4Sevens Lights...

[AlphaZen]

I bought a Mini AA a few years ago, and then one more recently. I have sold them both, but the recent one appeared to be of much lower quality, as far as the threading goes. It was much sloppier, with frequent mode skips. The first one had a defined moment the light would activate. The second one felt like it was trying to activate over a much larger range of the twist, resulting in flickers and skips. This is what I mean by sloppy.

It is possible that it was a bad one out of a good batch, but I assumed that they had changed manufacturers between the two models I owned, with the second manufacturer producing lower quality lights.

 

[Ualnosaj]

Not quite the right analogy.

A 4Sevens light is akin to a kit car Ferrari. Packaged great, 10 year warranty, etc but failing in execution (as a Ferrari).

Compare them to Hyundai. They weren't very good but if you bought an Accent, it may last forever as a beater and daily driver being super cheap. What 4Sevens has done is built that circa 1996 Hyundai Accent, toss it in a nice box, add power windows, remote door locks, ABS and other first level gizmos and sold it as a premium item. Not happening.

Does that make sense?

EDIT: you buy a UltraFire light and it comes in a ratty white box that's falling apart. Then you have 4Sevens in nice boxes and marketing. There is a certain expectation of standards, follow? THAT's my disappointment and reason for this thread. Can't speak for others though.

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[Woods Walker]

I think the OP saying how he feels about a product he owns isn't bashing rather giving his perspective. I only own one 4SEVENS a Mini AA with a XP-E neutral tint and it was put together just fine. Smooth tight threads etc etc etc. But this has nothing to do with the OP's experience.


Also a long warrantee like lifetime or many years shouldn't be the deciding factor when buying any product. Long warranties have vanished in the past with many companies. With the exception of a few brands I consider such things a marketing ploy.

 

[rdrfronty]

Not quite the right analogy.

A 4Sevens light is akin to a kit car Ferrari. Packaged great, 10 year warranty, etc but failing in execution (as a Ferrari).

Compare them to Hyundai. They weren't very good but if you bought an Accent, it may last forever as a beater and daily driver being super cheap. What 4Sevens has done is built that circa 1996 Hyundai Accent, toss it in a nice box, add power windows, remote door locks, ABS and other first level gizmos and sold it as a premium item. Not happening.

Does that make sense?

EDIT: you buy a UltraFire light and it comes in a ratty white box that's falling apart. Then you have 4Sevens in nice boxes and marketing. There is a certain expectation of standards, follow? THAT's my disappointment and reason for this thread. Can't speak for others though.

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But for me 4sevens isn't "failing" execution. If a light works perfect, puts out great light, looks great--to me that's not failing. And that's my experience with them. Even my Preon 0 which is currently my EDC, has never flickered, missed a mode, etc. Flawless operation like every 4sevens light I own. I do own many Olights, ITPS, Eagletacs, and Maglite's(xl200 etc.), so I am not just a 4sevens fan. But they are likely my favorite. Though my SR90 is a fun monster .
From this thread I can only assume 4sevens must have some quality control issues due to such a variety of opinions. Maybe I'm just lucky so far. But I do have a Maelstrom S18, Quark 123-2 turbo X, Mini 123 X, Mini 123 (xpg), Preon 0, Preon 2 Ti. Not a single issue from any of them. All perfect in my eyes.

 

[craigshipp]

I'm holding my Mini 123 in my hand right now and it feels solid. No way I can crush it in my hand. If some other manufacturer can build a light that is just as small and light with the same functions for the same price in higher quality they should do it. For now I'll stay with my Mini 123.

 

[Ualnosaj]

I think we should stop the thread now


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Posted from my phone.

 

[Ualnosaj]

Never did I say it runs bad by the way. Features, off center emitter nothing all good.


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[hazna]

The 4sevens lights I have (mainly mini's and preons) I feel are of okay quality. Not superb, but they do the job fine. I appreciate some the R&D and special runs that 4sevens does; that's what usually attracts me to their lights.

To be honest I feel it's a little unfair complaining about the threads on the Ti versions of the light. I find on all the threads on most cheaper Ti lights to be pretty scratchy and crappy. With the quark mini being a twisty light, this is particularly noticeable. I've had an illuminati, a titanium itp a3, both of which I've resold because I couldn't get used to the scratchiness of the titanium threads.

 

[Ualnosaj]

Okay so should Ti threads be scratchy? I have some high CRI standard Quarks and Preons coming so I'll compare. Like I said, the V10R Ti and other recent lights far surpass the 4Sevens and may skew my judgement. Again also their packaging betrays the actual build quality of the light. The engraving, loose o ring etc.


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[craigshipp]

I guess I've been lucky all four of my 4sevens lights have been trouble free and the quality is great.

 

[Ualnosaj]

Cool! I'm going to refrain from further comment until the non Ti lights come. High CRI Preon 2, Q123, Preon 1.


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[hazna]

Cool! I'm going to refrain from further comment until the non Ti lights come. High CRI Preon 2, Q123, Preon 1.


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Posted from my phone.

I feel the preons and mini's are built to a price point. As I've mentioned in my last post, the build quality is okay... not that amazing, but they do the job

 

[reppans]

Cool! I'm going to refrain from further comment until the non Ti lights come. High CRI Preon 2, Q123, Preon 1.

