Two gens of the LED Maglite Solitaire?

TwiceFuzed

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I've been wanting to pick up a maglite solitaire for a small pocket light/ backup to my larger edc light. I was looking online and found that the LED solitaire sold everywhere besides the maglite site is the 37 lumen version, the maglite site has a 47 lumen version. Both offer the same runtime, but the specs are different. The 37 lumen can be had for under $10, but the 47 lumen version is $17.50 plus shipping directly from maglite. Which version should I buy if I get one?

If you have one, is it the 37 or 47 lumen version?

What at other similarly sized and priced lights should I consider instead of the maglite?

37 lumen version on amazon, >>here<<.
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LiftdT4R

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I would almost say it has to be a typo. Even if it wasn't I doubt you'd notice a 10 lumen difference. Also I don't think that the LEDs would have gotten that much better that you would get 10 more lumens, just about a 20% improvement with the same run time out of an AAA. I have 3 LED Solitaires I've purchased over the years and they all look identical. I'd say they are closer to 50 lumens than 40 but it's really tough to tell.

Mag's prices are always higher on their site because they want you to go through their distributors. The only time I buy from them is when they have discontinued products in their outlet section because they are substantially discounted.
 

TwiceFuzed

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I would almost say it has to be a typo. Even if it wasn't I doubt you'd notice a 10 lumen difference. Also I don't think that the LEDs would have gotten that much better that you would get 10 more lumens, just about a 20% improvement with the same run time out of an AAA. I have 3 LED Solitaires I've purchased over the years and they all look identical. I'd say they are closer to 50 lumens than 40 but it's really tough to tell.

Mag's prices are always higher on their site because they want you to go through their distributors. The only time I buy from them is when they have discontinued products in their outlet section because they are substantially discounted.
The beam distance on the 47 lumen is 47 meters vs 55 for the 37 lumen.
552cd vs 748cd
2 meter drop resistant vs 1 meter

maybe the 47 lumen version uses a different LED?

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TwiceFuzed

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Have you had any flickering issues with them? The last couple mini maglites I've bought have been crap, I had one of the first LED ones that they came out with and it was awesome, it was my EDC for 4 or 5 years, it survived several pretty brutal drops from 15-20 feet and finally a 2 foot drop while walking through my garage killed it, it still works, but only when it wants to. It's more or less retired now. The body on that one isn't worth fixing. I bought an AA Mini pro to replace it, but it ate batteries, I lost it and never missed it. I went back to the regular AA LED mini... this one flickers and has to be smacked frequently to get it to behave.... it's not reliable. Truthfully I only have 1 maglite that I like right now, the 2D DL series that I keep in my truck, it's been great. I have another 2D DL series that I think has a switch issue, it was a gift from a family member that bought it on sale at lowes. It would cost me more to send it in and get it fixed than it cost on sale. It was in an unopened blister cell, so it's not like it was a return or something. My sister also received one (identical to mine)at the same time... hers is slightly better than mine but not much.
 

bykfixer

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The flicker is likely a tailcap issue.

I had a AAA minimag give me grief. I stretched the spring a bit and issue was solved.
My local WalMart only has the 37's. I bought the 47 lumen ones from back when you could still trust Amazon to sell the real thing.

These days it's a 50/50 proposition whether you get what is described or not.
 

TwiceFuzed

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The flicker is likely a tailcap issue.

I had a AAA minimag give me grief. I stretched the spring a bit and issue was solved.
My local WalMart only has the 37's. I bought the 47 lumen ones from back when you could still trust Amazon to sell the real thing.

These days it's a 50/50 proposition whether you get what is described or not.
That's what I've seen in my local Walmart as well, you can get two 37s almost for what they want for a 47 direct from maglite... I might pick a 37 up at WM soon. It looks like the 37 has a little tighter of a beam compared to the 47, which actually suits my needs better anyways.
On my mini, I've cleaned all the contacts and stretch the tail spring. I think there's something wrong with the LED itself, or the twist switch, I've replaced it now anyways.... it's just a backup at this point, I no longer trust it.
 

Gea2427

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I believe the 37 lumen version and 47 lumen version use different leds. The 47 lumen version uses an led with a dome and the 37 lumen version uses a high intensity led (domeless or it just has a really thin dome not really sure), which would explain the higher lumen output from the 47 lumen version and the higher intensity from the 37 lumen version. I had the 47 lumen solitaire and it had a domed led so i can confirm that just not sure what led it is, and everything I found on Google shows that the 37 lumen solitaire led doesn't have a dome(at least it looks like it doesnt). A quick search on Google and found the 37 lumen solitaire uses a luxeon c emitter.
 

