For ages I’ve heeded the warnings from camera manufacturers that inserting non-OEM batteries into my camera could make the camera explode or at the very least give it a nasty case of shingles. But a year ago I purchased a Nikon D4s and wanted a spare EN-EL18 battery. The Nikon battery was 150 bucks – why I could get a fifth of 25-year old Glenfarclas for that much. I saw positive reviews of the Wasabi batteries and decided to try one of those at a third of the price of the OEM battery. It worked just fine so I got more batteries, both the Wasabi and the Watson brands, for my D4s and my D7000 and D810 bodies. I’ve been using the Wasabis for a year and the Watsons for 7 months. For the first few months, they worked so well I never give a second thought as to whether I’d grabbed the Nikon batteries or the third party batteries when I went out on a shoot.
Since giving Wasabi and Watson batteries a chance, I’ve shot over 100000 exposures so they’ve been charged and discharged a lot. As well they are properly chipped so the camera display shows how much charge is left and how many shots were taken on the charge, just like with the OEM batteries.
At the time of writing, one of my Wasabi EN-EL15s will only charge up to 22%, the other Wasabi makes it to 65%. My Watson EN-EL15 bit the dust as described below (all my fault). My Watson EN-EL18 charged to 93%, while both of my Wasabi EN-EL18s and my Nikon EN-EL18a charged up to 100%.
After all that shooting I’ve only had one complete battery failure and that was from a Watson EN-EL15 that was submerged in water for over an hour (the “waterproof” ammo can turned out to be less than waterproof). Under those circumstances, I really can’t blame the battery for being pissed off and deciding never to work for me again. Interestingly it was in the same ziplock (also leaky) with a Nikon EN-EL15. I shook a lot of water out of both and dried them for days in the sun. The Nikon actually survived and continued working.
I haven’t had issues charging the Wasabi and Watson batteries in the Nikon chargers.
Some of the bigger concerns about using third party batteries are:
- Leakage
- Swelling causing difficulty inserting or removing
- Shorter useful life than OEM equivalent
- Incompatibility with camera and/or OEM charger
- Incompatibility due to firmware updates
- Voiding your camera’s warranty
All batteries are not created equal. Some third party manufacturers use better quality cells than others. I strongly doubt that any camera manufacturer makes their own cells. Instead they purchase them from a battery manufacturer, just like the third party companies do. How good a cell is used has a lot to do with the eventual retail price of the battery.
One difference of note is that the Nikon EN-EL 18a battery weighs 158 grams, a few more than the Wasabi (152g) and Watson (150g). Other than the 2g weight difference and the labels the Watson and Wasabi look identical – they have the same case. The Nikon EN-EL15 weighs 86g, the Watson weighs 75g and the Wasabi weighs 73g. The Watson and Wasabi batteries look like they are the same battery but with different labels. The very slight weight difference suggested otherwise. One way to find out.
Here’s a Watson (black label, light green cells) and Wasabi (white labels dark green cells) EN-EL15 broken open. The circuit boards are identical, but the actual cells are indeed different. Please disregard the rust evident in the Watson as that was the battery that got sacrificed to the river gods.
In addition to the weight differences, the mAh rating of the batteries differs. In theory, a battery rated at higher milliamp-hours should give more shots per charge all else being equal. From lowest to highest mAh for the EN-EL15s it goes like this: Watson 1800 mAh, Nikon 1900 mAh, and Wasabi 2000 mAh. For the EN-EL18s it goes like this: Nikon (EN-EL18a) 2500 mAh, Watson 2600 mAh, and Wasabi 2800 mAh. In practice, most of us slip in a spare before fully exhausting our batteries, and I never noticed any appreciable difference in how much I was getting per charge until they aged.
