ThruNite TiKey Review: Pics, comparisons

csshih

Flashlight Enthusiast
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Sep 21, 2008
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Hi Everyone,

Up for review is a new offering from a company that just came up on CPF: the Thrunite TiKey

Here are some of the important specs, taken from ThruNite's sale thread:


  • Titanium alloy TC4 (as known in china), known as Ti6Al4V in most other places, or, Grade 5 Titanium. (correct me if I am wrong.)
  • Max output: 10 Lumens
  • Uses 3 Pieces of AG13(LR44) batteries
  • 4.6cm (Length) x 1.7cm (Diameter)
  • 30-gram weight (including batteries)
  • Packaged in a gift box



More information can be found in the threads linked below.

This light was supplied by ThruNite for review, it can also be purchased at GoingGear.com for 39.90 USD.

A Bit of Background:
The HL-1 was first announced to CPF on 7/9/09 in their sale thread here. They also purchased a banner ad subscription, where I found about the light.

and now, here is the light:

I had allot of fun with taking pictures of this light. This is the first titanium/mirror finish light I have ever reviewed, so I experimented quite a bit with lighting and the such. Hope you guys like the shots. :thumbsup:



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Inside the box, we see the light, and 3 LR44 batteries. The light itself already had batteries installed. :thumbsup: It was rather hard to take it out though, but that doesn't matter too much.


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and now... a couple o' pictures..

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lighting from the left

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lighting from the right

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ouch.. a large amount of dust. I tried getting rid of all of it, but was unsuccessful.

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Comparison:
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From left to right: Nitecore EZAA, Liteflux LF2XT, Solarforce Protected 18650, AA, TiKey, AAA, CR123A, and the stack of 3 LR44 Batteries

Comparison Beamshots:
From left to right: Liteflux LF2XT on lowest( barelyvisible) ThruNiteTiKey, Fenix E1(similar to E01..slightly brighter), Fenix LD01 on low, Nitecore EZAA W on Low.
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_MG_7786_processed.jpg

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This is my first TI light. Because of that, I probably can't make the most accurate judgement.. just letting you readers know.
First Impressions:

From what I can tell, this flashlight is direct driven off of the 3 button cells.. no circuitry to fry.. probably. The runtime graphs I've seen also further reinforced my thinking.
I placed the batteries in backwards, but nothing bad happened other than the LED not lighting up. +1 direct driven proof.

So, for the rest of this review, I will assume that the light is direct driven.
This is a pretty hefty feeling light. I'd even try to call it, "bombproof".. I could probably kick, toss this thing around.. run it over with a truck, eat it (not recommended) and it wouldn't break... I would think. There isn't much to break 🙄

The LED appears to be centered, but when I twist it on, the beam is not. after a bit of inspection, it seems the LED itself is slightly tilted. I tried to tilt in into place by force, but I couldn't do it.

Conclusion:
Please read some of the problems stated below the initial conclusion: also scroll down for a few disassembly pics.

As a small, extremely affordable titanium light, I would say, go for it! I havent seen prices for a TI light this low around.
heh. shiney. I'll see how it does in durability in weeks to come.

As a "around the house" light, it works perfectly fine. I realize that most people here have way too many of the super high output lights.. just not practical for use.. If I really need a super bright light, I'll use one dedicated to that.


EDIT: a bit of use later.. and it seems that the light might not be waterproof. If there is water on the head, and the light is activated, water is actually sucked by the vacuum formed by the sealed innards.. and the battery will actually get wet. :sick2: then again.. it seems to harm nothing. There isn't really anything to screw up but the batteries.

as of now.. I would be a bit hesitant to call this a 40$ light. I hope thrunite would address these issues.
 
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Hi Greg,
thanks for the question. I forgot to mention that in the review.

Normally, I lubricate the threads of any flashlight with no-ox-id, and they perform buttery smooth, but when I lubed this light with it, it still remained hard to turn..I also tried silicone oil.. Nope.. Might be a confirmation that it is indeed titanium.
 
Nice job, csshih. I guess I'm interested in how this compares to things like the La Petite Killer and such.

There is another initial impression that also found an off-center beam.

Methinks the quality is a bit on the low side for this light... but we love new contenders!
:thumbsup:
 
I've been a bit busy.. formatting my laptop and reinstalling..

the post thrunite made was of the revised box.. with the correct wording :thumbsup:
 
This does seem like an interesting little light if it truly is titanium. It seems like it is decent (at best) as a flashlight (since it is dim, unregulated, has a bad tint, a skewed emitter, and uses annoying cells), but the titanium aspect makes it sort of a neat novelty, at least for showing off.
 
hmm.. added some observations regarding waterproof-ness to the bottom of the review.

edit: beamshots up.
 
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EDIT: a bit of use later.. and it seems that the light might not be waterproof. If there is water on the head, and the light is activated, water is actually sucked by the vacuum formed by the sealed innards.. and the battery will actually get wet. :sick2: then again.. it seems to harm nothing. There isn't really anything to screw up but the batteries.

I have observed the same thing on mine. When I played with it after a test in 2 ' of water, I was earing a strange noise like air coming out of it when I switch it on, after opening, I realised that water did passed through the oring.

2 out of 2 seems to have the same problem, anyone else have experienced this ? Wrong oring size ? Oring too rigid ?😕
 
I managed to get the head slightly open.. lucky I didn't break the little wires inside.

It is indeed direct drive, and it seems they used silicone caulk or something of the sort to seal the head... I am going to try adding some hot glue to prevent water from coming in.

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sorry for the blur.


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Interesting looking light. Since I like small lights (read, any lights) I may have to get one. They need to change the banner ad though. I think the La Petite Killer is smaller and it is titanium too.
 
Does water only get in through submersion, or can splashing do it as well?
 
Does water only get in through submersion, or can splashing do it as well?

hmm.. when you splash water on the light.. it gets on and around the led, then when you turn to activate the light, it will "suck" in the water.
 
Consider the waterproof. You'll see the test in the water later. and LED will be white! We are looking for perfect items!
 
Hi Thrunite,

sounds good! :popcorn:

how will you be fixing the problems?
I thought the Nichia GS LED always had that tint.. will you be changing that?
 
Hi Thrunite,

sounds good! :popcorn:

how will you be fixing the problems?
I thought the Nichia GS LED always had that tint.. will you be changing that?

We have read all the reviews and all the comments on the Lights. I think It's not different from our originial thought. We just want to make one of the hardest and smallest Keychain for EDC. as everyone knows. Keychain light dont need to be powerfull. but must be easy to carry and durability. So. We choose three pces AG13 battery and Nichia GS LED and Ti. Its morethan 5hours runtime. without electronics. We think liftetime will be longer. for the blue tint, we have check it. since official electronic current is 20MA. if more than it .It will be a little blue.but the time is very short.

Tomorrow.We'll take photo for lights in the water!
 
GOt my TiKey today and I really like it but the tint is just horrible in my opinion. In the distance it seems as it is pure purple. So I want to change the emitter. csshih showed some pictures of the internal connections so it looks pretty easy to swap the emitter. Did anybody already swap the emitter?

rayman
 
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