Reference guide · checked 2 September 2026
Milliampere-hours are not a universal property of a printed family name. A defensible capacity figure belongs with the conditions under which a manufacturer measured it.
Load, discharge schedule, cut-off voltage and temperature all affect reported service. A low continuous drain can produce a different result from repeated pulses. Ending a test at a higher voltage also reports less delivered capacity than running to a lower cut-off.
That is why Battery Codebook labels capacity as typical and product-specific where a current figure is available, and declines to invent a universal value where the supporting guide does not provide one.
Confirm that the chemistry and exact product code match. Read the test load and schedule. Compare the cut-off voltage and temperature. If those conditions differ, the headline mAh values are not a controlled comparison.
Within comparable test conditions, capacity can help explain why two same-diameter CR cells of different thickness have different expected service. It remains only one part of selection; fit, voltage, chemistry and the device specification still control.
A typical capacity is obtained under a stated discharge. Change the resistance or current, run continuously instead of intermittently, choose a different cut-off voltage or test at another temperature and the delivered result can change.
The number is useful when its conditions travel with it. Detached from those conditions, it becomes false precision.
Within one chemistry and diameter series, a taller cell generally has more internal volume. That helps explain why current product sheets often show larger typical capacity for CR2032 than CR2025, and for CR2025 than CR2016.
It does not make the cells interchangeable: the height difference that contributes volume is also a physical-fit difference.
Where a current product figure is used, the page labels it typical and directs the reader to verify load, cut-off and temperature. Where the selection guide supports identity and dimensions but no universal capacity, the page says so.
Capacity never determines the exact, conditional or incompatible relationship. Those verdicts are derived from identity, physical, voltage, chemistry and drain fields.
Place the two product datasheets side by side and record chemistry, test load, discharge schedule, cut-off voltage and temperature before comparing mAh. Note whether each figure is typical or guaranteed. If the conditions differ, explain that the numbers are not directly controlled rather than calculating a misleading percentage advantage.
Energizer Battery Cross Reference Guide
Checked 2 September 2026. Device requirements remain authoritative.