Dosun R1, 2AA light

[Chao]

I bought this light directly from Dosun

Important features and specifications:

Digital Ring-Switch
Power switch：press for momentary on, click for constant on /off.
Collimator optical lens
Water resistant 30M
Built-in micro controller and regulated circuit designed
Materials: Aircraft 6061 T6 Aluminum body, Type III hard anodized coating
Bulb : CREE CHIP 1W white LED
Battery : 2 AA size batteries.
Warranty : 1 year, limited

This light has very good quality, feels like Inova light, size is not small, but easy to hold and operate.

I like this 360° digital ring-switch. It has 6 bright modes, 3 SOS modes, 3 flash signal modes, extremely smoothly to operate.


Size comparison

Lux readings at 1m:
Level1 2150 lux
Level2 1580 lux
Level3 1120 lux
Level4 720 lux
Level5 522 lux
Level6 175 lux

5m beamshots: left to right R1, SL luxeon 4AA, Inova T3 (old)

10m beamshots: left to right R1, SL luxeon 4AA, Inova T3 (old)

Runtimes (max level):

Brief conclusions:
Dosun R1 builds very solid and has nice quality, output is similar to streamlight luxeon 4AA, runtime is excellent, especially when using NiMH batteries.
For flashaholics in CPF, this light may not bright and small enough, however, if you are looking for a solid 2AA flashlight light that is reliable, bright, easy to operate the multiple functions, it is.

 

[PhantomPhoton]

Very interesting. I agree it would be great if they ran the LED harder. Can you give more details about the modes. I've gathered it is 6 brightness levels, 3 SOS... are they 3 brightness levels?... and 3 blink functions of some sort.
More details please

 

[nanotech17]

the features almost like SF U2,this is interesting.
Dosun vs T3 which is brighter?
How much it cost you?

 

[Mseize]

how much?
where?
shipped in world wide?
what's bin?
temperature in work?
work it with eneloop?

 

[Chao]

the features almost like SF U2,this is interesting.
Dosun vs T3 which is brighter?
How much it cost you?

The throw of my T3 was 2120 lux, and I think R1's max output is similar to T3.

Hi PhantomPhoton, the 3 different strobes and SOS are not brightness levels, they are different in flash frequency.

Hi mseize, I bought this light directly from company that located in Taiwan, it cost me 149 USD, I don't know what the price will be, if they start sell this light through distributors in world wide.
LED bin? sorry I just know it's Cree chip 1W LED from their specifications.
When continue running this light in high level, the head just felt a little warmer.

 

[Mseize]

Thanks for this information :thumbsup:

 

[PhantomPhoton]

SOS at different flash frequencies. :huh:
That's something new. Not sure what sort of practical use that would have. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Chao]

There are movies made by the company
freezing test http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g29gfQul4Xo
hydraulic test http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUWKQHhcouA

 

[Lobo]

Holy cow, looks like a great light. My biggest complaint about allmost all multilevel lights has been the UI. The perfect one is like this and the U2. The quality looks very good on this light too. Only thing you could wish more from this light was that it was a bit brighter (size doesnt matter for me).
And 3 differernt SOS-levels? And here I'm complaining that one is redundant.

 

[Chao]

If they can upgrade the LED (Cree-XREQ5), that would be great.

 

[Gary123]

Seems expensive at $150 USD. Folks are still looking for that 2 x AA thrower, doesn't look like this is it.

