I have run/owned or used basically every major brand except Cayote since they're newish but I have Reedy packs from 2020 I can still run.

I had 2 gens ace 5500's break cell tabs in 3 months, that left a bad taste in my mouth. It seemed to be common for that generation and the one before but no idea now. Proteks I've tried a few times and been disappointed. Solid punch, but others had more for the same or similar price. Though every Protek product I've tried has been very middle of the road and kinda high price wise.

It seems like everyone has just released a new "stock spec" battery thats 150/160/165c. I'd guess they're all pretty similar as theres only a few makers of RC cells, but there are still differences brand to brand. I have the new SG6 reedys and they have been SOLID. Very consistent and very powerful. I let my friend running stock run one and he said it was great. He ended up with the 5000mah stock star Reedy and its good. He has cayote packs and proteks and some others and the new Reedys have been about the best punch wise. I've let him use both my Reedy Stock Stars the 5000 and 5800mah and both were great power wise. I mostly run mod so my 3 year old Fantom batteries have been fine.

Of all the stuff I've run Reedy and Fantom have been the best. Maybe not the absolute top in punch, but the most durable and longest lasting. I usually charge at 15-20a, and when I run stock at points series or big trophy races I charge at 40a, usually with a 20 or 40a discharge cycle. And they've lasted for 2-3 years with that "abuse". Cheaper Zee packs need 40a/40a cylcing to get decent performance and then they only last a few months doing that. The CNHL packs I've tried were just awful, cheap to buy and lacking punch.

Buy once cry once. Don't over charge or over discharge packs voltage wise, and dont fully charge them and then wait 6/8/12+ hours to run them. Dont let them sit in hot or freezing cars and then try and run them. Follow that and most modern packs will last a while.