FireFlyLite P01 & P02 - They Could Have Been Better...

LED Flashlights – General Info 1 x AA / 1 x 14500 Flashlights
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This review covers the FireFlyLite P01 w/ Nichia 519a in 2700K, and the P02 w/ Osram CSLNM1.TG.

Purchase links:
P01: Fireflylite P01 14500 EDC Flashlight – Fireflylite outdoor
P02: FireflyLite P02 18650 EDC Flashlight – Fireflylite outdoor

What I like:

  • Great beams (very throwy for the P02, awesome general-purpose high-CRI beam for the P01)
  • Initial turbo is pretty solid on both lights
  • Monochrome Auxiliaries with nice color options
  • P02 has a great design
  • P02 is a great and unique, compact thrower
  • Good value, especially on sale for under $30 each

What I don’t Like:

  • The UI is poor
  • Aux drain is too high, there is no lower mode
  • P01 is too bulky and awkward for a 14500 light
  • P01 does not have dual-fuel support
  • Regulation & performance throughout the run is mediocre

PERFORMANCE (Measured):

P01:
830 Lumens
5.3kcd

P02:
980 Lumens
44.5kcd

P01:
Aux (high): 4.44 mA
Aux Off: 110 μmA
Moonlight: 4.98 mA

P02:
Aux (High): 3.98 mA
Aux Off: 100 μA
Moonlight: 2.32mA

As seen here in the runtime graphs, the lights manage to sustain a high output for several minutes before stepping down, which is pretty impressive. Afterwards they drop straight down, and then gradually slope off throughout the run, with decent sustained output. I would have liked to see better regulation here but it’s okay for the price point.

UI:

The worst part of these lights is the user interface - unfortunately, these do not run Anduril like other FF lights, but instead a unique interface that just isn’t very good in my opinion.

FROM OFF:
1C - ON to Mid Mode Group
1H - ON to Low Mode Group
2C - High (Turbo)
3C - SWITCH to Self-Defence Mode
4C - Lockout
9C - DEACTIVATE Aux LEDs

FROM ON:
1H - Switch to next mode in group (requires another 1H to cycle back)
1C - Off
2C - High (Turbo)

It’s a usable interface, but restrictive in that lower modes cannot be reached from the Mid mode group, the light must be turned off and then back on. If set to the higher Low 1, it will be impossible to reach Low 2 (moonlight) from off, which is a major problem in my opinion. Unscrewing the tailcap resets to Moonlight on the low group, but that is a poor solution.

Also annoying to me that there are only two modes in each group, and it does not cycle indefinitely, so 1H will cycle once and then another press is required to do anything.

The “self-defense” mode is also useless, at least for self defense; 3C will switch to this operation, with a simple on/off with 1C, and the light just runs a constant strobe when on. This is cumbersome and inappropriate for high-stress situations, while also being too easy to activate accidentally, and not allowing normal illumination until turned off. Ideally, a ‘self-defense’ strobe should be extremely easy to turn on/off without interfering with normal lighting.

Worse is the fact that the button is the same on both lights, and it requires very quick presses to register properly, leading to lots of mistakes on my part when using the light - as a point of comparison, Anduril waits longer before acting on user input, and is much easier to use because of it. This is all made even worse by the rather mushy and indistinct button, which many other customers really dislike (though I don’t mind it honestly, and I like the metal switch cover)

BUILD:

The build of these lights is fine, there are a couple sharp edges that annoy me but anodizing is very nice and colorful. The P01 however lacks a glass cover for the TIR lens, and I wish it had a steel bezel like the P02. The smaller 14500 light just has awkward proportions, the button is the same size as the larger P02 (and PL09!) which is just way too big for this little AA-size flaslight.

BEAM:

The beams on both lights display some artifacting, but have a very nice pattern and are great in use. The P01 uses a Nichia 519a in 2700K, which has a beautiful warm white beam with a high CRI and neutral tint. The Osram CSLNM1.TG (W1) in the P02 throws very far and is quite impressive.

The emitters in my lights are the standard (and only) options available on Firefly-outdoor.com, but an email to the company will allow you to get another emitter if you prefer - I think the P02 would be really excellent with a 519A as well!

CONCLUSION:

Overall, these lights are fine. A poor but usable UI is the main thing holding them back for me, if they ran Anduril I would be extremely happy. As is, they represent decent value, though I think the larger P02 is the better buy, while the P01 is a poor competitor to the likes of the TS10, M150, E2A, T3, etc. It’s unique, but that’s not enough for me to recommend it.

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Love your reviews. I know you have new YouTube home but your channel is still the best!

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No USB port and that’s good . Probably good host for modding.

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Thanks for the review! :+1:
Are these the flashlights where everyone was complaining about how large the button was (in another thread)?
(I honestly don’t remember.)

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Yeah they would be a great platform for some mods!

I did forget to mention in the written review that the included cells have USB-C charging ports, but the 14500 that came with the P01 was pretty-low quality and didn’t have a custom wrap - though I think that was just because I was one of the early orders.

