coolperl
Newly Enlightened
Introduction:
Crelant is a new name on flashlight market. Their first model - 7G1, was announced a couple of weeks ago. This little flashlight tries to slice a piece of "1xAA" flashlight market for itself. However this "slice" has to be taken from Fenix, Nitecore, 4Sevens, Jetbeam and some others. Tough task, I must say... OK, lets take a look at the hero of this review.
The specs are following:
CREE XP-G (R5 bin) with 50000 hours lifespan.
High efficient constant-current circuit, constant output-luminance.
Two levels of function with four types of luminance modes:
With 1.5V AA (Ni-MH, Alkaline) battery:
a) High-lumens mode: High (138 lumens, 1.8 Hrs).
b) Normal mode: Strobe →Low (10 lumens, 36Hrs) → Mid (60 lumens, 10Hrs) → High (138 lumens, 1.8 Hrs).
With 14500 lithium battery:
a) High-lumens mode: High (228 lumens, 1.5Hrs).
b) Normal mode: Strobe →Low (10 lumens, 24Hrs) → Mid (80 lumens, 6Hrs) → High (228 lumens, 1.5 Hrs).
Power source 1.5V AA (Ni-MH, Alkaline) battery, and 3.7V 14500 lithium battery.
Working voltage 1.5V-3.7V.
MilSpec Type III hard-anodized aircraft-grade 6061 T6 aluminum.
Waterproof Capability: IPX-8 standard.
Toughened ultra-clear coated and anti-abrasion glass.
High-quality aluminum faceted reflector with smooth and soft beamshot.
Excellent hand feel with dual arabesquitic and anti-roll design.
Tactical push-button tail cap switch.
Color of body: gray.
Can stand on tail as candle mode
Size: Length-100mm; Diameter-21mm.
Weight: 50g (battery excluded).
Accessories: spare O ring, and rubber tail cap*
* I was told, that in retail version of this flashlight, there will be also a holster and lanyard included.
Package
Crelant 7G1 is shipped in little carton box. Apart from service parts (oring, tailcap boot) there is also a short manual. As it's been said before, there should be also a lanyard and holster in retail version. My came directly from manufacturer for review purposes.
Apperance, build quality, etc.
Crelant 7G1 has somewhat "tactical" look. The body is heavy knurled and quite sharp and grippy. In fact, I'd like the knurling to be less agressive. Mostly due to the fact, that the anodisation from sharp parts will come off very quickly. This is a very nice looking light, but won't be so, with a lot of shiny points...
The glass lens is behind satin stainless stell bezel ring. It looks nice, but doesn't provide any protection to the aluminium edge of the head. In my opinion, the bezel ring should protrude a little, just like in Nitecore EX10 or D20, to protect the rim of the head.
The reflector is light orange peel (LOP) and the LED is very nice centered. It's clean, no dust underneath glass lens. Overall impression is very good.
The lettering on the other hand is not very sophisticated. The laser printing is a little blurry and the font used for model name is aesthetically questionable ...At least for people how care about stuff like this. It reminds me old western movies.
This little light is able to tailstand. It's wobbling a tiny bit, but it's nothing critical. The tailcap boot looks quite nice and matches to general design.
Also, the threads in the tailcap are anodized, which allows for lockout. The clicky switch module for some reason has reverse thread (counterclockwise direction for tightening) and it happened once, that it unscrew itself during one of the battery exchange.
As it comes to the ano quality - it's good. Feels like Jetbeam. The dark grey color looks great and it's uniform on all parts. However, the sharp and aggresive knurling and edges on the flutes will be prone to anodization loss. These parts should be more grinded and rounded in my opinion. There were already ano loss on the edge of the head, but it's not noticeable when light is assembled.
Crelant 7G1 is one of the bigger 1xAA flashlights...
[from left: Alkaline AA, Civictor V1, Jetbeam C-LE, Nitecore D10, Nitecore Defender Infinity, Crelant 7G1]
But in absolute scale it's not big...
[from left: Jetbeam M1X, Fenix TK45, EagleTac M2XC4, Crelant 7G1]
And lays good in hand too...
Overall it's very good looking light with nice finish. But considering the price, it cannot match Nitecore or Jetbeam.
