Quark AA2 Turbo vs Quark AA2 R5 and S2

Hey, new guy here! haha I've tried searching for similar topics like this but couldn't find any. So I apologize if this has been discussed before. I was wondering what, if any, difference there was between the Quark AA2 Turbo and the Quark AA2 R5 and the S2 versions? To my untrained eye, they look similar. I noticed the price difference was 15-20 dollars and I didn't know what I was going to get with the Turbo vs the R5 and S2 versions. If anyone can point this noobie flashaholic in the right direction I would immensely appreciate it. Thank you! ~ExForge

Sorry if I'm bumping an old thread, but does anyone have answer to OP questions ?

I'm looking to purchase the Quark AA2 myself, but confuse because of the variation.
I know I'm going to get the tactical version.

Thanks

My .02 as a new flashaholic
Turbo has a fatter head, longer throw, gunky to edc in your pocket but ok in a holster
R5, floodier than a r2 but brighter, s2 even brighter than r5 but read up on the 'tint lottery' of s2, lotsa green in the color. Fine for outside use if you dont mind the green

I own
4-7 123-2 in an r2 and r5, just got my turbo r5 today so i havent played with it, have a mini with s3 and beam is green as grass but bright as all heck..
Hope that answers some, i edc with deep pocket clip my 123-2 tactical r5 most of the time...the aa2 is a little skinnier with less output than mine but a great light... Once you buy one- unfortunately youll buy more :/)

dumb4ever said:

Sorry if I'm bumping an old thread, but does anyone have answer to OP questions ?

I'm looking to purchase the Quark AA2 myself, but confuse because of the variation.
I know I'm going to get the tactical version.

Thanks

Click to expand...

The S2 LED is 7% brighter than the R5 LED. BUT, the S2 LED is very green which looks fine outside & terrible inside. The R5 tint is a cool white which leans towards a slight blueish color on mine, and looks much better than the S2 color to me.

Here's a rundown of how the Quark "tactical" version and the "regular" version works:

The "Tactical" version quark has 2 settings that you program (head tight & head loose.) You have 5 output choices plus 3 blinky choices - any of which can be programmed into either setting. It only takes 20 seconds to program each setting. The "tactical" version comes with a protruding switch that allows "momentary on." This switch is called a "forward clicky" which allows momentary on. ClickHere

The Quark Turbo has the tactcal UI, but has a larger head which improves throw. The Turbo is not as comfortable to EDC, but is very useful. ClickHere

The "Regular" version quark has all of the same light output & blinky settings available, but you cycle through each setting by lightly pressing the tail switch. For example, when the head is tight you have max then strobe. When the head is loose, you have moonlight, then low, then medium, then high, then sos, and then beacon. This loop repeats as you cycle through. The "regular" version can tail stand because the switch does not protrude out from the light. This also means it does not have "momentary on." This clicky switch is called a "reverse clicky" which means you have to click it to turn on the light. You can buy a tactical tail (forward clicky) for this light without changing the UI (the UI is programmed in the head not the tail,) so you will still have all output levels available which you cycle through. ClickHere

These quarks are lego-able which means you can swap out the head, body, & tail among the family of lights....makes these very versatile. So a AA2 head & tail would also work on a single AA body, or a single 123 body, or a single 18650 body. Also, quarks are made to except any battery type - alkaline, lithium, NiMh rechargeable, and Li-ion rechargeables. The Li-ion batteries give the quarks a pretty big boost in output, and are nice. In the AA2 Quark though you can only run the light on one Li-ion cell not two (two would fry it.) So you could buy the AA x1 body, and run it on a single Li-ion 14500 battery (and achieve 200 lumens with that single Li-ion.) If you do not want to go that route then I'd recommend using Eneloop NiMh rechargeable batteries. No boost in output, but outstanding rechargeable batteries.

I EDC the Quark AA "Regular," and bought the tactical tail (for momentary on) and I got the "deep carry" pocket clip for it as well. Great light & really bright especially if you use the Li-ion rechargeable battery. You can buy these batteries and a charger from 4sevens as well at - ClickHere

Thank you Outdorsman5 for a very complete explanation.

YEs thank you Outdorsman5 much appreciated.

I love these lights, and am looking forward to future improvements. I was hoping 4sevens would put an XM-L led in this line of lights. I talked to them last week & they said that they did not have any plans to do that since the XM-L is such a big LED....thereby making these lights much more floody. Oh well, hopefully CREE will come out with something more powerful than the XP-G but made to be the same size.

I'd like to add one more question about the Tactical versions UI. I know that it has 2 modes that can be programmed to instantly provide a certain brightness on each by turning the head, but before it is programmed, all modes are there. So is it an option to simply program one mode, such as bezel tightened, to be at the 180 lumen level, but leave the bezel loosened mode unprogrammed so that all brightnesses can be accessed by cycling with the button? I'd love to have the Tactical version if this were the case. I'd hate to be restricted to only 2 levels of brightness if the light is capable of more.

OR, if you program one mode, do they BOTH have to be programmed? Also, can BOTH modes just be left unprogrammed and used as if it were the regular version of the Quark?

LEDrock said:

I'd like to add one more question about the Tactical versions UI. I know that it has 2 modes that can be programmed to instantly provide a certain brightness on each by turning the head, but before it is programmed, all modes are there. So is it an option to simply program one mode, such as bezel tightened, to be at the 180 lumen level, but leave the bezel loosened mode unprogrammed so that all brightnesses can be accessed by cycling with the button? I'd love to have the Tactical version if this were the case. I'd hate to be restricted to only 2 levels of brightness if the light is capable of more.

OR, if you program one mode, do they BOTH have to be programmed? Also, can BOTH modes just be left unprogrammed and used as if it were the regular version of the Quark?

