Review: Yezl A1 CREE XP-G R5 3-Mode HAIII 1xAA

Yezl A1 CREE XP-G R5 3-Mode HAIII 1xAA Flashlight










First Impressions:

I was very impressed by the quality of the external finish on this light , really nice dark anodizing , as well really nice knurling . I have 3 lights in this body style now , and this has to be the best version for the quality of the body . Now its not all sunshine and roses unfortunately , I bought this light for use with AA batteries , and unfortunately this light simply does nothing worth while with AA batteries . First of all the modes are way to close , 41L , 28L , 18L , second is the output for current draw , its really nothing special ..

Lets have a look at the performance :

Eneloop = High 41L , Med 28L , Low 18L
Recyko = High 47L , 31L , 19L
Duracell = High 44L - 0.8A , Med 30L - 0.71A , Low 19L - 0.59A

Well the performance is lack luster on a AA , the modes are just to close , its not that you cant run it on a AA , because you can . Unfortunately there are far better lights to chose from if your favorite power source is the AA .

Lets see what happens when we feed it a 14500 .

High = 334L sags to 315 quickly - 1.4A , Medium = 74L - 0.62A , Low = 23L - 0.2A

Wow even on a 14500 the performance on low and medium are not that great , 23L from 200mA is not very good , neither is 74L from 620mA , in fact that's rather bad . It seems this driver is not very efficient , and that's a real shame as the light is otherwise very well made .
Nicely Anodized Body
Tailstands
Wrist strap
Glass Lens
OP reflector
Nicely machined threads
Nice clicky [ Maybe a little to recessed ]
Small amount of battery slop [ rattle ]
No noticeable PWM [ The only good thing about this driver ]
Well Machined , knurled body

Overall a good flashlight that is simply let down by a inefficient driver . Well , it looks good , feels good , is well made , but the driver efficiency simply is terrible , if I can find a replacement driver , I would be tempted to swap it out . In fact I have to wonder if the pill from the Sky Ray fits , as on a AA the Sky Ray is much better , so if I matched the good pill with the better body ? , that might really be something .
Well , I cant recommend this one , there are better lights to chose from , how unfortunate , otherwise , if driver efficiency means nothing , then this would be a decent light .

Thanks for the review old, I was curious about this light but it looks like the driver issue is a dealbreaker. Can you tell if the anodizing is legit HAIII?

Hmmm - scratched it easy enough ...

I was really looking forward to getting mine and not having to mod it. Looks like this one is going to require some work. How is the tint on the emitter?

Was also looking forward to this...coz i need a small AA "thrower" plus lower lows on AA while retaining efficiency. Looks like IMRs and NiMH on the Xeno E03 XM-L would have to do for now.

Dont know , I pulled mine apart to mod , but it seemed cool .

I was just reading your Skyway SA-1 test and this light puts out over 300 lumens at the same amperage draw compared to just over 200 for that so I am guessing this one has a much better emitter.

But medium and low are better ...

I swapped pills + emitter , so will re test

Emitter out of the Yezl pill and driver from Sky Ray ...

On a 14500

High 360 sags to 340

Medium 164

Low 35

Thats more like it ! ...

AA =

High / 123

Medium / 57

Low / 10

Hi Matt, thanks for the nice honest review! Frontpage'd and Sticky'd.

Glad to see it tailstands.

I own this body style in the form of the less than impressive Small Sun ZY-C41. I fought with DX for months to try to receive a 3-mode version of this light. I'm actually not a fan of the body style, but to each his own.

Sorry to read this, Matt, but thanks! I've PM'd Ric and posted as well trying to cancel my order in time. Hope he hasn't dropped it off at the post office yet.

I had real high hopes for this light and refuse to sink another penny into modding it as it just isn't worth it, especially if it scratches that easily. I was hoping to get a real durable torch I could rely on and use regular AA cells in in a pinch but this is definitely not the light. I should have learned from the original XM-L Yezl zoomer fiasco (fortunately I didn't buy into that one) and avoided Yezl lights completely.

According to Ric's website "a knife blow will not leave marks" but you were able to scratch it easily? Certainly not typeIII anodizing on it then! More chinese crap lies.

