Starry Light SA-22

[quote=Bort]
Is there a turbo or can you keep it at max brightness till the batteries are dead?

Does the plastic seem to be thick and durable?

What kind of battery life on hhaven’t erate]

Well, I haven’t had too much of a chance to put it through the paces yet, but it’s not listed as a turbo mode. I’ve only had it on high for a minute or two at a time so far, and havent noticed any step down in that short period of time. I’ll try to let it run for awhile here tonight. The plastic seems very durable and we’ll made. For the money, this one is a winner. My only complaint is the noticeable pwm on the lower modes, but I like high mode anyway! It’s not that it’s unusable, but if pwm is something that bugs you, and you plan on using the low mode alot, you may want to look elsewhere. If you can live with that, this is undoubtedly one of the best budget lights ever!

Battery installation instructions/polarity diagrams were backwards.

Ha ha! Glad someone else noticed this! I thought I was going nuts! I could’ve done without that sinking feeling that for an instant I thought my new light was DOA! :slight_smile: Alas all was well.

I’m curious as to the specs- 880 lumen high with no stepdown, and a low of 150 lumens? It does sound like a great deal, but I think I’d still prefer the Jetbeam PA40 - a low of 50 lumens and a 2 lumen moonlight, plus a carbon-fiber body. I’m still looking for a good all-around camping light, and I think a “slim” 4xAA would be just about perfect - pocketable, quite bright when you need it, especially with a diffuser. But I’d really want a moonlight mode for using inside a tent and such. A low of 150 lumens is just too much.

Ordered. Can’t wait.

Looking forward to your take on it. :slight_smile:

Leaking alkalines don't eat plastic. :)

what size driver? may be able to swap a qlite into it if pwm bugs you

The plastic body of the Starry Light SA-22 is made from Polymide Nylon PA66. I guess i’m not so bothered by the plastic body now. Good balance of strength, flexibility and heat resistance. Sometimes glass fibers are added but not sure about the PA66 in this light.

I also wonder about hte driver, if it is easy to replace i bet there are good buck drivers out there
I hope someone does a full review, it would answer a lot of questions

2 starry lights came in the mail today. The best part about the light is the output. I would compare it to a nanjg driver running about 2600-2700ma. The manufacture lumen claims are fairly accurate. The only batteries I had with me at work are akaline duracell pro AA. The battery polarity markings on the inside are off. I think they mean which direction you put the + and - in versus what is facing out. The tail cap feels fine to me. I hear a slight rattle in the head/driver area. Not exactly sure what is causing that but it might be expected with a floating type driver pill or whatever you call it. My biggest gripe would be the plastic. If feels fine and looks ok. It just doesn’t match the head. The head is more of a straight black and the plastic body is a charcoal black. It would of been much better if they matched the anodizing on the head to plastic. You can definitely see a contrast of the two colors. Maybe the manufacture can change the anodizing for the head on their next batches.

Overall. It is not a bad light. Good mix of flood and throw, kind of a mix between a C8 and a small P60 reflector. It is not bad for the price point and would make a great gift light or something for everyday use to avoid the worries of 18650 batteries.

Thanks for the impressions. Sounds pretty good, like you say, for a non-flashaholic type people.

-Garry

I could deal with using it on a daily basis. I’m just annoyed with the color difference between the plastic and metal head. All they had to do was finish the head with very very slight charcoal anodizing.

The very slight rattle went away. It’s a solid and quiet light now. I was a little afraid to crank it super tight considering its plastic threaded into metal. The final little tightening made it silent.

Cant wait for beamshots of this light :D!

I was able to compare it to a Roche f8 with nanjg 2800 ma driver when I got home. The starry light is a little more starry. I would estimate it at about 2800-2850ma.

Does it stay at full brightness till the batteries run low or will it kick down in a few minutes like other lights?

Got mine today too, but it’s stuck in the apt office. I was asleep. :frowning:

Nope. It stays on high until the bitter end. It’s not that sophisticated, but to your liking. I like almost everything about it. Bright as hell, equivalent to a 2800ma nanjg driver. I have accepted the pa66 nylon body.

But I don’t admire it when I look at it because of the black head and charcoal body. It looks like they had a large stock of jet black reflector heads and slapped a plastic body to it.

maybe take some sharpie to the body? or maybe the boiling RIT dye thingy would work. Thanks for the impressions of it.

The nylon body most likely will not accept any coloring. There is most likely glass fibers for structural integrity and they don’t absorb dye very well. Very similar material to the plastic body ar15’s that are called carbon 15 or carbonfiber. I work with firearms coatings at work on a daily basis. I’m tempted to scuff the head anodizing and fire a ceramic matching black charcoal finish at 300-400 degrees F. And be done with my griping