Put Your Photon Rex Comments/Reviews Here!

Now that the Photon Rex has finally made it into some of our hands, perhaps we need a whole new thread for reviews and comments.

As for me, I think this might replace my Fenix AAA lights. Maybe not. The Rex is very bright, but because of it's design, it doesn't throw. I've been playing with it all day. It's just getting dark now. More fun to come.

I just got mine. It is very bright for such a small light. Comparing a ceiling bounce test, it puts out more light than a Jet-u on HIGH using a NiMh battery. Tint on mine is actually very white and not much blue.

The glow button is nice and works well. The glow material actually is used all around the LED's as well (if you look at the ReX from the front, the material that the LED's are mounted to all glows).

One thing I noticed is that if you dim the brightness from either high or ramp up from off - the light only stays at the brightness setting for a few seconds before shutting off. Is this normal? Is this how the Freddon circuitry works?

I have two units and one is on a RCR123 charging right now. The LED's are blinking so I guess it was not shipped with a full charge. I have not tryed the other yet but I suspect it is the same. This is a cool little light. I just wish the light would stay on after the desired brightness is reached and not turn off after a few seconds.

regulator said:

One thing I noticed is that if you dim the brightness from either high or ramp up from off - the light only stays at the brightness setting for a few seconds before shutting off. Is this normal? Is this how the Freddon circuitry works?

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It comes in a "demonstration" mode. You have to hold the switch down for about 20 seconds until the light turns off. That will take it out of that mode.

The ReX ships in a "demo" mode just like the Freedom Micro, to prevent curious customers from leaving the light on and running down the battery while looking at the light on a store shelf.

Just press and hold the button for approximately 20 seconds to disable the demo mode and return the light to normal operation.

regulator said:

I just got mine. It is very bright for such a small light. Comparing a ceiling bounce test, it puts out more light than a Jet-u on HIGH using a NiMh battery. Tint on mine is actually very white and not much blue.

The glow button is nice and works well. The glow material actually is used all around the LED's as well (if you look at the ReX from the front, the material that the LED's are mounted to all glows).

One thing I noticed is that if you dim the brightness from either high or ramp up from off - the light only stays at the brightness setting for a few seconds before shutting off. Is this normal? Is this how the Freddon circuitry works?

I have two units and one is on a RCR123 charging right now. The LED's are blinking so I guess it was not shipped with a full charge. I have not tryed the other yet but I suspect it is the same.

Click to expand...

i don't have a ReX. however, that symptom that you spoke of reminds me of the "Point of Sale" mode that the Photon Freedom Microlights are shipped in.

in the Freedom Microlights you had to remove the light from the point of sale mode or they would turn OFF after 10seconds or so (i don't recall the precise length of time).

to the best of my recollection, you did something like press and hold the ON/OFF button until the light blinked (or something like that - it's been a while since i've purchased one and my "old-timers" is actin' up). after the blink, the light was in its normal operating mode and could then be used normally.

hope this info helps.

PhotonLight, has "hunting" been implemented yet in the UI? or, is the UI identical to the Photon Freedom Microlight? if it's still the same as the Freedom Microlight, what will it take to get "hunting" implemented in the UI?

"hunting" would be great in the Proton flashlight also.

other Threads have had Posts fr/multiple users, including myself, indicating that this would be a desirable feature for selecting the desired light o.p. level, versus the current UI which forces the user to turn the light off and then turn it back on again should the desired lighting level be "overshot" when attempting to adjust the light o.p., or when the light needs to have its o.p. adjusted during use due to changing requirements.

COOOOOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Man I am glad. This is a fantastic little light!!!! It packs a wallop of light when needed. And it is nice to turn it down to conserve battery life.

Just another ceiling bounce comparison to a Peak Pacific "ultra-power" AA light with a Seoul SSC emmitter. The ReX puts out more light!!

This is such a fantastic tiny EDC - no reason why someone shouldn't always carry one with them.

I hope we see something about this light over in the reviews forum real soon!!! Doug

BTW - I was so excited to try the light out that I did not see the comment on the enclosed card about the DEMO mode and how to turn it off. I actually read the part about recharging on the card and did not see it - I feel stupid! The variable brightness is great and IMO really makes this light. Well, off to play with it more now that I have DEMO mode turned off and to check up on the one recharging.

awaiting some reviews . . . .


_

I was just comparing the beam/tint to other recent 5mm lights (one is a Cateye bike light with 3 LED's that was listed as now being Nichia 60% brighter and the other is a newly aquired Princetontech Fuel 3 LED headlamp rated at 15 lumens). The Fuel suprised me on how bright newer 5mm LED are. I do not think these two lights are using the new Nichia DS LED.

