I just figured out the charging system. Weird.
I’ve got the cell down to 4.0V, couldn’t get the charger to work, green light only. Then I turned it on at the tail cap, bingo! Red light, charging. I guess with the tail switch turned off there’s not a complete circuit through the cell for the charger to function. Seems counter-intuitive.
Thanks for the review. It looks like Gearbest have put a lot of effort into the design and build, and pleasing to see that it doesn’t seem to be a clone of an existing light. Instructions are a big bonus! Would be interested to see some more beam shots.
This is also the way they Eagle Eye X6R works! And going by the early adopters, it can stand up to a lot of abuse. I just got one last week and cannot praise it enough. Which is another reason why I thought this Flare is expensive. I was simply comparing it with what’s already in the market.
But of course, and it’s only natural to make those comparisons I guess.
Realistic? Probably not.
Get me to build you a complete new flashlight from scratch, for example, and the hours alone would make the price far outside of budget realms. It’d be one of a kind, to be sure, but then that’s not in the same camp as budget. For a company to develop a light, have it made, test it, produce it, sell it… I would imagine the start-up costs are immense. Only stands to reason that an established company with everything sorted out would be able to offer a lower priced item.
Absolutely, Dale, no arguments on that but ultimately the goal is to sell flashlights in a competitive market, as far as gearbest is concerned, in high volumes (which isn’t the case for custom and boutique makers). The general public (customers) don’t share our appreciation of what goes into making and selling one, and would be unlikely to consider these things as criteria in choosing one light over another. So, in a scenario where the market is always right, I wouldn’t be very optimistic with sales if priced as is currently. I would even go so far as to take a small loss on my first product so as to get the numbers in and for them to discover what a great product I’m making/selling. Again, all this is from the perspective of a large scale manufacturer/vendor.
Sure sure, that of course makes sense. But if you spent so much making your very first model, say it cost a real world $130 per unit to get it done initially, are you gonna sell it for $19.95 just because the demographics say it will sell at that point?
I have no way to know what it cost them of course. I’m just a guy that got an email and took pictures of their first light. :cowboy_hat_face:
LOL, I believe I said “small loss.” 
Sorry. My wife is very extreme, must have had a bit rub off on me…
I look forward for reviews but I already own enough lights similar enough to this so I don’t see myself buying it. Might be a decent purchase for someone new to li ion lights who does not already own a charger. Might also be a good idea to package a cheap 18650 cell with this and market it as some noob starter set.
No, please not a cheap cell! 
GearBest had a special on Samsung 30Q cells, about $4.00 each when buying 8 as I recall. Inexpensive, not cheap.
I continue to like it. This is a “tuned” flashlight, no need to reach into use only.
We have bags of batteries in home. I do not want any added extra battery.
It may be a full pack and only a flashlight package to us more cheaply. OTR work, work here, too. :+1:
What GearBest said here on the Giveaway thread may give a rough idea of manufacturing cost, or not ;
“5 winners from all the posts, per winner will get one Zanflare F1 flashlight (link is external) or $20 gift card”
Looks like a flashlight that to me personally should be worth the current special price of $35 when you consider the copper star and good solid build that appears in your well photographed review.
Don’t like to pay for flashlights until they are actually in stock, so no pre-order from here now, but will order when they arrive.
Thanks!
Keith
To be fair, I don’t like a “forced” tailcap, either. If you really need something to cut off power to prevent accidental engagement, just use a TCLO instead. Otherwise, an eswitch is presumed to be in always-ready mode (like a cellphone, tablet, any doodad like that).
I really like the spiral, don’t like the flare-to-moonlight thing, and ain’t a fan of side-clicky + tailswitch. Nice that GB took all that time developing it, but I’d just stick with a no-strobe S2+ or whatever.
Also kinda the reason I decided to forgo the L6 and opted for an L2 instead. No side-clicky and no damned strobe, “hidden” or otherwise.
Y’know, I was just thinking about something the other day, and the above kinda illustrates my point.
What’s the market in flashlights, that soooooooo many companies can all jump in with their own brand of lights, still sell them at a decent price (at least what the market will bear), and not go out of business as just another “me too!” company?
Hell, I’ve only been here less than 2mos, and have already bought 4 new lights because of youse.
Are we the only ones buying up all these lights? It sure ain’t the schmo at Home Depot who picks up a Mag or Led Lenser who’s buying Thrunite and EagleTac and Convoy and Sunwayman and JetBeam and… well, you get the picture.
Hmmmmm.
Yep, a lot of times newcomers have to duke it out with established companies, and even sell at a loss(!!) just to get their name out there. Otherwise, there’s “Why should we buy your new product for more than what XYZ is selling theirs for, when they’re 90% alike?”.
That’s why I’m amazed at how many companies sell flashlights for up to triple-digits, when the average schmo on the street thinks his 2buk plastic 2×D incan is Da Bom™ because it takes a krypton bulb.
It’s just a numbers game, in the end. How many people live in NYC? How many in China? It get’s dark everywhere, people want flashlights, a great many people like to have something their neighbor DOESN’T have, so… a numbers game. What’s a few 10’s of thousands flashlights of a given design when there’s BILLIONS of users out there?
We have access to so many lights, and yet, going to WalMart where I can’t choose an Anti-Perspirant from the shelves full of choices across the store in the sporting goods section their flashlight selection is pathetic. Wonder why that is? We, the consumer, are more educated than ever with constant web access, so do people shop for a light indiscriminately? Just any ol Ray-O-Vac will do to protect the kids on Halloween? Interesting…
Missed most of this thread until now. A very entertaining read, to be sure.
Also, as Dale pointed out, the triple PCB design should give much much improved strength to the switch. I also Don’t like e-switches without an easy way to lock them out. Dual-switch is preferable to me because your modding possibilities are endless, but I’d take tail clicky over side-switch any day.
That’s kinda my point, though. Anytime I talk flashlights to anyone, they glaze over. They still think in terms of the same old PR-2 bulb lights out there, and think “LED flashlights” are those 7- or 9-LED 3×AAA specials. Period. The thought of even spending 20bux on a flashlight sends them into shock. Now imagine the reaction when I told ’em I got my Quark for 80bux (when it was discontinued!). “What? Is it gold-plated or something?”
My mum collects flashlights, and has probably as many as I do. Problem is, they’re the garbage flashlights (aforementioned 3×AAA, blackened-bulb PR-2s, etc.), that she keeps feeding batteries to and keeps getting disgusted with. I try to tell her to get just 1 light that’ll work forever, but she refuses. She won’t work a ’501 because of the tailcap switch, but has 4-5 showerhead lights with the same type of switch! I give up…
(And I tried offering her side-clickies, twisties, etc., but nope, she’s stubborn.)
There are a lot of people like that out there…
And we’re a limited-number and rather incestuous group. Those who don’t hang out here on BLF, CPF, etc., probably are amazed at the deep-fryer-surviving Atomic Beam Flashlight or wotdahellever. (And what is that, a 5buk UF E17 selling for 40 after s&h?) Wow! That uses tactical Special-Forces technology! Oh Lordy…
Even if I had great ideas for my Perfect Flashlight, I don’t think I’d want to step into the already crowded waters of what’s out there now. Kudos to GB for taking the plunge, though.