Do you use a phone as a flashlight?

I was walking around tonight on some dimly lit streets and needed to use my phone (Motorola Razr), so I flipped it open and realized the screen was too bright for my night adapted eyes It was level 3 out of 7.

So, now I was bored and remembered the situation and decided to drop the brightness. I dropped it down to the first level and it was still good. Obviously this was fine since my eyes were once again night adapted. Then, being a flashaholic, I maxed out the brightness level on the phone. It was BRIGHT, for my adapted eyes. Bouncing it off the ceiling allowed me to see the room dimly. Aiming the phone's main screen at the wall or objects was much better. A dim flood light if you truly needed on.

I can now see why some people do use their phones as a light to look for things. They can be a decent source of light when you need it.

Do you ever use your phone as a light? I assume this is rare since the typical cpf probably carries at least 1 flashlight on them at all times.

When I get home at 2 or 3am I use it to navigate my way around the bedroom so I won't wake my G.F.

Most phones have a camera and many of those have led's as a camera flash. I use mine as a flashlight sometimes if i dont have anything else within reach. I got a k750. The menu has a flashlight mode but i find it faster to just open the shutter to activate camera mode and then hold * to turn on flash. It's not very bright but certainly brighter than trying to use the screen to illuminate. I guess its about as bright as two 5mm leds.

get an HDS or the up coming variations of it. The minimum is truly low.

I have got a nokia 6600 and I've never used it as a light...maybe one day I'll use my phone instead of my mag85...:lolsign:

NigelBond said:

Most phones have a camera and many of those have led's as a camera flash. I use mine as a flashlight sometimes if i dont have anything else within reach. I got a k750. The menu has a flashlight mode but i find it faster to just open the shutter to activate camera mode and then hold * to turn on flash. It's not very bright but certainly brighter than trying to use the screen to illuminate. I guess its about as bright as two 5mm leds.

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Does it flash/strobe or does the led stay on when you use it as a light source (not for camera flash)?

I would use a phone/iPod as a flashlight if it was at all effective.

aceo07 said:

Does it flash/strobe or does the led stay on when you use it as a light source (not for camera flash)?

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The SE K750 is one of the only phones with this feature. It has two small LEDs that's used as a flash for taking pictures but there's also an option to activate it as a flashlight (there's options for SOS, 1 minute of light, on until you turn it off I believe) and it's pretty bright!

a friend of mine had once a phone with a little flashlight incorporated in it. it was a nokia, I think.

hardly useful to look for something in a little environment such us among the pedals of your car if you dropped something.

270winchester said:

get an HDS or the up coming variations of it. The minimum is truly low.

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I have the HDS EDC U60, upgraded with seoul led. The phone is actually dimmer and more of a flood. The original HDS might have been as low as the phone at some point, but not anymore...

It's nice to know that if I didn't have my flashlights around, I could still use my phone.

Im with pete, only at night to not wake my fiancee. Im currently shopping for a red led for that and camping, and i'll end up w/ a 120P for the super-low. Sorry fenix, way too bright sometimes.

I've got a Verizon(Casio) G'zOne. The 'flash' for the phone's camera is an LED that comes on for a few seconds to illuminate the scene for the camera. Since it comes on steadily, I guess it should be called an 'illuminator', but the term 'flash' needs less explanation in a product brochure.

You can activate LED with the flashlight button, close the flip phone and use it as a weak, but adequate light for night vision adapted, or close work. The Led is much brighter than the phone's screen.

The phone is also built to Military(MIL-STD-810F) standards and is rated to take a dunk in up to one meter of water for 30 minutes without leaks. I've not used the Led in any underwater situations yet, but you never know.

By the way, I love CPF. I've been reading for several months now and this is my first real post.

I used to have a Virgin Mobile cell phone (Kyocera brand I think) that had a 5mm LED at the top of the phone solely for use as a flashlight. Unfortunately Virgin uses the Sprint network and we get very crappy reception where I live with Sprint, so I ended up going with a Verizon Razor phone (which I have not used as a flashlight)

There is a program you can buy for the Moto Q the allows you to control both the flash LED and the screen for use as a light. It has a dedicated speed dial button and could, possibly, be voice activated. I used the trial version but never coughed up the $5 since I usually have a Photon or other small light that works better.

I use my Razr to navigate the bedroom at times, doesnt wake the wife.

I use the flash on my Q as a flashlight sometime's (well, used to before i came back to lights) as Windows Mobile has an option to turn the flash on or off, the only thing is that who ever programed that feature didn't figure out that a flash it only supposed to be on when you take a picture, So kinda goes to my advantage. Now that i have an E1L i don't think i'll be using that very much.

I used my camera LCD as a light to get me out of a park 'attraction'. I was exploring and they shut the lights off before closing (Mexico). Didn't have a flashlight with me.

I have a K800i which has a real flash rather than LEDs like my old W800i has.
It's annoying that I can't use the K800's 'flash' as a flashlight like I could with the W800.

Al

That's why you carry a real flashlight, no?

GarageBoy said:

That's why you carry a real flashlight, no?

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That is true. Unfortunately it is not always possible to have a flashlight around. I'm still waiting for an affordable small AAA seoul flashlight. For the time being I just have my faux keychain light as EDC. For trips away from home or in nature, I would carry my HDS and a couple of other flashlights.

This isn't really to see who would use a phone over an available flashlight (that can provide similar or suitable lighting), but rather if people use their phones as a light source. I pose this question since I found out that the backlighting on my phone's screen is very bright and provides a nice flood light.