My two ReX units are suprisingly almost whithout any blue tint. Take a look in the Arc forum under CS DS beamshot comparisons and the DS is how the tint of the ReX looks - no nasty blue and nice and nuetral. The Rex is also brighter than the other two lights so probably around 20 Lumens or so on high.

half-watt said:

PhotonLight, has "hunting" been implemented yet in the UI? or, is the UI identical to the Photon Freedom Microlight? if it's still the same as the Freedom Microlight, what will it take to get "hunting" implemented in the UI?

Click to expand...

As great as "hunting" would be, I'm not sure how you would implement it on a light like the Freedom Micro or ReX with just one button and still retain all the features that it currently has. Keep in mind that the Freedom UI is already bordering on too complicated for the average non-technical user. As you can imagine, it's a tough balancing act to get all the desired features incorporated but still keep the light simple and easy enough to use that any average person could pick it up and just use the light without having to "figure it out" first. When you add 2 different selectable beam colors like with the Proton or Fusion, the challenge is even greater.

Bryan,
Any word on the next shipment? I was told I'll probably receive mine in Jan. 2008.

PhotonLight said:

As great as "hunting" would be, I'm not sure how you would implement it on a light like the Freedom Micro or ReX with just one button and still retain all the features that it currently has. Keep in mind that the Freedom UI is already bordering on too complicated for the average non-technical user. As you can imagine, it's a tough balancing act to get all the desired features incorporated but still keep the light simple and easy enough to use that any average person could pick it up and just use the light without having to "figure it out" first. When you add 2 different selectable beam colors like with the Proton or Fusion, the challenge is even greater.

Click to expand...

i've described this implementation in detail elsewhere (including several emails to LRI and PhotonLights).

implementing wouldn't be difficult at all. in fact, it would ADD NO MORE COMPLEXITY to the UI. it would NOT CHANGE anything. a user could still use the light as they do right now. "hunting" would only ADD an "invisible", so to speak, i.e. a non-intrusive new feature and CHANGE nothing. no user would be forced to use hunting if they didn't want to.

if you are truly interested, please PM me and i'll be glad to describe how simple it would be to implement hunting and other nice features like DIMMEST-2-BRIGHTEST and BRIGHTEST-2-DIMMEST toggles.

if there truly is sufficient interest to "brain-storm" these ideas (more's the merrier; two (three, four)- heads are better than one - especially if mine is the "one"!!! i'm just a half-wit/watt), then maybe a new Thread devoted to kicking these improvements around might be in order.

I got mine today and I really like it. Its pretty darn bright for a little pocket light and works perfect. Very Happy with it:thumbsup:

I'm a bit worried about my light. Mine arrived yesterday morning. I went through all the flashing modes a few times. I used it yesterday and today on the bright setting for a no more than five or ten minutes (used intermittently.) Then when I turned it on the last time, it came on very dim. I did not carry it in my pocket and it did not come on accidentally. I thought that maybe these shipped with batteries that were not fully charged, so I hoped for the best, and tried my first charging. I attached it first to a freshly charged AA Eneloop. According to the charging instruction, the light should have blinked after a few seconds to indicate it was charging. I got nothing. So I tried a hardly used alkaline. Again nothing. Now I'm scared. I'll contact Photonlight tomorrow.

Anyone else having problems???

I got my Rex today and am very pleased with it. It's a lot brighter than I expected. I definitely like the larger, easy to push button; perfect if you have gloves on while you're going out to scrape the ice off your car.

I may have to buy another one (or two). :thumbsup:

where are the beamshots


And what on earth is "Hunting?"

Crenshaw

Scott,

Make sure when you are attaching the charging contacts that they are making metal on metal contact. I had one unit that did not start blinking right away due to a little plastic molding that prevented the metal from making full contact.

Make sure the charging contacts are positioned correctly and try slightly pressing the light and charger together to ensure the contacts actually touch - just a suggestion to try.

regulator said:

Scott,

Make sure when you are attaching the charging contacts that they are making metal on metal contact. I had one unit that did not start blinking right away due to a little plastic molding that prevented the metal from making full contact.

Make sure the charging contacts are positioned correctly and try slightly pressing the light and charger together to ensure the contacts actually touch - just a suggestion to try.

Click to expand...

WOW! Thanks! That did it as far as getting the blinking/charging to work! Gently pressing the light and charger together allowed the fittings to seat, and the blinking started immediatly. I'm still not sure if I have a problem because of it dimming so quickly with so little use. Hope not.

Again--- a great big THANK YOU!!!