The light came well packaged. It’s compact - everything fits inside a very small box. My example included the light itself, with an alkaline AA battery stored inside. The battery had a clear plastic insulator covering the positive end. Also included were a manual, pocket clip, and branded lanyard.
The light is actually quite nice. I’m a big fan of the machining quality on this example, it’s definitely a step up from the typical Convoy, Sofirn, or Lumintop. I’m kind of kicking myself for not owning a Skilhunt sooner… I picked the gray, “neutral/HCRI” version which appears to be SST-20 4000K (based on both a visual inspection and the 95CRI claim from Skilhunt’s website . They’re using a pebbled TIR, so there’s no throw to speak of but the beam is extremely pleasant and even, with no tint shift whatsoever.
Notably, the light is to be opened at the head end of the light. The gold-colored ring in the tail (pictured below) is not captive and will easily fall out if the tailcap is removed.
The light is the second-smallest 14500/AA format light I own, after the extended-to-AA DQG Slim 1/2AA.
On to the UI: it is L/M/H with memory. I wouldn’t miss the memory getting removed… I’ve been playing with it a fair bit today and there’s been no instances of the dreaded next-mode-memory that some of this AA/14500 drivers have. It definitely feels better to hold in my hand than the Tool AA I spent time with. I hope the anodizing is HAIII but only time will tell. Notably though the anodizing did not scratch where I installed (and then twisted a fair bit) the pocket clip - all the HAII lights I have definitely get scratched by that sort of thing so here’s hoping. The mode spacing is pretty good, I have no complaints. I always love a sub-lumen low but it’s just not practical on these 3-mode AA/14500 lights. It doesn’t quite tailstand - maybe if you balance it perfectly on a flat and level surface. Overall I’m quite pleased with it, and pretty much agree with the comments I’ve seen on reddit calling it a “Tool killer”
P.S. Shoutout to PhotonPhreaks, I like my flashlight patent review mat
Nice! I really liked the E2A. Fantastic light for like $20 USD. Its way nicer than the price suggests. Output 8s down from the spec, but that’s because of the high cri 4000k sst20. They pulled their lumen ratings off the 6500k sst20.
It looks nice, nice gray colour, and no flashing modes which is good, but what is the switch like? I read somewhere that the switch is heavy going, but there are other possible issues with switches: I used to have a Lumintop Tool AAA, replaced the LED with a neutral white one, then played with it and got annoyed by 1) the heavy going switch and 2) that the half press was so close to the full press that I often switched it off when cycling through modes… Result: I gave it away.
Agreed. No green from the 4000k. The 5000k though would be green. I realized later you could unscrew the bezel. The seam between the bezel and head was so fine, I thought it was one piece. Yah, the quality is impeccable.
The switch is a bit stiff for sure, but not annoyingly so. Good for avoiding accidental activation. I have no issues with the switch otherwise. This is about as good as it gets for around $20.
The size and low-mounted clip make this awkward to clip into a pocket. I prefer the clip on the L11C. However, I do like that the overall size is smaller here.
The main deal breaker here is the mode memory. Is there an easy way to disable it? I’m an electronic novice so if there is a specific place I need to cut, burn, twist, scuff, or draw on with a pencil; please share a picture and detailed description. This would otherwise be a nice little light.
I hear you about the memory - usually there isn’t a way to remove the memory from a light without reflashing or replacing the microcontroller.
When I saw the clip, I thought it wouldn’t work well, but it actually has been pretty good for me. I don’t wear jeans so I haven’t tested clipping it to thicker materials, and it would probably be better if it were a deeper carry. But on the whole it’s one of my favorite AA lights.
And I’ve gotten used to dealing with annoying memory on AA lights because of my DQG Slim, which is too nice to get rid of just because of memory.
Edit: Adding a couple pics of the head and TIR setup:
Great review, am going to get the Gun Metal one without Li-ion as have too many batts as it is.
It should be noted that this flashlight does step down off High at 1 minute both on 14500 and Ni-MH.
This is not all bad as it will save battery, but really wish they would publish Lumens and Runtime on the Amazon listing.
Does it appear that it is using a regulated driver?
