Review: D.Q.G Tiny AA 1xAA/14500 XP-G2 R5 Stainless Steel EDC Flashlight

D.Q.G Tiny AA World Smallest 1xAA/14500 XP-G2 R5 Stainless Steel EDC Flashlight

DQG sample was provided by Banggood for review purpose.

Brand: D.Q.G
Model: Tiny AA
Retail Price: $27.49 $23 | Coupon: FDDQGAA
Brightness: 180lm on High; 35lm on Mid; 2.5lm on low
LED: XP-G2 R5 in CW 6000K or NW 4250K
Size: 16.5mm x 17.5mm x 67mm
Weight: 32g
Battery Type: AA or 14500

First Impression


Tiny flashlight in tiny packaging. Tiny AA unpacked from box. Exterior of brown paper box covered model checklist, labels and bar codes in all 4 faces.


This was how Tiny AA was packed inside the box. I have assembled pocket clip and tailcap ring during unbox, they are packed separately in the box initially. 2 spare o-rings are also included.


Not exactly tiny, since D.Q.G has even smaller fairy light. However, this is definitely the smallest AA light I have seen so far.

D.Q.G Tiny AA is almost the same size of a protected 18650. Unfortunately, design is so small that it did not fit my Keeppower 14500 protected cell.


Deep pocket clip design makes it almost invisible in pocket.


D.Q.G Tiny AA holds up its own weight well with the help of strong rare earth neodymium magnet (removable) in tailcap.

Teardown


Tiny AA uses CREE XP-G2 R5 CW/NW emitter with narrow spot ~ø14mm TIR optics. Rare earth neodymium magnet (size 8mmx2.39mm) can be easily remove if you do not need it. No tools are required, parts will break apart automatically when cap is unscrewed.


Screw threads were dry when light arrived.


Up Close


Precision diamond cut knurling pattern provides a ton of grip when handling the light. Surprisingly, the aggressive pattern is still comfortable to touch because the "peaks" have
been partially sanded down.


D.Q.G logo and model name engraved at flashlight head section. Yellowish-brown color treatment embedded inside the grooves.


Very mild texturing can be seen on the surface of the tailcap.

Weight

33g without battery. Pretty accurate if you account the weight of SS ring on tailcap.

User Interface

Simple 3 mode: LOW > MEDIUM > HIGH, using twisting action.

Note:

  1. LOW ➤ OFF (3s) ➤ LOW
  2. MEDIUM ➤ OFF (35s) ➤ LOW
  3. MEDIUM ➤ OFF (<35s) ➤ HIGH
  4. HIGH ➤ OFF (3s) ➤ LOW

Tailcap Amperage Readings

Battery Model Type Voltage High Medium Low Candela (lux@1m) Throw Remarks
Sanyo 840mAh UR14500P Lithium 4.19V 0.725A 0.155A 12mA 948 61.58m
Keeppower 800mAh Protected Lithium 4.19V 0.72A 0.155A 13mA - -
IKEA LADDA 2000mAh NiMH 1.4V 1.62A 0.584A 44mA 907 60.23m
Panasonic Evolta Alkaline 1.57V 1.65A 0.599A 47mA - -

Beam Profile: Output Level

Batteries have been recharged for the beam shot test.


IKEA LADDA NiMH


Sanyo 14500


Panasonic Evolta Alkaline

Rough lux values were taken for reference only. Did not get the meter fix at same spot because I was juggling my meter, flashlight and camera trigger all at the same time ;)

Beam Profile: Width

Beam Profile: Tint


Camera set to auto exposure; daylight profile.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

  • Design is very attractive and practical at the same time.
  • Compact and light.
  • High quality stainless steel finishing.
  • Accept both widely available AA and 14500 batteries.
  • Stainless steel deep pocket clip.
  • Magnetic tailcap for hands-free application.
  • Updating.....

Cons:

  • Tailcap ring is very stiff. In order to minimize the amount unnecessary scratches, it took me more than 10mins to install.
  • Poor contact due to short battery length, will cause flashlight to behave erratically when trying to switch in between modes.
  • Tiny AA does not accept protected 14500. It is kind of disappointing as I am always worry about over-draining 14500 due to it small capacity.
  • Updating.....

Conclusion

Coming Soon

Freeme reviews: Palight MTS, JetBeam BR10GT, Rocher MC10, E01 SS, Convoy M2, Solarstorm T4, Warsun X60, Roxane M6, PANYUE PH-08

Tags: DQG, D.Q.G, Tiny, AA

The review isn't here.

When will it ever arrive?

Been waiting for a day. 0:)

Haha, I just got it less than 24hr ago. I am very slow when it comes to review. Please bare with me.

waiting for your review, specially the twisty part and how many lumens on 14500 and AA.

Nice light, and toughtful that there is a code as well. I'm actually interested in buying it but I would like to see a teardown first (and since it was provided for review anyway... :innocent: ) . *please* :-)

Sorry, link has been fixed and coupon is up (fixing code now). I need to redo my pics, will do a interior view soon. Meanwhile, I am late for my routine jog. Haha.

COUPON FIXED. SORRY

hey... where is the review? I can only see some pictures.... hmmmm

Cool. I was wondering about this light. Looking forward to the review.

a disappointment, just like its big brother 18650

Treat it as a shortcoming, just make sure the battery length is right and it should work fine. I believe most twisty do suffer similar fate as well.

Do you get mode issues with nimh batteries? Are the modes 2.5-35-180 lumen on both battery types? Any mode memory?

No spring right? Looks like it could use foam in the head to help action.

Thanks sofar for the review! Do you have a picture of the driver, and how the led is mounted? Is there a removable pill? (I ask for obvious reasons ).

Strange, I cannot duplicate the problem, every battery works fine now. Probably the battery's button got caught with the foam just now. No memory, starts from Low.

I tried to peal off the foam with my tweezers, but I end up tearing a piece out from it . Foam is weak and double side tape/ glue is strong. It did expose some components underneath the foam. I have no choice but to seal it back, cannot afford to damage it before I finish up the review.
[quote=djozz] Thanks sofar for the review! Do you have a picture of the driver, and how the led is mounted? Is there a removable pill? (I ask for obvious reasons ). [/quote]

I know from disassembling a DQG AAA light that it is easy to damage the stuff inside. I just hope that this light is a bit easier to open up and swap the emitter. No hurry for this, and I would not want you to destroy a nice light :-)

Are the modes 2.5-35-180 lumen on both battery types? Is it brighter on 14500 or the same? How do you like it overall?

Thanks for the review!

14500 does produce slightly higher output than NiMH, based on my initial measurements. XP-G R5 was 725mA on high which is more than 250lm. Yes, I like it a lot and I have been playing with it for the past 2 days. I do own a couple of ultra-compact class flashlights, but none of them is able to hold up to my expectations until now. It is definitely my first choice for EDC light right now. But please do not take my words for it, as choosing flashlight can be a personal thing.

Those are LED lumens. OTF (Out the front is likely 165-175 lumens assuming 65-70% efficiency).

Also, tailcap measurements do not account for driver inefficiencies so you are not getting that at the LED.

It still seems pretty good though. I may order one because I’m a sucker for little AA lights.

Yup, OTF value be ~15% lesser. 65% efficiency will be really bad...