Sorry to read this, Matt, but thanks! I've PM'd Ric and posted as well trying to cancel my order in time. Hope he hasn't dropped it off at the post office yet.

I had real high hopes for this light and refuse to sink another penny into modding it as it just isn't worth it, especially if it scratches that easily. I was hoping to get a real durable torch I could rely on and use regular AA cells in in a pinch but this is definitely not the light. I should have learned from the original XM-L Yezl zoomer fiasco (fortunately I didn't buy into that one) and avoided Yezl lights completely.

According to Ric's website "a knife blow will not leave marks" but you were able to scratch it easily? Certainly not typeIII anodizing on it then! More chinese crap lies. Perhaps they would say they didn't lie because it only left one mark and not "marks" plural...

JohnnyMac I just got this light also and I can confirm it does not work well with AA batteries.

I noticed the Trustfire S-A2 is the same light and Cessnapilot posted a picture on DX of the driver and it appears to be the same modable driver that is in the R5A3. I ordered one from DX for $13 bucks to see if i can do the strobe delete mod

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/trustfire-s-a2-cree-xpc-wc-q5-3-mode-230-lumen-led-flashlight-1-aa-1-14500-36358

Thanks, E! I can pretty tell you right now it will be going back to Ric for a refund. No way I’m paying $20 for that garbage. If all I did was run 14500’s in it then I might keep it as it’s very bright on them but I’m getting this for worse case scenarios and want AA performance. How is the finish on yours? Does it appear to be type III ano or not? Can you scratch it with a key or coin?

I tried scratching it with a sharp knife and it didn't do anything to it then I took a small screwdriver and dug it into the inside of the tailcap and with a lot of pressure I got it scratch so the coating on mine is pretty decent.

I put next to no effort into scratching mine , hmmm ?

But the mod has made it into a very useful light , I did have to sacrifice the Sky Ray to the mod gods , so its a $30 something dollar light now , @ Yezl-Ray if you will .

For $30 something , it should be a useful light !!! anyhow , first and last Yezl for me ... The Ultrafire M2 is still choice ...

So, Old, the M2is your choice as best overall AA torch? Any others coming in a close 2nd or 3rd?

Maybe the paint on yours isn't dry yet mine sat in 100+ degree mailbox all day.:) I have one really good quality Yezl the T3 and 2 low-medium quality ones the Z1 and the A1.

My AA collection :

Jetbeam 135A - Wonderful , pricey

Trustfire F20 - Varies on driver - Good if you get the right driver - Mine sticks on high mode - hard to get out of high if the light warms up

Tank007 TK-566 - great light - ringy beam that's annoying , should make for a wonderful XM-L mod - then its not stock

BLF AA-Y4E - Had contact issues - took for ever to sort out - currently running ok - Not a go to light any longer .

Ultrafire M2 - Cheesy clip - otherwise a good light -

Uniquefire G10 - Nice on AA's , but died on a 14500

Uniquefire AA-S1 - I liked it - gave it away as a gift - got another that was damaged , put in a 5 mode buck boost driver - its ok .

Akoray AK-16 - Great light - but emitter is dated now

Yezl A1 - Well the Yezl-Ray is good

Eastward J09 - More issues than I care to remember - might be sorted by now .

N-light B2 - Fantastic driver - very efficient - Stainless makes it just a little weighty , needs a really good clip

Ultrafire RL-168 - AA barely worked - good on 14500

Small Sun ZY-C41 - Died after 5 seconds on a 14500 - did a driver swap and now its a nice 14500 light

SKY RAY S-A1 - Decent for the money spent - mine died when I tried to remove the pill [ locked up in the body tube ] Aluminum has a habit of binding and welding shut when two surfaces of the same type are forced against each other [ too tight a tolerance ]

I had to cut the front tube open to get the pill out ,

Now I have a expensive Yezl-Ray - But it is nice , but took two lights to make it so .

For the money , the Ultrafire M2 seems to deliver . Is it the best ? Under $20 its the only one I can recommend at this time oh , and the TK566 if you dont mind a ringy beam . Cheesy clip or ringy beam ?

So many AA lights I haven't tested as yet .

I am really surprised you don't have a Trustfire R5-A3, that is my favorite AA light I actually have 2 of them. KD currently sells one with the modable driver right now.