Reddit reviews Powerex MH-C9000 WizardOne Charger-Analyzer for 4 AA or AAA NiMH Batteries

Any charger intended for NiMh batteries will work but it's worth the investment to get a decent smart charger. You'll get longer life and fuller charges out of your batteries. They can also give you info for matching battery pairs effectively, bringing weak batteries back to life, and determine when a battery is getting weaker.
Also stay away from "rapid chargers" that charge in an hour or less...they are horrible for your batteries and will kill them off quickly.

I recommend something like the Maha Powerex Wizard One charger which you can find on Amazon, etc. At the minimum the new Panasonic chargers that come with the newest Eneloop models are pretty decent for a pack-in smart charger. They have 4 individual charging circuits, peak detection when the battery is full, and charge at a gentle rate.

http://www.amazon.com/PowerEx-MH-C9000-WizardOne-Charger-Analyzer-Batteries/dp/B003DIGKOG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1415222574&sr=8-2&keywords=wizard+one

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-K-KJ17MCA4BA-Individual-Rechargeable-Batteries/dp/B00JHKSMJU/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1415222519&sr=8-4&keywords=eneloop

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-K-KJ17KHCA4A-Individual-Rechargeable-Batteries/dp/B00JHKSL1O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1415222553&sr=8-2&keywords=eneloop+pro

All NiMH AA chargers work with any NiMH AA battery. (Most also charge AAA NiMH batteries.)

The old and dependable 4xAAA or AA, NiMH or NiCad charger is the Maha/Powerex MH-C9000. It can test cells and measure it's capacity, but you have to set the charging current. It's a bit pricey though. ~$53. It's my tried and true and I trust it will last for years.
https://www.amazon.com/Powerex-MH-C9000-WizardOne-Charger-Analyzer-Batteries/dp/B003DIGKOG

My other analyzing charger charges NiMH/NiCad and most types of rechargeable lithium cells 18650 and smaller to 10440. It's not as well built as the Powerex, but charges more types of cells and is less expensive: the Opus BT-C3100
I think the most recent version is v2.2 and is approximately $42
https://www.amazon.com/Opus-BT-Intelligent-Compatible-Batteries/dp/B01852TBOU
I use this to recharge both my NiMH AAA/AA's as well as my 18650 flashlight batteries. Opus has a NiMH only version of the charger, that I've not used: the BT-C2400 that sells for around $30.

For my NiMH C and D cells I use an Ansmann 8 plus charger that doesn't have a fancy LCD display, so cannot be adjusted or show voltage, charge current, nor capacity. But it does have 4 independent charging channels for C and D cells and 6 for AA and AAA cells. Apparently they go for $25 now... I paid a lot more for mine.
https://www.amazon.com/ANSMANN-Universal-Maintenance-Rechargeable-Batteries/dp/B003V89RYS
I use this for the NiMH C/D cells that go into various Nerf flywheel blasters. I also use it for AA/AAA's when I need to charge a whole lot of batteries and the rest of my chargers are already being used.

The chargers at Ikea suck, don't buy them.
The chargers that came with the Eneloop packs that Costco used to sell, are nice individual channel chargers, but they're super, super slow overnight chargers when you put 4 cells in them.

A good source for NiMH/Lithium cell and charger info is the candlepower forums: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?9-Flashlight-Electronics-Batteries-Included

First, purchase these rechargeable batteries. They will retain 85% of charge after a year of sitting without use.

https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-BK-3HCCA4BA-eneloop-Pre-Charged-Rechargeable/dp/B00JHKSL28

Then purchase this charger/conditioner - it has several settings, including discharge, recharge, etc...

https://www.amazon.com/Powerex-MH-C9000-WizardOne-Charger-Analyzer-Batteries/dp/B003DIGKOG

I’ve been super happy with this setup, and haven’t purchased a traditional battery in 10+ years.

Eneloop or Eneloop Pro batteries. The former can be recharged about 2000 times and the latter 500 times, but the former has 2000 mAh versus the latter's 2500 mAh per full charge. And Eneloops in general have lower self-discharge rates. IMO, you really have to be using a shit ton of batteries to require more than 500 recharges, so go with the Pro version.

For a charger I recommend the Powerex MH-C9000 WizardOne, which while pricy has some really nice features if you're serious about using NiMH batteries.

Many cheap chargers require charging in pairs, but this one does not.

It also let's you choose the charge rate. Generally choose a value between 0.30 C and 1.0 C (with C being the max mAh capacity). Charge too slow and the estimated charge time can be inaccurate leading to slight undercharging or overcharging. Charge too fast and you stress the cell out. For example if I have a 2500 mAh cell, and I want to charge it on the slow side, I'd enter 750 mA for the charge rate (0.3*2500=750). I like having control over the charge speed.

Also it'll do analysis and break in batteries. And if the battery is too bad/old it'll display "high" (meaning "high impedence"), letting you know to throw it away.

Just make sure children don't mess with it because it won't detect if batteries are put in backwards, which could cause melting or fires.

For the same(almost) price, I'd buy a Rolls Royce charger

I have not found much useful information yet. I'm really tempted to buy a battery analyzer like this and do my own tests.

I have seen the Optimums show up at my local Walmart, but I was sad to see they are charging over a dollar per cell even for the 12 pack. At that price I would rather just buy Energizer Ultimate Lithiums. $1+ per cell is a crazy price point for Alkaline chemistry batteries in my opinion.

Since so little data is available yet even from duracell, it actually made me wonder if they are just trying to confuse the average customer that wants the best cell at any price point into buying their alkalines instead of primary lithium.

This. Quick chargers kill all batteries. Eneloops too. Get a good smart charger and do some cycles on them. One time investment. I have bought my first Eneloops in 2009 and still going strong. Before that I always used quick chargers and killed all batteries in one or two years.

/edit
Get this:
https://www.amazon.com/Powerex-MH-C9000-WizardOne-Charger-Analyzer-Batteries/dp/B003DIGKOG

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003DIGKOG/

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003DIGKOG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I would ditch the duracell batteries and treat yourself to some Eneloop or Amazon Basics rechargeable NiMH batteries. Along with a good charger like this Powerex one PowerEx MH-C9000 WizardOne Charger-Analyzer for 4 AA/AAA Batteries https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003DIGKOG/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_.kzRub075XYTT, your initial investment will pay for itself in no time.

Especially if those are being used in your flashes, etc. If they're just backups, it might not be worth the initial investment.

Nice bag, btw!

I have this one https://www.amazon.com/PowerEx-MH-C9000-WizardOne-Charger-Analyzer-Batteries/dp/B003DIGKOG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1469838659&sr=8-2&keywords=powerex+battery+charger
May be a lil above your price range but its worked really well for me. It charges quick and gives you stats and shit on the battery charge time.

I use this:

MAHA 6000