Fenix Q5/R4 ???

I am going to buy a Fenix LD20. The store has both Q5 and R4 versions in stock. Which would you recommend, and why. Thanks for your help.

Depends on your needs!You need throw you get Q5 .You need spill you get R4..!
I had the same dilemma when i had to choose my PD30 (R2 or R4) although psychologically the more lumens makes you feel better..

I guess at this size(2AA) i would choose the R4.

If the R4 version has orange peel reflector then I would go for that.
If the R4 version doesn't have OP reflector, there's a great possibility the beam has a donut, i.e. darker spot in the middle of the beam.

My LD10 R4 has a smooth reflector and indeed at some distances/surfaces you can see a slightly darker visible centre area - the doughnut effect. I do not find it worrisome or problematic in the least and aside from flashlightaholics I doubt anyone looking at the beam will ever comment on it.

Despite the doughnut you'll end up with a larger and less defined hotspot (blends in with spill more smoothly) with the R4. I actually wanted this behaviour for some of my activities.

But mostly I care about efficiency and runtime. With this family of light I bought the R4 for its overall mix of runtime and output advantages and very specifically because the latest R4 model is an alkaline battery champ almost bar none in this class of light and thus is ideal for use in emergencies if one is forced to use whatever cell happens to be lying around.

+R4 for me as well.

Just for info if you look at the review on Light reviews it claims in the R4 review the output seems to be less than the Q5 version, which seems strange, it also has a lot less lux, in keeping with the different emitters.

I have found all my Q5 and R2 lights to have a nice white tint, but both of my R5 lights have had a green hue, i am not sure if the R4 has the same curse but something to find out/think about!

I would go for the Q5 as i like throw, but thats my needs/opinion

It's hard to judge the beam patterns and colors in the store. Based on your advice, I will go with the Q5. Thanks for your help.

Q5 - the Felix r4 tint is very purple.

It's a good choice to get the Q5 while they still last, you can always get the R4 later, they'll probably get updated after a year or two.

tre said:

Q5 - the Felix r4 tint is very purple.

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I'm looking at the output of a Fenix LD10 R4 and I see no traces of purple at all. It does lean to the cool white side of the spectrum.

The LD20 is a very popular light in these circles, and as such there is a welth of info on her about them, and you can search on r4 v q5 and get some good advice,

try this link to self builts review, and although its a LD2 Q5, its give or take the same light, and he also confirms the lack of percieved out put increase, but the run time is better.

Sorry to bother you again, but you mention buying in a store? Most people on here i would guess buy off the popular sites amongst flashaholics such as 4 sevens, Battery junction etc. They have excellent customer service reputations and any problems seem to be resolved.

They also have CPF discount codes, just search on here, and i would guess they could save you a tidy penny on the cost of your item compared to a bricks and mortar store.
I cant comment on US/Canada stores, but ive had first class service off UK sites.

Also i dont know if the Q5 has been replaced by the R4, or if they are running side by side, if it has then you may graab yourself an bargin on the net?

hope this helps,

PerttiK said:

If the R4 version has orange peel reflector then I would go for that.
If the R4 version doesn't have OP reflector, there's a great possibility the beam has a donut, i.e. darker spot in the middle of the beam.

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my LD20 R4 comes with SMO reflector and it does have donut beam but i only notice this when i shined my LD20 on WHITE WALL. Other than that i don't really notice the donut beam.

I have both LD20 Q5 and R4 and i personally love the beam on R4. It produce smooth flooded beam which is i found very useful on my usage for close range illumination compared with Q5 which is produce tighter beam. The R4 beam seem purplish when the Q5 is clean white.

vickers214 said:

Just for info if you look at the review on Light reviews it claims in the R4 review the output seems to be less than the Q5 version, which seems strange, it also has a lot less lux, in keeping with the different emitters.

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The R4 beam as we know is more flooded than the Q5 beam on LD20. If you measure the output using light meter / lux meter it is make sense because the more focus i.e brighter hot spot you pointed at light meter the more high lumen reading you will have on the light meter.

Two websites compared the Fenix R4 and the Fenix Q5.