 

[f22shift]

Seems expensive at $150 USD. Folks are still looking for that 2 x AA thrower, doesn't look like this is it.

https://www.fenix-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=91&products_id=482
80 or 73.60 after cpf8 whch is half of what Chao paid

this thing needs a more powerful led and 3 outputs rather than 5. super low, reg, max burst

looks good and well pkg'd, simple ui, aa batteries. a nice gift for a non cpf member i think

 

[Chao]

https://www.fenix-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=91&products_id=482
80 or 73.60 after cpf8 whch is half of what Chao paid

 

[half-watt]

had high hopes for this light. wanted to cp. it to a LumaPower Digital D-mini w/optional 2xAA battery tube to see which is the superior (not just brighter, that would go to the Digital D-mini, no doubt).

rcv'd the R1 yesterday. very nice Box - too nice to throw away; heavy duty cardboard with attractive artwork. inside is a beautiful padded zip case for the R1. ok, 'nuff of the fluff, and onto the R1...

this is where my disappointment began.

inserted two recently charged Eneloops and light began to flicker (switch must have been in the ON position, i'm guessing???), then light died. turned it on and off (or is that off and on?) several times and couldn't get any light out of it.

switched to two Duracells that i had. light came on dimly. thought maybe it was because i was in a somewhat darken Den with the shades drawn, but with still some light (could easily see in the dim Den w/o using any lights, but it was not bright and no shadows being thrown either).

went to the darkened basement and cycled through the all of the modes of the selector ring. the highest output was around 7 or 8 lumens at best (just a little brighter to my eye than an ~4lm low output from a Muyshondt Nautilus). the lowest output was very dim, to the eye sorta' like the 0.3 lm mode of a Ra Twisty or NovaTac 120P/T.

went back to the Den and put the two different pairs of recently charged ('bout 3wks ago) Eneloops. it was went i put in the second pair that i decided to look right at the emitter (something i'm reluctant to do, lest the gremlins fire up the light and blast me eyes with mega-Lux). the emitter was glowing dimly. drats DIRECT DRIVE??? converter electronics blown right out of the box!!

then i examined the light more closely. some greasy schmutz on the face of the bezel in a very regular arc. how'd that get there i wonder? had a bit o' difficulty wiping it off. most came off easily, but the last remnants of the schmutz was a bit tenacious. is it laying in scratches/gouges? it was then that i noticed that in one very small spot on the edge of the bezel there was a patch of scratches - like the light was dropped or made contact with something rough like concrete or some rough metal (did that also deposit the schmutz there???).

anyways, to make a long story longer, i called up the dealer and got an RMA. light goes back today at my expense insured with delivery confirmation. then, i'll get credited the cost of the light w/o reimbursement for initial USPS Priority Mail shipping and insurance ($10), nor the cost (probably no more than $10 additional for $20 total) of sending it back. this has always been a sore point with me under these types of circumstances. if i don't like the performance of a properly working product and want to return it, sure nail me for shipping AND a 15% restocking fee - to my way of thinking this is proper and totally understandable. but, ship me a broken piece of junk which might have been previously used and damaged and broken by someone, i don't like paying for such. after spending probably over $1000 with this company over the last 10mos, i probably will not be doing business with them again. nah,...that's just my emotions gettin' the better of me since i'm focusing on a wasted ~$20. the company is good, and their people are very nice. i'll continue to do business with them. but i'll stick with their most well known brand of lights from now on. why? read my other Post on the R6 which i received the same day.

 

[f22shift]

which store?I don't like companies that don't foot the bill when sending defective merchandise. Although a lot of companies want the buyer to front the shipping back to them. Its strange that they want you to pay for shipping back to you...

 

[half-watt]

sorry that i wasn't clearer. i don't want an exchange for the defective R1. i'm returning it for refund (so, shipping for a previously used and damaged unit was on me, and shipping this afternoon back to them will also be on me it appears; refund was only mentioned to be for the cost of the light not insurance and shipping). there will be no return shipping to me.

since, my testing of the more powerful R6 (which arrived fine the same day with no problems as a separate order) demonstrated to my eyes that my particular R6 doesn't appear to be as bright as some of the finer lights that i own that rate their lumen output lower than the R6 (e.g., Ra Twisty-100-TW on its default 17lm MED o.p. level, is brighter than the R6 on its 48lm o.p. level, and both the Twisty and Muyshondt Nautilus on their highest o.p. modes, 100lm and 107lm respectively, blow away the R6 on it's highest o.p. level which is a Mfr. claimed 120lm - the difference in brightness is so very easily noticeable; they are not even close. i'm suspecting that the R1 will be similar in this respect. otherwise, they both appear in construction at least to be very nice lights.


