Help to choose single AA flashlight

Hello everybody!
Firstly, english is not my primary language and i will try as best i can to write.

Iam not new to this forum but never registred before, loved to come here to read the discussions of different Torches.
Now i never would imagine that i needed help to choose one torch as it always felt easy for me to research a particular requirement, i had sevelar 18650 torches as now my main is a Nitecore SRT7.

I had an Maglite Soltaire as my first flashlight when i was a kid, but i know they today are behind in the tech.

Now to the question, i was intrested to get firstly a Single AAA flashlight but the lack of long and ok torchtime was not good enough for me, so i was thinking of a single AA flashlight instead as they are still small and give good torchtime, but i didnt knew that there are soooo many brands and models to choose from.

I have some requirements and its that they dont need to be big, i saw some AA flashlights that were so big they almost could take a 18650 or 16650 battery in them .
I saw some old nitecore flashlight that the model was EZ AA and loved the look on it, almost round and very minimalistic, but as it seems they are not sold anywehre more, so i started to look some similar flashlights and narrowed it down a little bit.
These are som of them that i narrowed it down to, if you have good tips on which to choose or have other that you think are better and i missed them so please dont hesitate to give me an advice.



//Brato

Welcome. Out of those you've listed I like the Fenix E12 and the Eagletac. Haven't tried the others but have first hand experience with those two. I only use AA (and AAA) Eneloop powered lights these days and don't find them lacking. If I need brighter I can go to 2xAA. The Fenix E12 is a very solid, simple, and minimalistic light. The D25A is a pretty solid light as well although I had one poop out on me back in the day.

pm me if you need details on prices, and where to buy,
that is not OK to discuss in public on CPF

fwiw, AA and AAA are about the same in output, they differ mostly in size, weight, and runtime

I prefer 16340 over AA. I like the shorter body, and higher output.

You're right there are sooo many to choose from these days. If you have any preferences with regards to twisty, side-clicky, tail-clicky, AA only or AA/14500, modes, etc. that would help with suggestions.

FWIW, I grabbed a couple you mentioned for size comparison, definitely amongst the smaller AA options. I also have a DQG Slim AA (somewhere) that's even smaller.

From Left to right
Olight i3T (AAA for size comparison), Nitecore EZ-AAw (twisty), Klarus Mi7 (side-clicky), Eagletac D3A (tail-clicky)



These all happen to take AA & 14500 and are among the slimmer/smaller AA options. Most get a little larger from here.

pc_light said:

Eagletac D3A (tail-clicky)

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that is one I would consider, because it offers a Nichia LED
I also like that the clip is screwed on.

The OP is considering the D25A, same light as the D3A, but in Aluminium, which not as heavy, and costs less.

I also like that the EagleTac has a lower low than the Fenix.

gurdygurds said:

Welcome. Out of those you've listed I like the Fenix E12 and the Eagletac. Haven't tried the others but have first hand experience with those two. I only use AA (and AAA) Eneloop powered lights these days and don't find them lacking. If I need brighter I can go to 2xAA. The Fenix E12 is a very solid, simple, and minimalistic light. The D25A is a pretty solid light as well although I had one poop out on me back in the day.

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Hello and thank you for fast reply.

I forgot to mention that i read that some people when they had problems with eagtec (or is it ealgletec) that the company didnt gave a good support for it, can it be true or is it just unlucky thing?

Thank you for the feedback.

jon_slider said:

pm me if you need details on prices, and where to buy,
that is not OK to discuss in public on CPF

fwiw, AA and AAA are about the same in output, they differ mostly in size, weight, and runtime

I prefer 16340 over AA. I like the shorter body, and higher output.

Click to expand...

Thank you Jon!
Yeah i definantly need to know where to buy these, as it seems that some are really hard to get today as they are doscontinued.
I think more and more flashlights are getting integrated bateries as from my point of view is just an planned obsolesence thing, that i dont like very much.
I will write to you when i know which one, thank you so much Jon.

pc_light said:

You're right there are sooo many to choose from these days. If you have any preferences with regards to twisty, side-clicky, tail-clicky, AA only or AA/14500, modes, etc. that would help with suggestions.

FWIW, I grabbed a couple you mentioned for size comparison, definitely amongst the smaller AA options. I also have a DQG Slim AA (somewhere) that's even smaller.

From Left to right
Olight i3T (AAA for size comparison), Nitecore EZ-AAw (twisty), Klarus Mi7 (side-clicky), Eagletac D3A (tail-clicky)

These all happen to take AA & 14500 and are among the slimmer/smaller AA options. Most get a little larger from here.

Click to expand...

Oh man iam so jealous from your collection .
To be honest i would prefer most tail clicky first, then sideclicky, and iam not so good fan of he twist actions but it wouldn't be a dealbreaker.
And it would be nice for the 14500 but not maybe a most, i have noticed that the most AA flashlights with Lithium equivalent go up as 650-700 lumens, is it because they use smilar diods?

What would you prefer most of the lights you showed ?
And if i could i would def buy all of them .

Hello guys!
I forgot to tell that i live in Sweden and its harder to get some of these nice lights.
I found a swedish site with fast shipping for the Acebeam M10 Olivegreen color, any thoughts of it ?
As in my first post i forgot to mention that i also liked the Olight l3t, i dont know how but thought they had no AA version of it, but to my surprise they have the Olight l5t and it seems good, what do you think about it? well no Lithium support but well you cant have everything.

