The big review sites already have detailed descriptions and photos of this light, so instead of rehashing that, I'll just give some subjective impressions.
The Sonic is sort of a poor man's Arc AAA. It's less well built, and runtime graphs show that its electronics are less efficient as well. But it's still quite a decent light even if not up to the Arc's outstanding level. It certainly beats a Mag Solitaire, and its small size makes it a far better keychain light than a Dorcy 1AAA. So with Arcs in somewhat short supply and with TTS closing out the Sonic at $9.50 each (an Arc is more like $25 if you can even find one), I couldn't resist buying a couple Sonics.
The Sonic's beam is narrower than the Arc's because the LED is recessed in that narrow pointy front, sort of like a Photon Covert model. I think the beam could be widened by attacking the surrounding bezel with a file or a grinder, but I probably won't bother.
On/off is controlled by turning the tailcap. The cap has a nice wide gripping surface, so the light is actually easier to operate than an Arc. I haven't figured out quite how the switch works. There's a contact spring in the tail, rather than a rigid contact like the Arc's. The front has a little circuit board sort of like the Arc but I wonder how they got it up there into the light, since there's no removable head section. It looks like it's just shoved up there and held in by friction and maybe by a solder point at the edge connecting the board to the aluminum tube (I thought soldering to aluminum was tricky, and anyway inside of the tube looks anodized just like the outside). Maybe I'm missing something here.
I've heard that the Infinity Ultra under Gerber will be switching to a new design with the switch in the tail, so maybe the new Ultra will be like a bigger version of the Sonic. I'm not convinced that's an improvement. Could it be cheaper to make that way? Maybe; I'm no machinist but I don't see a whole lot of difference in manufacturing operations count. Anyway I bought a stash of several extra Ultra-G's in case the supply dries up after this change.
Functionally the Sonic is roughly the same as the Arc. It doesn't come with a pocket clip. It does come with a short (3 inch) lanyard sort of like a Solitaire's. I've always found those lanyards a bit bogus for putting on your keys, but it could be nice for attaching a Sonic to some other gear like a backpack.
All in all, if you want to give a keychain light to a non-flashaholic and you think they won't want to deal with replacing coin cells, the Sonic is a good value. The Arc is a better light, but to most people, spending $25 on a flashlight should get you something like a 6D Mag.
The Sonic is sort of a poor man's Arc AAA. It's less well built, and runtime graphs show that its electronics are less efficient as well. But it's still quite a decent light even if not up to the Arc's outstanding level. It certainly beats a Mag Solitaire, and its small size makes it a far better keychain light than a Dorcy 1AAA. So with Arcs in somewhat short supply and with TTS closing out the Sonic at $9.50 each (an Arc is more like $25 if you can even find one), I couldn't resist buying a couple Sonics.
The Sonic's beam is narrower than the Arc's because the LED is recessed in that narrow pointy front, sort of like a Photon Covert model. I think the beam could be widened by attacking the surrounding bezel with a file or a grinder, but I probably won't bother.
On/off is controlled by turning the tailcap. The cap has a nice wide gripping surface, so the light is actually easier to operate than an Arc. I haven't figured out quite how the switch works. There's a contact spring in the tail, rather than a rigid contact like the Arc's. The front has a little circuit board sort of like the Arc but I wonder how they got it up there into the light, since there's no removable head section. It looks like it's just shoved up there and held in by friction and maybe by a solder point at the edge connecting the board to the aluminum tube (I thought soldering to aluminum was tricky, and anyway inside of the tube looks anodized just like the outside). Maybe I'm missing something here.
I've heard that the Infinity Ultra under Gerber will be switching to a new design with the switch in the tail, so maybe the new Ultra will be like a bigger version of the Sonic. I'm not convinced that's an improvement. Could it be cheaper to make that way? Maybe; I'm no machinist but I don't see a whole lot of difference in manufacturing operations count. Anyway I bought a stash of several extra Ultra-G's in case the supply dries up after this change.
Functionally the Sonic is roughly the same as the Arc. It doesn't come with a pocket clip. It does come with a short (3 inch) lanyard sort of like a Solitaire's. I've always found those lanyards a bit bogus for putting on your keys, but it could be nice for attaching a Sonic to some other gear like a backpack.
All in all, if you want to give a keychain light to a non-flashaholic and you think they won't want to deal with replacing coin cells, the Sonic is a good value. The Arc is a better light, but to most people, spending $25 on a flashlight should get you something like a 6D Mag.
