Fenix L1 v2.5 (Non-Premium)

After camping out by my mailbox, my Fenix L1 v2.5 (black, Non-Premium version) arrived today from 4sevens :thumbsup:



The Fenix L1 is a 1 watt Luxeon alumium flashlight running on a single AA battery. It has a reverse clicky switch.

I opted for the v2.5 Fenix L1 Non-Premium version, because the plain L1 jumped from 28 lumens (for the v2.0) to 38 lumens (for the v2.5) - this is a significant increase in brightness to almost the level of the v2.0 L1P (Premium version) at 40 lumens.

I'm one of the few v2.5 Fenix L1 (Non-Premium) purchasers - 4sevens very kindly offered me a black one when the silver v2.5 were not going to be available in his Group Buy GROUPB: Fenix L1 and L1P - **CLOSED** (4) ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page )
.

Size comparison -


Supplied with -

the belt pouch is particularly nice - even if the photo doesn't show it well - it has a neoprene pouch front with ballistic nylon flap and back.

The wrist loop is big and will fit most wrists - but the holes on the tailcap for it are small. Although I could easily thread the fastening loop through one hole - threading back the other way with the clicky cover partially in the way makes it very difficult - I ended up pushing through some thread, tying and pulling the loop back through the second hole - definitely not an in the field job......


The head was tight and required me to use rubber gloves to unscrew - but there did not appear to be any loctite or epoxy....

Electrical contact, as far as I could tell, seems to be via the bare alumium ends of the body tube. Is that spring in the tailcap just brass, gold colored, or gold-plated?

Heads compared -

The Fenix L1 LED emitter doesn't appear to be "perfectly" centered - but the as the beamshots show it did not have much detrimental effect.

I'll let the comparison beamshots do the talking (Fenix L1 on fresh Alkaline AA) .......
(the other flashlights are linked)

vs. Nuwai Q3 (on fresh CR123)


vs. S1801 1w Luxeon 1xCR123 (also fresh)


vs. Costco 1watt 2AA


vs. Dorcy 1watt Luxeon 3x AAA

Thanks for the great beamshots. I actually have two of the lights that you compared it too, so I have a pretty good idea of what to expect. Thanks again.

Thanks for th review. Is you Q3 stock? What's the L1 running on?

Excellent info, unknownVT. Ya know, it occured to me that everyone is comparing the Fenix to the Q3, and other single cell lithium lights. There are also comparisons to lights powered by 3 alkaline cells. Where are the shots of it being compared to a single, non-lithium cell light? There are none, because the Fenix crushes them hands down, that's why, and it's no comparison. Well done as the class leader, Fenix.

redduck wrote: "Is you Q3 stock? What's the L1 running on?"

Yes the Nuwai Q3 is very much stock - it's the older version which draws about 700mA with a good regular (non-rechargeable) CR123 - the comparison review I did of the Q3 is linked above - and here Nuwai Q3.

The v2.5 Fenix L1 (non-premium) for the tests was running on a regular Alkaline AA battery.
(I've since edited the post to make that clear).

I took some current draw readings -

New Alkaline AA open ciruit at 1.587V
current = 0.68A
after tests @ 1.477V
current = 0.55A

used Alkaline AA @ 1.410V
current = 0.48A

NiMH (rechargeable) AA
Ray-o-Vac 1600mAh
@ 1.244V, 0.35A

NiMH jWIN 1800mAh
@1.369V 0.42A
@1.378V 0.37A

Phaserburn wrote: "it occured to me that everyone is comparing the Fenix to the Q3, and other single cell lithium lights. There are also comparisons to lights powered by 3 alkaline cells. Where are the shots of it being compared to a single, non-lithium cell light? There are none, because the Fenix crushes them hands down, that's why, and it's no comparison. Well done as the class leader, Fenix."

I agree that the Fenix L1 is probably currently in a class of its own (and the Fenix L1P probably even more so )

But here's a comparson (beamshots) with a single AA non-lithium light using also a single fresh Alkaline AA battery.....

vs. 8LED 1AA "Xnova" 1x AA (comparison linked)

As can be seen the new brighter "Xnova" 8 from LightHound acquits itself quite well.

and its cost was only $5.49 (!) ..............

