stephenk
Enlightened
Disclaimer
This product was sent to me from GearBest for review. No other payment was received for this review.
Product page (external link)
Introduction
After the success of the Zanflare's first light, the 18650 format F1, the F2 is Zanflare's entry into the AA format. The F2 is a 2xAA battery light - this being a format that has few competitors at the moment.
Packaging
The Zanflare F2 came in a branded cardboard box, with the flashlight, instructions, lanyard, clip, and spare O-rings. The instructions were well written.
Design and UI
As with the Zanflare F1, this light has the unique diagonal/spiral knurling which I really like. Due to being a 2xAA light, it is quite long (155mm) and thin (19mm), with a head larger than the rest of the body (25mm). It will fit the Light Painting Brushes Universal Connector. The tailcap unscrews to allow battery insertion, and the clip attaches to the body near where the tailcap screws.
Unlike the F1, there is only one switch at the tail. A full press will turn the light on/off. A half press will cycle through 4 modes:
Low>Medium>High>Strobe.
Thankfully, there is a memory mode (something that many more expensive lights lack), which reduced the need to cycle through strobe mode. The strobe is quite fast.
The light has a battery power indicator, which shows a blue light for 5 secs after turn on if >30%, a red light for 5 seconds after turn on if 10-30%, and flashing red light if less than 10%. This is an excellent feature given the low price of this light.
Output, Beam, and Runtime
The light is claimed to have a Cree XP-G3 emitter, however the reviewed example appeared to have a Cree XP-G2. This may not be a bad thing as the XP-G3 emitter is known for vastly different colour temperatures between the hotspot and spill beam due to phosphor covering the sides of the emitter. My sample has a neutral white emitter, which had a yellow hotspot, and slightly yellow spill beam. I would estimate the CCT to be between 4500-5000k.
The F2 has a beam profile that is more throwy than floody. The beam angle is approx. 55 degrees, and there is a well defined hotspot from the deep orange peel reflector.
PWM was not detected on any modes.
Modes are claimed to be:
Low 15 lumens(lm) (32hr)
Medium 50lm (8hr)
High 200lm (0.63hr)*
Strobe 200lm (no claimed runtime)
Ceiling bounce tests @30secs saw outputs around 10 to 20% higher than the claimed outputs.
when measured, the high mode runtime was observed to be well regulated until 80 minutes (on NiMH Eneloops) before output declined to approximately 1 lumen by 100 minutes. At 4 hours, the light was still producing around 1 lumen of light, at which point I stopped testing. Thus this light will not suddenly leave the user in the dark, unlike some other lights in its class.
Output on high is less impressive than some of its peers (for example the single AA Klarus Mi7 can briefly reach around 550lm), though 200lm is adequate for most day to day tasks (a decade ago 200 lumens from an incan light would have been "super-bright"). There is also no moonlight mode - which means that this light can't realistically be used as a night light.
Outdoor beam shot on high mode. Hotspot is 10m away.
Exposure: f/6.3, 4secs, ISO400, no post-processing.
Conclusion
The Zanflare F2 is a good value for money 2xAA light, with high quality construction. It has sufficient lumens and runtime for most day to day tasks. Choice of cool and neutral white is a bonus. I would recommend it to consumers wanting a quality, low cost AA light, that will not let them down. It is a big step up from flashlights found for a similar price in hardware stores.
Note: The runtime on high mode is considerably longer than in the specifications.
This product was sent to me from GearBest for review. No other payment was received for this review.
Product page (external link)
Introduction
After the success of the Zanflare's first light, the 18650 format F1, the F2 is Zanflare's entry into the AA format. The F2 is a 2xAA battery light - this being a format that has few competitors at the moment.
Packaging
The Zanflare F2 came in a branded cardboard box, with the flashlight, instructions, lanyard, clip, and spare O-rings. The instructions were well written.
Design and UI
As with the Zanflare F1, this light has the unique diagonal/spiral knurling which I really like. Due to being a 2xAA light, it is quite long (155mm) and thin (19mm), with a head larger than the rest of the body (25mm). It will fit the Light Painting Brushes Universal Connector. The tailcap unscrews to allow battery insertion, and the clip attaches to the body near where the tailcap screws.
Unlike the F1, there is only one switch at the tail. A full press will turn the light on/off. A half press will cycle through 4 modes:
Low>Medium>High>Strobe.
Thankfully, there is a memory mode (something that many more expensive lights lack), which reduced the need to cycle through strobe mode. The strobe is quite fast.
The light has a battery power indicator, which shows a blue light for 5 secs after turn on if >30%, a red light for 5 seconds after turn on if 10-30%, and flashing red light if less than 10%. This is an excellent feature given the low price of this light.
Output, Beam, and Runtime
The light is claimed to have a Cree XP-G3 emitter, however the reviewed example appeared to have a Cree XP-G2. This may not be a bad thing as the XP-G3 emitter is known for vastly different colour temperatures between the hotspot and spill beam due to phosphor covering the sides of the emitter. My sample has a neutral white emitter, which had a yellow hotspot, and slightly yellow spill beam. I would estimate the CCT to be between 4500-5000k.
The F2 has a beam profile that is more throwy than floody. The beam angle is approx. 55 degrees, and there is a well defined hotspot from the deep orange peel reflector.
PWM was not detected on any modes.
Modes are claimed to be:
Low 15 lumens(lm) (32hr)
Medium 50lm (8hr)
High 200lm (0.63hr)*
Strobe 200lm (no claimed runtime)
Ceiling bounce tests @30secs saw outputs around 10 to 20% higher than the claimed outputs.
when measured, the high mode runtime was observed to be well regulated until 80 minutes (on NiMH Eneloops) before output declined to approximately 1 lumen by 100 minutes. At 4 hours, the light was still producing around 1 lumen of light, at which point I stopped testing. Thus this light will not suddenly leave the user in the dark, unlike some other lights in its class.
Output on high is less impressive than some of its peers (for example the single AA Klarus Mi7 can briefly reach around 550lm), though 200lm is adequate for most day to day tasks (a decade ago 200 lumens from an incan light would have been "super-bright"). There is also no moonlight mode - which means that this light can't realistically be used as a night light.
Outdoor beam shot on high mode. Hotspot is 10m away.
Exposure: f/6.3, 4secs, ISO400, no post-processing.
Conclusion
The Zanflare F2 is a good value for money 2xAA light, with high quality construction. It has sufficient lumens and runtime for most day to day tasks. Choice of cool and neutral white is a bonus. I would recommend it to consumers wanting a quality, low cost AA light, that will not let them down. It is a big step up from flashlights found for a similar price in hardware stores.
Note: The runtime on high mode is considerably longer than in the specifications.
