Well two weeks after I ordered my Inova XP I finally got my hands on one.
The first order I placed with brightguy seem to have got lost over the holiday weekend, but brightguy was quick to ship out a second one ASAP.
But then when I finally received it I noticed something was wrong. As you can see from the photo the bezel is out about 1/8" - 1/4" from the body of the flashlight, factory defect I guess. No fault of brightguy, but once again they sent out another one ASAP along with a prepaid post return label for me to send the defective one back.
So like I said a couple weeks after placing my order I finally got my hands on one, lol...
Would like to point out that brightguy was great to work with. I have ordered from them before and would not hesitate to order from them again.
One thing I wondered about with the inova xp was the diameter of the flashlight. The specs on the Inova site list the dimensions as 4.64" x 0.78"
http://www.niteize.com/product/Inova-XP-LED-Pen-FLashlight.asp
But the Inova XS 1xAAA flashlight only has a diameter of only 0.60"
http://www.niteize.com/product/INOVA-XS-LED-Flashlight.asp
I could not understand why Inova would increase the diameter of the XP compared to the XS model as both are AAA flashlights.
I emailed brightguy asking about the diameter of the new XP flashlight and he told me it was the same size diameter as the XS he had.
I really hoped it was as the Streamlight Stylus Pro that I have been EDC in my front work shirt pocket is also a 2xAAA with a diameter of 0.60" and I really like that size diameter for a penlight.
Well I can in fact confirm that the Inova XP and Stylus Pro both have the same diameter as shown in the photos.
Being Inova clearly listed the wrong diameter of the flashlight I had to wonder about the length. Inova seems to have correctly listed the length of the flashlight at 4.64", or at least close enough for me.
The Inova XP is just a little bit short then my EDC Stylus Pro, well actually it's quite a bit shorter.
I don't recall seeing a photo of how Inova puts the serial number inside the battery tube of the XP so here is a photo of my Inova XP serial number.
I have only had the chance to use it for one day so far, but here are some of my first thoughts about the XP compared to my Stylus Pro.
With a fresh set of eneloops in both flashlights I can clearly see that the XP is much brighter on high then my Stylus Pro.
The twist switch was stiff at first and I could not work it one handed with my thumb and figure like I believe others have reported, but after putting one drop of some old super lube I had sitting around it worked much better. I can now easily twist the switch on and off with one hand using my thumb and finger.
The push button is very nice for quick inspections, it always come on high first and then low with a quick off and back on of the switch.
I can easily go from momentary on to constant on with a twist of the switch well still holding it one handed.
Besides having a much brighter spot then my Stylus Pro it also has more throw and more flood out from the spot. I find the beam pattern to be just a incredible combination of brightness, spot/flood and throw for a 2xAAA penlight.
The size, weight and feel well holding it in my hand is also very nice.
I did a lot of research and tried a number of penlights a little over a year ago before I decided on the Stylus Pro. I have been EDC the Stylus Pro in the front pocket of my work shirt for over a year now and have been extremely happy with it and never imagined I would find anything better, but I think I may just have.
IMHO the Inova XP is better for me then my Stylus Pro because it's brighter along with a better beam and it has a shorter body. I also think it looks sharper with the stainless steal bezel and pocket clip.
I have owned other Inova lights, one 1xAAA I EDC for a year and the black finish on them seem to hold up much better then the finish on my Stylus Pro.
One really nice thing about penlights is they don't take up much room so it's easy to carry more then one at a time.
Going to keep carriing both the Inova XP and Stylus Pro for the next few days so I can keep comparing them to each other, but so far I think my EDC penlight my just be getting replace with the Inova XP.