Review Aimai AF04 - 2xAAA budget penlight

I received a little AIMAI penlight for review from Gearbest if this isnt cheap, what is? (7,89$)

Lets start with the review and some basic data about the light:

(my measurements)

overall lenght: 5,33 inch / 13,5cm

head diameter : 0,54 inch / 13,7mm

body diameter: 0,49 inch / 12,5mm

weight (empty) : 24g

This has to be one of the cheapest 2XAAA penlights with a Cree XP-G2 emitter and it looks pretty similar to a certain light from Thorfire, i dont own that Thorfire model but at least on pictures it looks identical to me.

It arrived in a very simple package and again it looks like it is very similar to the thorfire package.

You get the light, the manual in english and two spare o-rings, nothing fancy but for 7.89 dollar its perfectly ok. Here is a little 360 view

I was kind of sceptical because of the price, i have some other penlights and shorter single AAA lights as well and usually you pay alot more for a 2XAAA Cree penlight. The anodizing looks kind of shiny to me, the reason is they probably skipped the beadblasting process, when you take a closer look you will see machining marks and everything is not that smooth compared to a lets say 4sevens Preon light. The follwing three images will show those machining marks pretty good i think. The higher priced brands like 4 sevens or lumintop would beadblast those marks away i guess before the light gets anodized but im ok with that and im sure that most ppl just dont care because in the end its a 7 dollar light.

All images are not editet to show the real surface of the light. As you can see the surface is more on the rough side in terms of machining. I couldnt remove the tailcap, i assume its a one piece design and only the head is removable.

The rubber coated reverse tailcap clicky is pretty stiff, i liked that pretty much. I used the Lumintop penlight for some months as my EDC in the summer because i mostly wear jeans and i activated the tailcap clicky all the time unintentionally for example when i crouched down.

Here you can see whats going on inside of the head compared to probably the most common penlight, the 4sevens preon p2 and a lumintop IYP365. Aimai on the right. I think its interesting to compare such a cheap light to the more expensive models.

The tailap view from inside the tube

The XP-G2 R5 emitter, it should deliver 210 Lumens. It looks not centered on that picture but it is. The camera lens wasnt exactly centered to the LED.

AIMAI use a smooth reflector for this light. The light has mode memory and 3 modes (High/mid/low). There are no disco modes like SOS or strobe.

high is 210 lumen, mid is 5 lumen and low is a true moonlight mode with 1 lumen. I actually have my doubts about the 5 lumen mid mode, it looks way brighter than 5 lumen to me

(i need that DIY sphere offered here on BLF!!)

Size comparision with a 4sevens preon P2 "toxic green" and the Lumintop IYP365

In case you ever wondered how flashaholics play "pick a stick" (Mikado). Now you know it : )

Even 7 dollar lights can offer coated glas, you have to love that purple shimmer

I have to do that runtime test again, i called it a day after 223 minutes. The problem is the light has an extreme stepdown from 100% to 10% after three minutes, probably the mid mode.

You can reset the stepdown if you want. I used my new luxmeter with datalogger.

Some outdoor beamshots compared to other penlights

As a GIF

indoor beamshots

You get alot for your money, coated glas, a Cree XP-G2 emitter and a nice stiff tailcap clicky plus a no nonsense 3 mode UI with a true moonlight mode. Those are the lights you can actually "use" and dont have to worry about scratches or dents. This is similar to Ganzo knifes, those are the knifes people use while the spyderco models end up being shelf queens. This is like the penlight version of an eagle eye X2R, perfect as a gift.

Nice review
Could the rough be for better grip?
Seems good value for the money!

Thank you, you dont see the machining marks with your eyes but they pop out on the images really good. It feels smooth, for better grip you need real knurling or beadblasting. I guess the thorfire is the same light with different label.

Thanks for this nice review!

Nice review, great pictures!

5,33 inch? (and what about centimeters?)

Is the mode order (High > Mid > Low) ?

The Thorfire PF04 has a mid of 50 lumens. Would you say the mid on this one is about the same?

Ive added lenghts in cm as well If you have the light on low and half press the switch you will get medium, then high and so on. The light has mode memory as well. I dont have a sphere and the Aimai seems to be less concentrated, it has a wider spot compared to the 4sevens. I dont think the medium mode is 50 lumens, that would be way to much. I would have guessed 10 lumens but its hard to say because the spot is wider.

I just did a quick and dirty test to measure lux @1m, i used the same eneloops for both lights.

4sevens = 24lux @low (2,2lumens)

Aimai = 84 lux @medium (5lumens @ gearbest's product description)

I would say 50 lumens would have resulted in a higher lux value but it also depends on how concentrated the spot is. I need that DIY BLF sphere to give some lumen values. It seems Josh is busy at the moment, i send him a PM

Thanks for the answers daninho.

