Review: Inova Microlight - Night Vision Red

Other Types of Lights Keychain / Pocket Flashlights
1

Some of you may already be familiar with the Photon-style Inova Microlight. The Night Vision range from Inova offers coloured LEDs in the same slim form factor.

Gone are the low mode, SOS and strobe, in their place are mechanical switching that make it more comparable to the fauxton lights: squeeze the soft button for momentary on, slide the switch on the other side to keep it lit.

Retail packaging, no scissors required:

Run time of up to 15 hrs stated:

Although the red rubber forms a large part of the top, only the centre activates the light. The switchable part has grooves so you can tell by touch:

The slide switch has nice grip too, but on my example is a little stiff. It is easier to use than the tiny slide switch on a fauxton:

Often cheap fauxtons ship with two CR2016 cells which together is too much for a red LED and shortens the life. Here a single Panasonic 2032 cell is included. The rubber button can simply be pulled out to change the battery:

I bought this with plans to change the LED, but a closer look shows modification might not be so straightforward as the casing has been melted to secure the metal contact leaf:

Instead of protruding from the case the LED sits recessed, so the casing acts as a kind of diffuser:

The clip:

Size comparison to other keychain lights, from largest to smallest (from left to right: Ring Micro Cybalite, Inova Micro Light, DX fauxton):

Inova actually feels the slimmest:

Quite a lot of the casing also lights up:

Beam shots at 50cm. Left is Inova Microlight, right is DX 20cd fauxton. The effect of the casing is clear. Although not as nice a beam, it allows for more spill from a 5mm LED:

For comparison sake, left is Ring Micro Cybalite with stock LED, right is DX 20cd fauxton:

White wall beam shot at 1 metre. The beam is larger than a typical 5mm LED but not without imperfections:

For contrast, here is a SK-68 clone (probably XR-E Q3 emitter) with red filter. The 5mm red LED is a cooler red and feels a little unnatural in use.

You can see there is more orange present in the red filtered SK-68:

Thanks for reading! ^_^

2

Thanks for sharing , Chloe .

Cool

3

Thanks for the review! Very in depth for such a small light.

4

Nice review. Thank you very much.

5

I made a small modification, sanded off 1mm or so from the acrylic lens and casing so it is flush, turned it into a small flood light.

Although I polished up to 8000 grit, it doesn’t seem to make much difference to the beam compared to 180 grit. I just wanted to see how it might affect it.

On a 2032 cell it is still quite bright though for dark-adapted use, so I may fit a resistor.

See the tiny speck of orange?

Beamshot of light at 1m before modification:

Beamshot after modification at 1m:

Beamshot at 50cm:

6

Great review!!

Thanks for doing it. Keep up the terrific job! :D

7

Thanks for the great review.You know how to take good pictures.

:wink:

8

Thanks Chloe, :smiley:
Great Job.

9

Thanks, everyone! :smiley:

10

Thanks for the review Chloe. Interesting collection of small lights you have there.

11

I like the results of the mod .

12

Chloe, will you marry me?

13

I still cannot understand, why “5mm LED” lights are not made with flat top, so that they would have wider beam.
Who ´s gonna throw a beam far with ten or twenty lumens and 5mm optics anyway?

I have filed flat some of my fauxtons. Like them more with flood :slight_smile:

14

There are some flat/square top LEDs available but they are not really floody or high-candela; they’re commonly used for indicators.

15

Interesting little light and mod, I may try to fltten some 5mm LED lights that I have. Thanks for sharing!!

16

Ring Micro Cybalite

I like this light, but cannot find it anywhere in the U.S.

17

saypat, I don’t know if Ring distribute outside of the EU. You may find an Ebay seller who will ship to the US for not too much?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?\_odkw=ring+cyba+micro

18

Very nice review! I forgot that I still need to get some of those cheap DX lights someday.

19

I still see the ones with an electronic driver and red backs on US Ebay and ones like pictured here on British Ebay. One of mine is mush older than this review and is also of the US type. I wonder if the US type didn’t pass British or EU electromagnetic interference testing. That would seem likely with pulse width modulation and a plastic case. It might have been too expensive to design and tool a new integrated circuit, but a mechanical switch interferes only when it is switched. That is just curiosity, as children like the strobe mode.
I have been carrying a red one, nearly every day, since before white LEDs became available.

20

Great review and info on one of my favorite little lights! I’m definitely going to sand mine down a bit to improve the beam…