TwiceFuzed

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I believe the 37 lumen version and 47 lumen version use different leds. The 47 lumen version uses an led with a dome and the 37 lumen version uses a high intensity led (domeless or it just has a really thin dome not really sure), which would explain the higher lumen output from the 47 lumen version and the higher intensity from the 37 lumen version. I had the 47 lumen solitaire and it had a domed led so i can confirm that just not sure what led it is, and everything I found on Google shows that the 37 lumen solitaire led doesn't have a dome(at least it looks like it doesnt). A quick search on Google and found the 37 lumen solitaire uses a luxeon c emitter.

The 47 lumen has a 2 meter drop resistance rating vs the 1 meter rating on the 37 lumen version. Makes me think that the LED used has more to do with the drop resistance rating than what the flashlight body itself can actually withstand. That's just speculation though, I haven't really looked into what they actually do to determine the drop resistance.
 

xxo

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I have had a 37 lumen Solitaire on my keys since they first came out - great little light! I had a chance to compare it side by side to a 47 lumen version and the later was brighter, but floodier. I kind of like the throwier beam of the 37 lumen model. Both work great with Eneloops (all that I use in mine). I would guess that the 2M drop rating is just the result of Mag having them tested at that height when they had them ANSI lab tested, the 2AAA Mini Mag LED and the Mag Tac have also had their drop ratings increased to 2M.
 

TwiceFuzed

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I have had a 37 lumen Solitaire on my keys since they first came out - great little light! I had a chance to compare it side by side to a 47 lumen version and the later was brighter, but floodier. I kind of like the throwier beam of the 37 lumen model. Both work great with Eneloops (all that I use in mine). I would guess that the 2M drop rating is just the result of Mag having them tested at that height when they had them ANSI lab tested, the 2AAA Mini Mag LED and the Mag Tac have also had their drop ratings increased to 2M.

Which one had the best focusing range? Can the 37 focus down to a flood pattern as well as the 47?

I wonder if the 37 is still being made? All I see on maglites website is the 47, so maybe after all the 37 lumen ones are gone all you can get is the 47. Maybe get a 37 now and if I like it, pick up a 47 later.... I'm such a flashlight hoarder, it's ridiculous. Lol
 

xxo

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Which one had the best focusing range? Can the 37 focus down to a flood pattern as well as the 47?

I wonder if the 37 is still being made? All I see on maglites website is the 47, so maybe after all the 37 lumen ones are gone all you can get is the 47. Maybe get a 37 now and if I like it, pick up a 47 later.... I'm such a flashlight hoarder, it's ridiculous. Lol



I don't remember exactly, but both will generally look best when focused and both have enough spill for up close. Mag often changes LEDs resulting in changes in lumen and beam distance ratings; I think the 47 is superseding the 37 lumen version, but there must be still a lot of the originals around.
 

TwiceFuzed

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I picked up a 47 lumen solitaire tonight, I got the gray color. All they had were the 47 lumen ones, I was gonna get a blue one but they said 10 year limited warranty on them and the gray and black ones say lifetime... I'm sure it was a misprint or something, but I kinda wanted the gray one anyways. I might keep an eye out for the 37 lumen version and pick one of those up as well. I really like this little light, glad I bought one.
 

xxo

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I picked up a 47 lumen solitaire tonight, I got the gray color. All they had were the 47 lumen ones, I was gonna get a blue one but they said 10 year limited warranty on them and the gray and black ones say lifetime... I'm sure it was a misprint or something, but I kinda wanted the gray one anyways. I might keep an eye out for the 37 lumen version and pick one of those up as well. I really like this little light, glad I bought one.


Glad you got it and it's working out for you - 47 or 37 lumen, either is a great key chain light. The pink 40 lumen version is news to me, I would guess that it has the same LED as the 37 lumen version but Mag had it retested for some reason and they got 40 instead of 37 lumens on the retest....just a wild guess.
 

LightObsession

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I rather like the tint on my LED Solitaire that I bought a couple months ago - much nicer than the tint on the 2AA Mini Mags that I bought a couple years ago. The color rendering when looking a wire harness with different color wires is quite good, as well. I don't recall if it's a 37 or 47 lumen version.
 

bigfoot

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:) +1 to above. Picked up a couple of the 47 lumen LED Solitaires recently to go with my newer Mini-Mag AAA. They were on closeout at REI for around $6 each, the flashaholic in me couldn't pass them up! :laughing:

All three lights seem to have a much more neutral tint than older Mag LED models. They've since moved into the glovebox and kitchen drawer for general purpose use, running off Eneloops.

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