I don't understand how the Chinese can ship an empty box for $2, never mind an aluminium AA torch claiming 4000-4500K
OK, it's 1 mode 100Lm but that's still useful; at least the AA will last a little while.
A round led…
For $2 it is worth a shot I’d say.
Hmm read the review maybe not so much
But I agree glass lens, ALU reflector ALU housing for $2 incl shipping… Puts other lights a bit in perspective.
Ooops ! missed the review, and quite an informative one.
Not the bargain of the century then. Now... if it was a genuine 4000k 150lm and had a reliable switch it would be completely irresistible.
I wouldn’t say so, you have to replace led (~5:money_mouth_face: and driver (~5-8:money_mouth_face: and you have to fabricate decent pill because this flashlight does not have one at least not decent, probably so hated hollow pill. You would also have to upgrade the switch (lets say ~3:money_mouth_face:. When you add all that it ends up at about 15$ + hours of your work , you can buy off the shelf convoy S2+ for ~11$
In my experience, those ultra-cheap 1xAA lights are always a very cool white, usually 6500K or cooler. They’re never warm or neutral, despite whatever they claim in the specs. I have no idea why they claim 4500K, but they never are.
Also, take the output spec and divide it in half. Most of them provide around 50 lumens on a AA cell. Expect about 2 hours run-time, maybe 3 hours.
If you can live with a very cool white 50 lumen light, they are a very good deal. At that output, they don’t need good heatsinking, etc., so they work quite well with cheap components.
I have the flashlight linked to in the OP and can testify that in its stock form, it’s unmistakably awful.
I bought the light specifically to get my feet wet in modding by performing dbstar’s mod described here: The Ultimate "Budget" EDC light, for LESS than 2 bucks. **UPDATE with MOD INFO**
Going into the purchase, my expectations were tempered due to the low price. Something like 50 lumens of not too purple light would have made me happy. Well, lets just say that despite my low expectations, the light still managed to disappoint.
Here’s a snarkily written review for your enjoyment. (Note the real life cons aren’t actually this bad. I was just in mood for using over the top language)
Pros:
- It looks nice! Similar to a scaled down Convoy S5.
- Very compact
- Decent build quality. Body seems to be some metal.
- Lightweight yet surprisingly solid feeling.
- Switch actually feels decent.
Cons
- Glass lens? Sure this light has a glass lens if the Chinese word for glass translates into English for “easily scuffed and damaged plastic”
- Aluminum reflector? Sure this light has an aluminum reflector if the Chinese word for aluminum translates loosely into English for “easily scuffed and damaged plastic”.
- Hollow pill? This light wishes it had a hollow pill. In fact this light wishes it had any pill.
- Insufferably dim. By dim I don’t mean less than the advertised 100 lumens. By dim I mean like brighter than moonlight but dimmer than low on any other lights I own. This thing is so dim a phone camera flashlight looks like a Noctigon meteor in comparison. If you swap this light with a #3 zoomie the increase in output will be so large you’d think you’re reliving the incandescent to LED revolution all over again.
- Zombie blue/violet tint. The tint of the strawhat emitter was so blue/purple that I feared it was a ugly looking ultraviolet light… Neutral? This light is to neutral what the ocean is to dry. Basically, it’s so purple that it makes cheap Latticebright clones look like a Nichia 219b hi cri emitter in comparison.
- Run time? I couldn’t force myself to do a run time test. I’m pretty sure that leaving on a light with such a nausea inducing tint constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the US Constitution.
So why am I so snarky? Well despite how much I made fun of the light I actually like mine. The light provides a good host for dbstar’s mod linked above. Even without a pill, replacing the emitter with a nice 20 cent Luxeon clone should drastically improve output and tint. Unfortunately, I screwed up mine by horribly mangling the plastic reflector so now mine doesn’t work right. Despite how I destroyed the mod, I still kind of like it as a dedicated night stand light.
TL:DR This light is an abomination in it’s stock form. Dim, horribly purple output. For the same price a #3 zoomie with a Latticebright emitter is a far superior investment.
However, the flashlight body is kinda nice and with a cheap dbstar mod this light can turn into something useful. Just add something like this https://www.fasttech.com/p/1103520 and you’re good to go. Just don’t expect the output to be high even with the mod.