In taschenlampen-test.de's review of the LD20 R4 (link) ...
Here's an outdoor beamshot of the LD20 R4: (link)
Here's an outdoor beamshot of the LD20 Q5: (link)

At fonarik's website (link), select 'Fenix' in the left-hand column and then select 'Fenix LD10 R4/Q5/Q3' in order to compare the Fenix LD R4 and the LD Q5

And here's a thread (link) where someone compared the Fenix LD20 R4, the Quark AAx2 R5 Neutral White, and the Quark AAx2 R5 Turbo

Here are some additional verbal comments about the tint:

"Fenix LD10 R4: Tint Census"
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/281032

and see fannin's comments:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/3365802&postcount=6
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/3366069&postcount=8

Cataract's comments:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/3471576&postcount=21

and tre's comments:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/3471581&postcount=22

PerttiK said:

If the R4 version has orange peel reflector then I would go for that.
If the R4 version doesn't have OP reflector, there's a great possibility the beam has a donut, i.e. darker spot in the middle of the beam.

Click to expand...

I agree 100%.

The UltimateCampingMaster from Canada

PerttiK said:

If the R4 version has orange peel reflector then I would go for that.
If the R4 version doesn't have OP reflector, there's a great possibility the beam has a donut, i.e. darker spot in the middle of the beam.

Click to expand...

I just posted a thread asking about the donut hole. I do have the smooth reflector on my LD10 R4. Does Fenix actually sell a LD10 r4 version with the orange peel kind reflector or I have to order it as a replacement part?

tandem said:

I'm looking at the output of a Fenix LD10 R4 and I see no traces of purple at all. It does lean to the cool white side of the spectrum.

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I'm comparing my LD10/LD20 to my other lights. when I use a Nitecore SR3, for example, and then go to an LD10/LD20, I can see noticable blue/purple tint. Comapring some of my lights side by side I can see quarks are green, Fenix LD10/LD20 are blueish/purple, Zebralights (cool) are very very slightly green and my EagleTacs, Maelstrom, Jetbeams, and others are close to tintless cool white. It is the comparison that shows me the tint difference. If the LD10/LD20 was my only light and I never shined it on a white wall compared to my other lights, perhaps I would not notice. The fact that I have so many lights and use differet ones for different tasks on a daily basis makes this very noticable now. Because of the horrible tints, My LD10/LD20 lights are now only reserved for emergency power loss use since they run on AA batteries which are cheap and easy to find. If it were not for the fact that I have a little less than 10 AA lights, the LD10 and LD20 would already be sold at the market place. I mostly use/own 18650 and Cr123a lights. It is because of the fact that I dislike the tint on the LD10/LD20 XPG R4 that I recommend the Q5 version.

aau007 said:

I just posted a thread asking about the donut hole. I do have the smooth reflector on my LD10 R4. Does Fenix actually sell a LD10 r4 version with the orange peel kind reflector or I have to order it as a replacement part?

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I know something for sure NO MORE PD30 R4 with Orange Peel Reflector, I had the info from my dealer 4Sevens in USA and from Fenix China.

I did not find yet the reason why they maked this change - you order a PD30 R4 because you read that this flashlight has a very nice flood and surprise!!! no more Orange Peel Reflector you are stuck with their idea of changing for a Smooth Reflector with no advice anywhere on their Web site and have a nice brown spot in the middle of the throw.

The difference is really great between these two reflectors, the smooth one is supposed to give more throw... but I had a really dark donut in the center which makes the flashlight useless and bye bye the nice spill.

I waited more than two months for Fenix China to repaired my burned head (PD30 R4) instead off accepting their Smooth Reflector head as an exchange. I was very disappointed when I received that smooth reflector, I paid 72$USD for that flashlight and I paid again to send it back twice.

Now I find a solution : I get the 4Sevens regular Quark 123² cool white XP-G R5.

More info here post # 9: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/3383992#post3383992

UtimateCampingMaster from Canada

CampingMaster said:

I did not find yet the reason why they maked this change

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See post number 70 in the LD10/20 review thread for what appears to be the official word from Fenix as to why they are going to smooth reflectors for the LD and PD series.

A soon to be released light from ZebraLight, the SC51, was recently reviewed by Selfbuilt. I'm pointing this light out specifically as it also uses the same emitter (XPG R4) as the LD10/20, and has one-upped the previously class leading output and runtime mix of the LD10 R4. The SC51 also puts out cool white output. From an output and runtime perspective it's a pretty comparable 1xAA light.

The major difference of relevance to this discussion is the SC51 employs an orange peel reflector while the LD10/20 does not. Despite the use of an orange peel reflector in this light, I detect a doughnut hole effect in the beamshots included within the review.