ti-force
Flashlight Enthusiast
Hey everyone! Here's my review of a Preon 2 neutral white XP-G. This light is from the most recent run of NW lights. This light was sent to me by 4sevens for review purposes.
Here are the specifications for this light (taken from the 4sevens website)-
Specifications:
LED: Cree XP-G Neutral-White
Max Output: 150 OTF lumens
Material: Hard-anodized Aricraft-grade Aluminum
Lens: Optical-grade glass lens with anti-reflective coating on both siedes
Water resistance: IPX-8
Battery: Two AAA, included (see voltage range to select acceptable batteries for this light)
Operating Voltage Range: 0.9V-3.0V
Seven Output Modes:
Low: 2.0 OTF Lumens, 23 hours
Medium: 18 OTF Lumens, 6 hours
High: 150 OTF Lumens, 0.8 hours
Strobe, 1.6 hours
S.O.S., 4.8 hours
Beacon (Hi), 8 hours
Beacon (Lo), 40 hours
Dimensions:
Length: 5.05 inches
Diameter: 0.55 inches
Weight: 0.8 ounces
Included Accessories:
Removable clip
Ring for keychain attachment
Operation:
Operating your Preon 2 is simple. Make sure its batteries are inserted with the positive side (+) toward the head. Ensure the tailcap is tightened. To turn the Preon on, tighten the bezel (the 'head' of the light) fully down and click the tailcap 'on'.
Selecting Regular Outputs
To select a different level of constant output, click the Preon off and then on again within 1 second (you can also "soft press" - see description at end). This will select the next level of constant output in the following sequence:
Low -> Medium -> High
If the Preon is turned off for 2 seconds or longer, it will revert back to low.
Selecting Special Outputs
The Preon has 4 special output modes: Strobe, S.O.S., Beacon (Hi), and Beacon (Lo). To access these modes, quickly switch through two full 'cycles' of the regular outputs, starting with Low. These two full cycles must be completed within 3 seconds:
Low -> Medium -> High -> Low -> Medium -> High -> Special Outputs
You can continue to cycle through the special outputs in the following sequence:
Strobe -> S.O.S. -> Beacon (high) -> Beacon (low)
After Beacon (Lo) mode, the output reverts back to Regular Low. Both Beacon modes with first flash 5 times and then once every 10 seconds.
Soft Press:
A soft press is just as it sounds - a soft press on the tailcap to momentarily turn the Preon 2 off. You won't need to "click" it fully off; you can simply soft press and release and the Preon 2 will change modes. This allows you to rapidly switch to the mode you want.
Here are some images of this light. Most of you are familiar with this light, but for those who are not:
Green Packaging:
This is an image of Quark lights that range from cool white tint to warm white tint. These were taken to show the difference in phosphor color of the emitter. Since the Preon 2 uses the same type emitter (Cree XP-G) this image will show the color difference just as well as an image taken of the Preon 2 that's in my possession, and not to mention that there's very little difference in phosphor color of the cool white version and the neutral white version. From left to right- Cool white, neutral white, warm white.
Now for my out the front (OTF) lumen results for this light. For those of you who aren't aware, I have my own calibrated homemade integrating sphere (I have two, actually) for measuring lumen output of different lights. My sphere's have been calibrated using lights that were measured in a professional lab sphere, so my lumen results are very accurate. However, due to common variables such as temperature differences, battery charge state differences, and even differences within the components used within each and every light, you should only use my results as an example of what one sample outputs in OTF lumens. If you purchase one of these lights I'm sure the output would be similar, provided all variables are similar, but your light may not produce exactly the same output as this sample. The output could be less, the output could be more, it just depends.
That's out of the way, so now onto the charts:
The first graph shows runtime using the supplied Duracell alkaline AAA batteries:
The second graph shows runtime using Energizer Ultimate Lithium AAA's:
Preon 2 NW Alkaline vs Energizer Ultimate Lithuim:
And now it's time for some comparison beam shots. The small images below can be clicked to view full size and to open multiple images to compare side by side.
Please note that these images were taken using Quark lights and not Preon lights. I don't have enough lights with varying tints that will directly compare with the Preon 2, so I felt like using these images would be best. The neutral white XP-G R4 Quark beamshot is from the same run as the Preon 2, so tint is comparable.
I'd also like to note that the white balance was set to Daylight for all images below and was not changed from image to image:
Quark Limited Run Warm XP-G:
Quark XP-E NW Limited Run, Tint = 5A or 5B:
Quark XP-G NW Custom, Tint = 3A or 3C (I swapped emitter in this light, so it's a custom):
Quark XP-G NW (this is the most recent NW run and tint binning is not specified by 4sevens):
Quark XP-G S2 Cool White Version:
Now for full sized .gif's comparing the different tints to the Quark XP-G NW light:
Quark Neutral White XP-G vs Quark Warm White XP-G:
Quark Neutral White XP-G vs Custom Quark 3A or 3C NW XP-G (the emitter was swapped from cool white to neutral white in this light so I consider it a custom):
Quark Neutral White XP-G vs Quark Neutral White XP-E 5A or 5B tint:
Quark Neutral White XP-G vs Quark Cool White XP-G S2 Version (tint binning unkown):
So I've presented the data for you, now it's up to you to make up your mind :thumbsup:.
