Thrunite Neutron 2A (1xAA/14500 2xAA) and 2C (1xRCR/18650 2xCR123A/RCR) 2014 Review

[Phaserburn]

Where can the neutral white variants of these lights be ordered? Confused.

 

[timbo114]

Where can the neutral white variants of these lights be ordered? Confused.

http://www.thrunite.com/neutron-2a-v2/

When I checked the site yesterday, the price was $49.95 and no neutral version was available... hmm.

 

[joshjp]

And now they jacked up the price.

 

[ice_man]

I have been thinking of getting the Nitecore SRT3 as another EDC light. Would you recommend this new Thrunite Neutron 2A over the SRT3?

 

[Anders]

I tried to order yesterday with no succeed. Came to Paypal but no more.
I couldn't choose tint.
Today I ordered one 2A v2, all went just fine, I could choose tint but I think the price went up a bit...

Anders

 

[wjv]

And now they jacked up the price.

Yup! Jut a day or so ago it was $49.95. . .

Guess SelfBuilt gave it too good of a review! :shrug:

 

[selfbuilt]

I have been thinking of getting the Nitecore SRT3 as another EDC light. Would you recommend this new Thrunite Neutron 2A over the SRT3?

The SRT3 is a nice light, but it is a whole different interface (i.e. clicky switch with continuously-variable control ring) and feature set (colored modes, CR123A or AA, etc). It is also quite a bit larger than the 2A in 1xAA form - basically, the SRT3 in 1xAA form has almost exactly the same dimensions of the 2C in 1x18650 form. If you like the SRT3 tailcap clicky and control ring interface, I would also consider the Sunwayman V11R (with AA extender) - it is a bit more compact.

Yup! Jut a day or so ago it was $49.95. . .
Guess SelfBuilt gave it too good of a review! :shrug:

:laughing: More to the point, I think they tried to rush getting the website ordering up to coincide with the release of the review. I see some of the specs have been updated as well (i.e., they now list the 2xAA form as 800 lumens max). :shrug:

I'm sure things will settle down soon, but at least it does now look like people can order the 2A (with desired tint) directly from Thrunite. Hopefully the 2C will be released soon as well.

 

[ice_man]

The SRT3 is a nice light, but it is a whole different interface (i.e. clicky switch with continuously-variable control ring) and feature set (colored modes, CR123A or AA, etc). It is also quite a bit larger than the 2A in 1xAA form - basically, the SRT3 in 1xAA form has almost exactly the same dimensions of the 2C in 1x18650 form. If you like the SRT3 tailcap clicky and control ring interface, I would also consider the Sunwayman V11R (with AA extender) - it is a bit more compact.


:laughing: More to the point, I think they tried to rush getting the website ordering up to coincide with the release of the review. I see some of the specs have been updated as well (i.e., they now list the 2xAA form as 800 lumens max). :shrug:

I'm sure things will settle down soon, but at least it does now look like people can order the 2A (with desired tint) directly from Thrunite. Hopefully the 2C will be released soon as well.

Thanks for the input selfbuilt. I didn't realize how much more compact the Thrunite is. I also don't have any preference when it comes to a clicky switch or variable control ring.

However, I am more interested in build quality, handling, throw distance and firefly mode. I will take a look on your suggested Sunwayman V11R.

 

[Mr Floppy]

Had a neutral white 2A in my cart...but talked myself into waiting! As usual, "I don't need another light" keeps going thru my head.

Well, it would be good to see what neutral LED they chose. Shame the price went up, had one down to be modded with XM-L2 S6 90+ CRI 2900K 7C3

 

[amaretto]

I think they tried to rush getting the website ordering up to coincide with the release of the review.

There was already a review two weeks ago, so that should'nt be the case. The release of the website completed the group buy of 2A and 2C and after that their website is used for the EU-Store.

 

[ThruNite]

http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?316809-Neutron-series-light-group-buy

 

[Martin L]

Selfbuilt; Outstanding review as always. Thank you very much! Interesting lights indeed with an incredible output. A little big and not the best looking, but Thrunite has figured out something that other manufacturer badly wants regarding this outstanding output for sure... Lumens are always fun, but the UI, in the long run, can be more important. I have read your post (Selfbuilt) and on TN site regarding the operation of the light, but I am left in the dark with some questions. (Or, I am too dumb to understand :duh2.

Q1: You turn on the light with a short click. When you turned the light off last time the setting was medium and by its memory function you will get directly to medium mode? Correct? What are the options if you want to get as fast as possible to the Hi mode, the next higher setting?
- Press and hold will give you Lo-Med-Hi? This operation, if true, will take some time, but is a great UI if you want to lower the output from med :thumbsup:. Same UI as ZL in this regard?