-----------------------------------------
EDIT:

i need to update the last statement made above.

the R6 has, also, after only two days of use; very little on day one and a lot on day two has developed an intermittent, recalcitrant ring rotation which sometimes rotates, oh so silky smooth, and then suddenly binds up badly and requires two hands to stiffly operate, before magically, at some point, returning to silky smooth operation - bottom line, as far as quality goes, the selector ring on my R6 is *NOTHING* like the SF U2's selector ring.

 

[woodrow]

These look like cool lights.... Thanks for another cool review Chao. I would be tempted to get one over the Leupold lights (tried to buy a few weeks ago... none in stock anywhere) but hearing about a bad one from half-watt and their low output (they rate the R1 at 85 lumens, but I am not sure I see that in the comparison beamshots) I might hold off. Looks like they have the potential to have something really good on their hands though. Again, thanks for the review!

 

[swxb12]

Chao, thanks for a great review. Looks like a very useful light.

 

[MattK]

The Dosun's are an interesting product. I got some samples a while back and thought, before they arrived, that the line might have great potential but once the sample arrived I found some major negatives so we declined, at the time to carry the line. I hope they can resolve the issues because they've got the basics of fit/finish and packaging nailed.

Here's my product analysis on the R2 that I sent to Dosun - I cannot post their replies (rude and a violation of TOU).....

Overview:
The packaging is quite good. Box looks nice, case is very nice but may be a waste of money as it must have added $2+ and might never be used again by most customers - regardless it comes off as high quality.
Unfortunately though the packaging cannot be hung from a display hook (no hang tag) but for this level of product that may be fine.

The holster quality is not up to the quality of the light or the case - spend less on the case and more on the holster as people will actually use the holster again.

The box does show the light with an AL or SS trim/bezel ring but the finishd product is black.

The photo on the box is misleading and makes the light look longer than it is but I guess this is a pic of R1 with 2x AA batteries?

While operation is quite obvious to me a light like this should have a small instruction manual - the small insert card should have 1 leaf dedicated to operational basic.

Lanyard is very nice as is accomodation for it on the light.

Is the coating true Type III black or improved Type II?

The light is simply not bright enough. We measured about 1900 lux at 1M - pretty far from 3200 lux. The emitter tint is very warm, running to yellow and green. There is no reason (except perhaps the use of AAA lkaline cells???) that this light cannot emit 5000 lux at 1M if not considerably more.

The selector ring moves WAY too easily. It should have more resistance to better hold the selected mode/level. I am also not convinced that the 3 SOS and 3 flash modes are relevant or useful. I think that a hi low level of SOS would have been adequate and that strobe could be 2 levels at most - perhaps a 12-14mhz tactical mode and a 18-20hz 'attention grabber'.

The light can candle stand - though many will not like the heavily recessed and small button but it has absolutely no anti-roll?

Threading looks good, but is not lubricated. You obtained IPX-8 with a single O-ring?

Fit and finish is generally excellent but if the intended price point is about $150 USD the spring should be gold plated, the + and - contacts on the battery carriage should be gold plated, etc

Conclusions:
As reviewed I do not belive this light would be succesful on the US market. If the brightness level could be improved significantly and the selector ring issue resolved I believe there could be a limited market. Ultimately the sales will be hindered because the light has no clear purpose and market. It's not an outdoor/hunters light and would never work as a weapon mount light. It doesn't have a tactical strobe nor is it sized/built for the law enforcement/tactical/security market and it is too expensive for all but the enthuiast market. The enthusiast market will require that the light have segment leading output AND superior color tint and that the selector ring works better with reporgrammed/revised output offerings. Additionally, the enthusiast market wants the light to work on 2XCr123A, 2X RCR123A + 1 X protected 18650 in other words 2.5-8.4V input.