User interface, modes etc.
Despite tactical look, Crelant 7G1 is not a very tactical light. It uses reverse clicky switch, so there is no "momentary-on" option. What seems to bug most of people here is a strobe, which is default mode when accesing the "Normal Mode" (head loosened). Apart from Strobe, we have three standard modes: Low, Medium and High - which is the same "High" as with the head tightened. I must complain a little about medium and low modes. They're too bright. Both of them. And I'm not ultra-low-moonlight mode afficionado. For outdoor use - OK. But indoors, when awake, with eyes totally adapted to darkness, it's way too bright.
The Crelant 7G1 offers mode memory. But only, when you turn on/off the flashlight. When you loosen the head to access normal modes - the strobe always kicks in. Pity
On the good side - the clicky feel is very nice. The response is fast. It's not too firm and not too soft. Just right. And the light is bright. Especially, when using 14500 cells. But beware, a taller-than-normal protected cells won't fit. At least, not to be able, to use the flashlight in "head-tightened" High mode. Some user on the other topic said that protected AW's fit. But I don't own one, so cannot check.
Suming up, the UI is rather simple, but not very well-thought-out. Especially for strobe haters. If it was up to me, I'd put the Strobe in "Head tightened" mode and hide it. Just like in NDI - if you want strobe just do: tighten-loose-tighten within a second. And I'd leave only two modes in "Head loosened" mode - no reason for doubling the "High" mode.
Circuit, brightness, runtimes
In short, this little fella' is bright and its circuit is quite efficient in max mode. The lower modes are achieved by PWM, which is not very sophisticated method in this kind of light and UI. But PWM frequency is 5 kHz, so it's not noticeable.
The light fully supports Li-Ion cells - which means it has step-down converter, when the cell voltage is above Vf of the led. For NiMH, Alkaline and Lithium cells it of course, has step up section. The runtimes and power draw for LSD NiMH cell look following:
High: 1h:25m /1.37A
Med: 3h:30m /0.60A
Low: 16h:00m /0.13A
As you see, manufacturer claims for medium and low mode are heavy overrated. Nowhere near the real results.
I didn't make runtimes from 14500 cells, as my cells are a little old and don't hold capacity, just as they were new, but I measured current draw, you can estimate the runtimes quite accurate from these values:
High: 1.14A
Med: 0.21A
Low: 0.05A
Most of new, high power AA lights drains the battery in 1 hour. So Crelant 7G1 really shines in this aspect (still talking about max mode). Since I don't have luxmeter, I cannot make a such nice graph like selfbuilt does, but using my own intrument (my eyes) the flashligh hold the brightness very well. Just in the last couple of minutes there is a very quick brightness drop. Again, the circuit seems to be tuned-up nicely. It's a pity, that the lower modes are so high.
Beam characteristic, beamshots
The beam is quite nice. Just like the beam from XP-G + LOP should be. No rings, no donut hole, no artifacts. The led tint is cool. Very cool. I'd say 6500-7000K. There is no hint of purple or green. Unless you compare it directly with some other warmer light source - it's just pure white. But I wouldn't mind if it was a tad warmer.
OK, below are the beamshots with comparision to Nitecore D10 and Defender Infinity - both are quite bright for their class. I compared also Crelant 7G1 and NDI running on 14500 cells.
And some outdoor shots I took the flashlight to the forest. The fallen tree-trunk with white markings was around 25 meters (~28 yards) from me. The camera settings were following: ISO400, 3.2s, f5.6.
Summary
As for the first flashlight in company line, Crelant 7G1 is a good debut. It really shines in some aspects (brightness, circuit efficiency), although lacks in others (user interface). The build quality is good. The anodization quality is excellent, but machining process and overall design could be improved. For instance, 1mm longer tube to accomodate protected 14500 cells. Overall, it's a good flashlight. Feels nice in hand, has original look, but at that price, one expect absolutely top-notch quality in every aspect. I'm sorry to say it, but for what it offers, Crelant 7G1 is bit overpriced... Yet, the company start looks very promising. Crelant is about to announce some new, bigger lights. And I think they're going in right direction. Although 7G1 isn't perfect, it's certainly not "boring" or "ordinary" product.
