Energizer Stays One Step Ahead by Catering to Diminutive Device Trend
by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor
“Quad A” may soon become part of the common vernacular. Although the AAAA battery (or Quad A) has been commercially available since 1989, it’s mostly been a niche product, difficult to find on shelves. But with consumer electronics moving towards smaller, more lightweight devices, with decreasing power requirements, the battery industry is adapting. Quad A has long been an internal industry standard for 9 V batteries (6 Quad A’s linked together, each generating 1.5 V, equals 9 V), but it could soon displace the AAA as the battery of choice for portable electronics.
All the major battery manufacturers produce Quad A’s, but you’d be hard-pressed to find them in your average retail store. Energizer is hoping to change the paradigm by expanding its line of Quad A batteries. They’re banking on the fact that the Quad A will eventually displace the AAA in devices like Bluetooth headsets, flash audio players, and remote controls. Already, Quad A is utilized in certain iterations of the aforementioned devices, along with light magnifiers, smart pens, digital voice recorders, LED flashlights, glucose meters, and stunguns, among other products. By jumping ahead of the pack, Energizer is positioning itself as the company of choice for next-gen battery requirements.
Compared to its closest competitor, the AAA, the Quad A is 43% lighter at 6.5 grams, 20% thinner at 8 mm, and half the capacity at 625 aH for 11 hours of runtime vs. 28 with AAA. Whether this makes a significant difference hinges on a couple factors: the Quad A’s low price point ($1.75 for a two-pack), and whether aesthetic considerations (i.e. the proliferation of smaller electronics) forces the wide-scale adoption of Quad A’s.