GearBest's Entry into Flashlights, the zanflare f1! First Light from this manufacturer!

Dale, sorry if I missed it but how good does it actually charge? (Cut of voltage for example)

What is the point to buy it?
This is not small. The design is not brilliant. Built-in charging … Who needs it?
There are brands for the same money or even less.
zanflare F1 $39.99
Eagle Eye X2R $14.5
Convoy BD06 $25
Skilhunt DS20 $35
Sunwayman P25C $44

Haven’t gotten there yet Miller, will try to run a charge cycle today and let you know. So far I’m seeing that it’s not picking up an only slightly discharged cell for recharging, trying to figure out at what point it kicks in…(been testing bigger things, lot of set-up in getting beamshots on a mile thrower.)

Xoden, I very seldom agree to disagree with theories that are wrong. A copper light? A stainless steel light? Titanium? Bare aluminum? Can’t simply loosen threads for cut-off. Even an anodized aluminum light doesn’t necessarily have anodized threads, and if it does the anodization won’t necessarily hold up through many cell changes. If you are able to make such statements that someone “can’t design a driver” you need to supply the driver you say is right. I’ve yet to see an e-switch design that does not have parasitic drain. Nor have I yet to see, with my experience in hundreds of flashlights, a tail switch with reverse clicky get accidentally activated when properly inset/recessed. The only light I have ever seen accidentally activated through a tail switch was a protruding forward clicky Solarforce, one time and one time only. (this in my inexperienced-with-flashlights-wife’s hands, actually not in her hands but when she crammed her bag into a very small locker at work.) If 100% reliability is required to prevent accidental activation in ANY light, remove the cell.

“Nothing prevents an e-switch from turning a light on/off…” ? Nothing but the UI that is.

So it’s obvious that some people have perverse personal opinions on what makes for a perfect light… perfect for them. But this is seldom going to hold true across the board for a wide variety of users. This out-of-the-box way of thinking, your preference, is why we modify lights to our liking. You are always free to build the perfect driver and incorporate it into your lights to have your light work just as you like it. You are also free to knock the designs of others, whether they are successful or not, but it is of course considered to be poor form to do so. Especially when you haven’t even seen the light in question.

Making notes on what may or may not be improvements is of course a good way to help a new designer find their way to the ideal light. GearBest has entered the manufacturing circle with this 1st entry, as a 1st entry production flashlight there are a lot of things done right on this light. Someone cares enough to try, and try pretty hard, so it’s definitely a step in the right direction. Perhaps more gentle persuasion would be most effective in this kind of situation. :wink:

Thank you Serp, for your wonderful inclusion of negativity to a babies first steps.

Not.

Welcome to the real world. We are waiting for a sale at $14.99 :+1:

That’s not the real world. The real world supports a business so it will thrive and continue to offer goods to it’s people. Otherwise, there would no deals at all with small businesses shut down and the monopoly businesses charging exorbitant prices. Get a $14.99 Surefire and let us know the link… :wink:

Surefire is an expensive brand. I do not think that such a discount is possible :smiley:

I really like that we have a new player in the game, with already pretty decent product.
As it’s the first light that they produced - of course there are some mistakes, and it should be forgiven.

However they also should receive constructive criticism, to make even better product.
That’s why I agree with Serp that it’s not competing with price. It’s also not ‘sexy’ light for me…hope they will fix both things in future to make even more competing flashlight, that all of us will buy.

PS. I think that built-in charging is very nice thing! Can be given to a muggle, or just taken without any charger to a trip.

I think that the PCB is too complicated. T-boards often fail (skilhunt, olight). And here we have three PCB boards. Which increases the length and prevent reliability IMHO

I hear ya Serp. I too feel like Tires are responsible for car wrecks and should be done away with. :stuck_out_tongue:

Oh! The Irony! :open_mouth:

Surefire has been around for years. Certainly they have all the opportunity in the world to make a $15 flashlight with all the bells and whistles. They’ve made plenty on their overpriced “brand” over the years. They could afford to offer a steep discount. And they should have reached economies of scale a very long time ago! Their lights should cost them less to make than what it cost Gearbest to make this one! If they can’t do a $15 flashlight, what kinda lunacy makes you think that a new, upstart brand can pull it off? This flashlight was made with such high quality, and plenty of premium features. Surefire should be ashamed to be in the same room with them! Yet, you want to trash talk Gearbest for pulling off such a well-made flashlight brand and not offering it for pennies on the dollar? :person_facepalming:

Dale, your illustration hits the nail on the head. Serp left reality long ago. I’m trying hard to not use the “T” word.

This just in ………….Rolex makes watches that are fairly accurate and sell at $5000, Timex makes watches that are very accurate at $19.99.
So why doesn’t Rolex go out of business you say?
After all, as you say “There are brands for the same money or even less.”

Different strokes for different folks or to put it another way, An Azz for every Seat and a Seat for every Azz

Maybe it is the word “entry” in the title…
Entry sounds for me as entry level, the item in a line up that requires least payment to obtain.
This is a introduction light for Gearbest, this lacks the implication of not being expensive.
I was surprised by the actual price. Would the title have read “high quality introduction light by Gearbest” I would not have expected a price of around $20 as I did now.

Come on be friendly to eachother.
yes it is a nice light with innovative features
yes it has some things that revolve around personal taste
and yes it is not cheap at all
however a good EDC that lasts a long time and looks special is worth something and whoever thinks this feature set and design is worth it will buy it :wink:
BUT we need to know how the charging works, remember that Nitenumen overcharging in a lot of lights, that would be a big no no here.

People get too carried away here. Flashlights are made to sell in the marketplace which isn’t BLF. And if companies can’t charge enough to make a profit then they can’t stay in business.

I’d like to be able to buy a SIG P210 for $100 but that’s not going to happen. I’m even willing to go up to $500 :slight_smile:

Rolex uses Gold, high end components inside. Timex uses plastic, cheap quartz crystal. And of course, the target audience is widely divergent.

I was asked what I thought this light should sell for. I gave my honest opinion. In the management positions I’ve held before, as well as the business I run now, a 30% target mark-up over cost is a good base to determine final selling price. Largely determined by other factors such as the target audience and what the market will allow. I put no numbers on it, not having a clue what it actually cost to produce. In all honesty, I expected the price to be higher.

Title adjusted to reflect reality. :wink:

There you go :smiley:
Now I expect something really good and expensive, say what, only $35? NICE!
:slight_smile:

I just figured out the charging system. Weird.

I’ve got the cell down to 4.0V, couldn’t get the charger to work, green light only. Then I turned it on at the tail cap, bingo! Red light, charging. I guess with the tail switch turned off there’s not a complete circuit through the cell for the charger to function. Seems counter-intuitive.

Thanks for the review. It looks like Gearbest have put a lot of effort into the design and build, and pleasing to see that it doesn’t seem to be a clone of an existing light. Instructions are a big bonus! Would be interested to see some more beam shots.