REVIEW: - Sunwayman P02A penlight EDITED/IMPORTANT UPDATE -11/15/2015

Sunwayman P02A / 2-AAA Penlight

Reviewer Overall Rating:

EDIT: Rating an review updated below do to faulty & poor design.

- This Sunwayman P02A was provided to me by Gearbest, through the Tatasal Giveaway topic “Gearbest.comhttp://www.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_212063.html

Unfortunately the first light i was sent was a DOA with a bad tail switch, (and the tail cap is glued in place and unable to replace the switch) but with the great communications and service i received from Karen of Gearbest i had a replacement light to me very quickly. READ at bottom of OP for update on second failed P02A*

The shipping was fast, and they packaged it up quite well. The light came in the Sunwayman labeled box, which was bubble wrapped and in a larger box as seem in the pic #1 below.
The light itself came packaged in a foam protector block in the box, along with manual, warranty card, spare Orings. ( image #2 below:

First impressions of this Penlight, was the great anodizing finish & quality as expected from Sunwayman. Lens is AR coated, Anodizing is a nice smooth satin finish, standard-cut Threads on the head came well greased and anodized. Tail switch cap is glued in place holding the side clip firmly in place.
In the image below, the two AAA cells are replaced through the head threaded end. (#2)
As seen in the inset images below, the P02A has a somewhat smooth battery tube. (#1)
The lens is OP design, giving it a nice smooth beam profile from the CREE microscopic X-QE R2 emitter. (#3)
Tail switch is a raised aluminum button. (#4)

I do like this AAA Penlight as its the smallest one i have & handled. It easily fits in any size shirt pocket and takes up no more space than a large writing pen.
As seen below, its smaller than the Hugsby XP2, Coast/Lenser 2AAA, Defiant 2AAA, and other small Penlights i have for comparison.

One of my concerns with these raised-switch designs is accidental activation in a pocket or against an object in a tool pouch, (versus other recessed tail clicky switch designs. (though this P02A can be locked out with a 1/4 turn of the head.)

Below showing the reflector ends and tail ends of 6 AAA penlights lights used in this review. Note the tiny size of the X-QE emitter compared to other LED types, regardless the P02A is the brightest of the lights here.

Below are night beam shots of the P02A along with three others 2-AAA penlights used in this comparison. As seen below, the P02A though a Cool white, its a better tint than the cool white XP-E of the Hugsby XP2. Also i was impressed of the wide spill profile compared to all other AAA penlights i have and tested.
Below the P02A is on High mode in inset Image #1.
Inset Image #2 - MXDL 2-AAA
Inset Image #3 - Hugsby XP2
Inset Image #4 - Defiant AAA Penlight

  • Tests were done 10 feet from tree, using same fully charged NiMH AAA cells.

Another test of the beam profiles of these four lights (aiming at the ground roughly 15 feet from tripod)
Below the P02A is on High mode in inset Image #1.
Inset Image #2 - MXDL 2-AAA
Inset Image #3 - Hugsby XP2
Inset Image #4 - Defiant AAA Penlight

  • Tests were done 15 feet from the ground (center of beam area, roghly 40 degree angle), using same fully charged NiMH AAA cells.

A shot here showing the wide, smooth beam profile of the P02A compared to the others. (10 feet to the side of the RV from the light/tripod.)
Below the P02A is on High mode in inset Image #1.
Inset Image #2 - MXDL 2-AAA
Inset Image #3 - Hugsby XP2
Inset Image #4 - Defiant AAA Penlight

  • Tests were done 10 feet from the side of the RV, using same fully charged NiMH AAA cells.

General Specifications:

-Model: P02A
-Emitter Type: Cree XQ-E R2
-Total Emitter: 1 x Cree XQ-E R2
-Lumens: 168Lm (high) 12 Lm (low)
-Switch Location: Tail Cap
-Feature: Lanyard, Tail Stand, Tactical Ring, Lightweight, Pocket Clip
-Function: Walking, Night Riding, Hunting, Household Use, Camping, EDC, Hiking
-Battery Type: AAA
-Battery Quantity: 2 x AAA battery (not included)
-Mode: 2 (High > Low)
-Mode Memory: Yes
-Waterproof: IPX-8 Standard Waterproof (Underwater 2m)
-LED Lifespan: 50000 hrs

Specification

-Power Source: 2 AAA NiMH or Alkaline cells
-Reflector: Aluminum Textured Orange Peel Reflector
-Lens: Toughened Ultra-clear Glass Lens with Anti-reflective Coating
-Flashlight Processing Technology: Aerospace Grade Aluminum Body with Anti Scratching Type III Hard Anodization
-Body Material: Aerospace-grade Aluminum Alloy
-Available Color: Black

Dimension and Weight

-Product weight: 0.025 kg
-Package weight: 0.06 kg
-Product size ( L x W x H ): 13 x 1.4 x 1.4 cm / 5.11 x 0.55 x 0.55 inches
-Package size ( L x W x H ): 15 x 3 x 3 cm / 5.90 x 1.18 x 1.18 inches

Package Contents

  • 1 x Sunwayman P02A Handy Flashlight, 1 x Spare O-ring

- Some tests i further did was a Lumens output measurement ( in my Sphere) i calculated roughly 180 Lumens on high, and 15 Lumens on Low. Runtimes tested were 1 hour, 40 minutes on High (using two fully charged AAA NiMH Ladda Cells) & 24 + hours on low average, though i never tested its full Low run times as it ran for a day then turned it off. Some PWN is visible on Low, but not as severe as the lower cost lights. The P02a has mode memory. I found however the mode switching to be a bit more difficult than on other 2-mode lights, and to change modes you have to double-pres the switch partially very quickly to switch modes.

