pradeep1
Enlightened
I had seen these flashlights at Target about two weeks ago and finally bought one today. Paid $10.69 after tax.
Build Quality - good with a fine textured lines that make the flashlight seem really slippery. My flashlight seemed to have some type of wax or grease, as my hand was "slippery" after touching the flashlight for the first time. I wiped it with rubbing alcohol and that went away. The only thing grippable on the flashlight is the pocket clip. I'd probably put a small 1 cm wide friction tape on the body in two spots to help with this.
Ergonomics - the flashlight fits well in the hand and is easily operable with one hand in the momentary flash mode. It is quite small, maybe 4.5 inches in length and light. You can carry this in your front pocket and it would be like carrying a heavy pen. A little long for a pocket light, but I'd carry this in my pocket with no problems.
Output - This is what surprised me. The beam is pretty good, considering that it is a half watt light. I'd say in comparison to some standards it is as follows, using my eyes as a reference at one meter on a white wall:
1. 40% the brightness of a stock Nuwai Q3
2. 33% the brightness of a RYOJ MMLite sandwich in a 2AA mini-mag
3. 25% the brightness of a Streamlight PP 4AA Luxeon
4. 2 X the brightness of a MJLED in a 2AA mini-mag
5. 5 X the brightness of a Gerber Infinity Ultra
The beam is smooth with a smallish sized spot with a nice spill beam. The tint is on the blueish side, but it is not distracting. Some artifacts from smooth reflector, but once I figure out how to open it up, I'll run some steel wool on the reflector (if it's metal) and rough it up a bit to smoothen out the beam. The beam is tighter than a RYOJ with a 17mm reflector or a Nuwai Q3 with stock reflector, but definitely larger than a SL PP 4AA. This flashlight would be great for medium range work within 15 feet. It does not throw well, so not good for spotting work.
The light is definitely brighter than other 2AA standards such as a stock mini-mag and I believe it does better than most 3-5 LED lights in output and beam quality.
The reflector and setup of the front of the flashlight remind me of a MJLED or sandwich mod with a cut down LED and reflector and an O-ring to hold it in place.
This light is well suited where you don't need or want a super bright light, but you do need and want a light that is capable of serious work in near distances. Would make for a great EDC or car light.
I'll probably buy a few to give away to friends and family. It offers the benefits of all the little mods we do here, in a clean retail package available at Target. This light seriously gives Maglite a run for their money, and if it is regulated as it claims, this light could turn out to be a real winner for the $10 price you pay.
Update 9/14/2005:
I purchased another sample of this flashlight after I ruined my first one and I found out that this one is not as bright. It has the same blueish cast light, but with fresh batteries, it is about 20-30% dimmer than the first sample I reviewed. I also noticed that the switch on this one is not as good, as there is intermittent flickering in usage. Also the front of the reflector assembly is not as neatly cut and the reflector is not symmetrical, in that you can see a "blind spot" in the reflector...although in usage this does not make that much of a difference, but asthetically not good. But this variability in the quality of assembly and components is a bit disconcerting.
The rating has been downgraded to 3.5 stars, which is still good, but not as good as I expected. There seems to be somewhat of an LED lottery even with this emitter much like with the Luxeons (although the tint is more consistent across samples). Also I have heard that waterproofing is not good and some have found problems in the Nuwai version.
Update 9/18/2005:
I purchased one more to play my lottery and found that this one was just as nice as the original. I think the sample I got in the middle was a dud, so I would recommend that you be aware of that when you go shopping for these. Fortunately, Target has a good return policy if you need to exchange your dud RR2AAA for a nice one. Changed my rating back to 4/5 stars because it seems there are more goods ones than duds.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pros: Small, good output, uses cheap batteries, regulated (advertised 7 hour regulated runtime), momentary switch with twist for constant-on, made by Nuwai, blows away 2AA mini-mag, MJLED mod, and Gerber Infinity Ultra type EDC lights.
Cons: Surface is slippery, back O-ring can be torn as it is thin, batteries rattle since contact spring is not very tight, cannot stand on end, variability in emitter output and construction quality.
