Just got my Fenix P1 from 4Sevens :)

I just picked up my Fenix P1 from our mailbox, and so far, i'm mostly impressed with it, it does have a couple of extremely minor cosmetic flaws, mainly a couple of horizontal scratches in the reflector, about 2MM up from the Luxeon emitter, on opposite sides of the reflector, and a tiny "ding" mark, about the size of a pinpoint in the reflector near one of the scratches

at first, i was very dissapointed with these flaws, but then i realized, hey, it's a mass-produced $40 flashlight, it's not going to be *perfect* cosmetically, this isn't an Orb Raw or EDC E40 we're dealing with here, heck, it's not even a SureFire class light, it's a good, solid, inexpensive light

besides, the natural HA is perfect, there are no defects in the glass lens, and the scratches and the ding do not affect the beam quality in any way, they're cosmetic issues and they are irrelavent

besides, i won the Luxeon Lottery on this one, it's a flawless, creamy white, makes my SF G2's 3W G&P module and my Fenix L1 seem slightly yellowish

the beam has a nice big hotspot, tapering off to a nice usable spill, my G2 w 3W G&P has a *slightly* bigger hotspot and is just a hair brighter, maybe 20% brighter, if that, both are running on fresh batteries, they both throw a very sililar beam shape, a nice smooth transition between hotspot and spill, the P1 is a very usable pocket light, easily 95% of the performance of my modded G2 in less than half of the space

the P1 is also just a hair too big (and it's too nicely made as well) to be put on a keychain, the P1 will ride in my RF pocket with my L1, allowing me to finally leave the G2 in the car... actually, i just discovered it fits rather nicely in the change pocket of my jeans....

the P1 is a definite winner

Got mine in the mail today as well. Very impressed with the size & mine was cosmetically clean.

Unfortunately it has to be exchanged. Oh well, stuff happens. I guess I won't be buying any lottery tickets today.

MacTech said:

at first, i was very dissapointed with these flaws, but then i realized, hey, it's a mass-produced $40 flashlight, it's not going to be *perfect* cosmetically, this isn't an Orb Raw or EDC E40 we're dealing with here, heck, it's not even a SureFire class light, it's a good, solid, inexpensive light

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thanks for putting in prospective

don't get me wrong, $40 for a flashlights is still not cheap by most people's standard. but if i am drop major $$$$ for a SF, then i would expect perfect everything (or close to perfect, that's why i can't stand bad tint on SF LED, or clickie failure, etc)

Gotta love the P1, little light with great throw. I use mine daily and cant be more happy with it.

stockae92 said:

thanks for putting in prospective

don't get me wrong, $40 for a flashlights is still not cheap by most people's standard. but if i am drop major $$$$ for a SF, then i would expect perfect everything (or close to perfect, that's why i can't stand bad tint on SF LED, or clickie failure, etc)

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ABSOLUTELY!

I know i shouldn't expect perfection from a mass produced flashlight like the Fenix, but i'd be lying if i said i wasn't *totally* dissapointed with this P1, i am dissapointed, somewhat, but not totally* dissapointed, the scratches in the reflector are annoying, *but*....

they DO NOT affect the beam quality in any way, there are no dark spots, artifacts or anything, the beam is SureFire-level smooth

they are only visible when the light is turned on and i'm looking at the reflector from the side, and turning the light in my hands, a little obsessive, even if i say so myself, looking straight on into the reflector (with it off of course) the're invisible, looking into the side of the reflector with it off they're almost unnoticeable, if i never looked at the reflector from the side with the light on, i'd never notice them

I've also been reading "horror stories" of P1's having tint issues out of the box, some bad anodizing jobs on natural units, as well as a few DOA units, this unit so far has been reliable, and the tint on the Lux III is absolutely flawless, a real winner in the Luxeon lottery

so, given the fact that there have been recent P1 failures as well as bad tints in the Luxeon lottery, and this unit *works*, has a *flawless* ano job, and a *flawless* tint (can the lack of tint be considered tint, really ), i have no problem with a couple of minor irrelavent cosmetic flaws

...i figure if i keep telling myself that, i'll believe it eventually

besides, i don't want to have to deal with the headaches of returning it for exchange, it works, the scratches don't affect the beam quality in any way, there are *no* artifacts in the beam, with my luck, if i returned it, i'd get a replacement with a bad tint or other flaws that *would* affect performance, heck with my luck the replacement would be DOA necessitating another exchange

this one's fine, really..., i really mean that....really

heck, give me a week and i'll probably forget the scratches are even there....