I hope you've enjoyed my review, and hopefully it was helpful.
Here are the specifications for this light (taken from the 4sevens website)-
Specifications:
LED: Cree XP-G Neutral-White
Max Output: 150 OTF lumens
Material: Hard-anodized Aricraft-grade Aluminum
Lens: Optical-grade glass lens with anti-reflective coating on both siedes
Water resistance: IPX-8
Battery: Two AAA, included (see voltage range to select acceptable batteries for this light)
Operating Voltage Range: 0.9V-3.0V
Seven Output Modes:
Low: 2.0 OTF Lumens, 23 hours
Medium: 18 OTF Lumens, 6 hours
High: 150 OTF Lumens, 0.8 hours
Strobe, 1.6 hours
S.O.S., 4.8 hours
Beacon (Hi), 8 hours
Beacon (Lo), 40 hours
Dimensions:
Length: 5.05 inches
Diameter: 0.55 inches
Weight: 0.8 ounces
Included Accessories:
Removable clip
Ring for keychain attachment
Operation:
Operating your Preon 2 is simple. Make sure its batteries are inserted with the positive side (+) toward the head. Ensure the tailcap is tightened. To turn the Preon on, tighten the bezel (the 'head' of the light) fully down and click the tailcap 'on'.
Selecting Regular Outputs
To select a different level of constant output, click the Preon off and then on again within 1 second (you can also "soft press" - see description at end). This will select the next level of constant output in the following sequence:
Low -> Medium -> High
If the Preon is turned off for 2 seconds or longer, it will revert back to low.
Selecting Special Outputs
The Preon has 4 special output modes: Strobe, S.O.S., Beacon (Hi), and Beacon (Lo). To access these modes, quickly switch through two full 'cycles' of the regular outputs, starting with Low. These two full cycles must be completed within 3 seconds:
Low -> Medium -> High -> Low -> Medium -> High -> Special Outputs
You can continue to cycle through the special outputs in the following sequence:
Strobe -> S.O.S. -> Beacon (high) -> Beacon (low)
After Beacon (Lo) mode, the output reverts back to Regular Low. Both Beacon modes with first flash 5 times and then once every 10 seconds.
Soft Press:
A soft press is just as it sounds - a soft press on the tailcap to momentarily turn the Preon 2 off. You won't need to "click" it fully off; you can simply soft press and release and the Preon 2 will change modes. This allows you to rapidly switch to the mode you want.
Here are some images of this light. Most of you are familiar with this light, but for those who are not:
Green Packaging:
This is an image of Quark lights that range from cool white tint to warm white tint. These were taken to show the difference in phosphor color of the emitter. Since the Preon 2 uses the same type emitter (Cree XP-G) this image will show the color difference just as well as an image taken of the Preon 2 that's in my possession, and not to mention that there's very little difference in phosphor color of the cool white version and the neutral white version. From left to right- Cool white, neutral white, warm white.
Now for my out the front (OTF) lumen results for this light. For those of you who aren't aware, I have my own calibrated homemade integrating sphere (I have two, actually) for measuring lumen output of different lights. My sphere's have been calibrated using lights that were measured in a professional lab sphere, so my lumen results are very accurate. However, due to common variables such as temperature differences, battery charge state differences, and even differences within the components used within each and every light, you should only use my results as an example of what one sample outputs in OTF lumens. If you purchase one of these lights I'm sure the output would be similar, provided all variables are similar, but your light may not produce exactly the same output as this sample. The output could be less, the output could be more, it just depends.
That's out of the way, so now onto the charts:
The first graph shows runtime using the supplied Duracell alkaline AAA batteries:
The second graph shows runtime using Energizer Ultimate Lithium AAA's:
Preon 2 NW Alkaline vs Energizer Ultimate Lithuim:
And now it's time for some comparison beam shots. The small images below can be clicked to view full size and to open multiple images to compare side by side.
Please note that these images were taken using Quark lights and not Preon lights. I don't have enough lights with varying tints that will directly compare with the Preon 2, so I felt like using these images would be best. The neutral white XP-G R4 Quark beamshot is from the same run as the Preon 2, so tint is comparable.
I'd also like to note that the white balance was set to Daylight for all images below and was not changed from image to image:
Quark Limited Run Warm XP-G:
Quark XP-E NW Limited Run, Tint = 5A or 5B:
Quark XP-G NW Custom, Tint = 3A or 3C (I swapped emitter in this light, so it's a custom):
Quark XP-G NW (this is the most recent NW run and tint binning is not specified by 4sevens):
Quark XP-G S2 Cool White Version:
Now for full sized .gif's comparing the different tints to the Quark XP-G NW light:
Quark Neutral White XP-G vs Quark Warm White XP-G:
Quark Neutral White XP-G vs Custom Quark 3A or 3C NW XP-G (the emitter was swapped from cool white to neutral white in this light so I consider it a custom):
Quark Neutral White XP-G vs Quark Neutral White XP-E 5A or 5B tint:
Quark Neutral White XP-G vs Quark Cool White XP-G S2 Version (tint binning unkown):
So I've presented the data for you, now it's up to you to make up your mind :thumbsup:.
I hope you've enjoyed my review, and hopefully it was helpful.
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