Pity about the output level on medium. 40 would have been great, 5 is much less useful to me.
I wanted to buy one but now i´m hesitating.

Crazy how much this looks like the Thorfire PF04 (which was being heavily discussed on another thread about another light that appeared to be a copy of a Thorfire……found it here )….different “knurling” patter, different pattern just above head on outside of body, finish subtly different. But same power button design, same clip, same overall shape. I’ve got the PF04 and really like it. There was a coupon code that kept popping up here on the BLF in one of the banners for it, but I don’t see it now. Of course, after I compared it to my 4sevens Preon P2, which had a much higher retail, I’d buy the Thorfire PF04 in a heartbeat at $20 (only caveat being, I’ve only had it for about a month….so no durability/longevity testing to speak of).

If this Aimai is anywhere near the quality I perceive in the PF04, heck of a deal outside of that apparently really low Med mode.

EDIT: Just noticed the other “clone” I mentioned earlier was the Aimai brand too……hmmmmmm.

EDIT 2: Also just noticed the AF04 model number here….duh…… AND….What the heck does it mean on their product page “Lumens Range: 200-500Lumens ”?

I see, the TF04 has a different head, different grooves etc… Sometimes clones are not that bad but i usually dont like them. In case of a 7 dollar penlight with a simple driver what can go wrong? Its a good worklight and for 7 dollar you can throw it around or gift it away. I dont expect perfect machining from such a light, it will get scratched anyway unlike my shelf queens, for example the toxic green 4 sevens is in my “collection”, i take care of it.

I was sceptical as well and i thought it is not even a genuine cree emitter, i couldnt check that but it is certainly as bright as the 4 sevens as you can see above, at least for now : )

Edit: you can unscrew the tailcap, i did it yesterday but you cant put in batteries from the tail, i guess its just removable for repairs, has a really long spring as well.

Yeah. I wasn’t necessarily trying to say clone was a bad thing either….just making an observation. :+1:

I received both lights today and I’m very impress with the lights for the price.

Just 3 mode (high medium and moon) and no crazy blinking modes

will play around more next few days :slight_smile:

Play away….I say play…away!

I ordered two of these lights and got them today. Appear to be very good quality for the price. The documentation that came with both of mine gives the modes as 1, 50 (fifty), and 210 lumens. I don’t have a way to measure the mid mode but 50 looks about right.

Also, the machine marks are there but they don’t help with the grip. I couldn’t see them with just my eyes, and had to use a 10x magnifier to see them. I couldn’t feel them unless I scratch my fingernail across them.

No you could not feel the machining marks, in fact the light is very smooth, almost to slippery! Macro shots always appear closer and magnified, thats why you see the machining marks much better compared to real life.

Dont worry, i will measure the lumens in a few days, i have a little sphere now. Can be bought here in the forum, the problem is you will need a flashlight with exact lumen ratings, thats the next step now. It is really expensive to send a flashlight to a laboratory but of course those are always estimated lumens. You can never measure the real lumens in a home made sphere, even the different color bins will give you different readings.

Hoe gaat het? :P

i measured the light with a little DIY sphere made of styrofoam. I also measured the Preon P2 because otherwise it would make no sense since those DIY spheres are always an estimination, its not a lab sphere at all. This sphere wasnt build from me and i didnt calibrated it. The builder did this with a reference Fenix light i think. I will have to send one of my lights to a light labarotory to see how close this little sphere really is. It can take a while since its really expensive, maybe next month. Anyway my friend, here are the first measurements i did

Preon P2 "toxic green" and AMAI penlight on brand new AAA eneloop cells, fully charged

4sevens claims little DIY sphere

2.2 lumens 3.6

26 lumens 35

192 lumens 171

AIMAI claims

1 lumens 0.5 (or below the sphere sensivity)

50lumens( manual) 18

(5 lumens gearbest)

210 lumens 185

I will update the measurements in the future if i get a reference light from a lab. I would assume that the light dont put out 50 lumens according to the values above.

Alles gut! Danke, und Dir? :slight_smile: Vielen dank für die massnahmen (measurements. Pfui deutsch ist schwierig :wink: ). Sehr hilfreich! :+1:

Time for me to visit a german flashlight forum to brush up on my language skills :stuck_out_tongue:

First search result. Is this the one? www.taschenlampen-forum.de

Edit: Got it! 99 % sure: messwerte

Exactly, thats the german forum Thats the only one i know of. I hope i can give you more excact lumen values soon.