BUT there is a "trick" - these beamshots are close to the white surface at about 9" - so I could get the full beam side-spill corona.

If the lights were about 10 feet or more from the objects/surface then one can easily see that the Fenix L1 has a much brighter hotspot than the Xnova 8.

However in a normal sized room the Xnova 8 does real well with its smooth wide hotspot for anything within about 8 feet or so, which is how I use a flashlight indoors anyway.... but then I can see well with a dim yellow Photon 2, and find a Dorcy 1AAA (my EDC) too bright for a lot of my close quarters usage......
so as always YMMV.

But all-in-all I agree the Fenix L1 is in a class of its own....

.........for now.

thanks for all the comparison pics.

Is the fenix a flood beam? What color tint is it?




http://nbox00.tripod.com

m209 wrote: "thanks for all the comparison pics.
Is the fenix a flood beam? What color tint is it?"

Can you not see all the comparison beamshots?

I was hoping they'd be self-explanatory

let me try to describe what you're asking
(hopefully not in a thousand words :huh: )

The Fenix L1 beam seems to have a pretty well focussed hotspot - but a reasonably wide side-spill corona.
Although I tend to use the hotspot to illuminate, the side-spill corona is extremely useful for peripheral vision - or just for general seeing (sorry for the non-scientific term....). The only light in the group that had a wider corona was the S1801 - one of my favorite Luxeon lights.

As to color/tint - what do you think?

The colors/tints are pretty accurate in the beamshots - as I used (a fixed) Daylight color balance with my digicam - and when beams are side-by-side, the shots (like in real life) tend to emphasize any differences.

I'm not very good at the Luxeon Bin-Code tint description -
hopefully someone could please help us out here.
But as a guess, I would say there is a tendency toward cyan or blue-green in comparison with the other beams, but nothing I consider objectionable - it is pretty "neutral" in isolation - only really noticable when compared with another beam?

Hi Vincent,

What I am going to say is going to sound bitchy; well it is....

Your pics and posts are top quality. At this level, tiny little things make the difference. As a viewer, I wish that the front of the flashlights had been perfectly aligned. THEN, I wish that the ruler had been perfectly aligned with one of the whole numbers. It does not have to be the one, just a 2 or 3 is ok.

I feel that you have the capability to be a top Photog.

BTW, I bought the S1801 based on your previous posts. I no longer have it. My wife says it looks good in her purse, she used it in South Texas recently during an emergency when the lights were out all over.

Steve

Good beam shots.

I just returned from Hilton Head Island (vacation).

The beach is under light restrictions due to the sea turtles egg laying going on. I mean the beach is DARK.

I took several lights; two Q3's, SL 4AA Lux, my Peak 1AAA 3 snow LED, etc.

My favorite light: the inexpensive, and useful Xnova 1AA 8LED (new version).

I really like these lights. Guiltfree use of a single AA, good throw, and spill. Very pocketable. I wound up being talked out of my two remaining lights by friends. Had to order four more from Lighthound.

The little Peak also got a lot of use. It is SO much more useable than the single LED lights such as the Arc, or Infinity Ultra. The MUCH increased brightness, and improved white tint makes the little light a "real" flashlight, rather than just a key hole finder.

justsomeguy wrote: "What I am going to say is going to sound bitchy; well it is....
Your pics and posts are top quality. At this level, tiny little things make the difference. As a viewer, I wish that the front of the flashlights had been perfectly aligned. THEN, I wish that the ruler had been perfectly aligned with one of the whole numbers. It does not have to be the one, just a 2 or 3 is ok."

I really don't know what to say....

I do line up all the flashlights by pushing the heads against a ruler/straight edge

Perhaps a line on the (same) photo may help to show this -


As for getting the line up against a whole number on the ruler - I am using a flatbed scanner to do these photos and I cannot see the alignment against the ruler until I've done the scan, which means many trial and error until it's "perfect" to everyone's satisfaction (which is well known to be impossible, as amply illustrated here )
I can make a mark on the back of the ruler to always line up everything against that mark - but I have other difficulties to contend with - like trying to get the flashlights to line up parallel, evenly spaced and prevent them from rolling (into each other)

justsomeguy wrote: "I feel that you have the capability to be a top Photog."

