First Impressions: Yezl A1 (Model 903)

I ordered a Yezl A1 from CNQualityGoods back on 7/6 for just $20 during a pretty good promo Ric-CN was giving. Matt already reviewed this light in a full review here so I won't get too involved. I'll just give my first impressions.

Well, I received my A1 a half an hour ago but back in the box it goes. It had a scratch right on the head about 1/4" long in the knurling. Looks like it was damaged at the factory or the warehouse because the envelope was not ripped anywhere. Needless to say the finish is no way type III hard anodized as advertised, not with the big scrape mine arrived with.

While I had it out of the packaging I tried it with both AA Alkaline and a 14500.

Pretty impressive with a 14500. Nice bright beam on high with a big hotspot. Medium was a perfect choice and the low was fairly low. Not ultra low but probably good for slipping about at night in the dark.

On AA it was a total disappointment! High was not bright at all and the differences in modes between all 3 was very minor and not that noticeable, especially between high and medium.

Switch felt good and solid. Threads were clean but dry and need lubrication to work nicely. Rear O-ring fit well and appears like it would provide a nice seal. The front O-ring was far too thin and I couldn't even feel it engage when I was screwing it in. Definitely worthless if you need a waterproof light. Yezl claims it is submergeable and waterproof but this example would be splash proof at best.

Emitter was nicely centered and beam was very clean and not ringy (is that a word? It is now).

The knurling was very nice as was the machining overall. In spite of the thick walled body tube, the whole torch had a really light feel to it and somehow felt very cheap. Lighter than it should have felt but maybe that was just me. Who knows.

All in all not worth the $20 I paid for it even if it didn't come damaged. No way at all is it worth the normal $35-$45 asking price at most dealers. I don't think Ric will give me a hard time returning this light. I just wish I had been able to cancel the order in time after seeing Matt's original review but it was already on it's way to the airport when I tried.

I look forward to hearing the impressions of others who ordered this torch with that deal.

Johnny

I may be avoiding Yezl products until I feel confident with them again but I have nothing but praise and recommendation for Ric and CNQG!! I can highly recommend purchasing from them based on the customer service I have received!