Hybrid Solar LED Flashlight Review

hanzo

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Sep 8, 2006
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About nine months ago, I bought a pair of Hybrid Solar Flashlights. I saw them at Costco for $20.99 for a two pack and thought that they might be good for the kids to play with without me going broke on batteries as they sometimes leave them on when they run off to do something else.

Here's what I found out that I had. The flashlights were light weight, but not small. They were about the size of a skinny 2C light or a slightly thicker 2AA light. The ABS plastic is quite tough. And it is waterproof to 80 feet.

We have taken them on probably six camping trips so far. I don't worry about the kids using them as they seem able to survive the kids playing with them.

They are plenty bright enough for most tasks at about 40 lumens and can run continuously on one charge for 10 hours.

In the time that we have had ours, I have never had either one fully discharge its battery. And more impressively, I haven't even noticed the light dimming.

I keep ours stored on a window sill as the solar panel will charge the flashlight with sunlight or even indoor lighting.

There is a cap on the butt of the light which holds two button batteries as a backup. Hence the hybrid in the name.

Battery durability is quite good. While I haven't had these lights for that long, the solar battery is supposed to hold its charge for up to three years while the lithium button batteries are good in storage for up to seven.

According to the company website, these batteries also are not as affected by cold temperatures as others like alkaline batteries.

I found out at one of our camps that a friend of mine has had these lights for several years. He leaves his on the dashboard of his vehicles. He even has removed the button batteries from his and has never had a problem with the light not working. I took the batteries out of my kids' lights too.

Function is quite simple. There is a clickie on the body of the light. One click to power on using the solar battery. Click again to engage the lithium battery. One more click to power off. That's it. A simple cycle.

A couple of months ago, I purchased four more.

To summarize, the lights are tough, light weight, waterproof, bright, affordable, and so far dependable. Although we have brighter battery lights in our vehicles and at home, there will be one in each vehicle. And one will find its way into my back pack for hiking. We already take them camping. Oh, and the price is right. Not just to purchase, but to run.

Sorry for such a long winded review. I hope it was worthwhile to someone.
 

Hooked on Fenix

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I've had these for awhile, and they are not 40 lumens. It's more like 10 lumens. Other than the largely exaggerated lumen rating, they are pretty decent. They are brighter than all of the shake lights, take no effort to charge unlike the shake and crank lights, are waterproof (unlike all crank lights), have decent runtime, are relatively lightweight, and have an extra battery backup. For the cost, they're a decent investment. I just hate products with deceptive or exaggerated claims.
 

hanzo

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Thanks for your reply. It made me look more closely at my hybrid lights. After looking, I don't think the manufacturer's lumen rating is exaggerated. After reading your post I compared it to the closest thing I have to 10 lumens...my L0D Q4 on low (9 lumens according to fenix) with a freshly charged eneloop.

The hybrid light was MUCH brighter.

Then I compared it to the L0D on medium (25 lumens). Again, it was brighter although the hybrid has a tighter beam with less spill than the L0D.

Finally, I compared it against the L0D on high (75 lumens). While the L0D threw out more light, the hot spot of the hybrid was more intense.

So while I don't know what the actual lumens are for both lights, I do not think it is 10 for the hybrid. But whatever it is, I find it enough for most mundane tasks. Is great for power outages and for hiking and camping.

My disclaimer is that I like other lights too and much better than the hybrid. But I find mine does what it claims to do and I find it to be an excellent back up when power is not readily available.
 

defloyd77

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40 lumens and a 10 hour runtime? I know they don't mean 40 lumens for 10 hours for sure, but you said that you didn't really notice dimming and that's pretty impressive. I'd like to see a picture of the emitter.
 

hanzo

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I will work on getting some pictures of the emitter up. And also of some beam shots. It will have to wait until tomorrow night though.

While the brightness is very likely diminishing over time, to my eye, I cannot notice any change. There is a guy who had read my review and bought a couple for himself. Here's his review:

"Hanzo your the man!!!!

I happen to be in the local Costco and spotted these flashlights...so I figured $20 bucks...why not.

These things rock!!!!!! I took them home and stripped the batteries out of them...then left them on to drain the stored juice in them...next day left them on the window sill to charge.

Then I decided to torture one a bit...tossed it around the yard/patio a bit...bounced off the concrete MORE then once. Next I figured why not look at the "waterproof claim" that it has on the box....sooooo I took it with my kids and went to the local tidepools to do some testing.

I soaked this thing in saltwater and it never even blinked...at one point I actually used it for some very light snorkling....it worked great!!!!

Total run time was about 8 1/2 hours I would say. (the unit never went dead...I just ran out of testing time...it still has plenty of light from the first charge)

Only found one MAJOR draw back....it seems the local costco will no longer be stocking this product. So it looks like it may become a order online only item. BUT IT IS WORTH IT!!!!

