They even have lithium-ion batteries in AA!

Their website is really light on details about mAh[0], but Duracell are even worse[1]. I’ve found a comparison website, but no idea where its getting its sources[2].

Looks like VARTA is around 2400mAh and will last around 5-7 years, whereas Duracell is around 2700mAh and will last around 7-10 years. But let’s be realistic here, no battery in the world lasts more 2 years without needing to be switched out. Definitely not worth staying with Duracell.

0: https://www.varta-ag.com/en/consumer/product-categories/batteries/alkaline/longlife-max-power-aa
1: https://www.duracell.co.uk/product/duracell-optimum-aa/
2: https://www.batteryskills.com/aa-battery-comparison-chart/

Why is babushka a Super Saiyan?

Buy rechargeable. The rechargeable batteries sold at Lidl and IKEA are excellent in my experience and quickly pay for themselves. Just start cycling single-use batteries out as they expire and it’s easier to keep track of who you’re supporting with your purchase when it’s a single annual purchase rather than something you buy every time you’re at the supermarket.

Renata is also the king of lithium button cells in consumer form factors. A swiss company.

VARTA does the best high-cap OEM batteries for in-ear wearables.

Both VARTA and Renata have quite a range of options for IEC 61233 for medical safety applications. My company uses them for single-cells where we can because they are very consistent.

For AA and AAA rechargables though I always go with panasonic eneloop or ikea rebrands (IKEA allegedly uses eneloops for their branded rechargables) and they have worked extremely well in our laserliner where non-rechargable cells that came with it died fairly quickly.