nebo redline, you know the deal

yes, you have not seen me in ages. i have amassed so many lights that i am speechless

so i see this at true value. i search here, hardly discussed and only by noobs. read no further:this is not a very desireable light. for one thing it is barely 80 lumens(220?). interface sucks,clicky sucks, no ha-iii,sharp edges to rip your pocket. the runtimes(sure) and lumens etched on the side. you have to be joking. the chinese can make a light, like fenix but this is not it. now i know why this has not been discussed here. i thought it should be so that a noob gets themself a nice light instead like a g2x-pro for instance. furthermore, no one ever said this uses a xr-e and they must have pulled 220 lumens out of their..... not even close at the emitter lol.

For something that costs $30 and available at retail, it's bound to catch the attention of the uninitiated.

But I must admit that it's quite depressing after seeing a video review over at Amazon. Even my old P2D can do better than that.

Saw a gushing review of this light on a tool blog and almost ordered one. Thanks for helping me avoid making a rookie mistake.

Ken

LOL, I have two of them, one in my glove box and one in my nightstand.
I wouldn't use one as an EDC ( I don't need a light for an EDC) but they are way better than anything else I've owned up to this point.

Outshines and outdistances my old Pelican M6 Lithium, nice that it can focus, good light on my boat as well.
Only complaint about it is that it is quite bluish, rather than a purer white light.

In terms of what you can buy in stores locally (coleman, maglite, Dorcy) it is better than those. Yeah, it may not be better than a Fenix, but way cheaper...

The 4AA Dorcy I have advertieses itself as 160 Lumens. Based on a side-by-side comparison, I'd say the Nebo is 140-150 lumens (if the Dorcy is really 160 Lumens)

Has anyone ever done a decent review of the Nebo?

nitebrite said:

yes, you have not seen me in ages. i have amassed so many lights that i am speechless

so i see this at true value. i search here, hardly discussed and only by noobs. read no further:this is not a very desireable light. for one thing it is barely 80 lumens(220?). interface sucks,clicky sucks, no ha-iii,sharp edges to rip your pocket. the runtimes(sure) and lumens etched on the side. you have to be joking. the chinese can make a light, like fenix but this is not it. now i know why this has not been discussed here. i thought it should be so that a noob gets themself a nice light instead like a g2x-pro for instance. furthermore, no one ever said this uses a xr-e and they must have pulled 220 lumens out of their..... not even close at the emitter lol.

Click to expand...

I guess I'm what you called a noob. Can't help that. I am. Just joined CPF. This is my first post. I've always had a fascination with flashlights--something to do with summer camp as a boy. Half of our waking hours was with a flashlight and he who had the brightest light was automatically respected, whether otherwise deserved or not.

Not being wealthy and barely making it in the current economic crisis I've had to limit my LED appetite to lights under $35. There are some impressive flashlights to be had for the money. Having just joined and hoping to find some good information to link a noob from the inexpensive to the "Show-Lights", I decided a good place to plug-in would be a review of the Nebo Redline, as it is currently the hottest selling flashlight on Amazon. What I do know is that this is an excellent light for $25 (ppd), and what I hoped to learn is where does an Initiate go from here.

Obviously I am disappointed. No review. Almost no respect at all. Mostly disdain--totally undeserved disdain. I know this light is NOT 220 lumens. It's not as bright as my Dorcy 41-4750 180 Lumen Cyber Light, which I have pegged as seemingly a true claim of brightness. OTOH, It's definitely much better than the 80 lumens cited here. Why do people here feel that they have to put-down an otherwise obviously good light with great features and for an excellent price. Is everyone buying this light out-of their minds? Hardly.

I sincerely challenge one of you knowledgeable folk to respectfully do a serious review on this light. It's very much needed if CPF is to attract the masses to help see The Light.

Thank you in advance, whoever you are.

atisch

Atisch, I ran across this thread when searching for something else here on the forum. I actually purchased a Nebo Redline a few months back. I also have some more expensive lights that seem well regarded here on CPF. I don't think that the Nebo is a bad light for the price but I do understand some of the original posters concerns with it. 80 lumens does seem a little low of an estimate (at least for the one I purchased for my brother) but I would say that the lumens are much closer to 80 than 220. I did like the adjustable focus and it had a lot of modes for a inexpensive light.

Anyway... Welcome to CPF! And remember some of the best lights are cheap lights!

The 'best' light is the one you have on hand when you need it.

atisch said:

I guess I'm what you called a noob. Can't help that. I am. Just joined CPF. This is my first post. I've always had a fascination with flashlights--something to do with summer camp as a boy. Half of our waking hours was with a flashlight and he who had the brightest light was automatically respected, whether otherwise deserved or not.

Not being wealthy and barely making it in the current economic crisis I've had to limit my LED appetite to lights under $35. There are some impressive flashlights to be had for the money. Having just joined and hoping to find some good information to link a noob from the inexpensive to the "Show-Lights", I decided a good place to plug-in would be a review of the Nebo Redline, as it is currently the hottest selling flashlight on Amazon. What I do know is that this is an excellent light for $25 (ppd), and what I hoped to learn is where does an Initiate go from here.

Obviously I am disappointed. No review. Almost no respect at all. Mostly disdain--totally undeserved disdain. I know this light is NOT 220 lumens. It's not as bright as my Dorcy 41-4750 180 Lumen Cyber Light, which I have pegged as seemingly a true claim of brightness. OTOH, It's definitely much better than the 80 lumens cited here. Why do people here feel that they have to put-down an otherwise obviously good light with great features and for an excellent price. Is everyone buying this light out-of their minds? Hardly.

I sincerely challenge one of you knowledgeable folk to respectfully do a serious review on this light. It's very much needed if CPF is to attract the masses to help see The Light.

Thank you in advance, whoever you are.

atisch

Click to expand...

There's a pretty good video review on Amazon. It's the top rated review for the light so it's not hard to find. For a light under 35 dollars you can't beat the Fenix E21.

I purchased this light from the local hardware after looking up the reviews on amazon.
I go out in the yard snake hunting every night before letting the dogs out [three have been bitten] and I needed a light that had an adjustable throw. This one seemed perfect at first so I made a sheath for it and used it daily for a month.
After a month of five to ten minutes a night on high I noticed it getting dimmer so I replaced the batteries.. no help. I even bought more batteries thinking that was the problem, to no avail.

It is now less than half the power it was when new. I have re read the reviews on amazon and found the same problem by those who used the light more than occasionally. I'm not sure if I got a lemon or if this is typical of this light as I have not purchased another but be aware.

lightfinder said:

I purchased this light from the local hardware after looking up the reviews on amazon.
I go out in the yard snake hunting every night before letting the dogs out [three have been bitten] and I needed a light that had an adjustable throw. This one seemed perfect at first so I made a sheath for it and used it daily for a month.
After a month of five to ten minutes a night on high I noticed it getting dimmer so I replaced the batteries.. no help. I even bought more batteries thinking that was the problem, to no avail.

It is now less than half the power it was when new. I have re read the reviews on amazon and found the same problem by those who used the light more than occasionally. I'm not sure if I got a lemon or if this is typical of this light as I have not purchased another but be aware.

Click to expand...

I'm no expert but if the problem is that common it sounds like crappy heat management (poor heat sinking), allowing the emitter to get too hot. This will cause the emitter to age rapidly and dim.

atisch said:

I know this light is NOT 220 lumens. It's not as bright as my Dorcy 41-4750 180 Lumen Cyber Light, which I have pegged as seemingly a true claim of brightness. OTOH, It's definitely much better than the 80 lumens cited here. Why do people here feel that they have to put-down an otherwise obviously good light with great features and for an excellent price. Is everyone buying this light out-of their minds? Hardly.

Click to expand...

I also own the Dorcy Cyber light and the Nebo Redline. In side-by-side beam comparisons, the Redline is clearly a bit brighter. I don't know how anyone could possibly claim it was 80 lumens unless they got a defective Redline, or were running it on the 50% mode without understanding how to change the setting.

I'm getting a little tired of elitists bashing the cheaper lights that ARE a great value to the average person, especially the Nebo lights, which seem to get trashed here frequently. They blow away the flashlights most people have, and they don't break the bank. If they're too lowbrow for your taste, that's fine, but they are a great deal to most people.

I've seen these and played with a few, yes they work but they are nowhere near the "220 lumen" stated on the side. Personally? I hate them, I've got my reasons to but I'll leave them out and say this: If you buy a NEBO Redline, more power to you, be warned that it is a very cheap light with little development behind it. Can you EDC it? Yeah, heck you might even like it, but there are better lights out there. If it's all you can afford, that is fine, I can respect that. Enjoy your lights and don't let anybody down you for it. Just don't be like the security guard I ran into at a mall and be eliteist about how your NEBO is better than my Surefire E2D or any other decent light, I'm not eliteist about my lights over yours.