Rating: 4/5 stars
Final Thoughts: An effective replacement for the 2 AA mini-mag as an all purpose EDC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Build Quality - good with a fine textured lines that make the flashlight seem really slippery. My flashlight seemed to have some type of wax or grease, as my hand was "slippery" after touching the flashlight for the first time. I wiped it with rubbing alcohol and that went away. The only thing grippable on the flashlight is the pocket clip. I'd probably put a small 1 cm wide friction tape on the body in two spots to help with this.
Ergonomics - the flashlight fits well in the hand and is easily operable with one hand in the momentary flash mode. It is quite small, maybe 4.5 inches in length and light. You can carry this in your front pocket and it would be like carrying a heavy pen. A little long for a pocket light, but I'd carry this in my pocket with no problems.
Output - This is what surprised me. The beam is pretty good, considering that it is a half watt light. I'd say in comparison to some standards it is as follows, using my eyes as a reference at one meter on a white wall:
1. 40% the brightness of a stock Nuwai Q3
2. 33% the brightness of a RYOJ MMLite sandwich in a 2AA mini-mag
3. 25% the brightness of a Streamlight PP 4AA Luxeon
4. 2 X the brightness of a MJLED in a 2AA mini-mag
5. 5 X the brightness of a Gerber Infinity Ultra
The beam is smooth with a smallish sized spot with a nice spill beam. The tint is on the blueish side, but it is not distracting. Some artifacts from smooth reflector, but once I figure out how to open it up, I'll run some steel wool on the reflector (if it's metal) and rough it up a bit to smoothen out the beam. The beam is tighter than a RYOJ with a 17mm reflector or a Nuwai Q3 with stock reflector, but definitely larger than a SL PP 4AA. This flashlight would be great for medium range work within 15 feet. It does not throw well, so not good for spotting work.
The light is definitely brighter than other 2AA standards such as a stock mini-mag and I believe it does better than most 3-5 LED lights in output and beam quality.
The reflector and setup of the front of the flashlight remind me of a MJLED or sandwich mod with a cut down LED and reflector and an O-ring to hold it in place.
This light is well suited where you don't need or want a super bright light, but you do need and want a light that is capable of serious work in near distances. Would make for a great EDC or car light.
I'll probably buy a few to give away to friends and family. It offers the benefits of all the little mods we do here, in a clean retail package available at Target. This light seriously gives Maglite a run for their money, and if it is regulated as it claims, this light could turn out to be a real winner for the $10 price you pay.
Update 9/14/2005:
I purchased another sample of this flashlight after I ruined my first one and I found out that this one is not as bright. It has the same blueish cast light, but with fresh batteries, it is about 20-30% dimmer than the first sample I reviewed. I also noticed that the switch on this one is not as good, as there is intermittent flickering in usage. Also the front of the reflector assembly is not as neatly cut and the reflector is not symmetrical, in that you can see a "blind spot" in the reflector...although in usage this does not make that much of a difference, but asthetically not good. But this variability in the quality of assembly and components is a bit disconcerting.
The rating has been downgraded to 3.5 stars, which is still good, but not as good as I expected. There seems to be somewhat of an LED lottery even with this emitter much like with the Luxeons (although the tint is more consistent across samples). Also I have heard that waterproofing is not good and some have found problems in the Nuwai version.
Update 9/18/2005:
I purchased one more to play my lottery and found that this one was just as nice as the original. I think the sample I got in the middle was a dud, so I would recommend that you be aware of that when you go shopping for these. Fortunately, Target has a good return policy if you need to exchange your dud RR2AAA for a nice one. Changed my rating back to 4/5 stars because it seems there are more goods ones than duds.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pros: Small, good output, uses cheap batteries, regulated (advertised 7 hour regulated runtime), momentary switch with twist for constant-on, made by Nuwai, blows away 2AA mini-mag, MJLED mod, and Gerber Infinity Ultra type EDC lights.
Cons: Surface is slippery, back O-ring can be torn as it is thin, batteries rattle since contact spring is not very tight, cannot stand on end, variability in emitter output and construction quality.
Rating: 4/5 stars
Final Thoughts: An effective replacement for the 2 AA mini-mag as an all purpose EDC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last edited: