Recently, I was having a tough time deciding between the Surefire A2 and the L2. I liked that both lights had a high mode and a low mode, but I couldn't decide which one to get. The numbers seemed to be pointing to the A2, but I got the L2 on a gut feeling that it was more what I was looking for. I know this review doesn't directly compare the L2 with the A2, but I hope it will answer enough questions about the L2's performance to help someone else with the same decision to make.
It was already dark outside after I bought my L2. In the car I turned it on in low mode and the inside of the car lit up a lot brighter than I was expecting with pure white light. I pushed the button further into high mode and the car REALLY lit up! I was impressed right away.
On the way home I was spotlighting dark houses on the far side of the street to see if I could read the addresses. No problem! I did it on one house but could barely read the address. Then I realized it was on low mode. I pushed the button in a little further and the house lit up just like the others.
When I got home I just had to take it on a walk. I took along an E1e with a fresh battery for comparison purposes. The L2 has plenty of power in low mode to light your way. In low, the L2 lights up an area about 10-20 feet in front of you. At the same distance, the E1e throws a much tighter beam, but the L2 covers a wider area. If you go under a street light, the low mode is a little weak. No problem though, just kick it into high mode and the bright white light washes away the yellow/orange of the street lights. I found myself using low mode most of the time. But if I wanted to see in the shadows near a street light or see what was in the bushes, a quick twist into high mode lit up the whole area, even under bright street lights.
When I got home from the walk, I decided to shine both lights from the sidewalk, down the side of my yard (about 25 feet wide) and into the back yard, about 100 feet back. The E1e could reach the back fence, but the beam was weak. The yard was dimly lit by the scatter of the tighter beam, leaving shadows in places. I had to sweep the light to see the whole yard. The L2 had a little more throw than the E1e, lighting up the back fence better with its brighter and whiter light. The biggest difference was that it lit up the entire side of the yard with pure white light, no shadows or dim spots at all. If someone was creeping around in my back yard, the L2 would be a great choice for lighting up a wide area. You don't need to sweep the area to see what's in the corners; you see it all at once and it's bright!
It's hard to overstate how impressive the L2 is in high mode. I would put the effective range of the L2 at about 25 yards although it will light up things probably up to 50 yards. Now 25 yards isn't a long distance, but the thing that's impressive is that it lights up a very wide area out to 25 yards. Everything in front of you turns white. You don't notice a searing bright spot bouncing around from place to place; the whole are just becomes white. The reason for this is the high power combined with a wide flood beam. The beam effectively lights an area nearly 90 degrees in front of the light. The throw component of the beam is about 30 degrees in front of the light, but because of the wider, brighter scatter area, you really don't notice the hot spot as much.
In a small room, high mode is just about like flipping on the light switch; shine the light on the ceiling and you could comfortably read a book by the reflected light. You really don't notice a hot spot; the whole room just turns white. It's considerably brighter than shining my Maglite 3D on the ceiling.
In my unfinished basement, the E1e will throw a beam from one end of the house to the other but it's yellowish and dim and you have to sweep it from side to side to see what's hiding in the shadows. The L2, even on low mode, lights up a wider area than the E1e. The hot spot of the E1e is brighter, but that's the only place where the beam is brighter. The L2 on low mode blows the E1e away, both in coverage and overall intensity. On high mode the whole basement lights up. You don't have to sweep the room to see what's in the corners, the whole area is lit up.
The low mode of the L2 was really what sold me on getting the L2 over the A2. One of the main reasons for having a light with two power levels is saving battery life in low mode. For the light to be of any use to me, it had to be bright enough on low mode for 75% of the jobs I'd be using it for. I have a Mini Mag with the Opalec LED kit in it. It's supposed to be about like the A2 LEDs. Those are ok for low light use (like in a cockpit or stumbling around your house in the middle of the night) but they just don't have the horsepower the L2 has on low mode. There's no way the Opalec LEDs would be of any use when walking except maybe on the darkest nights. It's important to note that the A2 was designed as a pilot's light, where the low mode really has to be low to preserve night vision. That's ok for those specific uses, but for what I was looking for, it just wasn't enough light. I think the low mode on the L2 is just right and would even be ok for reading. Make no mistake about it though, an L2 on low isn't a night vision preserving light!
No doubt part of the reason the L2 is so impressive compared with my incandescents (Maglite 3D and E1e) is due in part to its pure white light. I don't know if I won the Luxeon lottery or if Surefire stacks the odds in their favor, but the light, both in low and high modes is as pure a white as I have seen in LEDs. The whiter light makes colors stand out better and makes incandescents look yellow.
The L2 is a little big for an EDC light, but I find that it carries very nicely, either clipped to the top of a pocket or just riding in a pocket. I like carrying it better than the E1e.
A word of warning: the L2 in high mode gets HOT! You could nearly fry eggs with it (look for that little test in the distant future). I haven't tried it yet, but I suspect if you left it on high mode for 30 minutes, it would be too hot to pick up by the bezel and maybe even the handle. Not that this is a bad thing; on the contrary, what could be more cool than a flashlight that has 'Caution: Hot Surface' printed on it?!
In summary, the L2 is a short range light with adequate range for finding an address on a house. If you're looking for a light to light up the next ridge, the L2 isn't the right light for you. If you want EVERYTHING in front of you (up to about 25 yards) to turn bright white, the L2 can't be beat. To me, it's wide flood is ideal indoors and at short range outdoors. On low mode you get very good, long term light output. It's a Surefire, so the quality is outstanding. I would absolutely recommend getting an L2.
