Here are some quick impressions about a Cyansky M1R that I just won in their GAW.
In no particular order:
The light is physically small as can be seen below. On top of it is an Olight i3E and on the bottom a Ladda AAA battery.
It is also a bit thinner than the i3E but not significantly so.
Here are beam shots of the M1R on high and i3E (M1R on the left). The M1R is cooler than the i3E but isn’t unpleasant to look at (as a caveat I prefer neutral tints).
Initially I didn’t think I would like it given its rectangular shape as opposed to the traditional cylindrical shape of most flashlights. However I find that it’s extremely easy to operate and also feels good in my hand.
The light can be locked out with 2 clicks from OFF. Although the switch is slightly raised it takes a fairly firm press to activate. I’ve carried it for several days in my pants pocket and it never accidently turned on but today it while in my jacket.
The switch is fairly large and has a good feel to it.
It automatically steps down from high to low when the battery is drained. At the same time the switch will flash red.
It got slightly warm on high when I had it running in my jacket pocket but nothing to write home about.
It comes with a USB A to USB C cable and will also charge with a USB C to USB C cable. The light functions when charging.
The light drew .22mA on my USB power meter when charging.
The charging port is accessed underneath a rubber cap on the side of the light. I have concerns about the robustness of the rubber cap, and given that you have to constantly lift it to charge the light, I wouldn’t be surprised if it tears off after a bit of use. I wish that another method could be used to seal the port, maybe a sliding metal cover?
Based on my eyes alone the light on high doesn’t seem any brighter than my Olight i3E (90 lumens per Olight). Low is supposed to be 1 lumen and it does seem to be as dim as my FW3A on its lowest setting. In any case on high it’s bright enough to see well in a dark room and dim enough on low to probably satisfy most people (I really don’t care for or have much use for moonlight levels so take that for what it’s worth).
Given that how people perceive brightness in light levels the M1R very well be 200 lumens. I did measure the lux on a phone app and the M1R was twice that of the i3E so you can take as a data point.
Red/flashing red/blue is easily accessible and since the light has memory it will go back to the prior setting from OFF. I can easily navigate in a dark room with the red beam.
The light seems to be well made and feels good in my hand. As long as the charging port seal is present I think it will be highly water resistant.
As I said I like the M1R. That being said, it’s 3 times the price of the i3E. For someone who wants the red or blue light it might be worth buying. However I carry a keychain flashlight just to have one in case of an emergency, so unless it was significantly cheaper, I have a hard time justifying buying one for myself.