Review: UniqueFire A20 , formerly the Ultrafire A20

LED Flashlights – General Info CR123A Flashlights
1

For review I have the Uniquefire A20 5 mode 1x16340 from KD


Now this was formerly the Ultrafire A20 , and is listed by KD as the Ultrafire A20 , and for all intensive purposes is a Ultrafire A20 except it has a new name printed on the body . Everything appears to be the same as before , but this is not really the case . The light is well made , and no complaints there , what took me by surprise was the output and current draw when I got around to testing hard figures.


So lets get to the performance "


On high it produces some 120L @ 0.37 to 0.4 Amp

On medium it produced some 60L @ 0.18 to 0.2 Amp

On low it produced some 12L @ 0.03 to 0.04 Amp


Now while 120L is not a very high output , one must look at the current draw of 400mAh , which is actually excellent fuel economy . My previous A20 did some 290L @ 1.6A , and that was certainly impressive , but offered very poor run time as a result . A 16340 is not going to last very long @ 1.6A , in fact its very bad , for anything but short trips to the back yard . And while its nice to have a small pocket rocket [ high output EDC ] , they dont offer much run time on high . So while this particular sample does not impress with the output , I actually am impressed with it , for offering a very sane amount of light at a very usable current level . Now I did order another to see if this was simply an anomaly , or if there all going to be like this now ?


Its only fair to say I bought this light to be a mod host , as the A20 makes for a very nice SSC P7 or XM-L host for building pocket rockets . I like this one as is , though I no longer am a fan of the XR-E emitter , and I'm very tempted to put in a XM-L emitter for the beam quality it offers , I will try and wait for the next one to see how that performs . [ One of them will become XM-L ]



Well Made

Knurling well machined

Threads are well cut [ the two halves screw together very smoothly ]

Nice beam quality

Wrist strap

Op reflector

Nice Clicky [ a little soft for me ]

Will tail stand well without wrist strap

Glass lens

No mode memory , always starts on high

Output is much lower than Im used to

Offers long run time

5 modes , Hi - Med - Lo - Strobe - SOS [ would be ever so sweet less - Strobe - SOS ]

Still a great mod host .


http://www.jayki.com/index.php?mid=flashlight_review_board&page=4&document_srl=7846 Older A20 review for comparison

I ordered a second one to see if the current draw was on the lower side .
High - 172L- 0.63A ,
Med - 86L - 0.3A ,
Low - 17L - 0.06A

Looks like the current has been seriously backed off , I will keep this one and mod the first one ...

I have a U2 XM-L and some KD XM-L drivers , so as time permits .

2

I tried to purchase this torch from 3 different vendors (including KD) when it was still branded Ultrafire and no one was able to deliver. I really like the torch alot. I would really like the pocket rocket version though since there is always medium and low for extended runtime.

3

That's a good looking light, and nice review. Thank you. For the time being though, I'll keep my xml "pocket-rockets" 18650 based. Such a huge increase in runtime for a nominal increase in length. The one exception to this is the Nitecore EX10 which I recently upgraded to a NW xpg. It'll put out just a hair over 300L on an IMR 16340. Having just said that, this A20 would probably benefit from the same treatment.

4

The idea was to turn it into a XM-L U2 hot rod , but Im thinking I might keep this one as is , so I ordered another ..

I like the A20 platform , but the SSC P7 and XM-L really eat batteries [ eat through them ] especially the XM-L mod which pulls over 2A , so it would be nice to have one that runs over an hour on high , + 120L is plenty , and it does not always need to be about power [ ? ? Did I say that ? ]

5

Ha! Don't feel bad...I've been having those thoughts as well, and have just recently renewed my love for neutral xp-gs... Hopefully it's only a temorary psychosis...

6

But it is about power…and…economy. That’s what low & medium modes are for - economy. Single mode lights force you to compromise on either power or economy. Man invented multi-mode so he can have his cake and eat it too. Go ahead and mount that XM-L and drop that badboy driver in there too, while it’s open. :wink:

Johnny *I like pie* Mac

7

Yes ,for some hot models ,the factory may print different logos ,such as Ultrafire C8 and Fandyfire C8 .The difference is the emitter and brand . But for each brand ,they also has their unique models ,such as ultrafire 501b 502b ,and fandyfire HD2010 , G36 ,5 CREE .
For many people ,they may like one or two brands ,and they’d like to collect a series of the brand products ,but for some others ,what they care is the model ,appearance but not the brand .