Massdrop Vega! Starts Friday Nice AA/14500 flashlight

opinions?

Looks very nice, but pricey...

Price will be $29.99.

Estimated Ship Date will be January 31st, 2019.

I did not see that ship date, outrageous! Deal killer!

Click on Discussions to see some more details.

Looks nice but no hidden blinky modes = no buy.

Strobe is hidden.

I thought that was a good thing...

Sooo, a LT Tool AA with a bevelled bezel and a SS button ?
They kept the crappy clipped-on clip :person_facepalming:

How can you tell strobe is hidden? I can’t find where they described the UI. Strobe is hidden would definitely make it worth considering. I hope it is easy to take out the PCB to swap the emitter.

Hiddden strobe. Blinking etc, is (iffy)ok.
Non existent is 100%.
Lo/Med/Hi or Lo/Hi is perfect I reckon.
They finally starting to do torches that aren’t cluttered with all these “you never use” controls on them.

I posted something alike here some days ago: Lumintop Tool AA - Quickie - #66 by MascaratumB

This is probably what LT calls the Lumintop Tool AA 2.0, with 4 modes + strobe!
Maybe they have improved some of the things that were not so good on the V1.0…

Edit: hope this will be sold outside MD…

EDIT 2: Assuming the switch will be electronic like the Tool AAA version (Titanium?) does anyone know if that switch / mechanism would work properly with other kind of drivers, or only with the proprietary one?
Thanks in advance

If you are looking for a 14500 light with no strobe, Lo/Med/Hi, always starts in Low, very solid clip, AA compatibility, over 500 lumens, then Sofirn SF14 has it nailed. Now available in version 2 with very slight differences but still meeting that spec. This Vega looks very similar.

When you say very similar, what are you comparing with it?

SF14 has 3 modes; LT Tool AA 2.0 / Vega AA has 4 modes + blinkies.
SF14 has max output (on Li-Ion) is 550 lumens; LT Tool AA 2.0 / Vega AA max output (on Li-Ion) is 650 lumens.

Switches are different between the 2 models.

Visually, photo of Vega from the OP link compared to the SF14v1 in my hand. I should have been more specific in my wording.

No problem mate :wink:
On the left there is the SF14 (1.0) and on the right there is the LT Tool AA (1.0), that is probably just some mm longer than the Vega version due to the tail. They differ a bit, in length and diameter!
On the middle, the Jaxman E3.

This is definitely a cooy of Lumintop Tool AA with a higher price.

Hey.
Those series of tube lights are mainly oh so boring looking.
Just more baby S2’s.
I like the ones with more style/shape. smoother, with curves

Something like a Astrolux AO1 up in size to a 14500.
and C8 with curves smoothing up the bottom half.
Get away from the tubes. sq edges and lotsa fins.

My lo/med/hi twisty. NOTHING else. with max of around 460.
is my little Jetbeam JET1 MK Pro.

The “nicest” looking comfortable “feeling”, in the hand, to carry.
Is my old Skyray S-R5 18650. With the C8’s not too far behind them.

"The stainless steel button switch allows you to cycle from low mode all the way to turbo mode with just a few clicks—and if you click it six times in succession you can access strobe mode for emergencies and signaling."

Plus the flashlight has proper memory as well.

It's 30$ would you rather have a 35$ D4 or a 30$ FW3A instead ?

To me this is a no brainer .I even questioned the thought of even making a AA tool .Not one of lumintops finest ideas .Right up there with the med/high /low driver everyone hates .

Maybe it’s wrong white balance setting in that photo, but the natural white beam color looks horrible, IMO.

Absolutely.... both tints are horribly wrong .

No wonder people say they dislike NW tints