Chris M.
Flashlight Enthusiast
It arrived at the end of last week but since I was busy finishing up the Inova X1 review, I have only now been able to take a photo and beamshot, and post some initial findings. I`ve promised Rob at EFX that I`ll let him read my full review before it`s published incase he`s got anything to add in its defense so this won`t go into too much detail.
First impressions - shiny /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Shiny things are hard to take photos of, especially on an improvised surface here on the bench where the giant computer keybored usually goes. Look very closely at the left end and you can see how I lit that shot - hand-holding a pair of Osram Dulux flourescent torches.
The Flik LS comes presented in a smart metal tin with cutout foam inlay and is finished in what I can only assume is chrome plating over the usual bombproof machined aluminum body. It took a lot of polishing to get the fingerprints and excess o-ring grease off it for that photo! It looks kind of like a piece of executive gymnasium equipment - small barbell perhaps, and indeed it`s almost weighty enough to be used as such! Power comes from a pair of CR123 cells, two are included and though they are not a brand I have heard of before ("Daily Power" brand, made in China) they seem pretty OK to me.
The LED is a high dome Luxeon emitter and the lens is a LumiLeds NX05. Unfortunately this particular sample suffers with an LED that has an off center die, or that`s what I`ve been assured. I believe that, but will dismantle it once the bulk of my testing is done to have a closer look. Unfortunately I don`t have any other emitters here to try in there so it`ll have to stay as-is whatever I find. Anyways, as a result the beam is quite off center, but the brightness is good and it`s certainly useful, just not too pretty. Most of the rest of them should be a lot better than this one I`m sure. It outshines my Arc LSH-P though it`s only resistored not regulated so it`ll drop off slowly during its run. The bin code for this LED is meant to be Q2K but it looks more like a low 4 - there`s that Luxeon Lottery again. Kind of pink but not all that bad at all. My old beat-up SF KL1 is purpler, as is the early Arc LS1-Factory-Second.
The "flik" switch in this one requires more effort to operate compared to the original 4-LED ones I have, but it is meant to be somewhat adjustable so can probably be loosened up a bit. It is meant to be harder to turn on, but I`m not sure why. My best guess would be the fact that Luxeon LEDs give off a lot of heat so if the Flik accidentally turned on due to a big bump while being transported it could get hot enough to damage something, or itsself, if the heat didn`t have anywhere to go.
All in all, very nice. At GB£55 it is quite affordable by UK standards, and probably pretty mod-able too if you wanted to upgrade its LED. There`s a heck of a mass of metal in the body so it could probably take a low-Vf 5 watter direct driven from the two CR123s if you were so inclined. I`m not, but that`s just me.
Full review coming soon, hopefully by the weekend or early next week.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Eep. They just started showing Jaws 2 on TV. Stay out of the water, kids /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
First impressions - shiny /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Shiny things are hard to take photos of, especially on an improvised surface here on the bench where the giant computer keybored usually goes. Look very closely at the left end and you can see how I lit that shot - hand-holding a pair of Osram Dulux flourescent torches.
The Flik LS comes presented in a smart metal tin with cutout foam inlay and is finished in what I can only assume is chrome plating over the usual bombproof machined aluminum body. It took a lot of polishing to get the fingerprints and excess o-ring grease off it for that photo! It looks kind of like a piece of executive gymnasium equipment - small barbell perhaps, and indeed it`s almost weighty enough to be used as such! Power comes from a pair of CR123 cells, two are included and though they are not a brand I have heard of before ("Daily Power" brand, made in China) they seem pretty OK to me.
The LED is a high dome Luxeon emitter and the lens is a LumiLeds NX05. Unfortunately this particular sample suffers with an LED that has an off center die, or that`s what I`ve been assured. I believe that, but will dismantle it once the bulk of my testing is done to have a closer look. Unfortunately I don`t have any other emitters here to try in there so it`ll have to stay as-is whatever I find. Anyways, as a result the beam is quite off center, but the brightness is good and it`s certainly useful, just not too pretty. Most of the rest of them should be a lot better than this one I`m sure. It outshines my Arc LSH-P though it`s only resistored not regulated so it`ll drop off slowly during its run. The bin code for this LED is meant to be Q2K but it looks more like a low 4 - there`s that Luxeon Lottery again. Kind of pink but not all that bad at all. My old beat-up SF KL1 is purpler, as is the early Arc LS1-Factory-Second.
The "flik" switch in this one requires more effort to operate compared to the original 4-LED ones I have, but it is meant to be somewhat adjustable so can probably be loosened up a bit. It is meant to be harder to turn on, but I`m not sure why. My best guess would be the fact that Luxeon LEDs give off a lot of heat so if the Flik accidentally turned on due to a big bump while being transported it could get hot enough to damage something, or itsself, if the heat didn`t have anywhere to go.
All in all, very nice. At GB£55 it is quite affordable by UK standards, and probably pretty mod-able too if you wanted to upgrade its LED. There`s a heck of a mass of metal in the body so it could probably take a low-Vf 5 watter direct driven from the two CR123s if you were so inclined. I`m not, but that`s just me.
Full review coming soon, hopefully by the weekend or early next week.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Eep. They just started showing Jaws 2 on TV. Stay out of the water, kids /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
