https://www.myfenix.co.uk/fenix-pd32-v2-0-torch
In stock and ordered! Cannot wait. I will provide an amateur review when it arrives which should be tomorrow. Also snagged red and blue filters as they were in stock, they didn’t have the green one. Still waiting on the adjustable lanyards but hopefully they should have them soon.
I like the UI functionality contained within the tail switch…still wish these manufacturers would lose their obsession with instant strobe though!
Shame Fenix still insists on ignoring a moonlight mode and warmer tints…with the current competition its a deal breaker for a light without a moonlight mode.
This isn’t going to be my only torch, I have the PD35 v2.0 which is a much better general-purpose torch. The PD32 is more of a focused long-range toy.
Well, Fenix doesn’t really market to enthusiasts but more towards law enforcement and possibly military which I doubt they would care about warm tints, high CRI or even moonlight.
Not sure about that - you can check someone’s pupils with moon light mode without blinding them - also in a tactical situation, being able to navigate with dark adapted eyes and moonlight mode can give you an advantage without necessarily alerting everyone to your presence. That is why military were required to have a low lumen red torch as far as i recall. Furthermore, in my experience, warmer tints allow you to identify items in your environment better than cool ones. None of these additions would take away from the light and would actually add to the tactical ability of law enforcement, military etc
IMO the M2R pro is the best tactical light and that also has moonlight mode and a warmish tint. If a manufacturer could copy the UI without the proprietary battery, they’d be onto a winner.
It’s not dark yet but initial impressions are good. It feels nice, is very similar in size to the PD35 v2.0 and the single tail switch works well. It was a little confusing at first but I think I’ve got the hang of it now.
It does tail stand but it wouldn’t take much to knock it over since it’s balancing on the lanyard loop edges.
The beam looks very focused as you’d expect and looks (to my eye at least) possibly slightly warmer than the PD35 v2.0 although I can’t really tell at close range when it’s light.
Unlike the PD35 v2.0 it doesn’t have a detachable head, there’s just the main body and the tail cap.
I’ll update later with thoughts after I’ve tested it on a dog walk.
Just got back from my walk. This thing is amazing! Reaches significantly further than the 35v2 and is just a really lovely torch. Feels nice, I actually prefer the simplified one-button interface and having only three output modes is actually preferable too. Don’t really care about moonlight mode, with the 35v2 I was always just using mid, high and turbo so this light just simplifies everything. Instant strobe is fun I suppose but don’t really care about that.
It’s so good that I’m not even going to bother keeping the 35v2 as I just won’t use it, this one is better in every way. I thought that the very focused beam would be too focused for dog walking but it’s not, there’s plenty of light spread around in front of me to see where I’m going so this is just about perfect.
I don’t have anything capable of measuring the output levels however anecdotally it did seem to lose full turbo power a bit quicker than the 35v2, which would make sense given it’s 20% more max output from the same power source.
And now for some photos at various distances so you can see how well it illuminates things far away.
If anyone would like other photos or have any questions about this light please feel free to ask. I’m not a professional reviewer so I don’t know what stuff people actually care about knowing.
TL;DR I love this!
This light may be my first Fenix EDC light since my 2007 P3D.
Waiting for mine to come.
First Fenix i order since PD32UE. Thx for photos.
Just noticed the memory isn’t persistent when the power is cut like other Fenix torches. If I remove the tailcap and reconnect it it reverts back to turbo mode.
That says to me that some standby drain exists. Wonder how much.
I bet it’s not much but still an interesting design decision. Perhaps its target market prefers default to turbo rather than having a persistent memory.
Noticed something strange with this light - when it’s been on for a while there’s a very very slight flickering in the output. When this occurs if I cycle through the modes back to where it was the flickering stops and doesn’t come back within a few minutes.
It’s barely noticeable so I’m not really worried about it. Seems weird that cycling the modes makes it go away though, that suggests it may be a software issue.
Oh just realised, the lack of persistent memory might be a tactical thing because you can twist the tail cap off and back again in order to access turbo quickly without needing to even turn the light on or press the switch.
Hmm. Here: Fenix PD32 V2.0 Flashlight - Fenix Lighting it says:
“When the voltage level drops below the preset level, the flashlight is programmed to downshift to a lower brightness level until Low output is reached. When this happens in Low output mode, the battery level indicator blinks 3 times every 5 minutes to remind you to timely recharge or replace the battery.
Note: This only works with Fenix ARB-L18 18650 Li-ion battery.”
My question is… where the hell is this indicator? There’s no side switch, there’s no LED anywhere as far as I can tell and there’s nothing in their diagram. It says the same thing in the instruction booklet that came with it.
I’m wondering if they just copy-pasted this from another light and forgot that it doesn’t have a side switch. It’s interesting that it says it only works with their specific Fenix battery though. On their other lights (eg PD35 v2.0) it works as long as you have any 18650.
Yeah I’m betting that’s a copy-paste, and I’m betting the stated battery restriction is just for liability type stuff. I can imagine that someone might have tried an 18650 that the light didn’t cooperate with for some reason so they threw a fit at Fenix.
Interestingly this is from the previous PD32: PD32 Fenix Flashlight - Fenix Lighting
“If low voltage is detected, the flashlight is programmed to downshift to a lower brightness level until to Eco brightness level. When this happens at Eco output mode, the flashlight blinks three times every five minutes to remind you to replace the battery.”
So maybe it just blinks three times when it’s low. I’m very curious now so I’ve just turned mine on on turbo to run the battery down and see if it does it. I don’t have a Fenix battery but I’m really curious how they could make that work only with a Fenix battery. It’s not like there’s software in the battery, how the hell would it know?
Exactly. It’s probably just legal-ese.
Or sales-ese.