Crelant is a new name on flashlight market. Their first model - 7G1, was announced a couple of weeks ago. This little flashlight tries to slice a piece of "1xAA" flashlight market for itself. However this "slice" has to be taken from Fenix, Nitecore, 4Sevens, Jetbeam and some others. Tough task, I must say... OK, lets take a look at the hero of this review.
The specs are following:
CREE XP-G (R5 bin) with 50000 hours lifespan.
High efficient constant-current circuit, constant output-luminance.
Two levels of function with four types of luminance modes:
With 1.5V AA (Ni-MH, Alkaline) battery:
a) High-lumens mode: High (138 lumens, 1.8 Hrs).
b) Normal mode: Strobe →Low (10 lumens, 36Hrs) → Mid (60 lumens, 10Hrs) → High (138 lumens, 1.8 Hrs).
With 14500 lithium battery:
a) High-lumens mode: High (228 lumens, 1.5Hrs).
b) Normal mode: Strobe →Low (10 lumens, 24Hrs) → Mid (80 lumens, 6Hrs) → High (228 lumens, 1.5 Hrs).
Power source 1.5V AA (Ni-MH, Alkaline) battery, and 3.7V 14500 lithium battery.
Working voltage 1.5V-3.7V.
MilSpec Type III hard-anodized aircraft-grade 6061 T6 aluminum.
Waterproof Capability: IPX-8 standard.
Toughened ultra-clear coated and anti-abrasion glass.
High-quality aluminum faceted reflector with smooth and soft beamshot.
Excellent hand feel with dual arabesquitic and anti-roll design.
Tactical push-button tail cap switch.
Color of body: gray.
Can stand on tail as candle mode
Size: Length-100mm; Diameter-21mm.
Weight: 50g (battery excluded).
Accessories: spare O ring, and rubber tail cap*
* I was told, that in retail version of this flashlight, there will be also a holster and lanyard included.
Package
Crelant 7G1 is shipped in little carton box. Apart from service parts (oring, tailcap boot) there is also a short manual. As it's been said before, there should be also a lanyard and holster in retail version. My came directly from manufacturer for review purposes.
Apperance, build quality, etc.
Crelant 7G1 has somewhat "tactical" look. The body is heavy knurled and quite sharp and grippy. In fact, I'd like the knurling to be less agressive. Mostly due to the fact, that the anodisation from sharp parts will come off very quickly. This is a very nice looking light, but won't be so, with a lot of shiny points...
The glass lens is behind satin stainless stell bezel ring. It looks nice, but doesn't provide any protection to the aluminium edge of the head. In my opinion, the bezel ring should protrude a little, just like in Nitecore EX10 or D20, to protect the rim of the head.
The reflector is light orange peel (LOP) and the LED is very nice centered. It's clean, no dust underneath glass lens. Overall impression is very good.
The lettering on the other hand is not very sophisticated. The laser printing is a little blurry and the font used for model name is aesthetically questionable ...At least for people how care about stuff like this. It reminds me old western movies.
This little light is able to tailstand. It's wobbling a tiny bit, but it's nothing critical. The tailcap boot looks quite nice and matches to general design.
Also, the threads in the tailcap are anodized, which allows for lockout. The clicky switch module for some reason has reverse thread (counterclockwise direction for tightening) and it happened once, that it unscrew itself during one of the battery exchange.
As it comes to the ano quality - it's good. Feels like Jetbeam. The dark grey color looks great and it's uniform on all parts. However, the sharp and aggresive knurling and edges on the flutes will be prone to anodization loss. These parts should be more grinded and rounded in my opinion. There were already ano loss on the edge of the head, but it's not noticeable when light is assembled.
Crelant 7G1 is one of the bigger 1xAA flashlights...
[from left: Alkaline AA, Civictor V1, Jetbeam C-LE, Nitecore D10, Nitecore Defender Infinity, Crelant 7G1]
But in absolute scale it's not big...
[from left: Jetbeam M1X, Fenix TK45, EagleTac M2XC4, Crelant 7G1]
And lays good in hand too...
Overall it's very good looking light with nice finish. But considering the price, it cannot match Nitecore or Jetbeam.
