Those sub 5 dollar lights tend to contain the same 5mm LED that emits pale bluish light. Have a couple of these and I don't think they're anything special. Anyone know of any ~ 5 dollar (and below) lights that contain a Cree or Osram LED? I bought this one yesterday...
Yep, these lights really are a superb deal in my opinion. There seem to be three variations. The first one you already found, and it doesn't have a model name. It has a really nice beam, and acceptably cheap build quality. The second is the Sipik SK-58 which looks a bit nicer than the first one, and it has much nicer build quality. Very suprising for only $6.07. However, the beam is considerably uglier than the generic version. But both of these do use a genuine OSRAM emitter which puts out bright light with a really nice warm/neutral color. Not blue. I would definitely recommend them both. The third option is the C78. There are two versions-- the DX version and the Focalprice version. (The description is wrong on the Focalprice version, it's really a 1xAA model). The DX C78 seems to have a Cree, whereas the Focalprice C78 has an OSRAM, with an ugly beam according to a post in the link above. But the Focalprice version is quite a bit cheaper. I personally think the C78 is one of the uglier lights out there, so I'm not interested. ;)
Ooops, and here's a fourth one: http://cgi.ebay.com/1W-LED-Adjustable-Zoom-Focus-CREE-LED-Flashlight-Torch-/320568282895
Appears to be a Cree zoomable with low and high modes.... Nice specs and price. But ugly.
Just a heads up - my 5 dollar ebay light came, and it seems they've changed the LED. Not sure what it is, but it's not a Cree or Golden dragon. There are four little wires that touch the LED centre. Beam is blue. Anyway, the thing fried itself and am waiting on a replacement.
On a 14500 the AA-S1 is the brightest AA/14500 light I have apart from the Trustfire R5-A3. And it doesn't set your hands on fire. I'm pretty sure the lumen numbers here are too high.
Light
Battery
Lightbox H
Lightbox M
Lightbox L
Estimated lumens on high
Smallsun ZY-C85 full zoom
14500
456
101
Smallsun ZY-C85
14500
654
145
Aurora SH-035
14500
785
250
36
174
MX Power ML-310
14500
857
220
190
Akoray K-106
14500
1077
239
Uniquefire S10
14500
1112
247
Trustfire F22
14500
1210
535
115
269
Trustfire F22
14500
1254
563
122
279
Ultrafire C3 SS Q5
14500
1391
620
128
309
Uniquefire AA-S1
14500
1445
321
Trustfire R5-A3
14500
1600
576
356
NiMH numbers for AA lights
Light
Battery
Lightbox H
Lightbox M
Lightbox L
Estimated lumens on high
MDXL "3W"
NiMH
77
17
BLF DeLight
NiMH
85
19
Powerlight
NiMH
94
21
Akoray K-106
NiMH
222
49
Uniquefire S10
NiMH
575
128
Trustfire F22
NiMH
586
249
55
130
Aurora SH-035
NiMH
644
201
26
143
Hugsby P32
NiMH
650
189
144
Trustfire R5-A3
NiMH
650
360
144
Uniquefire AA-S1
NiMH
665
148
Ultrafire C3 SS Q5
NiMH
718
249
49
160
Only three of these lights cost less than $5. I leave it as an exercise for the reader to deduce which three. :P