Cree flashlight at Walmart! Can I get your opinion on this?

I just saw a neat little flashlight at Walmart for $25 and wanted to see if I could get your opinions on this. I like the gunmetal finish and the size is just about right. Coleman is a good brand in the camping community, and they've made good lanterns, but I have no idea on their flashlights in comparison to the other brands often talked about. Do you guys think this would be a good buy? What about the CR2 battery? Powerful? Easy to find? Good, bad, otherwise?

This is a Coleman Cree XLamp XR-E LED Flashlight, 2 CR2.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10196614

I'm not a big fan of these lights. I've never quite understood the marketing strategy behind these lights.

#1 - they're a bit more expensive than the Maglites, but they use uncommon battery types, which would mean that these are meant to appeal to advanced flashaholics.

#2 But true flashaholics would be more interested in better quality lights which a) are better designed, and b) provide more output.

So this light is marketed not at the mass market of people who only want AA / AAA battery power sources, and yet it falls far short of the flashaholic market. It seems to be aimed at a niche group of really uninformed consumers and / or a market segment that simply does not exist.

Quite often the battery type is not even listed. Maybe they're hoping people will buy it and then realize later that the battery type is not all that common? But with Walmart's 90 day return policy people could simply return it than deal with the hard to find batteries. Not a smart strategy imho.

I'm confused at their thinking behind these lights.

I was looking at one at Walmart, but I couldn't bring myself to buy a CR2 based light.

WadeF said:

I was looking at one at Walmart, but I couldn't bring myself to buy a CR2 based light.

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Exactly. Makes you wonder what the heck the manufacturers are thinking, right, about these lights!! :sick2::thinking:

I think you could find better,it takes 2 cr2 thy can be epensive and hard to find if camping.I would doubt the 115 lumen claim,maybe at the emitter.For a bit mor look at Fenix new adjustable beam E20.A much better light.

Theres a couple of other threads in here on these lights. This specific light is bright but the Cr2 Batteries are just too expensive. Do a search for COLEMAN MAX and you should find the threads.

I have the 115 lumen 3AAA version of this. It is not nearly as bright and powerful as my 60X brighter 2C Task Force CREE from Lowe's. If you want to get a super powerful LED I recommend you get the $30 Task Force.

BlueBeam22 said:

I have the 115 lumen 3AAA version of this. It is not nearly as bright and powerful as my 60X brighter 2C Task Force CREE from Lowe's. If you want to get a super powerful LED I recommend you get the $30 Task Force.

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Or the 2AA version of the CR2 Coleman light for the same price, $25. It has the same brightness, 115 lumens, and the batteries are cheaper and easier to find.

The 2AA won't throw as far as the 3AAA (based on what the packages state for throw), although the 2AA should have a better runtime than the 3AAA.

Also, Sears Hardware has a rechargeable LED flashlight for $60 called the "Coleman 530 Lumen LED spotlight", I just bought one and it looks at least 5 times brighter than my Task Force.

2nd the 2-aa model.

DaveG said:

2nd the 2-aa model.

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3rd for 2 AA model

4th for the 2AA model. Both of my Coleman CREE LED flashlights have very nice white beams that seem to give daylight color.

I wouldn't think too much about what the packaging states for throw. I agree that 2xCR2 is an odd battery configuration. Also in a thread that was drifting around probibly a month ago it appears that the 2xCR2 version uses a resistor instead of a buck circuit, so imho that is definitely not worth the $$$. Coleman lights are getting better, and they have a couple little gems. Just not this one I think.

BlueBeam22 said:

The 2AA won't throw as far as the 3AAA (based on what the packages state for throw), although the 2AA should have a better runtime than the 3AAA.

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Don't believe the packages. The 3xAAA (3-color version) is still a nice light, but the hotspot isn't very strong compared to the spill (but it is not a dim light; the spill alone is bright). Even though the 2xAA has a relatively diffuse medium size hotspot, this flashlight has a slightly narrower spill angle and focuses more light into the medium-ish hotspot. I know this seems kind of counter-intuitive considering that the 3xAAA has a larger reflector, but I guess the 2xAA has a deeper/narrower reflector relative to its size.

I have the 3-color version of the 3xAAA, so the single color version may perform better due to its more "perfect" reflector.

I have the "single color" version of the 3xAAA. It does have great throw, just not as good as the Task Force.

I have the 2AA version and also the 3AAA version with the red, white, and blue led and im more then happy with them.......i use either for walking the dog at night and both hold up well.

I picked up one of the 3xAAA units. Nice general purpose light. Mine has a gimpy switch. It won't always switch off. And it hasn't seen that much usage.

The Tri light verson (white-red-blue) is neat, you twist the head to select the colors. That one the switch hasn't acted up.

****'s Sporting Goods has them in the camping section in black. I like the gunmetal grey better. YMMV.

+5 on the 2aa ...... it's a lot cheaper to feed..

Ditto everyones comments on the 2xCR2 cells. I can't see any real advantage of that over a well regulated 2AA setup. While a 2xRCR123 generally will spit out more lumens. If you need run-time go for an 18650 light instead. There are TONS of lights in the $25 ballpark to pick from, all using more readily available cells, some offering more run time and some more Lumens/Lux.

Wal-Mart probably did no research on these, or on other items . My experience is with knives. Wal-Mart will buy stuff based on sales estimates and marketing ideas, but if it doesnt sell, the mgf ends up buying the product back.Ask Buck about that.Secondly, the Mfg may have made these for someone else and when they didnt sell, Wally cut them a deal to take them in.