Review: L3 Illumination L10 Nichia 219

I have been looking for a small 1xAA pocket light for some time. I finally settled on this model from SBFlashlights who shipped well packaged and extremely fast. It’s got a nice HA3 natural finish in the version I selected as well as an orange peel reflector and anti-reflective lens. The knurling is well done without being overly aggressive befitting a light of this size. The emitter is well centered and has no yellow or blue tinge. The twist head function I don’t find at all objectionable again for something this small. The regulated ~0.1/5/35/130 Lumen spacing I find to my liking. I disagree with those who feel the the super low firefly/moonlight is too low; I deem it very useful. The only nit is the sharp edge to the bottom lanyard cutout. I may have to give it a light pass with a very fine file.

Sure is tiny! :slight_smile:

Just a guess but if you study this and the image of the black / silver light I think it is not a photo but is a rendering out of a computer program. That would be why the color of the actual light doesn't match what is here. For me, the little ripple is the giveaway...just too even. AND... the ripple in both images seems to be identical.

Dan.

Does anyone use a 14500 in their L3 ?

Some folks on CPFmarketplace reported on using a 14500. No increase in output over standard or NiMh AAs. And as long as heat was controlled, no problem.

Now that pocket clips are being made available, I ordered an orange 4500k 92+CRI B10 bin Nichia 219 to go with my natural XP-G2 R5 L10. It has a 2013 serial number whereas the XP-G2 is a 2012. The threads were perfect out of the box allowing effortless one handed operation. The emitter is well centered and no issues have been noted. NICE :slight_smile:

I’ve been looking at these for a while and finally decided to just bite the bullet and order. I got a 3-mode orange with XP-G2 and a 4-mode white with Nichia. Wanted to get them different to justify getting two. Otherwise I would just be buying two of the same thing in a different color. :slight_smile:

Can’t wait until they arrive!

Would love one of these, unfortunately shipping is $15 to my country. :frowning:

Nice Clip, but 15$ shipping to Spain :_(

I got my two copies today. An orange 3-mode XP-G2 and a white 4-mode Nichia 219.

Orange 3-mode XP-G2:

- Even with the same battery as the white, the head doesn’t screw on far enough in my opinion. There’s a gap about the thickness of a penny that’s visible copper. Ruins the look in my opinion, so I’m a little disappointed.

  • Although there’s no moonlight, I think the low is a pretty decent low for practical usage so not terribly upset it’s missing.

White 4-mode Nichia 219:

- The white looks great, but it feels like some sort of metal paint so makes it feel cheap.

- I assume the branding lettering was just painted over, since none of it is visible

- The Nichia is VERY nice. I hadn’t previously really cared about high CRI lights until I put these two side by side. Wow! What a nice natural color!

- The head is much harder to turn on this one than the orange for some reason. Requires two hands.

- I really like the moonlight

  • Like the orange, I really like the fact that it always starts on the lowest. I think I’m now only going to buy lights that go L-M-H from now on.

I wish this was available in pink with Nichia 219. :_(

Yeah… I got a white one a few weeks ago, and when I opened the plastic case it comes in, it smelled exactly like spray paint.
It looks good, and I imagine painting it is the only way to get it white. Maybe not as durable as anodizing, but it’s nice having a light that isn’t black (or gray) for a change.

Hi, er, how well do those clips stay on? Are they tight or do they wobble? Do they have any type of ridge underneath which might fit into the groove on the light to prevent sliding?

I ordered mine without a clip because I generally dislike clip-on clips, but I later realized the light rolls very easily and a clip would help prevent that. I don’t want something which will slide or pop off easily though. Many lights have raised borders around where the clip goes, but this doesn’t. So, I’m hoping the clip itself has a ridge to fit into the millimeter-thin groove under the clip.

It’s fine if you keep it as an interior light, never pocketed or taken outdoors. I had kept mine inside for about a month, then one day decided to take it with me. I put it in a pocket that had some loose change in it. I did not run or walk for a significant period. Yet, at the end of the day, the paint had noticeably chipped off in several places, especially along the rim of the head. So… I took my thumbnail and scrapped—sure enough, the paint coating came off with ease. I think I’m going to strip it all off (won’t be hard to do) and leave it raw.

The white paint is not useful at all, given how fragile. IMHO, they never should have offered it, especially when “Premium Type III hard-anodized anti-abrasive finish” was not qualified by color. There is no way this coating is even HA.

^ Notice how I made the chip worse, just by applying a little pressure with my thumbnail.

I can’t say the white one looked appealing, but I’d love a Nichia 219 model in turquoise or purple.

(I realize they don’t make purple ones… but if they did, I’d buy it)

The question becomes, which colors are HA III and which ones are like the white, that can be scraped off with your thumbnail? I’d like to know this before ever considering another.

Only white is painted on, I pointed this out in CPF apologies for it not being fully clear on our site.

I lost my clip after only a couple of weeks. It came off while hooked to my pocket. Luckily the light itself dropped down into my pocket, but the clip fell who-knows-where. I looked around for it, but I didn’t have any idea how long it had been missing.

I may try another clip if I can figure out a way of securing it. Maybe an o-ring in the groove toward the base of the light would make the clip more secure.

Yeah, you should definitely provide an asterisk on the details about the HA III coating, and then mention that white is basic paint—not pocket friendly.

I didn’t see your specific apology but the customer reports I’d read didn’t give a good indication of just how fragile the paint is. Also, it was natural to assume that the absence of any mention on the website meant that the problem might have been taken care of with subsequent batches…

Yeah, I agree the website needs an * for the white finish. To be fair, this very thread and this one here both discuss it being paint.

For the record, my white L10 is still holding up fine, so far… I do carry it often, but I am extremely anal with most of my lights. I am careful to keep it seperate from change, keys, knives, and anything that might scratch it.

Also, the firefly ain’t too damn low! You guys complaining about that are nuts. Just last night I thought to myself how nice it is while using it. I want a true firefly mode. Not a superlow. The 4 mode L10 modes are excellent IMO.

^ Well, be warned… the slightest knock against something and the white paint comes off. I started stripping the white off and underneath is a silver anodized coating (according to Jason it isn’t raw). It looks pretty decent, so I’m not too upset about the white (although it will be hard to get out of the crevices in the knurling).

Btw, for a real low-low (moonlight), get an Olight S10. They have one that is just about spot on for me (could even be ever so slightly dimmer, but I’m not complaining).