Ferei 340 Review
Just thought I'd do a quick basic review of the Ferei340 which I've received at the start of the week. More details will follow later when I've been able to do some long range comparisons and also confirmed the runtime.
I purchased the flashlight from ww.kmwn.co.uk in the UK, Placed an order on Sunday night for this and also a Novatac 120M. Items arrived by special delivery on the Tuesday. The cost of the Ferei was £21.99.
The flashlight arrived bubble wrapped in a small cardboard box also containing a translated instruction manual, quality test certificate (small piece of paper stamped with date & testers number) and a Panasonic CR123 battery
The manual isnt that bad, although roughly translated it does have most of the basic information, features and specifications plus a nice little sketch of all the 340's parts & components. On the aback of it also gives the direct contact details and phone numbers to Ferei in China.
Specs- (In manual)
Mini340, Cree Q5, Power- 3W, Max output – 60 to 135 lumens, Voltage 3.7V, more than 1.2 hours, range 100m+, dimensions 21x76mm, Weight 38g, battery 3.7v 16340.
The above ties pretty much with what is shown on KMNW's own website with the exception it states a 2 hour runtime and does not mention any 60 lumen ability. Indeed unless I'm missing something the 340 only has one setting; full on or full off.
The quality certificate states it was tested on the 19 Dec 09 and this ties in directly to the serial number of the side of the Ferei in my case FM3DEC0900208. I actually think its quite nice that each one is individually stamped with a unique serial number.
The light itself is nice, it's a nice size and there's a nice dinky little feeling to it when you hold it. Its operated by way of turning the contact block against the body of the torch. Since all my other lights have tailcaps it's a nice change. I presume they've designed it like this to keep it compact and this certainly works for me, I guess its also goes someway to preventing it from being accidentally turned on as can happen with my Solarforce L2 when its in my pocket. The 340 strips down into 4 pieces, The head and reflector unit, the processor or driver module which contains the LED, the body of the torch and the tail cap. The tail cap has no function other than to hold the battery in since all the electronics are in the driver module.
The finish of the light is also excellent (sorry for the poor photos) jet black anodised with nicely engraved serial number, Ferei 340 name and on/off instruction markings. The pocket clip is also well made and since the light isn't that heavy I can also clip it to the peak of my baseball hat for hands free use.
I've also posted some comparisons pictures of the 340 when compared to my Novatac 120M, Surefire 6PL and Solarforce L2 R2. These pictures were taken from 2 meters and as above I'll try and do some longer stuff this weekend along with a runtime test
http://s863.photobucket.com/albums/ab192/lightfoot_2010/Famous 5/
Conclusion; In truth for such a little, low priced light I'm well impressed. Its the kind of light you can have in your pocket and not even be aware of it. The beam is bright white and seems well focused and tight certainly when compared to Solarforce R2 Cree of the same value. Its definitely comparable to my Novatac and Surefire. Well worth the cash and it could be my best buy.
More details to follow
***********************
Some longer distance comparrison photos are here http://s863.photobucket.com/albums/ab192/lightfoot_2010/Famous 5/
Just thought I'd do a quick basic review of the Ferei340 which I've received at the start of the week. More details will follow later when I've been able to do some long range comparisons and also confirmed the runtime.
I purchased the flashlight from ww.kmwn.co.uk in the UK, Placed an order on Sunday night for this and also a Novatac 120M. Items arrived by special delivery on the Tuesday. The cost of the Ferei was £21.99.
The flashlight arrived bubble wrapped in a small cardboard box also containing a translated instruction manual, quality test certificate (small piece of paper stamped with date & testers number) and a Panasonic CR123 battery
The manual isnt that bad, although roughly translated it does have most of the basic information, features and specifications plus a nice little sketch of all the 340's parts & components. On the aback of it also gives the direct contact details and phone numbers to Ferei in China.
Specs- (In manual)
Mini340, Cree Q5, Power- 3W, Max output – 60 to 135 lumens, Voltage 3.7V, more than 1.2 hours, range 100m+, dimensions 21x76mm, Weight 38g, battery 3.7v 16340.
The above ties pretty much with what is shown on KMNW's own website with the exception it states a 2 hour runtime and does not mention any 60 lumen ability. Indeed unless I'm missing something the 340 only has one setting; full on or full off.
The quality certificate states it was tested on the 19 Dec 09 and this ties in directly to the serial number of the side of the Ferei in my case FM3DEC0900208. I actually think its quite nice that each one is individually stamped with a unique serial number.
The light itself is nice, it's a nice size and there's a nice dinky little feeling to it when you hold it. Its operated by way of turning the contact block against the body of the torch. Since all my other lights have tailcaps it's a nice change. I presume they've designed it like this to keep it compact and this certainly works for me, I guess its also goes someway to preventing it from being accidentally turned on as can happen with my Solarforce L2 when its in my pocket. The 340 strips down into 4 pieces, The head and reflector unit, the processor or driver module which contains the LED, the body of the torch and the tail cap. The tail cap has no function other than to hold the battery in since all the electronics are in the driver module.
The finish of the light is also excellent (sorry for the poor photos) jet black anodised with nicely engraved serial number, Ferei 340 name and on/off instruction markings. The pocket clip is also well made and since the light isn't that heavy I can also clip it to the peak of my baseball hat for hands free use.
I've also posted some comparisons pictures of the 340 when compared to my Novatac 120M, Surefire 6PL and Solarforce L2 R2. These pictures were taken from 2 meters and as above I'll try and do some longer stuff this weekend along with a runtime test
http://s863.photobucket.com/albums/ab192/lightfoot_2010/Famous 5/
Conclusion; In truth for such a little, low priced light I'm well impressed. Its the kind of light you can have in your pocket and not even be aware of it. The beam is bright white and seems well focused and tight certainly when compared to Solarforce R2 Cree of the same value. Its definitely comparable to my Novatac and Surefire. Well worth the cash and it could be my best buy.
More details to follow
***********************
Some longer distance comparrison photos are here http://s863.photobucket.com/albums/ab192/lightfoot_2010/Famous 5/
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