First Impressions Fenix TK45 ( Production Model )

Got my Fenix TK45 today. Everything as reviewed by many members of CPF. I just wanna share some photos of the actual production model.

Packaging. Same as the TK 40. Only the lanyard is different



TK45



The sidewinder switches. Labelled. Looks like Fenix is listening





















Size comparison



SR90, Catapult V1, TK40, TK45, RRT3


Beam Shots. Fixed Exposure


TK 40


TK45



Left TK40 Right TK45

Overall, I'm very pleased with the TK45. The new battery carrier reduces the rattle, it now feels similar to the one in the TK40.
Beautiful beam, bigger hotspot and brighter flood as compared to its predecessor.

Well done Fenix.

Congratulations on the new TK45! :thumbsup: That most likely will be my next flashlight purchase.

It's great to see a fellow TK40 owner with a TK45. While the TK45 reviews on the internet were extremely helpful, I found that many of the reviewers had no experience with the TK40 so they were looking at the new TK45 from a completely different perspective than I would since I've been happily using my TK40 for seven or eight months now. What do you think of the TK45 compared to the TK40? What sort of tasks do you think that the TK45 is better and worse at?

Now that you have the TK45, do you think that it will be replacing your TK40? Some reviewers of the test models said that it didn't throw as far as the TK40. Do you find that to be true too or is the difference not that noticeable?

Locoboy5150 said:

Congratulations on the new TK45! :thumbsup: That most likely will be my next flashlight purchase.

It's great to see a fellow TK40 owner with a TK45. While the TK45 reviews on the internet were extremely helpful, I found that many of the reviewers had no experience with the TK40 so they were looking at the new TK45 from a completely different perspective than I would since I've been happily using my TK40 for seven or eight months now. What do you think of the TK45 compared to the TK40? What sort of tasks do you think that the TK45 is better and worse at?

Now that you have the TK45, do you think that it will be replacing your TK40? Some reviewers of the test models said that it didn't throw as far as the TK40. Do you find that to be true too or is the difference not that noticeable?

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I'll try my best to answer all the above.

The beam
I've been using the TK40 on night hikes and off shore spear fishing. This light does have its limitations in terms of spill. No doubt that its flood and throw are being praised by many, I find the spill is a tad too weak to illuminate through the crashing waves and sand kicked up after the roll in. Last night I tried the TK45 on the same stretch of beach and it did out shine the TK40. The corona from the hotspot is bigger therefore the spill is overall brighter. Haven't got the chance to go hiking with the TK45, so I can't comment. Both the 40 and 45 has similar throw distance comparing side by side.

The Switch

I love the sidewinder switch. Fast switching of modes!!! No need to press and hold. :thumbsup:

The built

The TK45 has a thinner battery tube as compared to TK40. I'm not sure is this a weak point, but I doubt I'll be able to dent it during normal usage. The threads on my TK45 comes without grease!!! :shakehead
Nothing some Nyogel can't fix. The TK45 is slightly heavier than the TK40. It may be due to the amount of material used for the tri-head.

To summarize,TK45 won't replace TK40 completely, but I can safely say that it does its job better than the TK40, not by leaps and bounds but in areas that the TK40 lacks. Hope this helps.

BTW, this show pony does turn a lot of heads.

Scuderia said:

BTW, this show pony does turn a lot of heads.

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Looks, output, or both?

was.lost.but.now.found said:

Looks, output, or both?

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Primarily looks, followed by output. My non flashaholic friends thought is was some alien spaceship model from Starwars.

Scuderia said:

Primarily looks, followed by output. My non flashaholic friends thought is was some alien spaceship model from Starwars.

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Hehe, I can imagine that! The TK45 is one strange looking beast, that's for sure.

Thanks for your information. I've been saving up for a TK45 and I definitely will add one to my line up.

Nice, I want one even though I already have the beta model.

With the production version using the R5 leds, is there a significant brightness difference compared with the TK40 on turbo mode?

oh, and where did you buy yours from?

That is an awesome looking light. I just hate the fact that it does not use just one battery (even though it will be a big battery, it will still be more convenient). Even though this light looks like a hand-held microscope, night vision goggle mechanism. I am a fan of its unique look.

Can you do a beamshot of this in a real world environment? Backyard/Woods so to speak?

I just noticed that the battery carrier on the production TK45 is black while it was clear for the testing sample models. I wonder if the black one is more durable. I recall several reviewers mentioning that their clear carriers were a little bit on the flimsy side, especially compared to the one in the TK40.

Sculderia,

How do the TK40 and TK45 battery carriers compare in your opinion?

Thanks for the comparisons! I like my TK40 a lot but I'm going to get the TK45 as well. I much prefer the switch placement on it over that of the TK40. I also quite like the looks of the TK45

Very impressive review, bro.
I think I will get mine from my favorite shop.
Thanks a lot for the sharing.

J.J

But, TK45 has weak points also with strong points.
Hope some progress should be done on next version.



J.J.

Pandorum said:

Nice, I want one even though I already have the beta model.

With the production version using the R5 leds, is there a significant brightness difference compared with the TK40 on turbo mode?

oh, and where did you buy yours from?

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Slight increase in brightness as far as my eyes can see. May be due to the increase in hotspot size. Can you tell from the beamshots??

I got mine from our local distributor. Most of the online stores are still taking in pre orders at my time of purchase.

CaNo said:

Can you do a beamshot of this in a real world environment? Backyard/Woods so to speak?

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I'll try when the nights are rain free.

Locoboy5150 said:

I just noticed that the battery carrier on the production TK45 is black while it was clear for the testing sample models. I wonder if the black one is more durable. I recall several reviewers mentioning that their clear carriers were a little bit on the flimsy side, especially compared to the one in the TK40.

Sculderia,

How do the TK40 and TK45 battery carriers compare in your opinion?

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Please refer to some close up image of both carriers. I guess the black plastic is Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). It has a certain degree of flex, unlike those on cheap torches. To be honest, I prefer the carrier of the TK40. I'm not sure why did Fenix substitute the metal rods with plastic, for weight and cost saving I suppose.
Latest finding, AA with slightly shorter length, e.g. Uniross Hybrios , will pop out of the carrier. But its fine with my Powerex and eneloop cells.

fishhead said:

Thanks for the comparisons! I like my TK40 a lot but I'm going to get the TK45 as well. I much prefer the switch placement on it over that of the TK40. I also quite like the looks of the TK45

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no problem. just trying to help

taewoopa said:

Very impressive review, bro.
I think I will get mine from my favorite shop.
Thanks a lot for the sharing.

J.J

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I won't even dare call this a review. Its just me sharing my personal opinions on the new torch. Reviews are those that make it into the review section.
But, thank you very much for the compliments. :twothumbs

taewoopa said:

But, TK45 has weak points also with strong points.
Hope some progress should be done on next version.



J.J.

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Wow i quite like this light and you've provided excellent photos! It's good you're actually comparing it with a TK40

I'm kind of surprised this thing doesn't put out 1000 lumens? 3 R5's could easily do that.

NightKids said:

Wow i quite like this light and you've provided excellent photos! It's good you're actually comparing it with a TK40

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Thank you.

recDNA said:

I'm kind of surprised this thing doesn't put out 1000 lumens? 3 R5's could easily do that.

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Can this be due to the cells used to power the torch? :shrug:

Scuderia said:

Thank you.




Can this be due to the cells used to power the torch? :shrug:

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Probably. Too bad they don't make a li ion version.

wow, great review!