Most batteries have a chip in them. This communicates charge info to the camera. It also communicates if it is an OEM battery or not. Both Canon and Nikon have been known to issue firmware updates for their cameras that have disabled third party batteries (the charge meter no longer shows and perhaps other issues). As of this writing, all of my bodies have the latest firmware installed and the Wasabi and Watson batteries are working as they should. This is no guarantee that a future update might not knock them out.
One thing you get from the Nikon brand battery, besides an expensive “Nikon” label on the side, is the assurance that your camera’s warranty won’t be voided if there is battery related damage. I would be leery of third party batteries that are really inexpensive.
Other than reduced capacity over age, my experience with Wasabi and Watson batteries has been positive. I want to emphasize that these are the only brands of third party batteries I’ve tried and that my positive experience with them is not an endorsement of third party batteries from other manufacturers. Because the OEM batteries last longer, they are more economical if you shoot a lot. If you shoot sparingly you might find the Wasabi and Watson batteries to be adequate. Another reason I would consider third party batteries is if you are going on the trip of a lifetime and need a bunch of spare capacity because you won’t be able to recharge during the trip. For instance, my Watson battery drowned in the Grand Canyon – an 18-day trip with no electrical outlets. Fortunately I had a bunch more batteries so I could keep shooting for the entire 200-mile raft adventure. In this scenario, I got just as much shooting out of the brand new third party batteries as I did my OEM batteries. Moreover, I saved enough by getting cheaper batteries to defray some other trip expenses. However, half a year later the OEMs are showing their superiority. With the EN-EL15s, the Nikon wins at cost per shot over the lifetime of the battery. It’s too early for me to say if this is true with the EN-EL18s.
That sums up my experience with third party batteries, but because third party battery horror stories abound out there, I thought it would be more informative for our readers if we were to ask them about their experiences. Whether you have had good or bad luck with third party batteries, please consider taking a minute to post a comment below!
Third Party Battery – Watson and Wasabi Batteries
- Build Quality
- Value
- Size and Weight
- Ease of Use
Photography Life Overall Rating
Been using the same 2 wasabi lp-e6n batteries since I first bought them for my Canon 80D. (plus 2 OEM Canon batteries). They work exactly the same as the Canon batteries with no loss of functionality.
They still charge to 100% and if they last for fewer shots than the OEM canon battery it isn’t something I ever noticed until recently, after many years of use. Why I’m reading reviews of 3rd party batteries now.
Now using them in my Canon EOS R.
caveat: I’m a hobbyist not a pro and don’t put the daily wear and tear on a battery that a pro does.
I use 4 different Nikon bodies in my photography dating from 2025 for my new D-7100 with the EN-EL 15, the D4s with the EN-EL18, the D-850 with the EN-EL15 and the Z9 with the EN-EL18. Yes there is a mod letter on the battery which denotes the mA/h rating for that series battery. As the battery output improved and the camera draw increased it was necessary to use a higher output battery in the camera to support the improvements in the camera relating to the functions of the camera and the ability of the sensor and the firmware in the camera. I trimmed this for brevity but the more elaborate the camera functions the higher draw against the battery as this is a linear function of the reality of the abilities of the camera in creating the images that you want to create with your camera.
Over the years I have purchased several battery brands for use in my cameras starting initially with Kastar and also Wasabi. As a side note, one can also consider that you can purchase two or three Kastars for the price of one Nikon battery and frankly my experience with Kastar has all been positive. I have had only one non OEM battery outright fail to charge/hold a charge in almost 10 years. I pack three batteries in my camera bag when I go out in a shoot; one OEM and two Kastar or Wasabi. I do routinely use updated versions of a battery with higher output available when available. This helps ensure that I will always have enough power available for my camera during a shoot. Having the higher mAh available helps ensure that my battery will last longer shooting more images during the shoot than using an older spec battery would regardless of whether it is OEM branded or 3rd party branded.
