How important is USB charging on a light?

Hi all and happy new year!

Onboard USB charging is somewhat new to flashlights and i believe it is a game changer.

Before that you had to have a dedicated charger that can handle properly Li-ion cells, and each time you needed to recharge a light, you had to open up the light, take out the cell(s), handle them with care, insert them into the charger, keep an eye on the charging process, then put back the cell(s) into the light in the right position and reassemble the light… Imagine you had to do that with your phone…

This has prevented me to give away or gift many of the great lights we have had the past years because it is too complicated and involved for most people - and potentially dangerous.

So how important is it for you as of 2021?

Well,.in a usb-charger light, you still have the option to take out the cell/s for external charging if you wish to go this way…unless you have the Olight Baton SRII whose factory cell is designed not to be charged with an outboard charger.

Not just the SRII, but several newer Olights are using proprietary cells, and it’s my biggest complaint with integrated charging. There’s no need to do it, and replacement cells are much, much more expensive.

I’m not a fan. It typically adds size, complexity, cost, and lessens water resistance and/or durability.

There’s times where I just have the light on me. USB charging is an absolute must for me.

That makes it worse, yet I am generally a fan of USB rechargeable lights but utilize regular, non-proprietary cells where l can charge outboard if l wish to.

Interesting, could you point to any data about that ?

Yes:

https://budgetlightforum.com/

I trust built-in charging less than I trust those generic single-cell USB chargers that often come with lights. Manufacturers of quality multi-cell chargers devote much time & resources to developing charge control algorithms and hardware for good reasons; safety, efficiency and cell longevity.

There's no way to 'keep an eye on' a cell as it charges sealed within a light. If the cell charging inside a light begins to misbehave, vent or otherwise go nuclear, the light it's charging within becomes a potential bomb sitting on one's desk or kitchen counter. Nope. Not for me.

If I'm on the fence about a light I think I want that happens to have onboard charging, that feature becomes a minor strike against it in my yes/no decision to buy it.

slmjim

In built charging has been around for years, so not really new. I have an Olight, Poplight and a few others. although I’ve never used the in built charging on these. And don’t think I would on any multi cell light.

I also suspect it is a false fallacy to believe they are safer and fit for gifting to people who are unable to use a regular external charger.

As long as there are light designs without it… I will always chose that. I have several ways to charge cells outside the light body so integral charging is useless for me.

If something fails either in the cell or the charge circuit, I do not want the cell contained within the light. It needs ample space to vent and flame properly. Furthermore, if its charged outside the light I can manually/accurately monitor cell temperature.

Wait…… So what powers your remote for TV or keyfob for cars ? And Sealed phones are somewhat “new” to the scene too Apple changed the game with their sealed phones Samgsung used to boldly market they could remove battery and replace it and I enjoyed that having a spare I could swap in easily… Hell IF phones today had a replaceable battery people would generally continue using the device longer cause that’s normally the first part that degrades and fails.

If I’m deciding between a light with onboard charging and a light without, I’ll take the light without it every time. Micro USB and proprietary batteries are an absolute no go. I’ll begrudgingly accept USB-C or magnetic charging, but I’d generally prefer just not having them.

It’s a false fallacy, so it’s true?

I do not like on board charging, I prefer to have a spare battery available.

on board charging means I cannot use the light, while it is being used as a charger. That was the first realization that led me to not rely on onboard charging.

on board charging creates the likelyhood that a light will be left on charge, unattended. Bad idea.

on board charging makes it more likely the light will be given as a gift, to someone with no prior, nor subsequent, training and education in LiIon safety.

on board charging is a bit like tailstanding… people want the light to have those features, “just in case”. But like onboard charging, tailstanding creates the possibility that an untrained user will leave a light unattended, while it overheats.

the convenience of on board charging, leads to the potential for several unsafe practices, by uneducated operators.

Lets not forget the quality of seperate chargers here. I recently bought one of those $7.99 Astrolux powerbank/charger combo’s, it consistently undercharges and I have to finish them in my Nitecore. Waste of time tbh - it has it’s uses, charging fully is not at the top of it’s list though.
That said, it doesn’t overcharge which is at least a good thing, I think.

Absolutely agree! My wife and I walk the dog every night for at least an hour. We live in a rural area where the only light is what we carry, so both of us wear headlamps and I bring along the Cat V6 as well. That’s 3 lights that get a good workout and have cells that definitely need topping up before the next night’s outing. I have an MC3000, and while it’s a decent enough charger (most of the time :person_facepalming: ), it’s so much more convenient to just plug the lights in and charge directly. Removing tail-caps and setting charge parameters is fine occasionally but not something I want to mess with every night on multiple lights. Then there’s the wear-n-tear saved on tail-cap threads, springs and charger slots. So yea, I’m a fan for sure.

I would imagine that if cell phone batteries had to be removed, charged and replaced daily, people would be screwing it up in great proportions compared to just plugging them in.

I really like USB charge and often include a charging circuit in my build. it makes life so much easier.
At home, when preparing for a trip i use a multi-port quality charger to charge all my cells.
But on the field I use the USB charge option for charging from a power bank or a car plug.
Having a USB charging is a big advantage in my opinion

I also have 1 cell with an internal USB charger to use in lights without charging board, unfortunately these cells are low capacity

Don’t need it and I don’t want to pay for it.

With ~25 chargers here, I’ve got things covered.

Chris