Much to my excitement today when I got home from work I found my new Ti MiNi had arrived. It came in very nice packaging with an instruction booklet. Included was a nice lanyard, two CR2 4Sevens branded batteries, and a small bottle of red Deoxit lube.
The finish is pretty much flawless, and the knurling is incredible. It feels as good as it looks. It is so highly polished it almost looks like chrome rather than Titanium. I'm actually wondering how this like would look after a good bead blasting..
The threads looked very clean and nicely cut, but were a little stiff and gritty feeling out of the box. They appear to be just very lightly lubed (maybe with deoxit?) from the factory. I wasn't worried because I have Krytox on the way to get them moving smoothly. However, I was very happy to find that after using the light a little to do this review, and fully taking it apart/putting it back together a few times, the threads became very smooth. I didn't have to clean or lube them for this to happen. Just using the light seemed to work in the light weight lube that was on it from the factory and work out the stiffness. I'll still use Krytox when I get it to keep these threads buttery smooth for the long term.
I tried to get a good shot of the knurling - just perfect...it is nice and deep, and grippy enough without being sharp or uncomfortable.
I was very curious how this light compared in size, low/high output, and beam pattern to my beloved Aeon, which is running a CREE R2. So, I took a few pics and beamshots. Beamshots were taken in manual mode with WB set to Daylight, 1 sec exposure, ISO 100.
This pic helps to show how similar the two lights are in diameter. Maybe only 0.5mm difference?
Aeon - Low
MiNi CR2 - Low
Aeon - High
Mini CR2 - High
Aeon Low vs. MiNi Low (Ani-Gif)
Aeon High vs. MiNi High (Ani-Gif)
Aeon Left / MiNi CR2 - Right
Aeon Left / MiNi CR2 - Right (Further Underexposed)
Aeon Left / MiNi CR2 - Right (Furthest Underexposed)
You can see from the shots that although the Aeon holds its own in the hotspot/throw department, the MiNi is putting out a lot more light. For one, the hotspot on the MiNi is as intense as the Aeon. This really surprised me, especially since the Aeon uses an XR-E as opposed to the XP-G. However, the MiNi produces a much larger spill area than the Aeon and the hotspot is also larger. You can also see that the beam pattern on the MiNi is much smoother without all the rings, as is expected from an XP-G.
In regards to heat - the MiNi gets hot pretty quickly on high. After about 3 minutes the MiNi is very warm to the touch, whereas the Aeon is only slightly warm. This is most likely due to the large brass head of the Aeon.
Early conclusions: The 4Sevens CR2 MiNi is a beautifully designed and highly functional CR2 EDC light, with about as small a form factor as can be had in a light with this power source. A beautiful beam pattern, a low-low, and a surprising max output (for a tiny light) make this a very versatile light. For those like me that want the pocket rocket output of the CR123 MiNi, but need something smaller to be comfortable to carry in the pocket everyday, this light is it.
For those of you considering this light, I hope you find this quick review helpful.
-Rich
The finish is pretty much flawless, and the knurling is incredible. It feels as good as it looks. It is so highly polished it almost looks like chrome rather than Titanium. I'm actually wondering how this like would look after a good bead blasting..
The threads looked very clean and nicely cut, but were a little stiff and gritty feeling out of the box. They appear to be just very lightly lubed (maybe with deoxit?) from the factory. I wasn't worried because I have Krytox on the way to get them moving smoothly. However, I was very happy to find that after using the light a little to do this review, and fully taking it apart/putting it back together a few times, the threads became very smooth. I didn't have to clean or lube them for this to happen. Just using the light seemed to work in the light weight lube that was on it from the factory and work out the stiffness. I'll still use Krytox when I get it to keep these threads buttery smooth for the long term.
I tried to get a good shot of the knurling - just perfect...it is nice and deep, and grippy enough without being sharp or uncomfortable.
I was very curious how this light compared in size, low/high output, and beam pattern to my beloved Aeon, which is running a CREE R2. So, I took a few pics and beamshots. Beamshots were taken in manual mode with WB set to Daylight, 1 sec exposure, ISO 100.
This pic helps to show how similar the two lights are in diameter. Maybe only 0.5mm difference?
Aeon - Low
MiNi CR2 - Low
Aeon - High
Mini CR2 - High
Aeon Low vs. MiNi Low (Ani-Gif)
Aeon High vs. MiNi High (Ani-Gif)
Aeon Left / MiNi CR2 - Right
Aeon Left / MiNi CR2 - Right (Further Underexposed)
Aeon Left / MiNi CR2 - Right (Furthest Underexposed)
You can see from the shots that although the Aeon holds its own in the hotspot/throw department, the MiNi is putting out a lot more light. For one, the hotspot on the MiNi is as intense as the Aeon. This really surprised me, especially since the Aeon uses an XR-E as opposed to the XP-G. However, the MiNi produces a much larger spill area than the Aeon and the hotspot is also larger. You can also see that the beam pattern on the MiNi is much smoother without all the rings, as is expected from an XP-G.
In regards to heat - the MiNi gets hot pretty quickly on high. After about 3 minutes the MiNi is very warm to the touch, whereas the Aeon is only slightly warm. This is most likely due to the large brass head of the Aeon.
Early conclusions: The 4Sevens CR2 MiNi is a beautifully designed and highly functional CR2 EDC light, with about as small a form factor as can be had in a light with this power source. A beautiful beam pattern, a low-low, and a surprising max output (for a tiny light) make this a very versatile light. For those like me that want the pocket rocket output of the CR123 MiNi, but need something smaller to be comfortable to carry in the pocket everyday, this light is it.
For those of you considering this light, I hope you find this quick review helpful.
-Rich
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