This light was provided by Gearbest.com for review.
DQG tiny AA
http://bit.ly/2v0LPSq
Manufacturers Specs:
Brand: D.Q.G
Model: Tiny AA
Color: Golden
Flashlight Type: Tiny
Flashlight size: Mini
Emitters: Cree XP-G2
Emitters Quantity: 1
Lumens Range: 1-200Lumens
Luminous Flux: 180Lm
Color Temperature: 2700 - 3000K
Feature: Adjustable brightness
Function: Camping,EDC,Emergency
Light Modes: High,Low,Mid
Battery Type: 14500,AA
Battery Quantity: 1 x AA or 1 x 14500 ( not included )
Battery Included or Not: No
Product weight: 0.0320 kg
Package weight: 0.0800 kg
Product size (L x W x H): 1.70 x 1.70 x 6.80 cm / 0.67 x 0.67 x 2.68 inches
Package size (L x W x H): 4.00 x 4.00 x 10.00 cm / 1.57 x 1.57 x 3.94 inches
Construction:
Over the years this light has been available in several materials. I selected the brass because I thought it looked the nicest and it was also affordable. Starting from the tail you will note that the light has a magnet recessed into the tail cap. It is strong and can hold the flashlight at any angle. There is a hole for a split ring so that you can put this on your keychain as well. There are cutouts on both sides of the hole. This allows the split ring to lie flat and allows you to tailstand the light even while it is attached to something else. Inside the tailcap there is a small contact circuit. it is held in only with friction. The main tube has aggressive knurling and a stainless steel pocket clip. It’s not the best pocket clip on earth, but far from the worst either. It does provide some nice contrast to the light and gives the light a little pop. The head of the light has a brass button soldered to the driver and a piece of foam that is used for physical reverse polarity protection. The bezel was easy to open by hand after applying a little head to melt the glue. It only took about 5 seconds near the stove and it popped right off. The LED is recessed into the head and the driver appears to be glued and pressure fit. It may be a huge PITA to mod this light. There is a TIR optic that nestles into the bezel. Everything is o-ring sealed. The threads were dirty, but plenty smooth and didn’t have any slop to them. Overall the light is built well. If you are buying to mod, your going to run into some issues in the head.
my major complaint with the light is that there is no spring at the head or tail, and a good majority of my AA NIMH did not make good contact and work correctly.
Tail End:
Tube:
Head:
User Interface:
This light is as simple as it gets. It’s a twist-head interface with no hidden or strobe modes. Just twist the head to switch modes, loosen the head to turn the light off. The modes are 2.5 lumen, 30 lumen, and 120-200 lumen depending on battery chemistry. I found that the accuracy of the mode changes was good. You do need to twist slowly to go between the modes compared to most other twist-head lights.
Performance:
Well, DQG has made their reputation putting out really small lights. They sacrifice high end performance to do this, and I’m fine with that. The interesting thing about this light is that the performance with Alkalines were not terrible at all. I ended up getting around 120 lumens out of an alkaline and like 160 out of NIMH, and about 180 out of a 14500. When you keep the output below 200 lumens the Alkalines can still perform decently and chemistry is not as big of an issue as it is with high performance lights like the Klarus Mi7. I could not get a good NIMH chart for you guys. Most of my NIMH would not fit correctly. The ones that would were low capacity and wouldn’t provide a consistent result. Do we really want to see a chart for a 1000mah NIMH battery? Nah. I skipped that test.
It’s a little freaky to see an output like that from an Alkaline… not as freaky as a billy goat in heat… but I wasn’t expecting that regulated output. Also i should note that the light gets pretty hot with any battery you use after an extended time. Not as hot as that aforementioned billy goat, but the whole light gets pretty warm after about 20 minutes.
My Youtube Review:
Conclusions:
pros:
small size
inexpensive
brass! love it.
good threads
multi-chemistry (aa,nimh,14500)
simple UI
Cons:
picky about battery length
pocket clip doesn’t fit well onto thick jeans
low output for a 14500
Not going to be easy to mod.
final thoughts:
I’m not the biggest fan of twist-head AA lights, and strongly prefer an e-switch. With that bias aside I can say that I didn’t have issues with the light turning on in my pocket. It’s a bit heavy for shirt pocket carry, and the pocket clip wont let you put it on a hat brim either, so you are kind of stuck with pants pocket carry. The light looks very nice, and it the wear it does show looks very nice after a week or so of pocket carry. This version has a very nice warm beam with a TIR lens that makes this light really good for close up work. This is not a light I’m going to take camping or backpacking, but it does make for a classy EDC light. I know many of you like to make up your gear, and this is a good option for people looking for a brass option to match up with their other gear. The output is well regulated and overall I think this is a decent light. You’re not going to get the sheer output of a Klarus MI7 or a Olight S15, but it is comparable with many of the budget lights on the market.