T4 thoughts? I'm somewhat disappointed...

Ok everyone, I'm brand new to this forum, not interested in "modding" a light and have found myself very interested in this light gig. After reading reviews on www.flashlightreviews.com I bought an Inova T4, wanting excellent throw and battery life. What's better than a rechargeable, durable light, with 125 lumens? I've used the TIROS 100 lumen version and find this new one somewhat disappointing. It seems like for the money, Fenix is the way to go. Prior to becoming a fan of reading info on lights, I had the Coast V2 Lenser, and after buying the T4, I bought a XO2 at Costco for 23 bucks. See, I'm getting sucked in!

I'm into gun, atv, and F150 forums, and I must say to everyone, I've stumbled onto another excellent forum!

Why were you disappointed in the Inova T4?

It wasn't clear from your posting.

the new modeled t4 does suck in comparison with the old version if you want it for throw, it gives you half the throw with like a spot/flood, with inova lights its hard not not to buy almost all there lights

inova x1,x5,xo,24/7,old xo3,old t4, new t3 new t4 i love there lights

i'm eagerly awaiting the new T1

I can't put my finger on it, but I think I was expecting a brighter light with more "spot." My V2 and XO2 seem just as bright when you want to light up a "camping perimeter." For over $100 I guess I was expecting tremendous throw power in that scenario and tremendous "blinding light" in a home situation. I found the T4 TIROS version much brighter with much less spill in my opinion. I think I want a low mode with long battery life to "walk about" and a high mode to see a perimeter (200-300 feet) when I'm ATVing or sitting by the campfire.

The new T4 is no 125 Lumens thats for sure, I'm disapointed in the brightness as well. Although it's built like a tank!

I was also steered away from buying the Inova T4 when I saw the beam and the price

I have seen some beamshots of the T4 (if I am not mistaken in a thread somewhere) and it was compared to the older TIROS version, and overall the spot is brighter with a decent flood. This is opposite to your finding though.
Personally, I quite like the design of these INOVAS, their appearance and finishing is superb. The X1 I've got performed as expected but I am hooked on Surefire since I bought the E1L and shall continue the surefire way.
Could you compare with another T4 and see the output?

Stainless 44, welcome to CPF. Come real close as I want to whisper something to you.......Hide your wallet and get 'em both! :rock:

fnmag, you caught that one quick! My buddy has got an FN-FAL that rocks! So what do I buy, as I may return the T4 for a 2 mode light?

well, a number of us expressed disappointment on the new Inova line based on specs (not ownership, to be fair).

Inova is staying with the Luxeons - the K2 in particular, which is being leapfrogged by the CREE's.

this is something of a bummer for those of us, and I include myself, that like the Inova's because of how tough they are. Also, they do not use multiple level control circuits - not even the really simple and useful 2-stage circuit (hi-lo).

there may be good reasons for this, cost, manufacturing, supply of LED's, whatever. but a consumer today just has many more choices.

basically with technology changing in big (and quite pleasant, for flashaholics!) ways, you need to do more research today to make sure you get your money's worth.

incidentally, the dealers have something of a problem, too. They want to play up the strengths of the new CREE's, but on the other hand they also carry inventory in the older technology (under which group even the new Inova's fall). so it's a bit of a balancing act for them.

finally, you even have cheaper Chinese lights than the well known Fenix and equivalent brands being marketed by deal extreme, quality china goods, etc., websites - these are starting to offer powerful CREE lights at bargain basement prices so for slightly less than top quality you can get flashlights that kill Inova's and their likes in terms of light output and even have simple hi-lo switches whereas Inova doesn't.

If it is throw you are after, take a look on the StrikerVG. It is a 2xCR123A light, specifically optimized for throw. Just so you understand how well it throws, it has the same throw using a Luxeon III, that a Lumahunter M1 has using the cree emitter.

If you need the top throw LED light, look no further than the modified StrikerVG-HC. It is practically a StrikerVG modded with a Seoul P4 emitter (Cree die). I've done a review on it, which you can read here.

Hope this helps

flashy bazook said:

this is something of a bummer for those of us, and I include myself, that like the Inova's because of how tough they are. Also, they do not use multiple level control circuits - not even the really simple and useful 2-stage circuit (hi-lo).

there may be good reasons for this, cost, manufacturing, supply of LED's, whatever. but a consumer today just has many more choices.

Click to expand...

My guess is that their main customer base being law enforcement, things like multi-level, the very latest short-supply Crees, etc., aren't as important. Ruggedness, reliability, and durability are probably the most important qualities. And remember, K2s were considered pretty hot not too long ago (like six months ago).

pilou said:

My guess is that their main customer base being law enforcement, things like multi-level, the very latest short-supply Crees, etc., aren't as important. Ruggedness, reliability, and durability are probably the most important qualities. And remember, K2s were considered pretty hot not too long ago (like six months ago).

Click to expand...

oh, no question, all these are good points.

On the other hand, if you are not police, then you have your own preferences and factors which you consider important to you.

I like the ruggedness and the reliability, but also care about output and runtime. And I think at least two-stage control circuit is a must (or at least a very big plus), because it allows both max output and max runtime to coexist in one flashlight, thus exploiting to the fullest the power of whatever lighting and power source is being used.

It is even a more general point that for companies with specific markets that are dominant, the general consumer could be left out - so the general consumer had better know what's what and act accordingly!

So my Scorpion is rated at 135 lumen for 1 hour on 2 123's, and it costs around 35 bucks. For 55 bucks, do I just get the L2D-CE? Any other options? I need a small pocket light; smaller than the T4. The Scorpion's switch can easily be turned on while stashed away. For the size of a AA mini-mag, I could stash a L2D-CE just the same. Thought about the P1D-CE, but it's a bit pricey. It does have an awesome runtime at over 2.5 hours with just 1 123, however!

ewsforos said:

If it is throw you are after, take a look on the StrikerVG. It is a 2xCR123A light, specifically optimized for throw. Just so you understand how well it throws, it has the same throw using a Luxeon III, that a Lumahunter M1 has using the cree emitter.

If you need the top throw LED light, look no further than the modified StrikerVG-HC. It is practically a StrikerVG modded with a Seoul P4 emitter (Cree die). I've done a review on it, which you can read here.

Hope this helps

Click to expand...

i love my strikervg brightest led light i have in my arsenal

T4 is a dissapointment for sure, I got to play with a new one the other day. I'm still waiting on the new X1 & X03 and praying that they are better than the New T4. I havnet gotten to play with the new T3 yet. Heck I still cant find any reliable specs on what the all new lights are going to be running at. Inova seems to have slipped on this round.