What do you desire from a AAA-size light?

[Vemice]

I have a Lumintop AAA Toolvn XPL HI 5000K that's my most used light.
Great tint, wide range of programable settings.

Gotta agree with the Tool Vn. I love mine. I got the titanium with a rubber clicky. I can quickly change outputs from low to very, very high.

 

[uscav]

I'll go first.
-Warm tint (it's going to be used around-the-house, and close-quarters; warm tint is the most pleasing and natural looking to me)
-High CRI (well, of course… why wouldn't you want high CRI?)
-Floody (I'm not expecting to use the light to light-up distant objects; it will be used at close-range distances, not a thrower by any means)
-10440 (because you get a lot more bang-for-the-buck from a 3.7+v 10440 Li-Ion than you do from a 1.4v Eneloop)

As for UI, I love Anduril, but would settle for L-M-H-T; soft clicks tail switch. Twisty UI as a second choice.

The UI is less important to me than the tint, CRI, and beam shape are.
And… your favorite AAA-sized light is what? And, why?
I haven't acquired a favorite that meets my desires, just yet, but the Folomov EDC C1 sure checks all of my boxes! And it isn't stupid expensive, either.

Currently wrapping up our first ever, multi day rolling blackouts due to the freezing weather here in Texas, and I will say my AAA / AA flashlight requirements have drastically changed. We had always planned on candles for emergency use, but we quickly realized our error as many of them burned through quickly, others had issues maintaining a good flame, and some were scented so strongly we couldn't use them at all. As my previous flashlight requirements revolved entirely around throwing as much light as possible as far as possible (night or two of camping, finding pet mines in the yard, or for tactical use in my former career); I quickly discovered that I was ill prepared for sustained close quarters indoor illumination for my family. My current flashlights ate through batteries, and they threw waaaaayy too much bright light in small spaces.

My .02 -

• Tint/CRI - In this application, I think natural light spectrum would be better, but if I have to choose, I'd go warm over blue for non-tactical, close quarters use.
• Adjustable flood/spot would be nice, and the option for a diffuser would be handy as well (for using it like a lamp)
• Ability to stand on tail securely for hands free use - magnetic base would also be nice (attach to chandlers / frig / oven / vent during cooking or even the car hood for engine repairs).
• fully waterproof (IP8)
• < $30 for light without batteries. I need multiple so purchasing high dollar lights is not possible.
• 1 or 2 x AAA/AA/Eneloop because when the power goes out for days, your not recharging, but I can store AA/AAA batteries for years without issues.
• 
  No strobe or a strobe lock out option - have a child with medical conditions and strobes can cause the onset of seizures (which in turn can trigger even more problems). Not good in the best circumstances, even worse during a major multi day outage. Unfortunately for us several of my lights had this mode in the rotations and there was no way to bypass that mode during power cycling so they were set aside as last resort solutions.
• Light modes (L-M-H-T-Off). I'd like to see at least two low and Medium be efficient modes.
  • L = (2-4 lumen) Moonlight type setting (for the youngest to have a night light and be able to find the flashlight in the dark)
  • M= (50 lumen) for navigating around the house (stairs, furniture, pets, etc).
  • H = (100 lumen)
  • T = (250ish lumens) to see across the house/yard if needed.
• I don't care about ounces here, durability and efficiency trump a couple of ounces in weight for this application.
• I'm find with 2x __ batteries for increased longevity between battery changes.
• I need it to work reliably in temps around 0 - 125 F. Texas weather is nuts....

So far the closest matches for a reasonable price that I've found are:
ThruNite Archer 2A V3 500 Lumens ($30)
Lumintop EDC AA Flashlight 600 Lumens ($20)
Lumintop Tool AA 2.0 EDC Flashlight ($20)
Manker E05 Pocket Ultra-Throw 400 lumens ($26) *if I can find a diffuser
I'm also digging into fenix's web to see what offerings they might have.



Along the lines of disaster recovery and light sources - we had picked up several sets of battery operated 'fairy' lights that Target carries during Christmas this year. We have the ones that run on 3xAA and do not have a timer built in. They were turned on Monday night, and are still running on the same batteries and it's now Saturday (Day 5). Power has been back on since yesterday, I just want to see how long they'll run before the battery gives out. They're not really designed to carry (battery box and 90ish LEDs on a string) and you really can't aim the light, so leaving them in place (and the LEDs coiled)is the best option so far. We initially placed them into the bathrooms to help everyone find their way at night, but did discover that sometimes you need a little more light than they provide (example: shower curtain blocked too much light).

 

[SCEMan]

Gotta agree with the Tool Vn. I love mine. I got the titanium with a rubber clicky. I can quickly change outputs from low to very, very high.

Yep. Got the clicky tail cap too!

 

[Buck91]

Jaxman E3. LMH only and can run AA/alkaline/L91/NiMH/14500 as desired. High on AA/NiMH is around 100lm. No magnetic tailcap, but the pocket clip works well on a ball cap brim.

Currently wrapping up our first ever, multi day rolling blackouts due to the freezing weather here in Texas, and I will say my AAA / AA flashlight requirements have drastically changed. We had always planned on candles for emergency use, but we quickly realized our error as many of them burned through quickly, others had issues maintaining a good flame, and some were scented so strongly we couldn't use them at all. As my previous flashlight requirements revolved entirely around throwing as much light as possible as far as possible (night or two of camping, finding pet mines in the yard, or for tactical use in my former career); I quickly discovered that I was ill prepared for sustained close quarters indoor illumination for my family. My current flashlights ate through batteries, and they threw waaaaayy too much bright light in small spaces.



My .02 -

• Tint/CRI - In this application, I think natural light spectrum would be better, but if I have to choose, I'd go warm over blue for non-tactical, close quarters use.
• Adjustable flood/spot would be nice, and the option for a diffuser would be handy as well (for using it like a lamp)
• Ability to stand on tail securely for hands free use - magnetic base would also be nice (attach to chandlers / frig / oven / vent during cooking or even the car hood for engine repairs).
• fully waterproof (IP8)
• < $30 for light without batteries. I need multiple so purchasing high dollar lights is not possible.
• 1 or 2 x AAA/AA/Eneloop because when the power goes out for days, your not recharging, but I can store AA/AAA batteries for years without issues.
• 
  No strobe or a strobe lock out option - have a child with medical conditions and strobes can cause the onset of seizures (which in turn can trigger even more problems). Not good in the best circumstances, even worse during a major multi day outage. Unfortunately for us several of my lights had this mode in the rotations and there was no way to bypass that mode during power cycling so they were set aside as last resort solutions.
• Light modes (L-M-H-T-Off). I'd like to see at least two low and Medium be efficient modes.
  • L = (2-4 lumen) Moonlight type setting (for the youngest to have a night light and be able to find the flashlight in the dark)
  • M= (50 lumen) for navigating around the house (stairs, furniture, pets, etc).
  • H = (100 lumen)
  • T = (250ish lumens) to see across the house/yard if needed.
• I don't care about ounces here, durability and efficiency trump a couple of ounces in weight for this application.
• I'm find with 2x __ batteries for increased longevity between battery changes.
• I need it to work reliably in temps around 0 - 125 F. Texas weather is nuts....

So far the closest matches for a reasonable price that I've found are:
ThruNite Archer 2A V3 500 Lumens ($30)
Lumintop EDC AA Flashlight 600 Lumens ($20)
Lumintop Tool AA 2.0 EDC Flashlight ($20)
Manker E05 Pocket Ultra-Throw 400 lumens ($26) *if I can find a diffuser
I'm also digging into fenix's web to see what offerings they might have.



Along the lines of disaster recovery and light sources - we had picked up several sets of battery operated 'fairy' lights that Target carries during Christmas this year. We have the ones that run on 3xAA and do not have a timer built in. They were turned on Monday night, and are still running on the same batteries and it's now Saturday (Day 5). Power has been back on since yesterday, I just want to see how long they'll run before the battery gives out. They're not really designed to carry (battery box and 90ish LEDs on a string) and you really can't aim the light, so leaving them in place (and the LEDs coiled)is the best option so far. We initially placed them into the bathrooms to help everyone find their way at night, but did discover that sometimes you need a little more light than they provide (example: shower curtain blocked too much light).

 

[uscav]

Jaxman E3. LMH only and can run AA/alkaline/L91/NiMH/14500 as desired. High on AA/NiMH is around 100lm. No magnetic tailcap, but the pocket clip works well on a ball cap brim.

Thanks! I'll add it to the spreadsheet.

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

I'm pretty happy with my 120 lumen single level Olight i3E EOS. Would like to see a 400+ lumen 1aaa light (using a li-ion cell) in a carbon fiber body for good heatsinking. If they can't do that, then at least a 1aaa light that can put out 30 lumens of high cri warm white light for 8 hours on a lithium AAA primary cell.

 

[Buck91]

...1aaa light that can put out 30 lumens of high cri warm white light for 8 hours on a lithium AAA primary cell.

That would be nice!

 

[idleprocess]

I've had a Fenix LD01 on my keychain for a ~decade, but will want a replacement soon-ish. Its finish is worn on all corners with sharp edges, the keyring attachment holes have nearly worn their way open, and I nearly lost it yesterday when the keyring attachment decided to randomly let go and it fell silently without my immediate notice.

What I'd like from its eventual replacement:

• Suitable for keyring usage : Must survive a decade or so of casual abuse from keys, be low-profile, and have a keyring attachment
• Mechanically switched : I'll be using this light intermittently and it will get beat up by keys, thus I need to to reliably stay off and drawing zero current; a twist-head is the simplest way to implement this but I'm open to other ideas that maintain a low profile
• Balanced output : I need a AAA keychain light almost strictly for task work the optics should produce a wide cone of light - but at the same time I'm not interested in a mule
• Optimized for runtime : A max-output turbo mode impresses, but unlike a mildly beefy single 18650 light, a AAA light is going to heat up fast. The focus should be on the medium and low modes.
• Multi-fuel : With white LED Vf's have been ≤3V for more than a decade and multi-voltage drivers are now pretty cheap/simple thus it's not unreasonable compatibility with alkaline, NiMH, Li-primary, and li-ion chemistries pretty seamlessly. Lesser output on everything not li-ion is expected and acceptable since one must account for alkaline's lower performance than the other ~1.5V options. I'd expect the li-ion range to incorporate LVP, which ought be easy since the buck converter section should cut out somewhere above the LED's Vf. Extracting better performance from Li-primary would be a neat trick but I suspect that's asking for too much.
• Sane mode arrangement : My LD01 has a reasonable Medium/Low/High sequence that works well and no blink modes
• No obvious PWM : If the driver must use PWM to control brightness it should be at a frequency where it's not perceptible by the eye
• Neutral tint : I'm not doing color proofing so I don't need >90 CRI and its attendant hit to efficiency, but at the same time "angry blue" should never have endured beyond the 00s. I'd prefer 3500K, but 5000K would be great; ~80CRI is quite sufficient.