Q2: Same as above, you are in Med mode and want to have a full burst (Turbo) to look at something interesting, what are the options?
- Will a double click get you directly to Turbo from both on and off? How to get back to previous setting? A single short click will turn the light off and a press and hold will probably get you to the Lo-Med-Hi, always starting at the Lo setting... You can not go between Turbo and Med?

Q3: You can only reach the firefly from off? From on, a long press will only ramp you through the Lo-Med-Hi-Med-Lo-Med-Hi... cycle?

I do not understand why people don´t write more about the UI's. It´s important stuff... :huh:

And my last 2 cents... Finally - the blinky modes are gone and the spacing on the AA looks promising! Thank you Thrunite! :thumbsup:

Thank you in advance,
Martin

 

[amaretto]

Martin, you can compare the Neutrons ui with Spark, not Zebralight. Only thing that is equal with ZL is activation of firefly.

Ramping is (1)low - (2)mid - (3)high - (4)mid - (5)low - (6)mid - (7)high ....

If you turn off the light in (2), it ramps to (3) next time.
If you turn off the light in (4), it ramps to (5) next time.

You only can reach firefly from off. How should electronics otherwise "know" if you want firefly or ramping?
Double click again for turning off turbo.

 

[selfbuilt]

I do not understand why people don´t write more about the UI's. It´s important stuff... :huh:

I agree - which is why I always write a specific User Interface section of the review, and spend a lot of time in the videos on it. The videos are especially helpful for this, as it is apparently difficult to write down an interface in words so that everyone understands it.

In case it's not clear, the main press-hold (from on) interface is Lo > Med > Hi > Med > Lo > Med ...etc. So you cannot predict the next level from Med unless you remember where you are in the sequence (you can of course always predict the next mode from Lo or Hi will be Med). I do not favor this, and prefer a consistent Lo > Med > Hi in repeating loop.

Double-click (from off or on) jumps you to Turbo - which is a mode that is not on the main sequence. Exit Turbo by a press-hold (or turn off and back on). Firefly is accessed by a press-hold from off only (this is common on many lights).

 

[Martin L]

Thank you for your answers. The sequence is not good. Better without the memory, always starting at low... I will have to pass. The Turbo feature and firefly seems to be convenient though...

 

[GordoJones88]

WOW!





* at everything

 

[Swedpat]

Thanks for another great review Selfbuilt,

This seems to be really impressive; more than 1,5 hours flat output at 240lm with a single 2550mAh Eneloop. Did I get it right?

 

[selfbuilt]

This seems to be really impressive; more than 1,5 hours flat output at 240lm with a single 2550mAh Eneloop. Did I get it right?

Yes, that is it exactly.

 

[realista]

generally a 18650 contains 3x watt of a nimh... right? because a 2500mah x 1,2v is 3watt total. a comparable 2600mah 18650 x3,6v is 9,3watt

reading on the site, the trunite tn12 2014 is rated at 280 lumens 5hours. but reporting to the equation 240lumens it is 5,8 hours.

here you said 1,5h. do it 3 times and have 4,5hours. IS THE DIFFERENcE OF ABOUT 1 hours MORE (with 18650) given by the higher efficiency of the led(or driver circuit) ah higher voltage ?? ( 3,6v instead 1,2). i suppose yes....but correct me selfbuilt if i am wrong

 

[selfbuilt]

generally a 18650 contains 3x watt of a nimh... right? because a 2500mah x 1,2v is 3watt total. a comparable 2600mah 18650 x3,6v is 9,3watt

That's right - the effective ability of a 18650 cell to do work is typically at least 3x that of a NiMH cell.

IS THE DIFFERENcE OF ABOUT 1 hours MORE (with 18650) given by the higher efficiency of the led(or driver circuit) ah higher voltage ?? ( 3,6v instead 1,2).

There is not really much point in trying to understand/estimate runtime differences between specs - especially with such different types of cells. There are a lot of factors play here. Certainly, efficiency of the circuit at different input voltages plays a role. Also relevant is how the battery chemistry responds, especially under hi vs lo current draws. And not least of which is the regulation pattern, especially as the cells fall out of regulation. Recall that ANSI FL-1 runtime measures are given to 10% initial output, which favours things that have a slow drop-off at the low end (as opposed to an abrupt shut-down).

I would take all manufacturer runtime estimates as a rough guide only, and rely on actual output-over-time graphs to meaningfully compare the difference. Reducing runtimes to a single number is typically not useful, except in the very limited cases of perfectly flat regulation with complete shut-down..