Yeah I’m lazy, so there won’t be any pictures right now.
First the postives:
- Excellent color rendering + a pleasantly rosy tint. Not as overwhelming as some 219Bs, probably because of the lower color temp making the magenta hue less obvious. Maybe a bit lower than 3000K based on comparisons with some of my LED area lighting? (I don’t have any flashlights officially rated <4000K other than sliced 4000K LH351Ds) More “cozy orange” than sickly yellow like some warm white emitters.
-Small and light, disappears in a pocket.
-Pocket clip is engaged easily, you dont have to pull back on the metal to get it over thick fabric like some lights
-Noticeably brighter than other 2xAAA pen lights I’ve used despite the very high CRI and warm temp
-Balanced beam, just floody enough to be useful up close while throwy enough to give the light some punch at a distance, even on lower modes. I suppose this makes sense for a light with a very small reflector, but small die and domeless emitter.
- I got mine for pretty cheap and it includes a battery
- USB charging on the cell
-Mine ran on 2x Eneloop pro AAAs. VERY reduced output but in a real pinch it can be done.
Netural:
- L > M > H > M > L… mode order. I can see how someone could want this but its just not for me.
- Color temp is probably lower than most people would want, but for me and many others that like very warm light its spectacular. Definitely a rosier bin of E21A than my 5000K Virence JetE21A (IIRC everything 4000K or higher is D240 and slightly green, under 4000 is D220 and rosy?)
Negatives:
- The switch is really awful. You really have to pound on the thing to get it to register, but due to how exposed and proud it is I’ve still had a few accidental activations. Even when you feel and hear a solid click the light doesn’t register the input unless you press much harder than you think you have to.
- Super rare battery format. I’ve been looking for replacements and haven’t found anything yet
- Battery wrap blocked the charging port, I had to fiddle with the wrap around the edges of it to get any cable to fit and its still tight right now
-Hold-for-off UI. I can’t imagine how single-click off and hold for mode change wouldn’t be much better.
-Bad mode spacing on the low end of output. Firefly is WAY under the rated 0.5lm, its lower than the 0.07lm mode on my Zebralight, and the next mode is right around 5-10lm.
-Chintzy build quality. Threads are thin and a bit rough, just feels cheap and flimsy compared to basically every other light I have.
For the price I got mine at (w/coupon code) I’m not unhappy, but it won’t be a part of my EDC rotation any time soon. My dream of a very warm, “sleeper build”/throwback penlight is crushed.