What about the Nebo CSI edge? A 1 mode, 1 AA, 30 lumen light. Is it worth it? Last time I saw it was less than $9

I enjoy mine very much. It's plenty of light to walk a dark path with, weatherproof, good runtime, easily becomes a headlamp if you own a baseball cap, has a glow in the dark reverse-clicky, and can tail stand. After playing with mine for a few weeks, I recently added it to my BOB as my backup light (I already have a E01 on my keychain and use the Redline for my primary light.) The only real downside is it's not a throwy light at all, or super bright at around 35 lumens. Seems like it should have cost $20+ but it was $9.

rockingthe2 said:

I've seen these and played with a few, yes they work but they are nowhere near the "220 lumen" stated on the side. Personally? I hate them, I've got my reasons to but I'll leave them out and say this: If you buy a NEBO Redline, more power to you, be warned that it is a very cheap light with little development behind it. Can you EDC it? Yeah, heck you might even like it, but there are better lights out there. If it's all you can afford, that is fine, I can respect that. Enjoy your lights and don't let anybody down you for it. Just don't be like the security guard I ran into at a mall and be eliteist about how your NEBO is better than my Surefire E2D or any other decent light, I'm not eliteist about my lights over yours.

Click to expand...

If you can afford a Redline, you can afford a Fenix E21. From the pics, the redline seems to have an aspheric lens...wonder how it throws.

mattevt said:

If you can afford a Redline, you can afford a Fenix E21. .

Click to expand...

The E21 is more than 2 inches longer, which makes it larger than some would like. I can easily fit the Redline in my front pocket. The E21's battery life sucks. 2 hours? Also the low is a bit bright for my taste (48 lumens?) and the high is lower (150.)

mattevt said:

From the pics, the redline seems to have an aspheric lens...wonder how it throws.

Click to expand...

It's rated at 165 yards on high. I have taken it outside at night, and I can light up treetops that are 2 blocks away...good enough for my purposes.

I bought a Nebo at the hardware store and was impressed. It made me start researching flashlights and I came across CP forums. Now I have a custom that Glenn made me. A Malkoffon its way, (should be here monday). And I am on the list for one of the Aluminum P60 style (D26) 26650 Light Housing Chris is making and I need to find a dropin for that. So basically I am spending all my money just because of a Nebo that is sitting in my drawer now. I hate them.

I think the Nebo only seems to have more brightness because of it's strong blue tint. The Fenix PD10 is brighter @ 100 lumens so 80 seems appropriate.

I have a SureFire G2 Nitrolon LED that I bought with an REI gift card and a Redline that I bought shortly after when I wanted more punch and honestly my G2 hasn't seen more than 30mins of use in the past 8 months since I bought the Redline. The G2 is 80 Lumens, and I definitely don't doubt that, but compared to the Redline it just doesn't produce nearly as much light. Fresh SureFire 123A's and everything.

I have beaten the crap out of this light, I use it nightly for biking, hiking, photography, hunting, etc.
It took a ~120' fall onto a huge slab of rock and only had temporary issues with staying on, I just disassembled it and tweaked around inside the battery holder and the issues haven't come back since.
It is still as bright as day one.

220 lumens might be a stretch, but 80 lumens is more of a leap in the opposite direction, IMO.
This light is very bright, the beam isn't as pretty as my SureFire with the orange peel reflector, but it definitely throws light a great distance for it's size and price.

I do find it to be somewhat cheaply made, the metal is very light and sorta malleable (I use the bezel to tighten/loosen tripod plates in the field), and the bezel is a small, separate piece that screws onto the plastic "redline" and it begins to come loose if you adjust the flood on the fly frequently. But don't get me wrong, if you want a nice looking light that throws a powerful beam, has 5 different modes, and fits in your front pocket like nothing, the Redline is a good choice IMO.
Especially for the price of a steak dinner.

Nebo Redline,,,

A close friend who's a Captain on Continental/United Airlines bought a Nebo $5557 and showed me this week. I was pretty impressed with all it did - especially for $25-30, so I thought I'd buy one. I admit to a mild flashlight fetish, but have generally stuck to small, simple Princeton Tec lights. WOW...I was really impressed at all the work and research on this site!s I just joined today so I could read and learn more.

If the Nebo Redline is not really 220 lumens, all I can say is that it was impressively bright when illuminating my neighbor's giant oak tree. Unfortunately, I don't have a quality flashlight with tested lumens to compare it against. From my limited research of your website, it appears that I need to do a lot more reading before I purchase. I have read several reports on Fenix and EagleTac flashlights that look interesting and their smaller ones appear reasonably affordable ($50-70 range).