I don’t know the thread in particular but I’ve seen lots of complaints about the buttons here, both the size and the action. They are also relatively easy to press accidentally since they are so prominent.

Thank you! I’m really excited about the new opportunities, but this channel still has some cool stuff coming too :slight_smile:

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These are what i call novelty lights. Very cool, nice to have, but not for emergency purposes.

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Yeah they are a pretty decent way to get someone into the hobby, with included rechargable cells and an interface that’s actually fine for muggle use since you can’t really mess up the configuration.

Like other 14500 lights, If the P01 had dual-fuel capabilities, it would be a pretty good emergency option as well.

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Well said.

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I don’t think the strobe UI is too bad as it means the strobe is hidden from most users, but once activated, can be accessed by a single click. This may be better for some users than having to double or triple click from off like on most new UIs. Also, yay for constant frequency strobe.

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The UI is weird, can’t get all 3 lo,med,hi mode without turning it off and back on again. Not sure why they made it like that. I thought the switch was lit by a LED but it’s not, it’s lit up by the aux light. It is a lot dimmer than their pictures shown. I have the P02 but my friend got the P01 and he said his battery drains in 4 days with just aux light and eventually the battery just died. Not sure if they used some crappy 14500.

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I didn’t think about light painting, the strobe in this UI is definitely well-suited to that. I’ve also heard people say they use strobe as a means of making themselves stand out at night when crossing the street or similar, which is another good use-case for this strobe.

The button light is very dim, which sadly dimishes its usefulness when set bezel-down (though it’s not disturbing at night which is nice). I don’t know what 14500 cell they’re using, but it’s quite cheap (mine didn’t have a custom wrap and the plastic disc on the anode was peeling off) - you would probably get better runtimes/standby times with a better cell.

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Nice review as always!

What was the low voltage protection behavior and cutoff point? I know as designed, the driver is supposed to have it, but it’s clear that it was heavily tweaked for Jack, and I just haven’t seen any reviews or comments anywhere that are mentioning these basic details. While you had the meter out did you test mode amps, too, or just the aux? Might be nice to know what the drain is with the aux lights off and also while in lockout mode, although both are surely very minimal with this driver.

I dont’ think I’ll get this one but it did catch my eye at first. Button complaints were the first feedback but it just seems like it was kind of rushed in some ways - the details about the UI are what killed it for me (I could have tolerated the button and the bulk…). His ano colors sure are nice.

All the 14500s are pretty cheap…wrap means nothing. It’d be interesting to see if the better ones like the Vapcell H10/L10/new gold one do any better, though. Your run times and lumen levels kinda suggest it’s not a bad cell but kinda typical performance for 14500, maybe better than some cheaper lights but that’s likely owing to the driver.

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@Correllux The aux lights shutoff at about 2.9v, and the light itself shuts off completely at 2.8v, so there shouldn’t be any particular isseus with overdischarge… however, I don’t actually know if that’s the battery protection circuit or the driver (I don’t have a power supply to test that right now)

The drain levels are for Aux-high, lockout/aux off (same drain), and moonlight mode. I didn’t test the higher modes though

Yeah the 14500 cell itself is fine, just the extra wrap over the protection circuit was missing and the top contact isolator was peeling off, other units I saw online had a proper branded wrap so it was probably just because I ordered mine early that I didn’t have the final production version that would ship to buyers. Performance wise there aren’t any issues, and again it seems to be a good value overall considering its inclusion.

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Thanks, LuxWad! That’s good to know. Seems like several lights these days are doing odd things (or no things) with LVP. I was playing with a Wurkkos model and I don’t know if it’s relying on Anduril or has something else in the driver, but it allows the cell to drain much further than it probably should (severe stepdown behavior starts at 2.9v on the dot, but the emitters and aux will go down below 2.7v and so far by bumping the main emitters over and over, it seems to be able to drain down below 2.6v…going to let it just sit for some days and see what happens naturally in terms of an actual shutoff). The practical spin is that with the severity of the stepdown most people will surely be recharging immediately at that point, but always curious if the safety aspects are there in case a light is accidentally left on in a pack or a drawer or whatever…or lost in the leaves along a trail.

It’s all good if a cell dies, but the problem - especially with our enthusiast lights reaching so many new folks that don’t have much knowledge about lights/lithium yet - is when people inevitably attempt to rescue those cells or try to wham them with 2A from a deep discharge…all that jazz. We don’t need any more light lawsuits or fires threatening our shipping or our cell availability. :slight_smile:

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Thanks for your review Luxwad! (And thanks for adding the UI schematic!)

Just out of curiousity; did your P02 (and/or P03) came with a manual?

I just recieved my (won) P02 today and I was surprised that Fireflylites didn’t include any manual and therefore no instructions on the “special” UI they used on this flashlight! (I did remember this topic, so I just searched for this topic.)

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Neither of my lights came with manuals, which is odd because both of my PL09s came with custom manuals explaining Anduril and the other functions of the light.

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I just got mine yesterday, I was puzzled by the modes as well.
In the other hand, it’s nice to have quick access to any modes from the off state.