Just got my new Oracle 35W HID!
First of all, the case is impressive. Not bulletproof, but very functional and as sound as most attaché cases you would buy except the back hinges are not the most robust, they should last fine long as no one forces the lid backwards against its resting place where it likes to stay open.
Let me start with my biggest gripe, then we will finish with the good stuff.
I don't like the fact that you indeed do have to have the battery out of the flashlight to charge it. But there is no other LiIon 35W HID I can think of that's in this price range, and most of the budget lights out there are plastic and non-LiIon batteries.
The battery pack does have a 3 LED pilot light with a switch. This is to give you a light while fumbling in the dark trying to charge the battery "since its out of the light rendering it unusable during those periods", or as an emergency light should you run the battery too low for the HID ballast to fire and still need to see your way back home.
The front reflectors comes off. The next section adjusts the beam pattern. You can pick how big of a hotspot you want from tiny and hot to bigger and hot to more diffuse and even bigger, the spill seems relatively unaffected on all settings as its just flat big!
The reflector has an orange peel surface too.
The spill is big enough to light your feet in front of you as well as everything else with plenty of light before you even worry about the corona and hotspot in the center, you can be rest assured that you will be lighting up the "whole" trail when walking in the woods!
Although this light is bright enough to rival many spotlights, Its honestly more of a glorious flashlight because the spill as well as the corona is so big.
Many people have complained about other spotlights because they were almost unusable for close up work or to light a large area…. No problem here!
The Amber lens cover is solid and very well made….. no complaints and it was nice they threw it in for no extra cost.
The chargers have a small light on them, they will be red when charging and green when charged.. There is both an AC and DC charger.
In High mode " 35Watt" there is a LED green light at the back of the battery pack that shows through while mounted in the light. On Low mode "28Watt" there is a blue light.
I have not used mine at night just yet in the distance, but I really don't see a dramatic change between the two modes.. Both are plenty bright!
There is no way to have a serious lower setting without danger of the bulb not even working at the lower power. I would expect very long bulb life on the lower setting that honestly is nearly the same as the high when shining on a wall!
Instructions appear to be written by someone not skilled in the English language…
I talked to Justin and I will elaborate on a few questions I had.
1. There is a line that says that overcharging will damage the battery. There is also another line that states "don't exceed 24hrs during recharge. Both accounts are non issues. The cells are indeed protected cells and he admitted to leaving his on for several weeks a few times accidently with no issues.. The instructions may have been for an early make but are not an issue at this time.
2. There is another line that states not to reverse the poles of the battery. This would be very hard to do so since the contact ring on the back of the ballast has cylindrical rings that are dummy proof.. so that's a non issue too.
What you "don't" want to do is short out the poles!
Picture of end cap off and looking deep inside barrel to see back of ballast where battery contact rings rest when inserted.
The 24W version does not have a button on the back to indicate two modes as "high, low, and then off", as it only has on and off, but on the 35W version there is and while in the off position there is no power to the poles anyway, but we are still advised to keep the protective rubber boot over the poles because its "very easy" to bump the button and turn it on.
I will be surprised if anyone complains at what you get for the price! I have seen lights several times the price that didn't appear anymore robust than this one. I've also seen lots of issues with lights costing many hundreds of dollars!
There are no cheap, thin, fragile parts I noted and everything seems built to last. Everything is protected with O rings so should be pretty impervious to rain and the like.
Only time will tell concerning the longevity of the electrical components.
But the way I see it is, it has a one year unconditional warranty and all parts inside are quite cheap to replace in a worse case scenario… so if you want a kick butt lithium Ion rechargeable light , this one is worth considering.
The Bulb is attached to the ballast. Should you ever need to replace either, they come as one unit and the present price would be 69.00.
The battery is separate.
I cannot vouch for the QA specs or whether time will testify of its longevity of this light compared to the others.
Misc Pics:
HID bulb attached to top of ballast inside housing
