Did my dad outdo me or just get lucky?

I really researched my keychain light purchase. No expensive custom, but I wanted the best Photon style light I could buy for 5 bucks off ebay. I ended up going with an Inova Microlight. I also made sure to get a white LED, as colors tend to make some details very hard to see. White is simply more versatile.

When I got it, I was impressed. Brighter than I expected. I bought a second one for my mom, and she loves it too.

I guess my dad finally got impressed, cause he let me know that he bought "one like mine". I expected to see a cheap POS worth $1 that he paid too much for. Instead, he comes home with a Photon II, with blue LED. I was sure mine would be brighter.

I couldn't have been more wrong. In a dark room from 5ish feet away, his was 3 or 4 times brighter in the hotspot, with more spill (although very Saturn ring like).

I'm relatively new to LED's, so was wondering if the color of the LED made the difference, or the make of light?

I've read that blue or green LED's are brighter for some reason, but I didn't expect this.

Hmm, forgot to take into consideration that I've used mine quite a bit and according to flashlightreview.com "The batteries will power the light for about 10 - 12 hours with diminishing brightness". It's probable I've used it about half that long.

Is this the answer?

Maybe - Fresh batteries certainly can make a difference, and there is a definite "bump" at the beginning of use.

Some LEDs even from the same batch are of different performance. If your Dad ended up with one that is more of a blue - green color, he pretty much had you cold anyway. The eye is very sensitive to this color.

Last but not least, "white" LED colors are commonly made by starting with a blue LED and using phosphors to convert some of it to yellow. The resulting light mixture "appears" to be white to the eye. There are some losses along the way.

Also, in the Photon II, isn't the blue LED driven with 2 button-cell batteries as opposed to the other colors? Would that make a difference?

Both lights use 2 x "2016" coin batteries.

Talon Turbo,

I am in Barrie area too!! small world

Boltgun

Yes, the Blue LEDs can be more efficiant at outputting light. So, yes his will be brighter. Also the batteries are a big factor. The light starts dropping in brightness as you use it.

But even though Blue is much brighter, you won't be able to reconize unknown objects any farther. In fact someone on here did a study with his two lights, and found that the dimmer white actually let him identify things farther away.

So you will win hands down on the useful side.

PocketBeam: Thanks for the much useful info
Boltgun: I'm on Corbett near the college