Back in April when I ordered this light it was certainly the most impressive of the ones talked about around the forum. As time passed, the excitement diminished, yet I must say it all came back last week when, after what seemed like an obstacle course, it finally arrived in my possession.
Initial impressions I must say were somewhat disappointing. First of all, the packaging was a mere bubble-wrap, with no additional protection whatsoever, although luckily the light arrived undamaged. Furthermore, what seemed more puzzling for such a high-end piece of equipment, there were no extra parts and no instructions, not even a hand-written piece of paper about how to load and operate the light. Of course, I had read about it on the forum so I already knew the details, but I think at least a diagram for the batteries should have been supplied, as the ++- placement is not intuitive at all, and also some explanation of the UI (for example, without searching the forum, who would think about unscrewing the tailcap in order to "save" a mode?!).
That being said, as soon as I arrived home, I loaded it with three brand-new AW 2600's and it more than made up for everything with it's beautiful output! Here are my overall thoughts after playing with it for a while:
I was relieved to see the initial battery-length problems have been fixed. However, the tailcap needs more work in my opinion -- the threads were the most non-lubricated ones in all my lights so far (which are not many, but still quite a few). Sure, it's easy to fix, yet it certainly made screwing in the tailcap more difficult than it should've been, as it has a moving part inside that keeps wobbling, making the loading of batteries an unwelcome annoyance. Then, the little pads need to align correctly, otherwise it won't fit; all-in-all, annoying for someone eager to test the light (or when changing batteries in a hurry).
Regarding build-quality, the rest of the light it top-notch, with one exception I'll mention in a moment -- the anodizing is excellent, none of the "premium" issues cropped up, and the colour is uniform save for a little difference in nuance for the bezel and tailcap (they seem lighter), but nothing noticeable except to an obsessed observer
Visually, the black contrasts nicely with the golden rings on both sides of the switch, making for a high-quality light that is sure to impress.
As we arrive to the switch, all's not perfect unfortunately. The ring-selector, complete with teflon bearings, that was touted as one of the revolutionary aspects of the light, was to me disappointing. Part of that was my own expectation after reading reviews, which turned out to be false -- I was under the impression that the ring could "turn" all the way around in an infinite left-right motion, like the volume knobs on hifi equipment, yet it only goes a little in each direction, held by a spring; but even if one were to ignore that, the switch is of very poor quality... First of all, it does not fit perfectly, so it rattles up and down whenever the light is moved, which contrasts unfavourably with the solid impression of the rest of it. Second, the spring is either too soft or too strong depending on what finger you use to turn it -- for me, turning it with the thumb is too easy while the index finger finds it somewhat harder. Third, and this is the most annoying, it makes a cheap screeching noise whenever you turn it or let go... Initially I thought there was something wrong with my light, so I opened it up at the middle, only to find out it's by design. Again, disappointing.
And since we're here, the middle threads are also not lubricated, and there is no O-ring there, so I'd guess this makes the light not waterproof. The issue was brought up regarding the premium version, but apparently it wasn't fixed yet.
UPDATE: The groove for the O-ring is there, and it appears it was just an oversight on this particular light, Neoseikan has been very prompt in aswering and offering a spare O-ring and he stated that the rest of the lights will not have this problem.
That would about sum up my main criticism of this light: poor packaging, annoying tailcap, squeaky and cheap quality "ring". Now we can move onto the positive aspects
But let me show the light first, as you probably long for pics by now:
Also from other angles:
This is a closeup of the middle section, in this picture the shape of the reflector can be discerned through the cooling fins:
Detail of the ring and soft knurling:
The tailcap:
And a few more details of the head:
Looking inside the business end, one can see the deep, OP reflector and the MC-E LED, perfectly centered:
Here is the light in my hand in the ergonomic grip permitted by the UI:
Ok, so I have been using the Legion II for about a week, mostly playing with it indoors but also took it out on a couple of occasions. The feel in the hand is excellent, well balanced, and this is actually one aspect of the light that was spot-on! As I have rather large hands, the grip over the 3x18650 body is ideal, and I find it more comfortable to hold than thinner 1x lights. Also, the short-and-stumpy body is great for tucking it in a bag without worrying if it is going to fit or not.
