Manker offered to send me the LAD to review, and I accepted!
Manufacturers Specs:
Emitter: Cree XP-G3/ Nichia 219C + 2 Red straw hat led
Maximum Beam Intensity: 860 cd
Maximum Beam Distance: 58.6 meters
Driver: Most efficiency constant current driver with a runtime up to 100 hours
Battery: Built-in 280mah polymer lithium battery
Material：Aluminum alloy
Processing technology: Aluminum Integral formed shape
Water Proof: IPX-6
Impact Resistance: 2 Meters
Dimensions & Weight:
Length: 51 mm
Width: 28 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight: 25 g
Output & Runtime:
Red: 1 lumen, 100 hours
Low: 23 lumens, 5.6 hours
Medium: 86 lumens, 1.5 hour
High:300 lumens, 0.5 hour
Strobe: 300 lumens
Youtube Review:
Construction:
This light is an all aluminum construction light wide a single side electronic switch. It has 3 ports for LEDS at the head and they do extend beyond the edge of the light so you can stand it with the LEDS pointing down. There is a large lanyard / keychain whole that as you can see will easily fit paracord or larger style keyrings. The front plate is removable for access to the LEDS. the light will rest flay on either side as the side switch is flush with the case, and can also be set up edge wise for different options. No problems with fit or finish.
Charging:
The light is USB rechargeable and has an internal LIPO battery. I hooked up a USB meter and found that it charges at 4.90V and .20A. The USB port has a rubber cover over it. The cover is very thin and I do not feel it will last a long time as it has come open in my pocket a few times already. The switch is supposed to flash blue while charging and turn solid when complete. My light only blinks for a few minutes and goes solid despite not being fully charged. Approximate charge time is around 1-2 hours depending on the quality of USB cables you are using. I did find some cables did not fit into the port that well and only charged at around .10A
User Interface:
the UI for this light is a little crazy. There is no way to describe it in words. There are two sets of modes, your normal brightness and your special modes. You switch between the two cycles with a double click. The light has memory and works for any mode. the first cycle is your regular modes which has moon-low-mid-high. Moonlight mode activates the two red LEDs. I could not measure it with ceiling bounce. Low registered as 16 lumens in my ceiling bounce. Mid measured as 63 lumens, and high as 235 lumens. However I think this numbers are low due to the TIR lens. I am not calibrated for them and typically get low numbers. The special modes include dragon’s breath, strobe, beacon, and sos. They are pretty explanatory except for Dragon’s breath, which turns on the blue light on the e-switch. I let this run for around 5 days and it did not drain the battery.
Performance:
Lumens (measured)
moon - 1
low - 16
med - 63
high - 235
Runtimes:
This is a quick enlargement of the first 5 minutes. Both the LAD and the Nitecore TIP which I used for comparison both step down after about a minute.
I did get an 83 minute runtime out of the lad, However, please bear in mind that the light steps down after a minute. It advertises 30 minutes on high, but you would have to step the light back up to high every minute in order to obtain that. If you turn the light on and walk away your going to get about 83 min. Notice also in these two charts that I included raw lux numbers as well as the % of total light so you can see the difference between them. The LAD has a TIR lens so the beam is far more diffuse despite being almost identical in lumens so the lux is significantly smaller, however % wise it retains more light than the TIP.
Size Comparison:
Beam Shots:
Manker LAD
Nitecore TIP.
LAD (left) Vs TIP (right)
LAD VS Olight I3 CU
LAD VS Tip (close up)
Overall opinions:
The Lad is a nice small keychain appropriate flashlight with an internal LIPO battery and charges via a standard USB cable. The user interface can be a little confusing without the included chart from Manker, but once you get used to it it is pretty simple and gives you good access to the modes you want. I find that the red moonlight and the Dragon’s Breath (blue locator beacon) are pretty handy. The runtimes and brightness are pretty impressive for such a small light and as you can see this light keeps up well with the Nitecore TIP as far as performance. I’m a huge fan of TIR lenses for close up EDC work so having one on this light was a big plus for me. Your mileage may vary of course. I’ve been keeping this and the Nightcore TIP for the last few weeks and have found that I really do like them both equally. I like the TIP for its simplicity, and the like the LAD for it’s complexity. I know thats a bit conflicting but the dragon’s breath mode makes it very easy to find your keys in the dark if you set them down, and the red mode is pretty handy for checking on the kids at night without waking them. I found that I used the LAD for a bigger variety of tasks, which is the end all goal of a flashlight. I do have to warn that if you do not like a complicated UI, than the LAD is probably not the light for you.
Overall I think this is a great competitor to the Tube and the TIP, and it has enough extra features to make it worth the while. It is definitely unique in the flashlight market and has some interesting features for the price that you pay for it.
The Good:
Lots of mode options, with full memory mode for all options
small, fits on keychain
can be set down in several positions for hands free operation
usb rechargeable
tough and well built
TIR lenses are great for close up work
with step down this light will not overheat if left unattended.
The Bad:
USB charging port cover is flimsy
charging indicator is not accurate
UI may be too complex for many people
Thanks to Mankerlight for providing the light. This was my first Manker to review and was glad to be able to put this thing to the test.