Inova purcahased by Nite Ize - what's going to happen now?

http://www.inovalight.com/about.html

I wonder what to expect now...

nightovas?

waddup said:

nightovas?

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LOLlovecpf

Chinese made inovas?
CS that might actually care

I've gotten good results from a variety of Nite-Ize products. And my handful of Inova lights work with 100% reliability.

Either the purchase will result in brighter Inova offerings or quality of Inova lights will slide. Or, possibly even a combination of both.

I'm pretty sure there out already Nite Ize Inovas out, I think the newest generation of Inovas with the Seouls are their doing, including the new X2.

Hopefully the INOVA line doesn't slide and the lights maintain their quality or improve.Some reports lately of poor customer service,maybe this is due to the transition.Would like to see cs get back on track and become a little easier to deal with.

My guess is that we will see Inovas with four little adjustable feet.....

defloyd77 said:

I'm pretty sure there out already Nite Ize Inovas out, I think the newest generation of Inovas with the Seouls are their doing, including the new X2.

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It's not just the X2 with Seoul P4 l.e.d.s anymore. I saw the XO3s in Target that had them as well. Could be a change due to new management, but I think they just ran out of their stockpile of K2s after they were discontinued and needed an alternative. Either way, I'm going to miss the warm tints of the K2 l.e.d.s in Inova lights.

leukos said:

My guess is that we will see Inovas with four little adjustable feet.....

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Or they'll come out with a flimsy multilevel tailcap switch that compromises waterproof integrity, makes a bulletproof light too fragile to drop, and reduces the output on high. With all their drop in bulbs and multilevel switches, it would be nice to see Inovas redesigned to be upgradeable like Surefires and have at least two levels, while maintaining excellent build quality and keeping prices low. Seriously, if Inova came out with a 200+ lumen O.T.F. light with HAIII, 2 or 3 levels, cutting edge emitter, that was lithium ion compatible (could take 17670 or 18650 and 123A primaries and rechargeables), and had parts and l.e.d.s that could be upgraded or changed out (different heads, tailcaps, and emitters), and all for under $100, they would sell many more lights. There's a market for Surefire quality lights that are made in America but that can compete in price with the high end Chinese lights that are flooding the market.

Dang Inova has become one of my favourites in the past 18 months and I don't want to think about what could happen to the product line up now. Nite-Ize has always been inferior in my opinion. However if nite-ize keep all of the Inova staff and production facilities then this could turn out okay.

Have faith in Inova and Nite-Ize... Nite Ize has a lot of weird novelty things but they also make a whole bunch of really cool, useful stuff too... I am positive about the whole acquisition.

I have a Inforce 9V white and have always had problems with these lights. I have sent it back to Emmisive Energy 3 times. Each time I receive a new replacement. My last one which I dont even use much had one of the allen screws that holds the LED assembly in somehow get loose and came off. There is no way to take it light apart because its all glued together. I wrote an email to Emmisive Energy and they promised me a pre-paid envelope which I never received. After a week I emailed them again and I have not heard back from them. Had emailed some lady Laurie before and last time she was no longer there and was contacted by someone named Dot. Its weird because my Target Inova flashlights have never given me problems.

Hooked on Fenix said:

It's not just the X2 with Seoul P4 l.e.d.s anymore. I saw the XO3s in Target that had them as well. Could be a change due to new management, but I think they just ran out of their stockpile of K2s after they were discontinued and needed an alternative. Either way, I'm going to miss the warm tints of the K2 l.e.d.s in Inova lights.

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That's what I'm saying, the newest generation of Inovas with Seoul P4's and P9's and also the new X2. I personally think it's more than a coincidence that Inova has finally parted ways with not only Lumileds, but their infamous "diamond turned" reflector, watt ratings and suddenly we now have lumens on the X series and the new X2.

As far as customer service issues go, I would expect continuing excellence, at least judging by my personal dealings with Nite Ize, as my experience went unexpectedly well.

I had one of their 10mm led PR drop-in that was unusable it was so dim. Nite Ize updated said drop-in mid production, increasing the brightness. I emailed customer service, expressed my dissatisfaction with the performance, and they sent me a new, updated drop-in for free. I was very pleased.

Inova's customer service, while good, is retarded by their lack of communication.

I'm out of my T1-MP for almost a year now. They claimed to have sent it multiple times but I received nothing. Well I did receive a T1-WB once but that's not what I bought or paid for.

I've sent an email to Nite-Ize after reading about it here but it seems they do not want to care about me either.

Two thumbs down for Inova and Nite-Ize, although I really do love their products.. How sad..

I spoke to an Nite Ize customer service person today.
They related that indeed the owner of Nite Ize is a bit of a flashlight nerd, so thats good news for us in terms of new products and a real interest in good products.
They related that Nite Ize does not currently have any plans for new Inova products because they are still finishing up the purchase of Inova. Also that they are trying to catch up on the warranty problems of some of the more recent Inova lights. Apparently this person got a number of calls for X5s (new or old I dont know) X1s and T4s with something to do with charging problems. It will be nice that they are concerned with warranty issues.
I voiced my concerns about the production being moved to China and the agenst related that in fact Inova was already having their parts made in China but were just assembling them in America and making stamping America on them. So im sad that it turns out not to be so much of an American company, but maybe the tough light will remain so?
They seemed to be concerned with marketing. THey said that Inova basically had no marketing, as many of us already know with a basic lack of a good website or responding to customer suggestions.

So my overall prediction is this. I think that we should see some good new lights being produced under the Inova name, better marketing, maybe better customer service, adn if Nite Ize keeps the same plant being operated in China the same way, we should still see good tough lights being made, even if they are made in China.

the "diamond turned" reflector was infamous? For good beam quality? My 1.4 watt XO-R is still my gold standard, narrowly beating out my TR Twisty. I'll miss that reflector technology.

defloyd77 said:

That's what I'm saying, the newest generation of Inovas with Seoul P4's and P9's and also the new X2. I personally think it's more than a coincidence that Inova has finally parted ways with not only Lumileds, but their infamous "diamond turned" reflector, watt ratings and suddenly we now have lumens on the X series and the new X2.

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My 2008 T-series lights have excellent beams and I like the tint of thier TFFC K2s.I have yet to compare the new Seoul based lights but I would be surprised if they are as good.Most Seoul based lights I have encountered tend to be very cool.I would rather see INOVA go to neutral CREEs than Seoul P4s but they would probably have to get a completely new reflector.I wonder if they even changed the original reflector.My understanding has always been that Seouls worked well with Luxeon reflectors and that would be the reason to go with Seouls in the first place.

The manufacture that pimps cheap Chinese junk at Walmart and Target buys the quality American made manufacture. Who knows what to expect now. But if experience tells me anything, likely layoffs, and the manufacturing moved overseas.