Although I complained about the ring, I must say that I like the UI very much. Sure, it could be improved, but it is a refreshing change from the common "tactical" clicky-lights.
I'll recap here the mode of operation, just in case there are others who may not have read about it already:
- turning the ring either left or right is momentary on, at two preset levels that can be changed; initially they are right-LOW and left-MIDDLE (level 3 out of 5).
- keeping the ring in the selected direction will "lock" the light on, which is confirmed by a short flash
- as the light is on, a short turn of the ring left will drop a level and right will climb a level (may be different for left-handed operation, I have the right-hand one); there are 5 levels in total
- holding the ring maximum left will prompt the "battery level indicator", a very useful and innovative feature that flashes the led up to 6 times depending on the charge level (with 3 meaning "low")
- holding the ring maximum right will turn the light off -- here I might say that the interval could be tweaked, right now it is much too easy to turn the light off instead of climbing a level
- all of the above is quite intuitive and not very difficult to learn, but here comes the weird part -- in order to program the default left-right levels, one needs to:
a) turn on the light in the respective direction
b) set the desired light-level
c)
unscrew the tailcap, then screw it back in
All-in-all, a nice UI that should be a source of inspiration for more lights to come!
I should point out here that due to the lack of a tail-switch, this is one of the best tail-standing lights one can get! Having the three batteries and a rather small head also means that you won't have it fall over by accident, this is one solid room-lighter in it's own right, and it's going to be a wonderful "emergency" light for when the electric company plays tricks on us.
I didn't measure running time, but there are enough reviews on the forum that place it around 2h30min on maximum with 2600mAh batteries. At minimum level, it exceeds 22h, which in my book is outstanding!
To quote a member of the forum, I used the highly "scientific" method of shining the light through several fans in order to observe any PWM, and I must say there isn't any (or at least none that I can observe). Also, (apart from the ring issue) there are no high-pitched sounds in operation, when changing modes or when the light heats up.
Talking about heat, I measured the temperature using an IR tool after leaving the light "on" at maximum for around 10 minutes in a room with no direct cooling, and the results were mild -- 45degC at the bottom, 48C in the middle and around 50-54C at the head, depending on area. After 10 minutes the light was hot but not uncomfortable, it would probably take double that to reach an unsafe limit.
Time permitting, I would've liked to make a few detailed comparisons with other lights I own, however time didn't cooperate so here is just a condensed comparison with one of it's direct competitors, the SolarForce L950M:
Next to each other, it is apparent the Legion II is more compact, housing three batteries to the L950M's two, yet the most notable difference is the reflector -- while the L950M has a very wide, somewhat shallow reflector, the LegionII's is tight and deep. This is also seen in the beams of the two, with the moderate throw and wide flood of the L950M contrasting the throwy Legion beam. Unfortunately, I didn't have the means of taking night-time beamshots in the woods, since I live in the middle of a big city, so here are just a few shots comparing them on a white wall:
Top is LegionII, bottom is L950M, shot at 1/30, F5, ISO200 and daylight WB:
Then the same but at 1/1000 speed:
In these shots, both lights are at maximum level, and one can readily notice the floodier beam on the L950M and the very intense hotspot of the LegionII. I would wager the output is not very different between the two (respected measurements on the forum place the LegionII at 600-610lm and the L950M at 560-600lm), so the main difference remains reflector design.
The (in)famous cross or doughnut is indeed visible on both lights at short range, it disappears quickly with the L950M and not-so-quickly with the LegionII -- a darker center is still visible at around 10m on a white wall -- but not enough to be a discernable impediment on the use of the light outside.
To wrap this up, here is a GIF animation of the Legion II going through it's five levels (1/60, F5, ISO200, grayscale due to GIF limitations):
Well, that about covers it! My overall conclusion would be that this is a beautiful, powerful and well-engineered flashlight that could proudly stand with the best of the bunch. The high price however would demand better quality control and more attention to detail, things I'm sure will be corrected with time.
I hope you will find this review informative and useful, and I look forward to answering questions if you want to know more.
Best regards,
Mihnea
Neofab Legion II Standard Edition Review
Re: Neofab Legion II Standard Edition Review
Re: Neofab Legion II Standard Edition Review
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