Click to expand...

No it doesn't work like that. Two modes can be accessed at once (head tight, head loose), both modes can be the same, or different brightnesses, or flashy modes, but there will be 2 modes. It only takes about 20 seconds or so to change the mode though, and all the modes that are in the regular quark can be programmed into one of the 2 modes on the tactical.

LEDrock said:

I'd like to add one more question about the Tactical versions UI. I know that it has 2 modes that can be programmed to instantly provide a certain brightness on each by turning the head, but before it is programmed, all modes are there. So is it an option to simply program one mode, such as bezel tightened, to be at the 180 lumen level, but leave the bezel loosened mode unprogrammed so that all brightnesses can be accessed by cycling with the button? I'd love to have the Tactical version if this were the case. I'd hate to be restricted to only 2 levels of brightness if the light is capable of more.

OR, if you program one mode, do they BOTH have to be programmed? Also, can BOTH modes just be left unprogrammed and used as if it were the regular version of the Quark?

Click to expand...

Also, the head tight & head loose are programmed at the factory. Usually it arrives this way - head tight is max and head loose is moonlight. I got one delivered yesterday, and was pre-programmed this way. I reprogrammed it, and 20 seconds later the the head loose position was set to low. I left the head tight at max. While you are in the programming mode you can cycle through all 5 light outputs and all 3 blinky modes, but if you stop for 10 seconds then the last setting you left it on becomes the output for that position. Anyway, only two outputs are available once the light is programmed.

Outdoorsman5 said:

Also, the head tight & head loose are programmed at the factory. Usually it arrives this way - head tight is max and head loose is moonlight. I got one delivered yesterday, and was pre-programmed this way. I reprogrammed it, and 20 seconds later the the head loose position was set to low. I left the head tight at max. While you are in the programming mode you can cycle through all 5 light outputs and all 3 blinky modes, but if you stop for 10 seconds then the last setting you left it on becomes the output for that position. Anyway, only two outputs are available once the light is programmed.

Click to expand...

Well, I'm not sure if I like that or not. I do like the forward clicky of the Tactical, but having only the 2 brightnesses at once is something I'm not sure about. I imagine I'd have the head-tight set at max., and the loose-head set for either moonlight or low. But if I turn it on this way and want it to just be a little brighter without searing my retinas, I'd have to reprogram. Otherwise, I have only super low and super high. Maybe the regular version would be better then.

In this case, I'm not seeing much benefit to tactical. Even the regular one starts out low with loose-head and turbo when the head is tightened, but then you can cycle the modes to get more from that point. At least, that's my understanding of it without actually having one.

Also, I wonder if the Quark 2AA will eventually be an XM-L powered creation! (Lust!)

LEDrock said:

Well, I'm not sure if I like that or not. I do like the forward clicky of the Tactical, but having only the 2 brightnesses at once is something I'm not sure about. I imagine I'd have the head-tight set at max., and the loose-head set for either moonlight or low. But if I turn it on this way and want it to just be a little brighter without searing my retinas, I'd have to reprogram. Otherwise, I have only super low and super high. Maybe the regular version would be better then.

In this case, I'm not seeing much benefit to tactical. Even the regular one starts out low with loose-head and turbo when the head is tightened, but then you can cycle the modes to get more from that point. At least, that's my understanding of it without actually having one.

Also, I wonder if the Quark 2AA will eventually be an XM-L powered creation! (Lust!)

Click to expand...

The purpose of the tactical is to have access to 2 modes without having to click through a bunch of modes you don't want (all of my quarks are tacticals). You can buy the regular and then get a raised tactical switch from the accessories page for $9. That will give you the UI of the regular, with the forward clicky tactical switch.

LEDrock said:

Well, I'm not sure if I like that or not. I do like the forward clicky of the Tactical, but having only the 2 brightnesses at once is something I'm not sure about. I imagine I'd have the head-tight set at max., and the loose-head set for either moonlight or low. But if I turn it on this way and want it to just be a little brighter without searing my retinas, I'd have to reprogram. Otherwise, I have only super low and super high. Maybe the regular version would be better then.

In this case, I'm not seeing much benefit to tactical. Even the regular one starts out low with loose-head and turbo when the head is tightened, but then you can cycle the modes to get more from that point. At least, that's my understanding of it without actually having one.

Also, I wonder if the Quark 2AA will eventually be an XM-L powered creation! (Lust!)

Click to expand...

I like both the "Regular" UI and the "Tactical" UI, but for different reasons. In general though I prefer the Regular UI the most. I like having all outputs available whenever I need them. What I like most about the Tactical UI though is that you can turn it on & off & on & off without it changing outputs. So, both have their positives & negatives.

TyJo had a great suggestion - if you get the quark with the regular UI then purchase the tactical tail switch with it so that you will have momentary on. This is a "forward clicky" which means you don't have to press the button all the way in to turn on the light. This switch does NOT change the UI (the UI is programmed into the head not the tail,) so you will still have the regular UI. My EDC is a quark AA with the regular UI and a tactical switch. Love this light!

Outdoorsman5 said:

I like both the "Regular" UI and the "Tactical" UI, but for different reasons. In general though I prefer the Regular UI the most. I like having all outputs available whenever I need them. What I like most about the Tactical UI though is that you can turn it on & off & on & off without it changing outputs. So, both have their positives & negatives.

TyJo had a great suggestion - if you get the quark with the regular UI then purchase the tactical tail switch with it so that you will have momentary on. This is a "forward clicky" which means you don't have to press the button all the way in to turn on the light. This switch does NOT change the UI (the UI is programmed into the head not the tail,) so you will still have the regular UI. My EDC is a quark AA with the regular UI and a tactical switch. Love this light!

Click to expand...

That might just be the way to go. Thanks!