This is my first review in quite a few years as I've had to step away from lights for a while when my wife got pregnant. I made the bad mistake of browsing a few of the vendors I once frequented and CPF one day and what do you know, I ended up buying a light that weekend! I didn't find many A6 reviews so I thought I'd put a quick one up.
I picked up a Christmas giftset of ITP lights that included the A6 Polestar and A3 EOS Stainless Steel lights. I didn't need another AAA light, but the price was hard to resist.
First, the A6 Polestar. The Christmas giftset box is nice...a sturdy cardbox box that's nicely decorated. It would make an impressive gift. When I first saw the A6 in person, it's smaller than I expected. It's not the most attractive light (doesn't have that uber-aggressive should_be_mounted_on_a_50_cal_machine_gun look), but it's a decent looking light. The machining and anodizing is excellent. The tailcap threads are a bit rough and could use some lubrication. The head is glued on so no access to the electronics or emitter. The A6 takes 6xAA batteries via a clear battery holder. The holder doesn't inspire awe in it's quality, but it seems to work fine thus far (had it a few days now). The positive battery contact is a simple metal tab bent over to contact the battery holder's top nub. Nothing fancy, but it should hold up decently over time. The bottom spring has good tension, so it should keep the contact there as the metal tab loses some tension. The reflector is OP (same one used in the Olight M31), but even with the texturing, the donut hole is ever present. I could see it even outdoors lighting up a neighbors large tree in the distance. It is somewhat annoying, but really won't affect it's actual usage.
The switch is a reverse clicky (I prefer forward clickies), but it works fine. The UI is simple...click the light on and press again and hold to scroll through the modes (low-med-high-strobe). It's effective and simple and works well with the reverse clicky. The con with this is you have to go through a 700 lumen strobe before getting back to low and you can't change modes without first tuning on the light. With 6 alkaline AAs in it, the A6 has a good heft. My wife commented that it's heavy, but she's used to the lithium-powered lights I have. One of the reasons I wanted the A6 was because it took non-lithium-size batteries.
The A6 is rated at 700 LED lumens with a Cree MC-E. Tests I've found on the web have shown approx. 450 OTF lumens, which fits in with the approx. 35% loss (due to reflector, lens, and heat non-idealities). It's an impressive amount of light, though I wasn't as awestruck as I had expected to be (this is my first 700 lumen light). Indoors, using it in ceiling bounce, it works great to light up just about any small to medium size room. Enough light to read comfortably. Outdoors, it puts out plenty of light and has quite good throw to show you anything you need to see. The tint is white as far as I can tell.
Overall, it's a nice, very bright light at an excellent price. ITP is Olight's entry level brand (the documentation even says Olight Technology Company) and you can easily see where cost-savings were taken, but the light is still well made and performs well. A great buy IMO.
A3 EOS Upgrade Stainless Steel - It's quite heavy for a AAA light being SS, but the heft also gives it a feeling of sturdiness and toughness. Machining and finish is excellent, except for where the clip is attached. Once I removed the clip, there are scratches on the surface hidden by the clip. Nothing super noticeable, but fine scratches. Likely due to the clip. The head is the only removeable part and it threads on easily. The bottom of the A3 has a protruded point to mount the keychain. This prevents the A3 from being used as a standalone candle. I would've much prefered moving the keychain mount to allow tailstand ability. The clip has very little tension, so I wouldn't use it with confidence. It will likely fall into your pocket during the day (so make sure you clip the light to the inside of your pocket).
The UI is a simple twist. The "upgrade" version has 3 modes, in this order: Med, Low, High. There is no memory (which is a negative), so the light always starts in Med. Med is a decent amount of light for a small AAA, so it's a useful level. However, I prefer high most of the time, so I have to cycle through every time I turn the light on. Low is very low, which I like to conserve battery. The beam is smooth, slightly on the warm side. Output on high is rated at 80 LED lumens. Not sure if it makes it to 80 (about 50 OTF lumens) as it doesn't seem that bright, but that may be due to my eyes being so used to brighter lights now (I remember the days when the 30 OTF lumen Nuwai QIIIs were the beez kneez). But it's plenty bright for a keychain AAA light.
If I were to buy the A3 separately, I likely wouldn't choose the SS version. The additional weight is a con for a keychain light. I also believe the SS version costs more. The lack of memory is a negative for me. The lack of tailstand is also a big negative for me. I've used my Fenix AAA light before in tailstand candlemode when power went out and we needed just a small amount of light for a good period of time. I'd rather just sit it on a table than hold it constantly. It's a well made light, but a few areas weren't thought out quite so well. For the price, it's a great buy. But for a little more, I think there's better options.
