Is the SL ProPoly 4AA LUX all that???

[XenonM3]

I am with all these great reviews and recommendations I might as well get one too.

 

[PhotonBoy]

Just got mine less than a week ago. Wow!! :goodjob: I don't know when this light came out, but if it was 2005, it's my nomination for light of the year. It deserves a song of its own, just like Kodak's Kodachrome!!

 

[onthebeam]

Based on the reviews here, I got one, too. With such a strong buildup, I was a little disappointed since mine had a slight green tint--and it was bright in the spot but not amazingly so. Decided to contact Streamlight and they offered to replace. Very good customer service. The new one is much better. It's white with a blazing spot, now with greater reach than any of my other lights where before it only tied the Sam's Element in reach.

I'm wondering if others concur with these impressions as I currently view the light. Great throw. Not much spill. So, I see it as great outdoor light for dog-walking, non-backpacking camping, exploring at night, etc. Inside, my lights such as the Nuwai Q III (great all-around) , Streamlight Jr. Luxeon (a bit dimmer but very user friendly with momentary clickie) and Sam's Element (not regulated but bright spill and good hotspot) have a smoother transition to spill and are more useful and softer. The ProPoly justs blasts too much for closeup work upon first impression. But I wanted a great throw light and think I've found it in the ProPoly. Nice ergonomics in the grip, too.

 

[PhotonBoy]

I agree, the SL PP Lux is an outdoor light, although it has uses in brightly lit rooms by helping to illuminate corners, crannies, behind furniture, etc. Overall, the SL Jr. Luxeon is a better indoor light with some outdoor uses, up to about 125 ft. or so. Either light will work well for dog walking.

 

[JohnK]

I think this light heralds the beginning of main stream, high quality, and inexpensive luxeon lights.

Streamlight has figured out how to obtain white, bright luxeons (for the most part), put it in a good body, with an excellent, well designed reflector. AND sell it at a relatively low price.

We've all wondered why Mag-lite hasn't entered this fray; well, they aren't; not until they can get a VERY reliable source of very tight binned luxeons. This will occur through two ways.

Manufacturers will figure out how to reduce the number of poor tints, standardise Vf, and output.

Or Mag will, by the weight of massive purchasing, simply get the cream of the crop of Luxs.

I think improved manufacturing will solve the problem.

I doubt Streamlight is paying a large premium for these (mostly) good binned luxeons.

 

[neogoon]

I just got two more from Fox Int'l (well, 1 -- the other was listed as backordered); a black one to complement my yellow, and another yellow pending as a potential gift; the new one is slightly brighter, with a bigger and cleaner hotspot, which is nice.

Just about the only thing that was less than perfect was the amount of battery rattle, but 4 post-its later (one around each AA) and it feels a lot more solid -- about the only rattle left comes from the head/reflector unit, and that's only if you try.

 

[LowBat]

Just about the only thing that was less than perfect was the amount of battery rattle, but 4 post-its later (one around each AA) and it feels a lot more solid -- about the only rattle left comes from the head/reflector unit, and that's only if you try.

Try cutting 3 inches off the bottom of a sheet of letter sized paper and roll it up and slide it into the battery compartment. That way you won't be fussing with individual post-its on every battery change, which is really going to be a challenge if your light goes out on a dark trail.

 

[BlackDecker]

After reading all these good reviews, I ordered one today for myself! I like the fact that the Propoly uses standard AA batteries... while I like some of the CR123 lights I've read about, I don't need yet another battery standard to worry about buying.

I ordered mine from brightguy.com... yeah it was more expensive than through Fox-Intl, but I like to support sellers that support flashlightreviews.com

 

[this_is_nascar]

After reading all these good reviews, I ordered one today for myself! I like the fact that the Propoly uses standard AA batteries... while I like some of the CR123 lights I've read about, I don't need yet another battery standard to worry about buying.

I ordered mine from brightguy.com... yeah it was more expensive than through Fox-Intl, but I like to support sellers that support flashlightreviews.com

You won't be dissappointed with this light and the fact you ordered from Greg at BrightGuy is even better. I've always had great transactions with BG.

 

[BlackDecker]

From what I've read, the spill is pretty good on this flashlight. Has anyone tried a piece of 'Writerite' PDA screen protector on the lens to further diffuse the light? I like Writerite as it's easy to remove without leaving a sticky residue unlike Scotch tape.

 

[Wolfen]

I bought two and recieved them today. I got one good one and bad one which is half as bright as the first and of course has the famous green tint The other is bright, white and a excellent thrower.