I actually have the Thrunite T10. I thought they are out of production? I payed $20 for mine. Awesome light for the price. Tried to get another one a few months back and could not find one for sale. I would recommend the T10 otherwise you cant go wrong with the D25A. Also want to add that I have the fenix E12 as well. Its not a bad light however I am not crazy about the tint (hint of green) and is lacking a moonlight or firefly mode which I really find useful. Other than those complaints, the E12 is solid light for the price. Edit: I have the original T10 so I am not sure about the T10 II but the original is awesome if you can find one.

Owning a d3a I can say they are definitely very nice but the aa models just see to be spec'd poorly for overall brightness (at least in the cri models, which is a must). I recently picked up the Sofirn sp10s which is a great little light and very bright but looses the UI competition with eagtac. I think I would go with the eagtac d3a if I was going to pick a one and only AA light.

If you need another option the sp10s is pretty nice, but jaxman makes a good one also- their E3 model. Make sure to get the 4000k led as the other one isn't very good cri. As a bonus it's very easy to mod with a different 3535 led if you ever want to.

Brato86 said:

Thank you Jon!
Yeah i definantly need to know where to buy these, as it seems that some are really hard to get today as they are doscontinued.

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I have those lights for sale in the CPF classifieds, with a link in my signature. PM me if you need more info.

Brato86 said:

i have noticed that the most AA flashlights with Lithium equivalent go up as 650-700 lumens

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true, but only for a few seconds

De-Lux said:

I actually have the Thrunite T10. I thought they are out of production

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you may be right, I can share a link to the T10t V2 if you PM me.

Buck91 said:

I think I would go with the eagtac d3a if I was going to pick a one and only AA light.

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I feel the same way. I prefer a tailclicky more than a side switch on the head.

my vote is for eagtac d25a xp-l hi(domeless). paired with a micro-usb rechargeable 14500. total cost is a lil pricey, though.

The only AA light that I have and this is the one I take on all my trips is a Zebralight h502d. It has been discontinued but I am sure zl has good current models as well.

Since you mentioned aaa I have 4 different Jetusolis twisties made by Clemence (virence.com). Like their compactness and the ultimate tints

Brato86 said:

What would you prefer most of the lights you showed ?

Click to expand...

Of the four, probably the D3A because of the UI. The D25A would be the earlier aluminum equivalent.

You also asked about the i5T, it's actually my current EDC and I like the simplicity of the tail-clicky, useful hi-lo levels and good runtime on NiMHs. The slightly greenish tint not so much. Down the road I might try to swap. I would recommend.

+1 on the other (side-click) recomendations - Thrunite T10 II & Sofirn SP10s.

pc_light said:

Of the four, probably the D3A because of the UI. The D25A would be the earlier aluminum equivalent.

You also asked about the i5T, it's actually my current EDC and I like the simplicity of the tail-clicky, useful hi-lo levels and good runtime on NiMHs. The slightly greenish tint not so much. Down the road I might try to swap. I would recommend.

+1 on the other (side-click) recomendations - Thrunite T10 II & Sofirn SP10s.

Click to expand...

I read several reviews on Amazon that the D25A mkii had some issues regarding if it got bumped against lets say a wall, that it stopped working, but the most reviews are from 2016 so maybe its updated today or is it just that every flashlight has its bad days ?
Ither problem for me is that i live in sweden and its very hard to find the D25 mkii, as its already expensive i now need to pay a big sum for VAT and delivery.

(Update)
I waited for my replies to be cofirmed as iam newly registred, i couldnt wait and bought 3 flashlights, i realised then i wanted to collect some AA lights .
I bought Fenix E12, Lumintop tool 2.0 and Acebeam M10.
Before i choose the Acebeam i tried to buy a Eagletac, but you cant get them from Europe, only the uk and the store doesen't send any package now because of the corona times.
But i think i can get one more AA flashlight .

ma tumba said:

The only AA light that I have and this is the one I take on all my trips is a Zebralight h502d. It has been discontinued but I am sure zl has good current models as well.

Since you mentioned aaa I have 4 different Jetusolis twisties made by Clemence (virence.com). Like their compactness and the ultimate tints

Click to expand...

The thing with zebralight for me is that they seem big and bulky for the battery type, but its maybe another thing if i would have one in my hand.
Thanks for the AAA i will look ath them.

pc_light said:

Of the four, probably the D3A because of the UI. The D25A would be the earlier aluminum equivalent.

You also asked about the i5T, it's actually my current EDC and I like the simplicity of the tail-clicky, useful hi-lo levels and good runtime on NiMHs. The slightly greenish tint not so much. Down the road I might try to swap. I would recommend.

+1 on the other (side-click) recomendations - Thrunite T10 II & Sofirn SP10s.

Click to expand...

The Sofirn seems really nice with the moonlight, i will check it out.

Brato86 said:

The thing with zebralight for me is that they seem big and bulky for the battery type, but its maybe another thing if i would have one in my hand.
Thanks for the AAA i will look ath them.

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Zebralights may look a little odd, but they're among the smallest (and brightest) 1xAA lights you can buy. Something like the Zebralight SC53 is really quite tiny, and easily goes in a pocket. Very nice EDC light, and fully programmable.

The only smaller 1xAA lights I have are twisties. Things like DQG or L3 Illumination. They're fine, but twisties aren't for everybody, and have issues if you don't keep the threads and contacts clean.

Brato86 said:

I bought Fenix E12, Lumintop tool 2.0 and Acebeam M10.
...
But i think i can get one more AA flashlight .

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happy for you to get new lights
the Acebeam has the LED I love to hate. I hope you can live with it.
look at the beam colors once you get them

for your fourth light, I strongly suggest you buy something with a High CRI LED.. Look for 219c.

My two favorite single AA lights are Zebralight SC53c and Thrunite T10 II.
Both very compact, but Zebralight more advanced UI and better tint, while Thrunite is cheaper and really priceworthy.