Having a battery with a higher mAh power rating does not mean it will damage any electronic circuits in your camera, it only means that the battery can supply more power for a longer period of time during use and the discharge rate will last for a longer period of time. You can think of it as saying that if my D850 OEM battery is rated at 2400 mAh and my updated battery is rated at 2800 mAh that I will only pull 2400 mAh during use so I will have available the extra mAh that I have not drawn against. For those who do not understand what exactly mah is, it is milliamperes per hour. It is a flow rate that specifies how much or many milliamperes a device is capable of delivering over a specified period of time or a device will draw over a period of time and the standard measure of time is one hour.
In my opinion, I believe in looking at multiple factors when choosing extra or replacement batteries for my cameras. I believe that battery capacity as indicated in mah is a very important quality to consider in choosing batteries for your camera. The reputation of the battery/vendor is also very important to consider. As has been pointed out in other comments and by the author, the camera manufacturer usually does not manufacture their own batteries but they do spec them out to a battery manufacturer to be made to a given set of specifications that meets the electrical demands of the electronics inside the camera body.
John, thank you for an excellent article and my apologies for a very long and detailed comment/post to your article.
The superficial review reveals two important aspects that I’ve discovered with every non-OEM battery namely they do not perform or last as long as OEM. Are the differences attributable to less robust cells, poorer controllers, or some other factors are less relevant. Either way saving a few $ on the front end to have batteries which don’t hold charges, discharge quickly in camera , and have to be replaced more often is not worth it.
I bought two batteries last year wasabi powers brand and they lasted a month and would not re charge. Expensive for a cheap product. Don’t buy them and get a brand name instead.
I have yet to experience or see a 3rd party battery perform as well as oem in testing or actual use in terms of longevity, performance, etc. Your observations confirm this and the last thing any photographer would want to encounter is a dead or dying battery at a critical moment.
I have a good luck with DSTE who makes EN-EL 15 for all Nikon cameras now including the mirrorless and all Pro cameras like D5 and Z9. And they have been around for decades. Yes, the actual capacity is less than printed on the battery but they last almost as long as OEM for the fraction of the cost. For 18D Nikon wants $150 now and it used to be $220 while DSTE was $49 and now I have seen them for $35. I think the reason their capacity is smidge lower is because OEM are allowed to discharge deeper in the camera. DSTE is allowed to discharge by the battery controller to 20%. After camera completely shuts down I put the battery on the charger and it shows 20% left.
I would buy Nikon-branded batteries in a heart-beat for my new (to me) with only 6,900 clicks in its life D3s, but now, as of 2022, the Nikon-branded units appear unobtainable, making third-party alternatives like the two Watson units I’ve purchased the only game in town.
Let’s think about this. Two, three thousand dollar camera. You want to cut corners and buy 20 dollar batteries. It’s a no brainer. The cheep battery will work, but it’s not warranted. The batteries won’t let you do updates. They stopped me from using Bluetooth. Is it worth screwing up your cameras? Back up batteries, if your so much a pro you should be able to afford the batteries. Would you run cheep oil in your Jag? Do you drink no name beer. Buy the batteries that are made for your camera.
Let’s think about this. Two, three thousand dollar camera. You want to cut corners and buy 20 dollar batteries. It’s a no brainer. The cheep battery will work, but it’s not warranted. The batteries won’t let you do updates. They stopped me from using Bluetooth. Is it worth screwing up your cameras? Back up batteries, if your so much a pro you should be able to afford the batteries. Would you run cheep oil in your Jag? Do you drink no name beer. Buy the batteries that are made for your camera.
Another part of the equation is not supporting a manufacturer like Nikon ripping you off just because they can.
I’ve been using two Patona batteries for my Nikon D5300 for more than a year. When using the GPS functionality and/or live view, this camera model consumes quite some energy so you always need a second or third battery. Surprisingly, the original Nikon battery is worse than the two Patona batteries. The Nikon batter is “empty” in a much faster time (and, yey, I use a brand-new Nikon battery, shipped with the camera from Amazon).