User interface, modes etc.
Despite tactical look, Crelant 7G1 is not a very tactical light. It uses reverse clicky switch, so there is no "momentary-on" option. What seems to bug most of people here is a strobe, which is default mode when accesing the "Normal Mode" (head loosened). Apart from Strobe, we have three standard modes: Low, Medium and High - which is the same "High" as with the head tightened. I must complain a little about medium and low modes. They're too bright. Both of them. And I'm not ultra-low-moonlight mode afficionado. For outdoor use - OK. But indoors, when awake, with eyes totally adapted to darkness, it's way too bright.
The Crelant 7G1 offers mode memory. But only, when you turn on/off the flashlight. When you loosen the head to access normal modes - the strobe always kicks in. Pity
On the good side - the clicky feel is very nice. The response is fast. It's not too firm and not too soft. Just right. And the light is bright. Especially, when using 14500 cells. But beware, a taller-than-normal protected cells won't fit. At least, not to be able, to use the flashlight in "head-tightened" High mode. Some user on the other topic said that protected AW's fit. But I don't own one, so cannot check.
Suming up, the UI is rather simple, but not very well-thought-out. Especially for strobe haters. If it was up to me, I'd put the Strobe in "Head tightened" mode and hide it. Just like in NDI - if you want strobe just do: tighten-loose-tighten within a second. And I'd leave only two modes in "Head loosened" mode - no reason for doubling the "High" mode.
Circuit, brightness, runtimes
In short, this little fella' is bright and its circuit is quite efficient in max mode. The lower modes are achieved by PWM, which is not very sophisticated method in this kind of light and UI. But PWM frequency is 5 kHz, so it's not noticeable.
The light fully supports Li-Ion cells - which means it has step-down converter, when the cell voltage is above Vf of the led. For NiMH, Alkaline and Lithium cells it of course, has step up section. The runtimes and power draw for LSD NiMH cell look following:
High: 1h:25m /1.37A
Med: 3h:30m /0.60A
Low: 16h:00m /0.13A
As you see, manufacturer claims for medium and low mode are heavy overrated. Nowhere near the real results.
I didn't make runtimes from 14500 cells, as my cells are a little old and don't hold capacity, just as they were new, but I measured current draw, you can estimate the runtimes quite accurate from these values:
High: 1.14A
Med: 0.21A
Low: 0.05A
Most of new, high power AA lights drains the battery in 1 hour. So Crelant 7G1 really shines in this aspect (still talking about max mode). Since I don't have luxmeter, I cannot make a such nice graph like selfbuilt does, but using my own intrument (my eyes) the flashligh hold the brightness very well. Just in the last couple of minutes there is a very quick brightness drop. Again, the circuit seems to be tuned-up nicely
. It's a pity, that the lower modes are so high.Beam characteristic, beamshots
The beam is quite nice. Just like the beam from XP-G + LOP should be. No rings, no donut hole, no artifacts. The led tint is cool. Very cool. I'd say 6500-7000K. There is no hint of purple or green. Unless you compare it directly with some other warmer light source - it's just pure white. But I wouldn't mind if it was a tad warmer.
OK, below are the beamshots with comparision to Nitecore D10 and Defender Infinity - both are quite bright for their class. I compared also Crelant 7G1 and NDI running on 14500 cells.
And some outdoor shots
I took the flashlight to the forest. The fallen tree-trunk with white markings was around 25 meters (~28 yards) from me. The camera settings were following: ISO400, 3.2s, f5.6.
Summary
As for the first flashlight in company line, Crelant 7G1 is a good debut. It really shines in some aspects (brightness, circuit efficiency), although lacks in others (user interface). The build quality is good. The anodization quality is excellent, but machining process and overall design could be improved. For instance, 1mm longer tube to accomodate protected 14500 cells. Overall, it's a good flashlight. Feels nice in hand, has original look, but at that price, one expect absolutely top-notch quality in every aspect. I'm sorry to say it, but for what it offers, Crelant 7G1 is bit overpriced... Yet, the company start looks very promising. Crelant is about to announce some new, bigger lights. And I think they're going in right direction. Although 7G1 isn't perfect, it's certainly not "boring" or "ordinary" product.
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