Wow, I'm pretty surprised that you'd value the High CRI tint so much over build quality that you'd buy more lights from 4Sevens. At a minimum, if you're going to go for a 123, why wouldn't you choose a High CRI light from HDS?

 

[Ualnosaj]

High CRI is a fun factor not EDC or anything. Those appear to be an acceptable entry level foray into high CRI.

On that note I have a high CRI RRT-0 coming.


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[Got Lumens?]

Spent about 10 minutes with my new lights...
I'm going to give my 2 cents.
Received: QMini 123 R5 Ti, QMini AA R5 Ti, Preon 2 Black/Ti High CRI
Packaging. Brilliant. Love it. Love the rubbery texture and gives me an idea for our own packaging.
Contents. Includes Duracell and 4Seven's batteries, great! Lanyard is silver which kind of matches the Ti finish style. Excellent.
Manual. Pretty lean and not up to par with the rest of the packaging. At the very least it's written in proper English!
Light output and UI. Good. Love the two cycle to strobe/SOS modes. Output is ok, haven't compared yet... using NiMH and RCR123A.
Fit and finish. This is my biggest beef. I expected much better quality being a Ti light or Ti finish. The light looked more like Alu with some Titanium spray paint. The walls also feel very thin, whether by design or not. Both 47 logo on the bottom of the Quarks were dirty and couldn't really be cleaned. Emitter on Q123 had a black spec of visible debris out of the box. The threads are pretty thin. I think these are the only other flashlights that ever squeaked when screwing them on other than a few UltraFire types. Felt like rubbish. Will have to do some serious lubing.
O-rings are loose but not so much that they'll cut with screwing/unscrewing though time will tell.
The body is literally just a spring to the base. While simplistic, it makes you think... "what did I pay for"?
Engraving. The logo and text engraved on the bodies is fuzzy.
Overall, they felt overpriced for what they are... and I have a LOT of lights to compare to. Granted the light before these that came last week were the V10R Ti and V10R XML so that's a pretty high bar to meet (and retail price)p.
The redeeming grace?
The Preon 2 is High CRI. This is the first time I've ever played with a High CRI light and absolutely LOVE it. On that basis alone, I'll be shopping 4Sevens for some High CRI... with low quality expectations (choosing small lights only).
Thanks for reading!

Ualnosaj,
Please note that the minis are not rated for lions, many have gone after using them a bit.
As to the wall thickness, yes it is thinner than the aluminum counter parts.
I would like to add that they don't ship a light that has broken in threads. Every One of the Ti lights I get from Four Sevens, gets disassembled prior to use, thoroughly cleaned, And Use Nano-Oil to break in the threads using upward force, then gets cleaned, reassembled and lubed. All Ti metal threads, not just Four Sevens, being such a hard metal can easily suffer from gall and binding if not properly prepped.

I really wish Fenix was the OEM for 4Sevens. Their threads and finishing feels THAT much better to me.

GarageBoy,
At one time that was the case. Problems happened, now they have partnered with Oight.

What Is the reason for the comments on the 4Sevens threads?
My stupid Quark will flash to Turbo mode while in Low if I press on the head.
Bugs the ever living crap out of me, when I'm TRYING to use a low mode.
Normal?
jd

JD,
You speak about mode changing on the Turbo. Some actually prefer to use it just as you suggest, while holding the light they can apply thumb or finger pressure to get to head tightened mode on the fly. All you need to do to prevent it from being annoyiong is to be sure that you unscrew the head another 1/4 turn, that should prevent your unwanted mode changing. Please note that I am not reffering to Quarks Pre-flash.
GL

 

[Ualnosaj]

I only use RCR on lights that work for it. Else I use Tenergy LiFePO4 (eg for Fenix E15). For the high CRI I got the Q123 on order so I can leverage RCRs.


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[craigshipp]

my RCRs will not fit in any of my 4sevens lights. including the Quark 123 Tactical.

 

[Got Lumens?]

my RCRs will not fit in any of my 4sevens lights. including the Quark 123 Tactical.

Craig,
Do your RCRs have any numbers on them? I have used successfully 16340 and 17335. It sounds like you may have 18mm diameter batteries.
GL

 

[shelm]

Every One of the Ti lights I get from Four Sevens, gets disassembled prior to use, thoroughly cleaned, And Use Nano-Oil to break in the threads using upward force, then gets cleaned, reassembled and lubed.

the head consists of 2 extended parts and its possible to take out the reflector, lens, etc. but you dont mean THAT with "gets disassembled" do you?

can you explain the nano-oil procedure in detail (and why not down force) please? and when you "clean" afterwards, then you remove the nano-oil lube, dont you?

which lube do you finally use on the Ti threads? (why cant use just use Nano-oil on the Ti threads, and why do you have to clean it? i dont understand.)

 

[leon2245]

nope. but that's how one determines the play in threads or am i wrong?

Never thought about thick o-rings as cheating in that regard, but without them it looks like there is a little more play in threads I've always bragged about being solid. Ignorance was bliss. Oh well, just keep a tight o-ring in there i guess.

Thin is nice, but no thanks if it can be crushed between your FINGERS. Assuming that wasn't an exaggeration.

I'd forget about Ti unless you're splurging on one of the premium boutique brands, who don't seem to have the same rough Ti thread problems of the budget brands' Ti. If that matters to you. I like nice threads. Especially on twisties.