Streamlight is getting the green dim one sent back.

 

[txmatt]

Wow, sorry to hear that. I bought two earlier this year and you would have thought they had been hand-picked for tint and brightness as they are nearly exactly the same. Hope SL makes it right.

 

[neogoon]

Try cutting 3 inches off the bottom of a sheet of letter sized paper and roll it up and slide it into the battery compartment. That was you won't be fussing with individual post-its on every battery change, which is really going to be a challenge if your light goes out on a dark trail.

Interesting...it works fine, thanks. Though for the record, if I was changing batteries in the field, I wouldn't be fussing about a little battery rattle.

 

[LowBat]

Interesting...it works fine, thanks. Though for the record, if I was changing batteries in the field, I wouldn't be fussing about a little battery rattle.

You're welcome. The paper also gives you the option of writing/printing a phone number on it in the event your light is found by an honest person. Of course you won't get that call until the batteries need changing.

 

[onthebeam]

I got one that was a bit green, too. Not super green but the throw wasn't as spectacular as I had been led to believe either. Sent it back to SL with the batteries as they requested, and, in about two weeks, they sent a replacement. The new one is much better. I don't find myself reaching for it all that often, especially in the house, since it's so bright and puts out glare for closeup work. But, at night outside, it throws very well indeed although it's not a light for those who need lots of spill. A very tight beam. And, as everyone here says, a real bargain in the mid $20s price range.

 

[BlackDecker]

I received my SL ProPoly 4AA Lux from Brightguy.com yesterday. I won the Luxeon Lottery! Nice bright white spot, corona, and plenty of spill. I mentioned in a previous post about placing a layer of "Writeright" on the lens, but after seeing for myself how good the spill is on this light, it doesn't need it.

So far, this is the best light I have in my growing assortment of flashlights and headlamps!

 

[Hookd_On_Photons]

Add another convert to the list.

I honestly was not expecting much from this light, but I wanted to replace the flashlights currently occupying the glove comparments in the family cars, and I'd read enough good reviews that I thought I'd give the ProPoly Lux 4AA a try.

Tonight I was greeted at the door by my wife holding a box. "Did you buy another flashlight?" :tsk:

"Uh, no... I bought two."



Anyway, if you're sitting on the fence about purchasing this light, go ahead and buy it. It's got great output and throw for a Lux-I, rivalling an EverLED in a big ol' Mag 3D and Dorcy 3-D Luxeon for throw. It's smaller than I had expected. I've masked the lens and I'm putting some glow paint around the bezel for a little extra cool factor, and now the kids have some kick-butt trick or treating lights.

The only problem is that the ProPoly Luxes are just too darn good to relegate to glove compartment duty. Now I'm going to have to buy something else to fill that role. :naughty:

 

[Greg]

I just got mine in the mail today, and all I can say is this thing is damn amazing. I have not had an LED light like this (mind you I only have two others) and it smokes both of them, and they are 3 watters. WOW

As well, I bought mine from Fox Intl and the shipping was super cheap to Canada no doubt. I must have gotten the last black one, cause someone else had an order of 20 in there. Looks like someone is stocking up early for Christmas.

Greg

 

[redduck]

Received mine last week from fox intl. I do notice some greenish tint under certain lighting condition but nothing too bad. Great throw. In fact the hot spot on the white surface at close range is so bright that it makes me feel a little dizzy. I was mainly sold on its flat discharge curve. Unlike others I found it quite useful indoors. I used it a lot to checkout things in the basement and attic where most surfaces don't reflect light well. I like it's momentary on switch, very light. It does stand on its end although not very stable. I find it's overall output substantially greater than my Fenix's output when bouncing the light from ceiling. According to flashlightreviews, it puts out about 33 lumens; this leads me to believe either my Fenix's overall output could be well under 30 lumens, or the poly 4aa puts out close to 40 lumens. Another thing I noticed is that it's a bit front heavy due to its massive heat sink. Overall this is one of the best lights of any price range, every one should own one or two.

 

[asdalton]

Received mine last week from fox intl. I do notice some greenish tint under certain lighting condition but nothing too bad. Great throw.

Mine has a very slight greenish tint also. I think that most of these are V1 color bins, which might explain why Streamlight is able to sell these flashlights at a relatively low price. While V1 is nominally an imperfect tint, many of us on CPF (including myself) have discovered that V1 is much better than the purplish YA for practical use, and in some ways it's even better than X0 or W0. It wouldn't surprise me if the ideal tint is actually further in the warm direction along the blackbody curve--somewhere between incandescents and today's white LEDs.