Naming conventions used in tech are usually pretty easy to follow. But it's all too often consumers expect a naming convention to hold true, and when it does not, expectations are broken and people are left confused and upset. Technology in general is rooted, and its progress inferred, from something called Moore's Law. If you don't know what it is, here is a refresher:

The observation made in 1965 by Gordon Moore , co-founder of Intel, that the number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits had doubled every year since the integrated circuit was invented. Moore predicted that this trend would continue for the foreseeable future.

That is, we have come to expect version 2 to be better than version 1, and so on. Version 3 will be even faster. Consumers expect the number at the end of the product, to be a version - and a reflection of progress made. If it's a game, version 2 should have more content and better graphics. If it's a mobile phone, sequential versions should have clearer screens, and faster processors.

It was just yesterday that Apple released a new MacBook which competes to be the thinnest in the world. However, a quick look at the comments, and hundreds if not thousands of people are complaining that their current laptop is faster. Or their current laptop is better in another way.

This predisposition to apply a naming convention too broadly does not only apply to laptops or mobile phones. It applies to all technology and electronic products. There are certainly cases of confusion in 18650 batteries as well. You might ask yourself the following question:

What is better, the Sony VTC4 or the Sony VTC5?

Answer: Well it all depends...

The first idea, is that 18650 batteries are difficult to create. So difficult, only a handful of manufacturers like Panasonic, LG, Sony, and Samsung (and some others which take up a very small minority) have the ability to create them. It was said that South Korea and Japan are at least five years ahead of any western country in their ability to produce lithium-ion batteries. Elon Musk's Gigafactory is only possible because of their closely aligned partner, Panasonic.

Wholesale battery suppliers do not choose sides. Factories which produce batteries let the market decide what to do with them - they don't have preference except to stay within safe limits set by organizations like the United Nations. The factory sits, waiting to fill demand where the market creates it. Currently, the largest market sector for li-ion 18650 batteries is in electric vehicles. In the world of electric vehicles, capacity reigns supreme. The maximum travel distance of a vehicle is perhaps the largest barrier of entry for mass market penetration, and the capacity of a cell provides that needed run-time.

Sony VTC for Mods and Vapes

Let's get straight to the battery specifications of the VTC4 and compare it to the specs of the VTC5.

The Sony VTC4

Model: US18650VTC4

Chemistry: NMC

Capacity: 2000

Max. Cont. Discharge: 30A

Year: 2012

Download the VTC4 Spec Sheet

The Sony VTC5