Thank you - have you checked out the links in my sig?

Hi Vincent,

I see that the flashlights are aligned in front. Thank you.

I suppose that I got dizzy trying to measure all of them.

Yes, I had seen the links to your other photography. It is very impressive. Based on that I had already assumed that you are a professional.

In my work, I encourage anyone to critique me. No matter what I think about myself, it is the customers who make or break me.

Thank you for the pics and posts.

Steve

justsomeguy wrote: "I suppose that I got dizzy trying to measure all of them."

The easiest and most accurate way I know of is to use a photo editor (program) outline and select the ruler and then drag/move it over each of the flashlights.

This is dependent, of course, on any distortion (geometric or perspective) in the photo (or rather lack of) - but since my photos are from a flatbed scanner - those tend to be minimized.

justsomeguy wrote: "Based on that I had already assumed that you are a professional."

I'm not......
and I am certainly no where near a professional flashlight reviewer either....
.... I certainly don't get any monetary gain from my posts.
But thanks for the compliment.

which seems to throw better, Q3 or L1?

-David

cheapo wrote: "which seems to throw better, Q3 or L1?"

Difficult to answer -

I feel they are about the same -
the Fenix L1 having a more tightly focussed central hotspot,
the Q3 basically being brighter overall, but its hotspot is spread wider

I actually tried them last night playing the lights over some tree tops which were about 50 yards away (measured with a parallax rangefinder) I could just distinguish the hotspots of both the lights - but it wasn't really any "illumination" as such - just that I could tell the lights both reached there.

Similarly over the same sort of distance playing the lights over parked cars - the white reflective license plates easily lit up. Whether the light was of any real consequence on the car parts other than the license plates was doubtful.

So about the same - even if there was an absolute difference - it is not enough to make a real practical difference, for me - YMMV

I just did a test: shining the lights to a reflective street sign about 150 yards away, my Fenix L1p 2.5 (running on Panasonic 2100mAh, fully charged about a few weeks ago) not hugely but noticeably out shine my Q3 (old version, running on a fresh Titanium brand regular 123).

First thing I will say is ignore justsomeguy he is a newby and well, qiuite frankly I haven't seen any of his work. Pro or not he seemd to be critical of your work hell it wasnot even a photograph he was critical of. It was a scan!! You did a fine job of comparing some of these lights.
Runtime plots would be nice but aren't necessary since there are people who seem to spend a lot of time just doing those.
You mention your distance to the wall in the image to be 9". I was wondering why? I would love to see what the lights look like at 1 meter. I use the 1 meter when measuring brightness with my meterman 631. It is a good refrence distance.
I would try to stick with comparing the same type of lights when doing these things. For example the Fenix is a 1 watt light the Q3 is a 3 watt light.
Put the fenix with a vortex or 1 watt ARC.


My impression of the L1P is that it is a pretty nice light, the tint on the one I received is very good nice and white.
I am running mine on a NiMh 2300 mah cell Runtime should be pretty good.

Keep up the good work and don't allow some newby to discourage you.:goodjob:
Yaesumofo

Here's another Quick Review that has some runtime graphs. It's nice to see independent reviews that confirm my personal opinion, "this is a nice light". May be time to start planning for Christmas gifts.

-LT

Lunal_Tic said:

Here's another Quick Review that has some runtime graphs. It's nice to see independent reviews that confirm my personal opinion, "this is a nice light". May be time to start planning for Christmas gifts.

-LT

Click to expand...

Maybe I'll recover enough for a christmas run Right now I need a vacation

If there are suggestions for Mr. Fenix, I'll be sure to pass them on

4sevens said:

Maybe I'll recover enough for a christmas run Right now I need a vacation

If there are suggestions for Mr. Fenix, I'll be sure to pass them on

Click to expand...

You mean other than a normal clickie?

-LT