Ray-O-Vac 1AAA LED Review

[UnknownVT]

While in my local WalMart I saw this little 1AAA light from Ray-O-Vac - hanging on its ownsome - it was the only one there - scanning it showed it was only $3 - so was it a closeout?**
BUT I hadn't seen this light before in WalMart or anywhere else ....

Anyway at $3 and this rather attractive color - a kind of deep bronze/brown - couldn't resist, even though it only came with a "Heavy Duty" battery.

Size -

Head -

yes, at this price it's just a 5mm LED - with a lens - so it's a spot light.

It is a simple twisty - but the battery is loaded via the tailcap -
one canNOT load the battery in from the head end - even though the head does screw off - because the body tube aperture is too small at the head end..... I think this may be a deliberate reverse polarity protection design.

Being a spot light probably the light most similar would be the now legendary Dorcy 1AAA - spot gen4 version.

vs. Dorcy 1AAA gen4 Spot

The Dorcy 1AAA spot has a bigger more useful sized spot and its light is very even in the spot.

vs. classic Arc-AAA (~2003)

kind of on par - the Arc has a more generally useful beam - but conversely the RoV 1AAA Spot probably would be very useful for close tasks where one may want to minimize stray light/leakage - although some may consider it a bit too bright for more "covert"/discrete usage. This set of beamshots show it a bit - the RoV 1AAA has some side-spill - more like stray light that gives a riing of light with a wide dark area/halo......

vs. Fenix E01

quite obvious that the Fenix E01 is noticably brighter - but the spot of the RoV 1AAA is similar level to the spot of the E01 - but the RoV being lens focussed is more even and a bit larger......

vs. Inova X1 Spot (original classic in 1AA)

in comparison the Inova X1's spot is a even tighter and brighter (I have one of the last Spot X1's with suspected Nichia CS) - so the Inova X1 is even more specialist than the RoV 1AAA.

** No, this was not a closeout - but the regular price is $3 - I was in another local WalMart - and they had a hanger full of these in blue, red and this brown/bronze.
There were also a whole bunch of flashlight closeouts including the Dorcy 1AAA - ironically the marked down price was $3! (but the peg was empty)

Index to Follow Ups -

Comparison with Ray O Vac 1AAA LED Penlight - Post #9

Comparison with "fauxton" lights - Post #12

 

[sol-leks]

great review! This light obviously doesn't measure up to the fenix, but for 3 bucks it sure ain't bad. Seems a little too big though. Have you tested the battery life yet? VT=vermont?

 

[Lynx_Arc]

I saw these at the store and thought.. that is why the dorcy is going. I think Walmart is doing away with dorcy for rayovac and coleman lighting with some energizers. for $3 it would be a fun one to tear apart and mod or scavange parts.

 

[Robocop]

I bought one of these simply for the curiousity and well for 3 dollars it was pretty much just as I thought....a 3 dollar light. I am always looking for a host or something to mod and I thought that maybe I could use the circuit if nothing else.

I did get it taken apart however broke it in the process so thought maybe I could use the body for something else.....nothing else I could find would fit the threads so basically I paid 3 dollars for a night of tearing something up....And yes I will probably do this many more times with many more lights. I guess it is just a flashlight person kind of thing to do.

 

[UnknownVT]

I bought one of these simply for the curiousity and well for 3 dollars it was pretty much just as I thought....a 3 dollar light.

... this is true -
afterall it was $3!!!

It certainly is not any world beater -
however this kind of marks a trend -
LED flashlights are now firmly in consumer commodity pricing -
Think only a few years back I mean what did $3 normally buy in flashlights? - mostly the cheapo plastic incand end of the market -
this is aluminum body, and LED -
and simply because it is LED - it gives pretty good performance.
Look at the Mag Solitaire (1AAA incand) it's still about $5 at the cheapest and its beam is awful - and runtime....?

So it is "only" a $3 flashlight -
but compared to what we used to get,
this is really good value for money for the normal non-flashaholic consumer.

 

[DaveG]

I picked up one also and thought the build on this was not bad for the price. I have a soft spot for lights that get the job done and dont hit you hard in the wallet.

 

[darknessemitter]

I think it's a nice alternative to the Rayovac 1xAAA Penlight for only a few pennies more (like 2.97 vs 3.00?). This newer one is not only smaller than the penlight, but also has a more useful beam and spill in my opinion. The spot is tighter than the penlight, and it also puts out more spill (even though it's a little ringy).

It's hard for me to tell for certain, but it looks like it uses a combination of a reflector behind a less drastic focusing lens.

 

[UnknownVT]

I think it's a nice alternative to the Rayovac 1xAAA Penlight for only a few pennies more (like 2.97 vs 3.00?). It's hard for me to tell for certain, but it looks like it uses a combination of a reflector behind a less drastic focusing lens.

DoH! of course the most obvious light I should have compare this new RoV 1AAA was the Ray O Vac 1AAA LED Penlight (link to review).
I'll get on it right away!

There is a focussing lens, and only the tip of the LED dome protrudes into a very shallow "reflector" - hence the faint ring of light (with the wide dark area/halo between)

 

[UnknownVT]

I should have compared this new RoV 1AAA was the Ray O Vac 1AAA LED Penlight (link to review).
I'll get on it right away!

 

[Lynx_Arc]

too bad it has an optic... I wonder if the optic is only a lens that can be replaced with another non magnifying one to give it some more spill

 

[greenlight]

Don't you optic-haters have enough lights to play around with? The only reason for putting optics on these lights is because the LED output is so anemic.

 

[UnknownVT]

The only reason for putting optics on these lights is because the LED output is so anemic.

That's both fair
and a bit unfair........

According to the marketing director for Dorcy - they seem to think most consumers like spot lights - ie: a well defined beam (of course I told him that CPF seems to think otherwise)

The output of this RoV 1AAA is not going to match any Cree or even Luxeon - but it is pretty bright for a single 5mm driven by a single AAA.

It is certainly comparable to a classic Arc-AAA from 2003 - which was considered "bright" for a 5mm light and was CPF's flashlight of the year (would CPF really vote overwhelmingly for a light that was "anemic"?)

Let's just put all this into context -

5mm LED lights -

that's the famous 20 for $20 LED Lights from CountyComm.com

Comparisons -

at one time (back on 2004) the CountyComm 20 for $20 was held as really good value and bright for what it was - this RoV 1AAA "blows it away".

Of course to be fair to the 20 for $20 were from early 2004 - and by 2008 the typical cheapo "fauxton" - this one's from DX (DealExtreme) at 10 for $4.73 - boasts 22,000mcd and is pretty darned bright.....

The point is this RoV 1AAA certainly is in the same ballpark as the 2008 fauxton - ie: it is at the expected brightness level for a typical modern/2008 5mm LED.

 

[alfreddajero]

Nice review, might also have to check this one out when im there again.