Jet-Beam BA20
Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★★★★
Summary:
| Battery: | 2 x AA |
| Switch: | Forward clickie |
| Modes: | 2 (High, Low) |
| LED Type: | CREE xp-g R5 |
| Lens: | Coated glass lens |
| Tailstands: | Yes |
| Price Payed: | 38$ |
| From: | Link_Like_This |
| Date Ordered: | October 2011 |
Pros:
- Imprehesive output with just 2x AA batteries
- No epileptic modes
- Robust, quality finish
- Competitive price taking into account quality/performance
- Trully regulated (constant) until batteries die
Cons:
- Does not include holster
- Lubricated with "vaseline". I hate vaseline
- Some dirty (dust) in the external part of the head (the rest perfect)
Features / Value: ★★★★★
First of all, this light belongs to the "B" (backup) series of Jet-Beam, meaning that it belongs to the "budget" range from Jet-Beam. You will not see the very high quality of the most expensive products from Jet-Beam, but you will not see the typical things from cheap chinese manufacturers (i.e. Romisen, TrustFire, etc)
This light seems to be designed to compete with the Fenix LD20. It is very similar in "desing" and seems to be in the same segment than the LD20.
However, it has less functions than the LD20, but of course, for less price. It is about 12 dollar less than the Fenix and the only "things" missing are the very low, high, SOS and strobe modes.
As positive aspect, is that it delivers more output than the Fenix (270 ANSI lumens vs 180 ANSI lumens), with a bit less runtime obviously (half an hour less, but more output)
As negative aspect, is 5mm longer, 3mm wider than the LD20, plus it weights a bit more. Also has not strike bezel.
One thing I want to highlight: if this lights belongs to the "cheap" line of Jet-Beam, I dont want to imagine how good will be the most expensive lights from Jet-Beam. I mean: despite it´s price range, I was amazed by the quality.
One last thing: the user interface is very simple. Low (33 lumens) and High (270 lumen).
Design / Build Quality: ★★★★★
The light is received in a nice blue box, having inside, the flashlight (with clip already installed), the user manual, warranty card, nice lanyard, 2 spare o-rings and a brown lanyard.
The quality impress you if you are used to "play" with cheap chinese lights (ie, TrustFire, ultrafire, etc). It appears very well designed, very robust and feels very good in the hand. It weights more than a 1xAA light, of course, but way less than a P60 host....
The clip can be mounted near to the head, or near to the tailcap, as you want. The clip is very robust, and a bit difficult to remove. When installing or un-installing the clip, no "marks" are left in the surface of the light, meaning it should be really HAIII as claimed.
It measures about 15,5 cm lenght and 2,3 cm width. The clip acts as "anti roll". It can tailstand, but sometimes it is a bit unstable.
The switch is a "fordward" type, allowing to signaling. The travel is long and very smooth.
The head is completely smooth, and has not "strike bezel"
The threads in the tail, are anodized and they are veeery smooth. Due to they are anodized, if you unscrew the tailcap 1/4 turn the light will not work (it becomes a twist switch light!). Good at least for me.
The threads in the head, are not anodized because of the "change mode" funtion. They must be not anodized. Also they are not as smooth as the tailcap ones. And shorter...
O-rings present in both ends of the battery tube. The battery tube is very thick.
The tailcap is one of the "drawbacks" of the light. I dont know if the assembly will last long (it seems to be weak), but, all late JetBeam lights have this switch desing. The time will say.........
One last point about quality: it arrived lubed with simple "vaseline". This is a bit deceptive, at least for me. Other lights as itp A3 (which cost the half than this) arrives with some fancy product, which seems to be a chinese copy of "superlube"...
I had to remove all the vaseline and apply my favourite lube product: silicone based lubrican (the one used for diving.)
The light has reverse polarity protection as you can see in the photos. Also if you look carefully you will see two "gold" contacts to allow the "change mode" function. Other lights have these contacts "hidden".
Battery Life: ★★★★☆
Despite I dont give 5 full stars, I consider very good the chance to have 270 lumens during 1 hour and 45 minutes on High, and 30 lumens during 33 hours on Low.
That is what manufacturer claims.
I still have not done runtime tests. But I have measured the current draw:
Fresh charged BTone 2500mAh batteries:
High 1.09A
Low 250mA
Not fresh GP1300mAh batteries (used to test the light when arrived, about 10 minutes used):
High 2.30A
Low 216mA
Yeah, with used/bad batteries it draws a lot more of current than with fresh/good batteries, proving that is has a fully regulated desing. The typical: as voltage decreases, amperaje increases. Good
Light Output: ★★★★★
As I have said, I am impressed by the fact that just with 2xAA you get more light than, i.e. a TrustFire F20 (Q5) with 14500. Imprehesive. That was what I was searching, a light which can produce the maximun amount of light with easy available AA batteries.
Manufacturer claims 270 Ansi lumens on high and 30 Ansi lumens on low. I trust that. Is imprehesive.
It has a big hotspot, not very well defined, and the flood and throw is more than adecuate for the size of the reflector.
The tint is..... nor neutral, nor cool. Definetively not very cool and not warm at all. More near to "neutral" but with a "bit" of cool
Beamshot on HIGH at 3 meters:
Beamshot on LOW at 3 meters:
I still have not checked how far reaches the beam.... but manufacturers claims to reach 133 meters...
For comparison:
First photo, JetBeam Ba20 at 10-15 meters.
Second photo: TrustFire F20 (xr-e q5) with 14500
As you can see (difficult) the BA20 floods more, has a not well defined hotspot, gives more lumens and has a semi-neutral tint. The F20, with cool-blueish tint, has a defined smaller hotspot, floods less and has less lumens
Summary: ★★★★★
Is a very good light with a very affordable price. In this price range, I dont know about any other flashlights which gives more light output than the JetBeam BA20/Fenix LD20 for less price (the only one I know to be in this output is the the Klarus p2A with it´s 245 lumens)
The quality is what you would espect from a reputable manufacturer as Jet-Beam, despite being the "low end" class of this manufacturer.
If you are searching a 2xAA light, this is a light which have to be considered, but of course, only has 2 modes.
Don't forget to turn on the Fivestar widget
Budget Light Forum ...where Frugal meets with Flashlight!