this thing's also a major battery hog, I put an almost-new Duracell 123 (2.98V, ZTS'ed at 100%) and played around with it, with less than 20 minutes of runtime on it, the battery ZTS's at 60% now...

i'll try a brand new SureFire cell in it when the Duracell dies...

i guess it's battery appetite makes sense, after all, it's running a power hungry 3W Lux on one cell....

even with the cosmetic issues with my P1, i still strongly reccomend it, great little light, a true 5 star light

MacTech said:

I know i shouldn't expect perfection from a mass produced flashlight like the Fenix, but i'd be lying if i said i wasn't *totally* dissapointed with this P1, i am dissapointed, somewhat, but not totally* dissapointed, the scratches in the reflector are annoying, *but*....

......

i guess it's battery appetite makes sense, after all, it's running a power hungry 3W Lux on one cell....

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i completely understand, imperfection is bad and disappointing, regardless of price range. i think the good thing is that you look at it from a different angle

for a single cell 3W LED, i think P1 is having very good run time! (at least according to the runtime graph with 2+ hours of runtime <-- did i remember it right?) and i think P1's runtime is even [much] better than Q3 (and on top of the that, P1 has great regulated output)

I just got my silver one today.

The anodising is very nice.

Like yours, my reflector is slightly marked (the marks look more like fingerprints than scratches and they don't affect the beam and don't bother me)

The tint is white but very slightly warm - looks like a TWOJ

The output is similar to my bare Al. PD on high (when using a prot. RCR123)
- so about 50-55 lumens

Overall, I'm happy - the form factor is great - its so small its hardly noticeable and it has an impressive run-time for its tiny size and big output.

It has been noted before that the PCB has some crude soldering around the margins and mine is no exception.

This is the only real negative for me. I can't really see why the margins of the PCB couldn't have been achieved smoothly even for a comparatively inexpensive light - I have not seen anything like this on the PCBs of any of my other lights (including the Q3s which are in a similar price range)

I got one of the DOA units.
Cute light, instant reply to send back.
Looking forward to getting replacement soon.
I got an LOP which is fantastic.
Also ordered clone from Fiftunit to try out.
This site is putting a serious dent in my disposable funding.
I am setting up a class schedule so at least I can write off for IRS.
HEH HEH

Clean the neg contact regularly..mine for some reason oxides over like nothing else, even after repeated pro gold treatments

LGCubana said:

Got mine in the mail today as well. Very impressed with the size & mine was cosmetically clean.

Unfortunately it has to be exchanged. Oh well, stuff happens. I guess I won't be buying any lottery tickets today.

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Got my replacement unit in today's mail.

Very impressive light & even better customer service (from 4Sevens).

BTW, the 8 day turnaround is more of a reflection of my postal system. Some mail gets here in 3 days, others a full week.

I had mine in front of me to affix a small lanyard to it. I concur pretty much with everything MacTech said, even to some stuff that shows on the reflector but doesn't mean diddly!

The lanyard was pinched from a little sak and does NOT allow for a finger to insert.

I want one that allows that as it's so tiny I'd rather keep it! Ideas?

Expecting mine next week. Hope I get lucky in the lottery (even though its for my wife and she wouldn't care). I ordered from 4sevens so I am not worried about returning etc.

They make a silver P1?

GarageBoy said:

Clean the neg contact regularly..mine for some reason oxides over like nothing else, even after repeated pro gold treatments

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Maybe it's the ProGold causing the oxidizing ?? Not likely but you never know.. A bit of ProGold getting onto the foam, causing a reaction...

hivoltage said:

They make a silver P1?

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they make a natural HA, they are like champine (sp?) color

GarageBoy said:

Clean the neg contact regularly..mine for some reason oxides over like nothing else, even after repeated pro gold treatments

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Actually, I think it's the Positive contact, not the negative one. The negative contact is the case itself.
I use a pencil eraser to clean mine - works great.

Thehappyman

Stupid question , P1 will works with LIR123 rechargeable 800 ahm ?
Or it uses only normal cell ?
Thanks

lucertolone said:

Stupid question , P1 will works with LIR123 rechargeable 800 ahm ?
Or it uses only normal cell ?
Thanks

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The P1 can take a rechargeable CR123 cell. HOWEVER, the runtime is much shorter than a regular CR123 cell. but it's also a bit brighter as well. Sort of a tradeoff. It depends on what yuo're using the light for.

Thanks Alin, I have to give my girl to use near home , I decided for that because it's so small and cute (powerful too!)