I used to have one and it was truly a first class light. Had one of the best pocket clips ever, ran on 1 x AA but was very very small. Had a side switch which never turned on accidentally and was a joy to use. There were no sharp edges and was very pocket and hand friendly yet was not slippery due to the grooves in the body.
The two main drawbacks were the high price and lack of output and throw. If a Chinese maker would clone it but add a good led and allow it to support 14500 batteries, it could be an all time hit! Imagine an XR-E version that puts out 100+ lumens with some throw for $12. It could be done.
The red led can be eliminated even though that was kind of cool. I’m talking about the shape of the light more than anything and the side switch. It is not “tactical” and you can not “attack” with the bezel but you could clip it to your pocket and still reach into your pocket to get some change without scraping the back of your hand on rough corners like most lights today.
I love mine. Partly because of the red led. Considering the tiny head it throws okay thanks to it’s XR-E and SMO reflector. I would have preferred something like the deep OP reflector Liteflux beam (like my LF5XT) though. The Cree rings are in force.
It would be awesome to find a similar small bodied 1xAA light with side switch and great clip. Without the electrical switch and UI it would be a very different light. It could still be an awesome little light though.
It’s one of my favorite lights as well. Since it’s easy to take the bezel off I’ve just added a piece of diffusion film there.
It no longer throws but I don’t care with this light and the beam is now very nice. No rings and the diffusion makes the red LED more appealing as well.
The Photon never was a lumens/dollar buy even when it was new. It didn’t necessarily have the highest flux bin (they don’t advertise it or even the type of LED) when the XR-E in mine was still king and it didn’t drive it the hardest. Speedsix covered some of the build/design features of the body and clip.
It’s also a two LED light - a white Cree XR-E (although potentially new models could have updated) and a red 3mm secondary.
Then there’s the UI to use both of them with one electronic side switch:
- You can turn on either to full brightness white or to minimum brightness red.
- Both white and red can then be ramped.
- At the end of the ramp the LED being used flashes briefly and then you are into the blinky modes - 3 speed beacons and SOS.
- Both LEDs can be put into momentary/signaling mode.
When the battery is low the Red LED will turn on along with the white as a low battery indicator.
On top of that there’s a lifetime warranty. They even used a glow ring to seal the lens against the reflector.