Since the light cannot meet the requirements of any particular market I do not envision it being a commercial success on the US market without significant refinement and revision.

 

[half-watt]

MattK,

very well written review. good job. it struck a responsive chord in me since i've played with both a defective R1 (see my previous Posts on the DoSun flashlights, NOT my H1 headlamp Posts elsewhere), and the R6. having "been there, done that", i could really relate to all of your comments, even your astute observations that i missed or didn't take much notice of on my two specimens.

you sure are thorough and thought of many things that i sure missed when looking at the defective R1 (2xAA), and my working, but underperforming R6 (3xCR123A).

some items appear to have been addressed by DoSun. the R1 has the shiny metal bezel, but the R6 bezel is still anodized. R6 went to blister pack, but the R1 still has a nice zippered, padded case (very nice) and a VERY nice cardboard box (it's the finest cardboard box i've seen in a light - too nice to discard). mode selector ring still spins too easily on mine (when it's working properly; it worked properly all day yesterday and seems to have "healed" itself; let's hope that it stays "healed"). the R6 does have a nice, warm, incandescent-ish tint to it (sorta' like the Luxeon Rebel emitters - very nice indeed, and for the record, i'm a "cool" tint/pure-white guy). also, still no lube on my R6 (nor the defective R2) - at least as rcv'd; easy enough to correct w/some NyoGel, but for the price, i should not have had to.

some of our comments were similar (box & case - to some degree similar comments). i'd use both to store the light in - so, for me it would be nice packaging - my way of thinking +$2 on a ~$85 or $100 light is a very minor percentage of the overall cost, so, i don't mind it. that said, they are both going back to the dealer w/the defective R2, and i don't miss them on the R6 that i'm going to keep.

most notably, perhaps, are the similar comments on the light o.p. being on the anemic side in comparision to other quality lights with ratings nearly 3x lower, yet were as bright or noticeably brighter than the R6. how did DoSun come up w/their lumen values?

the other area of concern for me, but it's more of a fear, so to speak, than anything else is that the claimed burn-times might be similarly inflated like the o.p. values. however, perhaps not? maybe since the o.p. is so low, the burn-times will be spot on? that would, at least, be a pleasant surprise in the performance dept.

the R6 looks good (fit and finish-wise), and just feels good in the hand. also, IMO, the R6 is an attractive appearing light.

despite its shortcomings, particularly its anemic output, i like using it. it's beggin' for an emitter upgrade. if such an upgrade is doable, the modders will love it. i wonder what Milky can do with it? hmmm,....

what i did last night after the selector stopped behaving badly, which it did during the first couple of days of use (intermittently bind up and would require two HANDS to turn), was to add five drops of Super Glue Gel (the Gel doesn't really flow under gravitational forces alone, so it doesn't run all over - now that sure would BIND UP a selector ring!!)

- added one drop/bump to the lowest steady/constant o.p. level icon/marking,

two drops/bumps to the highest steady/constant o.p. level icon,

one to the stationary portion of the light on the selection indication icon, and

a final one directly across from the stationary selection indication icon on the other stationary side of the selector ring - this final drop being on the stationary portion of the light.


hopefully DoSun will add "braille-like" bumps to their future lights to enable purely tactile position location of the selector ring.

with the small dots of Super Glue Gel, it doesn't look super ugly and now i can position the ring by feel alone even when the light is off. when most of the drops line up, i'm either in the lowest or highest constant o.p. mode. depending upon how i'm holding the light and my fingers are positioned, i can feel either the forward stationary bump and the selector ring bumps, OR i can feel the rearward stationary bump and the selector ring bumps.

anyways, i really can't add to your excellent description, so...

'nuff said, by me at least.

thanks again for your comments.