So here is a recap:

VERY light weight unit!!!! (Few ounces...I was going to use my powder measure to weight it...then decided its so light it doesnt even matter)

VERY rugged. (should handle anything you may deal with during normal use including falls/drops with ease)

SOLAR POWERED!!!! (nuff said)

Sold in back of 2 for $19.95 at Costco.

Hanzo thanks again for the initial review.
biggrin.gif
"
 

Hooked on Fenix

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I wonder if they updated the l.e.d.? I purchased mine in September of last year. Mine have a 1/2 watt l.e.d. and are around 10 lumens. They use the same l.e.d. and are similar in brightness to the River Rock 2AAA flashlight which uses the same l.e.d.. Here's the link to the review I did of this light then.
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/208567
 
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defloyd77

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I'm searching online for other reviews on this, you seem to keep popping up hanzo :crackup:

Sucks Costco won't be carrying these much longer. There aren't Costcos near me anyway. It'd be really cool if they made a solar and shake hybrid light, imagine how quickly it'd charge being shook by a 5 year old hopped up on sugar on a sunny day.
 

Flying Turtle

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Thanks for the review, hanzo. Sounds like a good reason to finally join up at Costco. Never expected these to perform as well as they seem to for you.

Geoff
 

DaveG

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Dec 2, 2005
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I have 2 of these from Costco also,got mine around Dec last year.I dont think these are 40 lumens at least to my eye ball test. LL Bean sells them also,but not at this price.Hanzo,good review on a cool light.
 

Marduke

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Does the light have an optic? That's what makes a dimmer light seem to be brighter than a brighter floodier light.
 

kramer5150

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I was playing around with these this weekend @ my local costco. The blister pack was partially exposed so the buttons could be activated. Its got a nice R/Y/G LED panel to indicate charge. They felt pretty durable... FAR and away better feeling in the hand than the cheap gear/crank lights I already have.

I can't remember if it has an optic lens on the front or not, but its NOT 40 Lumens. Maybe ~15 tops. My wife had her AA Energizer (~35L) and I had a Fenix E0 on my key ring. The solar light was closer to my E0 than her energizer. FWIW, the light I was playing around with could have had a partially depleted cell.

Almost walked away with the 2 pack, but I had just made a big eagletac purchase.

;)
 

Gatsby

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I've got two of these and they are rather decent for a backup, emergency or around the house tinker light. I think they would make a nice camping light as well. My son uses one and I've taken the batteries out and he has yet to drain the solar charged cell.

Not super bright, but in this class of lower cost self powered lights they do pretty darn well actually.
 

BlueBeam22

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Great review, Hanzo, and it sounds like a really good reliability based light for the price! I'm glad you like the Hybrid and have found it to be a useful light.

It would be interesting to know whether it uses a reflector or an optic, or possibly a combination of both. It is true that optics can collimate light really well into intense, uniform patterns, and can make a light appear brighter than it really is. I find that the best way to compare overall brightness is a ceiling bounce test.

Once again, thanks for reviewing this light. :thumbsup:

Edit: Thanks for clarifying that DaveG, I started writing my reply to this thread before you posted.
 

hanzo

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Sep 8, 2006
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Guys, like I said, it's not my favorite light but does its intended purpose.
 

hanzo

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40 lumens and a 10 hour runtime? I know they don't mean 40 lumens for 10 hours for sure, but you said that you didn't really notice dimming and that's pretty impressive. I'd like to see a picture of the emitter.


Here's the emitter. Sorry for the poor photography.

 

hanzo

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I'm searching online for other reviews on this, you seem to keep popping up hanzo :crackup:

Sucks Costco won't be carrying these much longer. There aren't Costcos near me anyway. It'd be really cool if they made a solar and shake hybrid light, imagine how quickly it'd charge being shook by a 5 year old hopped up on sugar on a sunny day.



After I had mine for about six months, I did a review and posted it on the outdoors forums that I belong to as I thought it was a very good camping light since batteries were not an issue and it was pretty rugged.

As I was doing some research on the Nitecore EZ AA that I just purchased, I remembered to post my review here too.
 

hanzo

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I wonder if they updated the l.e.d.? I purchased mine in September of last year. Mine have a 1/2 watt l.e.d. and are around 10 lumens. They use the same l.e.d. and are similar in brightness to the River Rock 2AAA flashlight which uses the same l.e.d.. Here's the link to the review I did of this light then.
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/208567


I have no clue about that. But the package that mine came in clearly stated 40 lumens. That's where I got that number from.
 

hanzo

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Here are the beam shots I promised. The lights were about three feet from the wall.







Again, sorry for the crappy pictures. I took them just before going to bed. :sick2:

I will try to take a few more tonight when I get back. I think having the lights closer to the wall, like about a foot will give a better idea of the light intensity.

I have nothing to do with the solar hybrid company other than as a customer. So I can only tell you what the packaging on my light said. If I see it at Costco again, I will look to see if they have any information on their LED.
 
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