I'd heard people speak highly of the MagLite AA mini LED, so when I saw it at Lowes for ~$10, I thought I'd pick it up and give it a try. Having messed with it, I thought I'd share my impressions.
Things that impressed me:
-- This thing is a surprising thrower when focused. It easily out throws my XP-E Quark and almost throws as well as my 4D MagLite with a Nite Ize 1/2w LED upgrade (also a surprising thrower).
-- It's got plenty of light. The 25% mode is about as bright as my old mini-mag with the 1w Nite Ize LED upgrade, so I'd assume that the 100% mode is 4 times as bright.
-- The ability to focus lets you have a decent flood beam, tight focused beam, or anything in the middle.
Things that disappointed me:
-- The beam, no matter what focus you choose, is full of rings and artifacts. This is surprising since my old mini-mag with Nite Ize 1w LED upgrade has a beautiful artifact free beam. I expected that with the extra effort MagLite put into the larger reflector, it would have a decently clean beam.
-- The tail threads are (partially) anodized so my collection of tailcap switches don't work unless I mess with them to get a connection through a gap in the anodizing.
-- Twisty action takes both hands. This wouldn't bother me if I could use one of my tail cap switches.:sigh:
-- Two of the four modes are useless blinky modes.:thumbsdow
My overall impression is that it's a great little light for $10. I'd be less impressed if I'd paid the regular price, although if you need a small pocket thrower, it might be a contender even at $20.
--flatline
Things that impressed me:
-- This thing is a surprising thrower when focused. It easily out throws my XP-E Quark and almost throws as well as my 4D MagLite with a Nite Ize 1/2w LED upgrade (also a surprising thrower).
-- It's got plenty of light. The 25% mode is about as bright as my old mini-mag with the 1w Nite Ize LED upgrade, so I'd assume that the 100% mode is 4 times as bright.
-- The ability to focus lets you have a decent flood beam, tight focused beam, or anything in the middle.
Things that disappointed me:
-- The beam, no matter what focus you choose, is full of rings and artifacts. This is surprising since my old mini-mag with Nite Ize 1w LED upgrade has a beautiful artifact free beam. I expected that with the extra effort MagLite put into the larger reflector, it would have a decently clean beam.
-- The tail threads are (partially) anodized so my collection of tailcap switches don't work unless I mess with them to get a connection through a gap in the anodizing.
-- Twisty action takes both hands. This wouldn't bother me if I could use one of my tail cap switches.:sigh:
-- Two of the four modes are useless blinky modes.:thumbsdow
My overall impression is that it's a great little light for $10. I'd be less impressed if I'd paid the regular price, although if you need a small pocket thrower, it might be a contender even at $20.
--flatline