I picked up a Christmas giftset of ITP lights that included the A6 Polestar and A3 EOS Stainless Steel lights. I didn't need another AAA light, but the price was hard to resist.
First, the A6 Polestar. The Christmas giftset box is nice...a sturdy cardbox box that's nicely decorated. It would make an impressive gift. When I first saw the A6 in person, it's smaller than I expected. It's not the most attractive light (doesn't have that uber-aggressive should_be_mounted_on_a_50_cal_machine_gun look), but it's a decent looking light. The machining and anodizing is excellent. The tailcap threads are a bit rough and could use some lubrication. The head is glued on so no access to the electronics or emitter. The A6 takes 6xAA batteries via a clear battery holder. The holder doesn't inspire awe in it's quality, but it seems to work fine thus far (had it a few days now). The positive battery contact is a simple metal tab bent over to contact the battery holder's top nub. Nothing fancy, but it should hold up decently over time. The bottom spring has good tension, so it should keep the contact there as the metal tab loses some tension. The reflector is OP (same one used in the Olight M31), but even with the texturing, the donut hole is ever present. I could see it even outdoors lighting up a neighbors large tree in the distance. It is somewhat annoying, but really won't affect it's actual usage.
The switch is a reverse clicky (I prefer forward clickies), but it works fine. The UI is simple...click the light on and press again and hold to scroll through the modes (low-med-high-strobe). It's effective and simple and works well with the reverse clicky. The con with this is you have to go through a 700 lumen strobe before getting back to low and you can't change modes without first tuning on the light. With 6 alkaline AAs in it, the A6 has a good heft. My wife commented that it's heavy, but she's used to the lithium-powered lights I have. One of the reasons I wanted the A6 was because it took non-lithium-size batteries.
The A6 is rated at 700 LED lumens with a Cree MC-E. Tests I've found on the web have shown approx. 450 OTF lumens, which fits in with the approx. 35% loss (due to reflector, lens, and heat non-idealities). It's an impressive amount of light, though I wasn't as awestruck as I had expected to be (this is my first 700 lumen light). Indoors, using it in ceiling bounce, it works great to light up just about any small to medium size room. Enough light to read comfortably. Outdoors, it puts out plenty of light and has quite good throw to show you anything you need to see. The tint is white as far as I can tell.
Overall, it's a nice, very bright light at an excellent price. ITP is Olight's entry level brand (the documentation even says Olight Technology Company) and you can easily see where cost-savings were taken, but the light is still well made and performs well. A great buy IMO.
A3 EOS Upgrade Stainless Steel - It's quite heavy for a AAA light being SS, but the heft also gives it a feeling of sturdiness and toughness. Machining and finish is excellent, except for where the clip is attached. Once I removed the clip, there are scratches on the surface hidden by the clip. Nothing super noticeable, but fine scratches. Likely due to the clip. The head is the only removeable part and it threads on easily. The bottom of the A3 has a protruded point to mount the keychain. This prevents the A3 from being used as a standalone candle. I would've much prefered moving the keychain mount to allow tailstand ability. The clip has very little tension, so I wouldn't use it with confidence. It will likely fall into your pocket during the day (so make sure you clip the light to the inside of your pocket).
The UI is a simple twist. The "upgrade" version has 3 modes, in this order: Med, Low, High. There is no memory (which is a negative), so the light always starts in Med. Med is a decent amount of light for a small AAA, so it's a useful level. However, I prefer high most of the time, so I have to cycle through every time I turn the light on. Low is very low, which I like to conserve battery. The beam is smooth, slightly on the warm side. Output on high is rated at 80 LED lumens. Not sure if it makes it to 80 (about 50 OTF lumens) as it doesn't seem that bright, but that may be due to my eyes being so used to brighter lights now (I remember the days when the 30 OTF lumen Nuwai QIIIs were the beez kneez). But it's plenty bright for a keychain AAA light.
If I were to buy the A3 separately, I likely wouldn't choose the SS version. The additional weight is a con for a keychain light. I also believe the SS version costs more. The lack of memory is a negative for me. The lack of tailstand is also a big negative for me. I've used my Fenix AAA light before in tailstand candlemode when power went out and we needed just a small amount of light for a good period of time. I'd rather just sit it on a table than hold it constantly. It's a well made light, but a few areas weren't thought out quite so well. For the price, it's a great buy. But for a little more, I think there's better options.
Last edited:
