AXShop LED lights

Anyone know anything about these cheap lights?

http://www.axshop.com/products.aspx/category-9/

Seems very cheap, anyone ever bought one or have any experience with them, did a forum search for AXShop and did not find much.

Someone else had a similar thread recently. I ordered two little keychain lights and a keychain laser for like $0.85 each and a USB cable for about $2.

If you google them, they are mentioned as previously having slow ship times, but supposedly that's improved.

I ordered them about 3 or 4 days ago so we'll see...

Thanks cratz2, the 1 watt and 3 watt for $21 shipped seems pretty tempting but if they are junk then it's just $21 wasted, will wait for more feedback before I jump, BTW looking for a cheap source for CR123's if you know any

I placed an order tonight for the 3xAAA 1 watt light. I'll update when I get it.
If that's halfway decent (8 bucks shipped, I'm not expecting much), I'll give the other lights a shot.

-patchy

I just ordered the 2 AA Lux III for under $15 shipped.

Radio said:

BTW looking for a cheap source for CR123's if you know any

Click to expand...

Cheaper than batterystation or amondotech?

They both have them for $1 each, I think. Amondotech has them on the front page but you have to go to the CPF specials page to get them from batterystation for that price.

I also ordered the 2AA 3 watter plus I got the 3AA 49 led model in silver. For those prices I couldn't resist trying them. I'm curious how the Lux III will compare to my Streamlight Pro Polymer Luxeon I??

I bought a bunch of other stuff too, like iPod silicone cases for 3 bucks shipped. They also had 2AA to D cell adaptors for $2 - cheaper then me buying NiMH D cells for 10 bucks a pop since I already have so many AA's hanging around.

Re: AXShop 2AA 3W - definitely a good deal.

Finally got my 2AA 3W. It took them 8 days to ship it, because they are ordering on demand.

I'm using NiMh rechargeables, and the beam is awesome. It's as bright as my Nuwai Q3 which is using a 4.2V rechargeable.

The body is quite a bit wider than a MiniM@g.
It's about 50% heavier than a MiniM@g.
It's slightly longer than a MiniM@g with a clickie switch.

The wider head seems to make the reflector more effective. The beam is quite smooth, but not quite as smooth as the Nuwai, probably because the Nuwai has a stippled reflector.

For one day I had a Fenix L1P and I would say this light is considerably brighter, because the L1P did not compare to my Nuwai, and this one certainly does.

It's heavy and rugged, which is disappointing to me, because I'm more of a minimalist. But it's great if you want to run over it with your electric wheelchair.

It has a "backwards" Chinese clickie with instant off, instead of instant on. The clickie is recessed so it will stand on it's tail and is quite stable on a smooth flat surface.

For $14.25 delivered it's well worth it if this is the kind of flashlight you want.

AXShop's 3W 2AA light looks a lot (though not exactly) like the Smartfire to me. If they were the same, AXShop would have a great price for a very good flashlight.

Caveat emptor: I'm pretty sure none of AXShop's lights are genuine Luxeons, despite being advertised as such.

balazer said:

Caveat emptor: I'm pretty sure none of AXShop's lights are genuine Luxeons, despite being advertised as such.

Click to expand...

I agree, but does it really matter? It's as good as or better than lights that cost 3 times as much, like the Nuwai or the Fenix (which also may not have genuine Luxeons).

balazer said:

AXShop's 3W 2AA light looks a lot (though not exactly) like the Smartfire to me. If they were the same, AXShop would have a great price for a very good flashlight.

Click to expand...

They do have a great price for a very good flashlight (unless it doesn't last long for some reason).

LightScene said:

I agree, but does it really matter? It's as good as or better than lights that cost 3 times as much, like the Nuwai or the Fenix (which also may not have genuine Luxeons).

Click to expand...

It matters because people will not be getting what they paid for if they think they're getting a real Luxeon. Luxeon clones do not match real Luxeons for brightness, tint, uniformity, or reliability. I'm not saying the Luxeon clones are a poor value. Some of them are quite nice.

Unless there's been a recent development that I don't know about, the Fenix has a real Luxeon. Most Nuwai lights do as well.

Well, I saw this post on another forum.
Unless the clones are mis-branding, could these actually be real LUMILEDs?

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I don't have time to take pics of the LED itself right now, but Just thought I'd post that bit of information. I can tell you that it DOES infact say LUMILEDS on it, although it's partially obstructed by solder marks, etc... [/font]

Click to expand...

black7 said:

Well, I saw this post on another forum.
Unless the clones are mis-branding, could these actually be real LUMILEDs?

Click to expand...

Many clones say "Lumileds" on them. That's why they're clones.

balazer said:

Many clones say "Lumileds" on them. That's why they're clones.

Click to expand...

Ahh, did not know that. That's why it still says "unenlightened" under my name.

FWIW, they have a poor score at Reseller Ratings.

balazer said:

Luxeon clones do not match real Luxeons for brightness, tint, uniformity, or reliability.

Click to expand...

This one is a softer white (less blue) than my Nuwai, as bright or brighter than my Nuwai, has better throw and a wider aura.

How do you know that the led's in a Nuwai originated from Lumileds? This one looks the same to me. I've had 5 "Luxeons" (I still have 3, all 3W) and they all look the same to me except that the L3's are brighter and whiter.

To me it doesn't help to make a pronouncement that these "Luxeons" aren't as reliable as the ones that come in expensive flashlights. They are basically the same, and they may in fact be identical. It may be that counterfeiters are producing "fake" Luxeons at the same facility where they make "real" Luxeons.

At any rate, this flashlight represents excellent value from what I know now.

I saw a review at flashlightreviews.com about a light that he took apart and it had Lumileds stamped on it but no bin number. I think it was from advancedmart, and he gave cudos to them for advertising it as a "Non-Luxen". Besides tint/color issues, is there any real difference in performance? Do they not last as long? What about using Lithium AA's in this light. I wouldn't mind getting one because it is run on 2 AA's. I like that. Does anyone have a SL Jr. to compare to? Seems like lately there are alot of these cheaper lights hitting the market.

LightScene said:

How do you know that the led's in a Nuwai originated from Lumileds?

Click to expand...

You can tell by looking. If you have any doubt about a particular light, ask on CPF. Plenty of people know about each light.

To me it doesn't help to make a pronouncement that these "Luxeons" aren't as reliable as the ones that come in expensive flashlights. They are basically the same, and they may in fact be identical. It may be that counterfeiters are producing "fake" Luxeons at the same facility where they make "real" Luxeons.

Click to expand...

Clones are most definitely not leftovers from a Lumileds factory. They are made by random Chinese companies trying to copy the Luxeon.

Ask anyone who's been on CPF for a while and who's been paying attention, and they'll confirm that Luxeons are fairly consistent and reliable, and clone LEDs overall are not up to the same quality. That's not to say that all clones are poor quality. But since they're clones, we don't know who makes them. It could be one company, or a dozen companies. There's no way for us to identify which clones might be good and which aren't, and there's no way to know which clone a particular light comes with. Clone light suppliers can even switch LEDs without anyone knowing.

Luxeons, on the other hand, come from a single supplier with a long history and demonstrated reliability.

I'm not trying to say that clone LEDs are bad. But they're not Luxeons, and there is a difference.