Overall this P02A from Sunwayman is a nice Penlight. I like its smaller size, good quality, and especially like its wide flood beam profile while giving a good throw for a penlight.
I give it a good rating overall for a brand name 2-AAA Penlight. :slight_smile:

Gearbest is offering a coupon code for a better price for BLF members here: > http://www.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_212063.html
Use code # Coupon:GBP02A to get special price of $16.99.

*UPDATES: - as mentioned above, the first P02A arrived with a dead switch, (and the tail cap assembly is heavily cemented/locked with locktite, and could not be disassembled to repair or replace the switch.
The SECOND P02A sent has now failed too after very little use.
I tried to take the tail cap apart to repair them as the switches failed completely, but due to the heavy cement they used, both lights were destroyed trying to get them apart.
Basically these lights have a bad switch flaw, and their use of cement makes them non repairable, and a complete waste of the high cost they sell for.
To add to my thoughts about Sunwayman in general, Sunwayman ignored my email attempts to contact them about all the issues i have had with these, and my other failed Sunwayman lights.
the only other two Sunwayman lights i bought, a F40A and a used M30A have both also failed. The M30A was bought usedwith a bad driver, i did manage to buy a new driver from Sunwayman last year for that light, but it failed again back in September. The brand new over-priced F40A came with a driver that flickers on Low, and sunwayman ignored my emails on that light.
Either i had a lot of bad luck with Sunwayman lights, or they are really unreliable overpriced junk. so now i have all four of the sunwayman lights tossed in the junk aluminum bin, and will no longer purchase, or never recommend Sunwayman lights to anyone, due to their problems/flaws and zero customer service.*

Its not a fault of Gearbest, they responded quite fast with the first failed light and my customer service with Gearbest was top-notch. The fault is with Sunwayman with design problems and no customer service response.

Below are the photos of the tweo P02A lights when i tried to get the tail caps apart. one the the cement was so strong it stripped the threads completely out of there body, the other the tail assembly twisted & warped the body before it unthreaded.

Nice light! Would love to receive one of these as a gift :slight_smile: Thanks for your review!

Have u seen this one?

there is a coupon in that thread to get it for a great price on Amazon. ThorFire making some nice products.

Great review, added to my wishlist. I’m surprised it was able to outgun the hugsby in beam profile and all.

Interesting. i have not seen that one yet.

I was somewhat surprised too as the XP2 was the most powerful stock 2-AAA penlight i have and handled. Added this P02A has a wider spill beam and a smooth transition between the spill & hot spot its a really night penlight.

Very nice review! Swm and GB would be thankful for it. Excellent choice, btw.

Thanks

And Thank you for the giveaway contest :slight_smile:

Did you try to get to the guts of the light? The driver sounds great, but I’d want to do an emitter swap

The driver is slightly crimped into the aluminum pill, which threads into the head. ( i have removed it with pointy tweezers as there are two notched in the pill on each side of the driver. An Emitter swap is posible, but the aliminum polished reflector woudl have to be drilled out to fit the larger substrate of an XP-series Cree or 219 Nichia. (the stock XQ-E is half the size of a XP-E. Also you would need to find a tiny 8mm star with emitter.

Thanks

Thanks for review!!!
I do not like this penlight because:

- Always turn on in high mode (not good idea if only have 2 modes and the high is so high)

  • For change the modes the clicky must be very short in time, if not, not change.

- REVIEW UPDATED IN OP. - both P02A lights have failed.

Ouch! Too much of a coincidence already…

have you had one fail too? (i have heard from others that the switch is bad with their P02A lights as well.

None actually, but 2 out of 2 failure-rate on you? Way too high ‘mortality rate’ IMO. Just like the reported bad switches of the Fenix TK-series, I’ve had 3 out of 7 going erratic, and also reported elsewhere.

indeed. Not only has both the P02A lights failed, The only two other Sunwayman lights i have in my arsenal have also failed with chronic faults, (an expensive F40A and a M30A.) In my opinion Sunwayman are not dependable lights at all.

Oh, I’d like to add to my earlier post about similar faulty switches of my Fenix TK-series. I am only referring the dual-switch models, specifically, my TK41 and my TK70s.

It’ sad, but I had a similar experience with their (Sunwayfoto) photographic stuff - it looks really nice on the first sight, but it failed in regular use because of design errors.