Eagletac or Fenix ?

[not2day]

Hey guys, i am new to candlepowerforums as well as to led flashlights.

I want to buy a light and have some criterias.

I am looking for a light that uses AA batteries and I would liek it to be reliable.

I am looking at two of them that I really like but i dont know which i should get and i am a bit confused. I am looking at the Fenix LD20 and the Eagletac P20A2


I also understand that there are two models of the LD20 as well as the P20A2.

The LD20 has the LD20 Q5 and the R4

The P20A2 has the Cool White CREE XR-E Premium R2 emittor in premium WD tint and the Neutral White CREE XR-E Premium Q4 emittor in premium 5A tint)

Help guys what do i do? :thinking:


Thanks.

 

[dirobesh]

Welcome to the forums :welcome: - be prepared to say goodbye to your money

I have the fenix LD20 and can confirm that is very reliable indeed with the rechargeable AA's I feed it with.

The Q5 is a "warmer" tint that looks nice but doesn't throw quite as far as the "cooler" tint (more of a bluey-white) of the R4.

Hope this helps.

 

[RedForest UK]

Sorry, but that isn't strictly true. The ratings Q5 and R4 have no bearing on throw or tint, only efficiency. In this case however it is the other way round, the Q5 throws further with a tighter hotspot, and the R4, being an XP-G puts out more light overall, but with a larger hotspot and so doesnt throw quite as far.

The tint is really down to luck of the draw, but both of them should be 'pure' white, generally cooler, apart from the warmer Q3 5A bin offered in the eagletac.

I dont think you could go to far wring with either of these lights, the Fenix is a lot more compact if you want to pocket carry it, but for a general use light I might just favour the Eagletac. The tint is down to you really, the warmer tint will be a lot better for outside use and colour rendition, but the cool/pure white tint is rated a lot brighter output, which will be noticable in use if you simply want a very bright light.

Hope that was some help.

RF

 

[defloyd77]

There's also the P20A2 MKII which uses an XP-G R5, personally this would be my choice as I prefer the UI.

 

[jirik_cz]

The LD20 R4 and EagleTac P20A2 MKII R5 are the newest versions. Both are great lights and you will not make a mistake with any of them.

 

[Gunner12]

Q5, R4, Q3, and so are flux (output) bins of the Cree LEDs. A higher bin LED driven at lower currents will be dimmer then a lower bin LED at higher currents.

Neutral white and cool white are tints. Cool white is more like the normal LEDs you are used to, and neutral white is between incandescent and cool white. Neutral white helps with color rendering, but cool white is usually brighter (or at least seem brighter).

Presuming the same reflector size and geometry, a XP-G will throw less then a XR-E at the same output.

Both are great lights, and here's another light to consider, the Quark AA^2 (check 4sevens, 8% off coupon is "CPF8")

The LD20 has a few more modes then the P20A2, and switching between each mode is different for each light, but I'm sure you will figure it out within a minute when you get the light.

:welcome:

 

[JaguarDave-in-Oz]

Eagletac MkII. A very well built bright torch with my favourite UI. It has three superbly spaced brightness levels and the SOS, Beacon and Strobe modes are nicely tucked away so you won't accidently activate them.

 

[Misan]

It would be cool to take them both in hand, to touch, to feel, on / off, and then choose something that more like...

 

[Moonshadow]

With all this talk of tints and throw, no-one has yet mentioned the other very significant difference between the two:

The Fenix uses a reverse clicky :yuk: whereas the EagleTacs have a forward clicky.

If you're not used to these terms, it basically has to do with the way the switch operates - among other things a forward switch allows you to flash the light on and off more easily (i.e. momentary operation), which (IMHO, YMMV etc. . .) makes the light much nicer to use. On the Fenix you have to click the switch down and then let go again before the light comes on, which is really annoying, and you then switch the light off briefly to switch between levels. The EagleTac MkII system is much simpler - you set the brightness level with the head and you can switch on and off as much as you like without it changing levels or strobing you.

The Fenix does offer more levels, but as JaguarDave says, the strobes and other annoying modes are better hidden on the EagleTac, and to be honest the three well spaced levels on the EagleTac are plenty.

Plus - and this is a purely subjective opinion - the Fenix is f-ugly :green:

Sorry for the long explanations - would all become much clearer I'm sure if you were in the fortunate position that Misan describes of being able to handle the lights in the flesh so to speak.

:welcome:

 

[Painful Chafe]

The bottom line is, no matter which one you get you will wonder if the other would have been a better light for you. So the only solution is to get both. :thumbsup: :welcome:

 

[shortstack]

I would go for the new Eagletac over the Fenix.
Eagletac has original owner lifetime warranty

 

[HIDblue]

Just cut to the chase and buy both. You won't regret it. :thumbsup:

 

[Monocrom]

Have owned a handful of Fenix lights. Gotten good results from all of them.

 

[fannin]

if you want to edc it go for the smaller, lighter ld20

i have the r2 version of the p20a2 and the strobe renders the forward clicky useless, i don't know if this has been rectified in the mkII

i've got a ld20 r4 on order but not got it yet, so i vote for ld20 q5: apart from no low mode it's practically perfect

 

[Moonshadow]

i don't know if this has been rectified in the mkII

Yes it has. Deactivating the strobe was one of the main reasons for the upgrade.

 

[Batou00159]

:welcome: ide go with the eagletac has a nicer heft and feels a little more rugged to me

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[ResQTech]

I'd go with the P20A2!

 

[AsianInvasion]

my vote goes to the LD20

 

[Beamer4D]

I'm also a very happy Fenix LD20 owner and its been a great light. You won't be disappointed.

 

[Paapaa]

if you want to edc it go for the smaller, lighter ld20

i have the r2 version of the p20a2 and the strobe renders the forward clicky useless, i don't know if this has been rectified in the mkII

Yes, it has been fixed. The strobe can be disabled.

Also: most people only have one of the two and most likely more people have Fenix as it is older model. So you might get more recommendations to buy Fenix eventhough only a few people have actually used both of them.

Read reviews and make up your mind. I'm buing a new light and EagleTec P20C2 MKII seems to be the better of the two.