So I ordered a Photon Freedom Micro....

I hear that now they are shipping a version that is supposedly 2X brighter than before. Anyone care to elaborate on this?

Pinging Craig...

the new models use Nichia CS

So I take it that they're nice and bright? How would they compare to those County Comm slide LED keychain lights?

They should be noticably brighter than the CC lights when the batteries are new, but face it, it's just a 5mm LED, it's not going to compete with a searchlight. They are more nicely made, more water resistant and a bit smaller. They have all those computerized modes, dimmable levels, etc. They look better and cost more. The CC light can turn on in your pocket and kill its batteries if bumped with the led pointing downward (the weight of the batteries make the switch slide forward, take one apart and you'll understand what I mean). The Freedom can turn on in your pocket and kill its batteries if your keys or coins press against the pushbutton, unless you put it into momentary mode which means remembering sequences of funny button pushes. The obvious fix for the Freedom is a software-implemented timeout but apparently that infringes some stupid patent from some other vendor.

Bottom line: my favorite light of this type is still the Photon II or its close copies. Note that you can put the Nichia CS led into the Countycomm light, the Photon II clones, or most other such coin cell lights. Current units of the LRI Photon II do come with this led and should be as bright as the Freedom.

I've been enjoying my Photon 3 (which is on closeout for $12.20 shipped). I've had the Feedom turn on in my pocket, but not the Photon 3 so far (the swich area is smaller and less likely to be bumped). The option of an instant high or variable brightness mode at any time is really cool. Too bad they never got around to using the CS in these, but they still are a "best of show" coin-cell pocket light.

I just got my "2X Brighter" in the mail, it is an awesome keychain light! It took a bit to master all the button sequences, the dimmable feature is very handy.
It comes with goodies to assist with daily carry and use, I will probally end up carrying two of these.
I started a thread somewhere about this thing a very short time ago, I was provided a link to a forum in LRI that had some great tips! Might be worth finding.

The only thing I liked better on the photon III, is the auto shut off feature.

I never noticed if the photon III accidentally turned on or not, as it shuts itself off.

I have been carrying the freedom for a few months at the bottom of my front pocket. One night, when I went out to the dark garage for a minute, I luckily saw my pocket glowing. I would have had a dead battery & not known why if I hadn't caught it.

To be fair, That was the one day I dropped my key ring into that pocket, instead of clipping it to my belt. I am sure that is what bumped the button on the freedom, as it has never happened again.

The freedom on my keyring & the one attached to my briefcase have never accidentally turned on.