Tiny USB lights

Kaidomain has a number of unusual variants .
This one has some ICs, so it may be the smallest light with modes:

http://kaidomain.com/LED-Gadgets/USB-LED-Lights-or-Badges/S024212-Single-Sided-USB-1-x-LED-0_5W-4000K-Neutral-White-Mini-USB-LED-Light-Black

A small variant that has white LEDs and something else:

http://kaidomain.com/LED-Gadgets/USB-LED-Lights-or-Badges/S023346-Soshine-Mini-USB-Power-3-LED-Night-Light-Light-Control
According to KD it’s 1W, but Soshine says 0.5W:

And it says this variant offers “light control”. I have no idea what does it mean, I would think “you can control this light” or in other words “it has UI” - but there’s other variant with no “light control” but “touch dimmer”.

That tiny LED on the other side is used as a light sensor.
It turns on when it’s dark (and off when it’s light).
With the little potentiometer you can adjust the sensitivity.
They work kind of okay, i have 1 or 2 somewhere.

Cool!
So the thing at the front is a potentiometer rather than a red LED?

Does this thing have a dimmer?

I have some six led versions in cool & warm white & dimable bought them a couple of years ago from AliExpress ,I can’t remember how much but they were very cheap ,I’ve never really used them ,I just got them because they were cheap :money_mouth_face:

Yep.

Nope…

You scared me, I never like to overpay! lol. I went back to my account, and saw I did pay ~$0.03/pc (50pc for $1.67 was what I paid) I ordered because someone on BLF posted the deal. Surprisingly the LED is still on Arrow website listed as “discontinued” but price is now up to $0.10/pc. My memory was also wrong on the CCK, it was 3000K, not 2700K.

I’ve got these yesterday:

They are as small as my filed ones and have potential to be minimized as well. :slight_smile:
I need more experience to tell whether I like them (the UI seemed flaky) but the initial impression is good. :slight_smile:

Stepless dimming?

How much lumens do you estimate? About 80?

Yes

I am unable to estimate that, sorry.

Thanks! How much did you paid?

$1.67 a pair. I see they are slightly cheaper now.

I purchased 3 units for less than a dollar many years ago… The pcb of the ones I have is black

But were they the short or the long ones? I have the long ones as well and they were much cheaper.

They are the larger ones… The larger than your white one…

What is the difference? Just the size???

Probably yes.

Ok. I will wait until other styles are available with more leds… More lumens… More functions….

In short… I will wait to buy a interesting new one… Not more than the same.

If anyone finds new ones… Post them here

Thanks

I got several of these (different colors of plastic but they all use white leds) at a computer store for $2 each:

https://www.centralcomputer.com/ledl003-o-mini-usb-led-light-orange.html

They are cute, terrible tint and not all that bright, but ok for impromptu lighting of whatever sort. I don’t have any of the tiny pcb type that goes straight in the usb socket but I’ll look for those. The ones on the gooseneck stalk may get in your eyes less though.

I think runtime on a small usb powerbank might not be that great, because the powerbank electronics themselves use some power, in addition to whatever the light uses. So the setup will be less efficient than a flashlight with the same amount of battery energy. But it does seem handy.

Back when GB had a sale on those “toothbrush” lights, I bought an assload and gave ’em out as “gifts” at work to like everyone in the department.

Universal reaction was “Uhhh, wtf??” at first, ’til I plugged one into the powerbank I bought in, then it was “Holy crap! These are amazing, thanks!”.

I gotta say, none of these are flashlights per se (no internal batteries). I’d rather call them mini lamps or something. I spent quite a while looking for actual USB flashlights (built in USB plug, charge without needing a cable) hoping to find one that looked like a USB memory stick. Best I could find was a lot larger, 73*26*18 mm**3:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32852882617.html

(There are a bunch of different sellers of this light: that one seems representative, there is one that charges $7.90 and ships from the US if anyone wants the link).

I wonder why this format is not more popular. The one issue I can think of is figuring out where to put the lanyard hole in a smaller light, but there have to be ways to do that.

I think I bought mine off of eBay or FastTech a few years back. If I remember right, it was something like $2 or $3.
6 LED’s (2 x 3). Touch control (either top with single finger, or pinch both sides simultaneously w/forefinger+thumb). Stepless ramp up, ramp down, and then off/on. It’s pretty bright for its size.