Yes, they are still good to use. There are also a number of other sizes of cylindrical lithium ion cells available if an 18650 won't fit.
this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2025
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I have too many lithium polymer batteries in my spares drawer to justify buying. I think they are easier to design into 3d prints and make more sleek projects with. The cylindrical cell and holder creates a size constraint for your projects. That constraint is not super convenient when used with circuit boards. If you get something like an ESP32 board that includes a batman chip, it is quite easy to find a lipo that fits in the same form factor and is very compact in my experience. I tend to make things over engineered to the point I don't finish a lot of them though, so perhaps a cylindrical cell in a larger enclosure would get more projects completed.
Yeah, I get you!
What I've done in the past is just buy a few charging boards with an integrated holder. USB/12v input, 3.3/5v regulated output. You can even get ones with solar. Then my circuitry can be independent of the power system.
And you can get UPS battery boards for $3 USD often and in various output voltages. Definitely outsource your power supplies and battery managers.