As a trail camera enthusiast, choosing the right battery has always been a key concern for me. Trail cameras often need to remain on standby for long periods while being ready to capture photos or videos at critical moments, making long-term cost, performance stability, and battery endurance essential factors.

Recently, I conducted a comparative test of three types of batteries: Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA Battery, Eneloop Pro 2550mAh NiMH batteries, and XTAR AA 2500mAh rechargeable lithium batteries.

Quick verdict: XTAR delivered the most photos per charge (15,447), the lowest cost per use (€0.043), and the most stable voltage. Energizer Ultimate Lithium is the best disposable option, and Eneloop Pro is the weakest fit for trail cameras of the three.

In this review:

Powering the trail camera with XTAR 1.5V batteries

Quick Comparison

Looking for a full buying guide across more battery brands? See the most efficient rechargeable batteries for trail cameras.

Price and Cost Per Use Comparison

*Cost per use = Total battery price / Number of cycles

What’s even more noteworthy is that XTAR also offers a bundle of 8 batteries and a BC8 charger for just €62.99 — making it more cost-effective than buying the batteries (€52) and the charger (approximately €20) separately. Additionally, the BC8 charger is compatible with batteries of other brands and models.

➡ XTAR clearly offers a much better cost-performance advantage over the long term, and with a charger that’s compatible with other batteries, it’s even more practical.

Where Does Energizer Ultimate Lithium Fit In?

Energizer Ultimate Lithium is the benchmark disposable AA for trail cameras, and it deserves a fair look.

Its strengths:

• True 1.5V output with a flat discharge curve — trail camera battery gauges read accurately
• Excellent shelf life and the best cold-weather performance of any single-use AA
• Zero maintenance: install it and forget it until the camera reports low battery

Its limitation is purely economic: it’s a single-use battery. Every battery change costs another €22 (~$24) per 8 cells, which is 512 times the per-use cost of the XTAR. In our endurance test, it served as the control group on the photo-count chart — strong and steady, but at disposable prices.

When Energizer Ultimate Lithium makes sense:

• Cameras you can only service once or twice a year in remote locations
• Extreme-cold deployments where recharging isn’t practical
• Occasional users who won’t cycle rechargeables enough to justify them

When rechargeables win: For anyone checking cameras monthly or running multiple units, a rechargeable 1.5V lithium like the XTAR AA 4150mWh pays for itself within the first season. For a detailed cost comparison against another disposable giant, see our XTAR vs Duracell cost-effectiveness test.

Battery Performance Testing

I tested the battery performance on two identical iZEEKER iG600 trail cameras, one using XTAR AA 2500mAh lithium batteries and the other using Eneloop Pro 2550mAh NiMH batteries, both set to the same mode. The test involved taking one photo plus a 30-second video at an outdoor temperature of 20°C.

• XTAR AA 2500mAh: After shooting, the camera still showed 65% battery remaining, and the captured image was clear.

• Eneloop Pro 2550mAh: After the same test, the camera indicated only 30 % remaining power. The captured video had a noticeable red color cast because NiMH cells drop voltage linearly as they discharge. Once the voltage dropped below approximately 1.2 V, the sensor no longer received stable power, causing the exposure circuit to fluctuate and resulting in a reddish, underexposed image.

➡ Under the same usage conditions, XTAR can continuously provide the high voltage required by the sensor, preventing image distortion and ensuring consistent shooting quality.

Battery Endurance Test: Photos per Charge

I installed fully charged Eneloop Pro 2550mAh NiMH batteries and XTAR AA 2500mAh lithium batteries in two identical iZEEKER iG600 trail cameras, set both to the same mode, and placed them outdoors to see how many photos could be taken before the low-battery warning appeared.

Eneloop Pro 2550mAh:

• At 100% battery, it captured 300 photos. By 70% battery, the total reached 3,434 photos, showing relatively slow growth in photo count.
• When the battery level dropped to around 65%–70%, the number of photos taken suddenly increased rapidly. However, as the charge continued to decrease (from about 60% down to the low-battery warning at 15%), the rate of photo capture slowed noticeably again, showing that the battery’s power output had become unstable.
• The camera stopped shooting when the battery indicated 15% remaining, with a total of 12,846 photos taken.

XTAR AA 2500mAh:

• At 100% battery, it captured 13,900 photos. By 70% battery, the total had reached 15,318 photos.
• Throughout the entire process, the power output remained steady, without any sudden increase or decrease in the number of photos taken as the battery level dropped.
•  The camera stopped shooting when the battery showed 10% remaining, with a total of 15,447 photos taken — 2,601 more photos than the Eneloop Pro.

Based on the above test results, I created a graph showing the number of photos taken across the battery level range (100% to 10%).

• Orange: Eneloop Pro 2550mAh

• Gray: XTAR AA 2500mAh

• Blue: Energizer Ultimate Lithium (as a control group)

➡ This means that XTAR batteries can deliver a consistently high voltage output, enabling the trail camera to last longer and capture more photos.

Want to know how this same XTAR battery performs against Eneloop in other devices? Read our XTAR vs Eneloop real-world runtime test covering night lights and handheld consoles.

Which Trail Camera Battery Should You Choose?

• Pick XTAR AA 2500mAh if you check cameras regularly and want the lowest cost per use, the most photos per charge, and an accurate battery gauge. This is the best fit for most hunters and wildlife monitors.
• Pick Energizer Ultimate Lithium if your camera sits in a remote spot for a full season, or you hunt in sub-zero temperatures and can’t recharge in the field.
• Pick Eneloop Pro only if you already own the cells — for trail cameras specifically, its 1.2V output underperforms the other two.

If you’re outfitting a full setup, browse our dedicated trail camera batteries solution for cell, charger, and accessory bundles. And for winter deployments, pair your choice with the right chemistry using our cold-weather battery guide.

Conclusion

From these rounds of testing, I arrived at the following conclusions:

• Cost per use: The XTAR AA 2500mAh lithium battery has the lowest long-term cost per use (€0.043/use), which is only 63% of the Eneloop Pro and 0.2% of the Energizer.
• Performance stability: The XTAR AA 2500mAh lithium battery can continuously provide the high voltage required by the sensor, ensuring the quality of photos and videos.
• Endurance: The XTAR AA 2500mAh lithium battery maintains a stable high-voltage output throughout shooting, delivering longer runtime and a greater number of photos.

While spending €50 on batteries may not seem cheap for a regular trail camera, it’s well worth the investment for anyone who needs a dependable power source for consistent shooting.

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