It was already dark outside after I bought my L2. In the car I turned it on in low mode and the inside of the car lit up a lot brighter than I was expecting with pure white light. I pushed the button further into high mode and the car REALLY lit up! I was impressed right away.
On the way home I was spotlighting dark houses on the far side of the street to see if I could read the addresses. No problem! I did it on one house but could barely read the address. Then I realized it was on low mode. I pushed the button in a little further and the house lit up just like the others.
When I got home I just had to take it on a walk. I took along an E1e with a fresh battery for comparison purposes. The L2 has plenty of power in low mode to light your way. In low, the L2 lights up an area about 10-20 feet in front of you. At the same distance, the E1e throws a much tighter beam, but the L2 covers a wider area. If you go under a street light, the low mode is a little weak. No problem though, just kick it into high mode and the bright white light washes away the yellow/orange of the street lights. I found myself using low mode most of the time. But if I wanted to see in the shadows near a street light or see what was in the bushes, a quick twist into high mode lit up the whole area, even under bright street lights.
When I got home from the walk, I decided to shine both lights from the sidewalk, down the side of my yard (about 25 feet wide) and into the back yard, about 100 feet back. The E1e could reach the back fence, but the beam was weak. The yard was dimly lit by the scatter of the tighter beam, leaving shadows in places. I had to sweep the light to see the whole yard. The L2 had a little more throw than the E1e, lighting up the back fence better with its brighter and whiter light. The biggest difference was that it lit up the entire side of the yard with pure white light, no shadows or dim spots at all. If someone was creeping around in my back yard, the L2 would be a great choice for lighting up a wide area. You don't need to sweep the area to see what's in the corners; you see it all at once and it's bright!
It's hard to overstate how impressive the L2 is in high mode. I would put the effective range of the L2 at about 25 yards although it will light up things probably up to 50 yards. Now 25 yards isn't a long distance, but the thing that's impressive is that it lights up a very wide area out to 25 yards. Everything in front of you turns white. You don't notice a searing bright spot bouncing around from place to place; the whole are just becomes white. The reason for this is the high power combined with a wide flood beam. The beam effectively lights an area nearly 90 degrees in front of the light. The throw component of the beam is about 30 degrees in front of the light, but because of the wider, brighter scatter area, you really don't notice the hot spot as much.
In a small room, high mode is just about like flipping on the light switch; shine the light on the ceiling and you could comfortably read a book by the reflected light. You really don't notice a hot spot; the whole room just turns white. It's considerably brighter than shining my Maglite 3D on the ceiling.
In my unfinished basement, the E1e will throw a beam from one end of the house to the other but it's yellowish and dim and you have to sweep it from side to side to see what's hiding in the shadows. The L2, even on low mode, lights up a wider area than the E1e. The hot spot of the E1e is brighter, but that's the only place where the beam is brighter. The L2 on low mode blows the E1e away, both in coverage and overall intensity. On high mode the whole basement lights up. You don't have to sweep the room to see what's in the corners, the whole area is lit up.
The low mode of the L2 was really what sold me on getting the L2 over the A2. One of the main reasons for having a light with two power levels is saving battery life in low mode. For the light to be of any use to me, it had to be bright enough on low mode for 75% of the jobs I'd be using it for. I have a Mini Mag with the Opalec LED kit in it. It's supposed to be about like the A2 LEDs. Those are ok for low light use (like in a cockpit or stumbling around your house in the middle of the night) but they just don't have the horsepower the L2 has on low mode. There's no way the Opalec LEDs would be of any use when walking except maybe on the darkest nights. It's important to note that the A2 was designed as a pilot's light, where the low mode really has to be low to preserve night vision. That's ok for those specific uses, but for what I was looking for, it just wasn't enough light. I think the low mode on the L2 is just right and would even be ok for reading. Make no mistake about it though, an L2 on low isn't a night vision preserving light!
No doubt part of the reason the L2 is so impressive compared with my incandescents (Maglite 3D and E1e) is due in part to its pure white light. I don't know if I won the Luxeon lottery or if Surefire stacks the odds in their favor, but the light, both in low and high modes is as pure a white as I have seen in LEDs. The whiter light makes colors stand out better and makes incandescents look yellow.
The L2 is a little big for an EDC light, but I find that it carries very nicely, either clipped to the top of a pocket or just riding in a pocket. I like carrying it better than the E1e.
A word of warning: the L2 in high mode gets HOT! You could nearly fry eggs with it (look for that little test in the distant future). I haven't tried it yet, but I suspect if you left it on high mode for 30 minutes, it would be too hot to pick up by the bezel and maybe even the handle. Not that this is a bad thing; on the contrary, what could be more cool than a flashlight that has 'Caution: Hot Surface' printed on it?!
In summary, the L2 is a short range light with adequate range for finding an address on a house. If you're looking for a light to light up the next ridge, the L2 isn't the right light for you. If you want EVERYTHING in front of you (up to about 25 yards) to turn bright white, the L2 can't be beat. To me, it's wide flood is ideal indoors and at short range outdoors. On low mode you get very good, long term light output. It's a Surefire, so the quality is outstanding. I would absolutely recommend getting an L2.
