I received a Preon kit yesterday. Ordered on Tuesday, arrived on Saturday across the country. Very pleased with delivery time.
This is my first LED flashlight and first "serious" flashlight of any kind, so take all of this with a grain of salt.
The red color is beautiful. I've seen some people worried that it might have come out too pink, but it's not pink at all. On the contrary, it's more like crimson. It's a matter of taste, but I really don't think I could improve on this particular choice of red. Very happy with that.
The exterior does indeed feel kind of like rubber. The texture feels somewhat similar to the grippy surface surrounding the sides of my BlackBerry Curve. It has a tech-modern feel that befits the aesthetics of the light. I like it a lot.
The fit and finish is very good. The clicky works perfectly, and the threads all feel good. One issue is that if I'm trying to work the twisty with one hand, and I'm turning it slowly, sometimes the contact will "bounce" and skip a brightness level. This doesn't happen if I use two hands.
As my first "computerized" light, I wasn't sure what I'd think about the UI. Personally, I'd rather it not come on in low every time, and I'd rather not do multiple clicks/twists. I'd prefer a memory so that I could fix it at medium for my most frequent usage scenarios. I'm happy with the Preon for such a small and streamlined light, but for future purchases I might look at other types of UIs such as ring selectors. The Preon's strobe modes are well hidden and I believe very unlikely to be triggered by accident, yet easy to get to if you need them. It's hard for me to imagine that the presence of these strobe modes could be considered a negative in any practical sense.
Running on primaries (I don't yet have low-discharge AAAs), I hear no whine at all on any brightness setting. My ears are very sensitive, so I feel confident saying that there is no detectable whine coming out of this flashlight.
The beam is pretty much what I was expecting after looking at pictures others have posted. Very smooth, with a wide hotspot and very usable spill. It lights up a room pretty well, but I will want to get more of a "thrower" for other applications -- even some indoor applications such as looking 40' down the attic. The Preon 2 is indeed usably brighter than a Preon 1, but if that's the difference between 160 and 70 OTF lumens then what that teaches me for future flashlight purchases is that I shouldn't get tied up in the differences between, say 200 lumens and 240 lumens. Overall, I am pleased with the light output and beam quality.
The light temperature is cold and blue, and I do not like it at all. This is my first LED light, so this can not be considered a mark against the Preon. But what it tells me is that I don't like cool temperatures, even for indoor use. I think all my future purchases will be warmer tints regardless of the application. And I'll probably wait on buying a second Preon head until a warmer tint is available.
Overall, I am very pleased with the Preon kit.
This is my first LED flashlight and first "serious" flashlight of any kind, so take all of this with a grain of salt.
The red color is beautiful. I've seen some people worried that it might have come out too pink, but it's not pink at all. On the contrary, it's more like crimson. It's a matter of taste, but I really don't think I could improve on this particular choice of red. Very happy with that.
The exterior does indeed feel kind of like rubber. The texture feels somewhat similar to the grippy surface surrounding the sides of my BlackBerry Curve. It has a tech-modern feel that befits the aesthetics of the light. I like it a lot.
The fit and finish is very good. The clicky works perfectly, and the threads all feel good. One issue is that if I'm trying to work the twisty with one hand, and I'm turning it slowly, sometimes the contact will "bounce" and skip a brightness level. This doesn't happen if I use two hands.
As my first "computerized" light, I wasn't sure what I'd think about the UI. Personally, I'd rather it not come on in low every time, and I'd rather not do multiple clicks/twists. I'd prefer a memory so that I could fix it at medium for my most frequent usage scenarios. I'm happy with the Preon for such a small and streamlined light, but for future purchases I might look at other types of UIs such as ring selectors. The Preon's strobe modes are well hidden and I believe very unlikely to be triggered by accident, yet easy to get to if you need them. It's hard for me to imagine that the presence of these strobe modes could be considered a negative in any practical sense.
Running on primaries (I don't yet have low-discharge AAAs), I hear no whine at all on any brightness setting. My ears are very sensitive, so I feel confident saying that there is no detectable whine coming out of this flashlight.
The beam is pretty much what I was expecting after looking at pictures others have posted. Very smooth, with a wide hotspot and very usable spill. It lights up a room pretty well, but I will want to get more of a "thrower" for other applications -- even some indoor applications such as looking 40' down the attic. The Preon 2 is indeed usably brighter than a Preon 1, but if that's the difference between 160 and 70 OTF lumens then what that teaches me for future flashlight purchases is that I shouldn't get tied up in the differences between, say 200 lumens and 240 lumens. Overall, I am pleased with the light output and beam quality.
The light temperature is cold and blue, and I do not like it at all. This is my first LED light, so this can not be considered a mark against the Preon. But what it tells me is that I don't like cool temperatures, even for indoor use. I think all my future purchases will be warmer tints regardless of the application. And I'll probably wait on buying a second Preon head until a warmer tint is available.
Overall, I am very pleased with the Preon kit.
