I saw a recent post on this forum about a generic 3 watter for just $21.99 and bought it from Lighthound. It just arrived and I set out to compare it with a Nuwaii Q3 and my HDS-60. I do have a Photo showing the three lights at www.gorilla-haven.org/flashlights.jpg (left to right: Q3, 3-watter and HDS-Ultimate 60). This 3 watter is about 1/4 oz. heavier than the Q3, about 1/4" shorter, and has a bezel that is about 1/4" wider than the Q3. The HDS is the smallest of the three. Both the Q3 and 3-watter have a standard on/off clicky - the 3-watter's is softer and bigger, but seems to work reliably. The 3-watter has no clip but does have a small hole by the clicky through which a lanyard could be run. I run all three lights with the Battery station rechargeable 123's which work very nicely in all these lights.
This 3-watter compares VERY favorably with the Q3 - at about 1/2 the price when it comes to brightness and throw. The area of illumination is about 50% larger than the Q3 and it has a brighter and smaller central spot. The central spot is almost as bright as the HDS-60, but not as large an area gets illuminated. Unlike the Q3, it falls off very rapidly from the central spot and there are artifacts at the edge of the illuminated area: there is a brighter ring that surrounds the first darker ring (a bit ugly when compared to the smooth edges on the Q3 and HDS). So the Q3 has a much smoother area of illumination, but the 3-watter throws its central spot further and illuminates a significantly wider area. Although I prefer the even fall off of illumination on the Q3, the actual light distribution on the 3-watter may be more useful for some people.
And approaching 1/10th the price of the HDS-60, this is clearly a VERY good value. Of course, the HDS-60 is still the king - for me, the quick accessibility of four different light levels is a huge win - I rarely need the 60 lumen output but when you need it, you DO need it - so for me it meant I could now carry just one flashlight instead of two. But at the budget end, this has to be one of the best values in a bright, compact EDC that I've seen (and it arrived immediately - didn't have to wait for 4 months like I did for the HDS-60).
This 3-watter compares VERY favorably with the Q3 - at about 1/2 the price when it comes to brightness and throw. The area of illumination is about 50% larger than the Q3 and it has a brighter and smaller central spot. The central spot is almost as bright as the HDS-60, but not as large an area gets illuminated. Unlike the Q3, it falls off very rapidly from the central spot and there are artifacts at the edge of the illuminated area: there is a brighter ring that surrounds the first darker ring (a bit ugly when compared to the smooth edges on the Q3 and HDS). So the Q3 has a much smoother area of illumination, but the 3-watter throws its central spot further and illuminates a significantly wider area. Although I prefer the even fall off of illumination on the Q3, the actual light distribution on the 3-watter may be more useful for some people.
And approaching 1/10th the price of the HDS-60, this is clearly a VERY good value. Of course, the HDS-60 is still the king - for me, the quick accessibility of four different light levels is a huge win - I rarely need the 60 lumen output but when you need it, you DO need it - so for me it meant I could now carry just one flashlight instead of two. But at the budget end, this has to be one of the best values in a bright, compact EDC that I've seen (and it arrived immediately - didn't have to wait for 4 months like I did for the HDS-60).
