USB Charging Flashlights

So... it clicked... USB charging flashlights that also accept standard batteries are great! You can charge them from portable solar panels, you can charge them from portable powerpacks... and if needed you can put some AA's or C123 lith's in them... unstopable!

As I am looking to purchase, what new (2015 or late 2014) USB charging lights you know of, and any comments???

Ones I know:

Nitecore
MH1A
MH2A
MH1C
MH2C
MH10
MH12
MH25

Fenix
UC35
UC40 + 40ue

At the moment I like the look of the Nitecore MH2A, any comments, alternatives to consider.

Olight S..R series: S10R, S15R, S20R, S30R.

You should take a look at the 160 lumen Hybrid Light at Big 5 Sporting Goods. It's a solar powered and USB rechargeable waterproof plastic light that will charge a cell phone as well.

USB charging is a GREAT idea. Although chargers can be quite small these days, a flashlight with USB charging capability still means that there is one less thing that you need to carry with you. However, there are a few issues I have with the lights that use USB charging. I would like to see no special battery requirements (like Olight), decent charge rate (hopefully better than .5A), and the availabiity of a neutral white emitter (and Olight, Nitecore, and Fenix are all cool white only strongholds).

Klarus
RS1A
RS11

Hooked on Fenix said:

You should take a look at the 160 lumen Hybrid Light at Big 5 Sporting Goods. It's a solar powered and USB rechargeable waterproof plastic light that will charge a cell phone as well.

Click to expand...

Doesn't take Primaries like C123A or AA's

Nitecore Tube and V54 TubeVN (5mm, rechargeable) review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS, VIDEO+

I have one of each, or, my wife has the tube (pink) and I've got the TubeVN (clear). ....

The new Nitecore MH20 mught also be an alternative. It is designed for 18650 but should take two C123 as well. Only bad thing is that it recharges very slowly at just 0.5A. So recharging takes six hours at least, which kidn of defeats the purpose.

Here's my experience on larger "standard" XX650 battery lights

4/7s Proprietary/non-standard battery (both the 18650 & 26650 models I have)
Fenix UC35 CORRECTION - I had missed the "click the tail switch to start charging", various cords now work
Non standard micro-usb (cannot find original cord, all standard cords have too much plastic around micro-usb & will not go in far enough.)
The Fenix ARB-L2P 186560 (3200 mah) appears to be a standard battery
Olight S R Proprietary charger, standard battery

All are nice lights and all obviously have some weak points.

The one light that I know takes rechargeable AA's normally with USB charging is the S15R from Olight. Beyond that, the Fenix UC40 UE can run off two CR123's or other companies' 18650s, but won't internally charge anything but the Fenix one with the reversible connections.

The Olight will need its proprietary dock to charge, whereas the UC40 UE works well with any standard micro USB in my experience. I've used ones from Amazon and retractable ones with no issue.

Edit: I also forgot to note that the S15R comes with a 14500, and will only charge that AFAIK. The main difference being that it's a lot easier to get primary AA cells in most places.

Supbeam (Acebeam) K50

I have the K50vn and the integrated charging is very useful for this light as it takes 4 x 18650 in a cradle so it is much much easier to attach a charging cable than removing and reinstalling all those cells. It also charges the cells in parallel rather than series which is the better choice.

Edit: Sorry this isn't "late 2014 or 2015".

Haesslich said:

Fenix UC40 UE won't internally charge anything but the Fenix one with the reversible connections.

whereas the UC40 UE works well with any standard micro USB in my experience. I've used ones from Amazon and retractable ones with no issue.

Click to expand...

The battery for the Fenix UC40 UE looks almost exactly like the 4 Sevens batteries (18650 & 26650) that are rechargeable in the light.
The Battery for the Fenix UC35 looks just like a standard 18650 (except for the fenix label).


Note I corrected myself on the micro-usb issue above - operator error.
So Micro-usb rechargeable & a standard 18650 battery - nice!

nfetterly said:

The battery for the Fenix UC40 UE looks almost exactly like the 4 Sevens batteries (18650 & 26650) that are rechargeable in the light.
The Battery for the Fenix UC35 looks just like a standard 18650 (except for the fenix label).


Note I corrected myself on the micro-usb issue above - operator error.
So Micro-usb rechargeable & a standard 18650 battery - nice!

Click to expand...

Yes agreed, looks good, now its just the MH12, UC35 and will take a look at the olight that takes standard AA's, and the Nitecore MH2A as that takes standard AA's too (although don't like the idea of the flashing modes being in the primary sequence, if they have to be there, then they should at least be hidden!)