to try the same off brands that Amazon offers
Great reviews on them

The off brands often have an inferior bms (battery management system-the circuit board in the battery). That’s more of a fire hazard and more likely to over discharge the cells and refuse to recharge. I’ve had generics over discharge and refuse to charge. I then opened it up and put my variable dc power supply directly on each cell to charge it back to an acceptable voltage. That’s not safe, I’m not recommending it. Just saying I’ve done it and then the nearly new failed battery started working again.

I got two chinesium batteries 5.0AH to see what they were like. I run all Milwaukee. Name brand batteries are awesome. These were junk. I noticed they seemed lighter and they were. Id like to believe the technology isnt hard to duplicate but my experience left me sticking with the name brand. And all that said, some of those batteries are old and are still strong

yes some times

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjBiM0GQEe8

I mostly keep buying tools in the same family when they have a good deal on batteries with the tool

I now have a mix of quite a bit of Rigid 18v as well as some Milwaukee M12 and M18

even in the same tool brand battery performance can vary by model standard rigid batteries verses the high octane line as they call it these batteries appear to have thermal regulation so you can draw more current un till it gets hot then it slows current

I have Dewalt tools so use Dewalt batteries.
Nephew switched to Milwaukee as he says batteries are better

Also the generics often have inferior cells inside. I’ve gotten several for free to write reviews on and the first thing I do is open them up and look at the cells. Name brand batteries usually have name brand cells inside. The off brand batteries often have cells with no markings on them at all, like the cell manufacturer didn’t want to admit to making them. Sometimes the cells inside have a lower capacity than the battery pack is claiming to have.

Any knock off I've tried were very inferior.
To the point I would buy used first.
Dewalt tools

If you run Milwaukee, keep an eye on Home Depot's "hackable" deals. They run deals where you buy the batteries and get a free tool, but you can return the tool and still pay the reduced price for the batteries.

For example, the deal they have now you could get two 5.0ah batteries and charger for $200 plus a free tool. If you pick the 3/8" impact wrench ($250 value) you could return the wrench for $110 back and essentially pay $90 for the two batteries and charger.

Search "home depot refund hack" on Google for more information.

but that 3/8 impact is so handy

I watch for the buy a tool get free batteries sale

I have 9 rigid , 2 m18 , 4 m12

I just started the move to the red team last year

watch the online deals much better than the store deals with so many more options

I have genuine Milwaukee batteries , no aftermarket ones.

The main reason is I am a bit leary of cheap copies that could cause a fire.

GREENCOUNTYPETE, I had that deal in my cart for a couple days before deciding I don't really need the impact or more batteries. It is tempting though...

they apparently want to sell vacuums
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwauk...Dry-Vacuum-Vacuum-Only-0880-20/202043806
the battery is 169 , you get the vacuum for 149 with a free battery

the M12 vacuum is 139 with 2 free M12 batteries that they are selling for 99

I would like more batteries , I am wondering if a vacuum would be handy to clean the truck

I would be as well
and
technically they can all cause fire and I have thought about if I should keep them in a metal tool box to contain it if it did

I don't charge batteries when I am away from home as it is typically the charging time that they are most likely to fire.

all lithium batteries are dangerous, cheap knock off more so...a friend of a friend burned his garage down and damaged the house while charging a genuine Ryobi battery.....

I never leave the batteries charging while away or leave them in the charger,,,

not sure I would trust genuine Ryobi anything any more , they have had a series of serios recalls in the last few years

pressure washers with a capacitor that heats up and explodes causing injury

hedge trimmers that turn on by themselves no trigger press required and cause fires

lawn mowers with batteries that start on fire in peoples garages

https://www.ryobitools.com/pages/recall-notices