I just keep a DQG spy on both keychains. Those listed above are just too big and heavy for me. I have a different light in my pocket if I need the extra brightness, runtime or any of the extra features. That Skilhunt E3A is a very nice little light and I like the single mode twisty. There is a nice little place in my truck that holds one or those and a knife. My truck is decked out for a zombie apocalypse so it’s not the only gear in there. 
I gave my wife and daughters Nitecore Tiki’s as stocking stuffers last Christmas and they love them. I tend to not use mine so much as I always have a light in my pocket.
Sad about visible pwm, besides this what I dislike of these key lights is the exposed 5mm Led which is annoying during the use.
Can be covered with the thumb (which will turn red :person_facepalming: ) or with a black cap as I did on the nitecore Tube
There’s definitely different categories for mini / keychain EDC. It’s all about intended use and size constraints. I tend not to consider AAA for keychain, though some are super small enough to work (Lumintop Tool AAA is a bit big). Sure for very simple & occasional illumination, 1 or 2 modes is fine. The Olight i1r2 is great for that. Being a twisty, no accidental activation. Holds charge for a very long time. The Sofirn SC01 is very nice but quite weighty being stainless steel. If not much illumination is ever needed, something like a Photon Freedom is superb, being so very small (CR2025 coin cell powered), AND it has ramping, momentary mode, constant on mode, plus a hidden blinkie.
I did manage to get a RovyVon A5 clone for like $11 on sale last year. RovyVon is better build quality, but the clone is competent for the price. And the clone has USB-C (finally RovyVon caught up, but after I already bought a 2nd gen A5 with Micro-USB [damn]), except the protector plug became impossible to keep on. Not really worried because it’s a throw-around light
I had forgotten about the Trustfire MINIX. For about $16.50 on sale it’s a nice price. If I wasn’t already saturated with mini EDC flashlights I’d buy one.
Plenty lights but obviously none is perfect, all have pro & cons.
MiniX style dual button with ramping and firefly mode for both Leds (E21A 2000k + PC deep Red) pwm free would be my prefer key light for night use.
I have TINI2 and I like it very much. It is very light (21g) and small. The most impressive feature of TINI2 I think is the OLED display. It displays battery levels in voltages (up to two decimal points) as well as output in lumens and the remaining time at the output.
The only downside I think is that it uses low CRI leds. It uses two Osram P2 leds at around 5000K color temperature. The tint looks okay in real life, but if photographed it looks a bit greenish.
I would gladly give up some runtime if it used high CRI with good tint. It can be charged using usb-c and is charged relatively quickly, so charging is not a big deal. Also, the light gives you detailed information on the charge level so you can plan ahead when you need longer run time.
I am waiting for the next version to include some high CRI leds.
Convoy makes a keychain light that Vinh will upgrade to Nichia 519A. Love mine:
I was so tempted to get a RovyVon E8 on sale… but it’s way too redundant for forking out that kind of cash ($48 is cheapest I’ve seen it). The Trustfire MINIX came out a few years ago, but it’s still commanding around $16 when on sale. I don’t really like this brand, because still have clear memories of their battery fiascos back in the early 2010’s (low quality, exaggerated specs). However, the it does seem like the MINIX has a terrific following, no negative reviews of note. I think I’ll pick one up given the enthusiasm here.
nice upgrade, very reasonable price
aaa size:
thrunite Ti3 V2 weighs 25 grams w 10 gram eneloop inside
Stainless steel AAA single mode light: $9
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2251832544191765.html
weights 37 grams w a 10 gram eneloop inside
AA Size:
The Rovy A23 weighs 50 grams, comparable in “size” expressed as weight, to Wurkkos TS10 at 52 grams w 14500 inside.
rectangular:
Trustfire MINIX, carry weight 22 grams
Nitecore Tini 13 grams
liptstick:
the Rovy A5 carry weight 17 grams
coincell:
Photon Freedom carry weight 7 grams
I’ve been carrying around a Nitecore Tini (original version) for a couple of years on my key ring. It had issues with unwanted switching on in my pocket so I added some thin silicon mat under the switches to make it harder to turn on. I also leave it on demo mode which times out after about 15 seconds? (If it’s switched on a 2nd time it will stay on.) The light output is amazing for the size and it has taken a bashing always being in my pocket attached to about 15 keys. It still works even though it doesn’t look pretty.
If they’d simply upgraded it with a better switch lockout it would be perfect. I don’t know if an OLED display on the larger Tini 2 is really something desirable? I much prefer the compact rectangular format to a longer round cylinder.
Prior to the Tini I had a Photon Freedom, but the two really don’t compare as far as light output goes.
I was far more pleased with the Trustfire MiniX than I expected to be. MascaratumB’s review is what sold me. It’s a great little light…the Fenix is damn near the same exact thing for a tad more money. I like the look of that Cyansky and especially the full aluminum body…for those that actually put it on a keyring that should last forever without wearing thin.
The Ultratac K18 definitely deserves mention for a slim AAA cylindrical light. Side e-switch with electronic lockout, good runtime and quite bright for an AAA, glass lens, all the regular good-light stuff and easy to do an emitter swap.
I’ve also recently acquired an Olight I3E EOS (AAA battery.) It’s actually not too bad for what it is, there was an offer where it was free apart from postage cost. It’s only on/off - with no modes- which is a bit of a let down.
I’ve got the Nitecore Tini charging at the moment and will try and post some sort of beam comparison (only interior roof shot.)
The Nitecore Tini vs Olight I3E EOS
Size comparo
Thanks for that. The Nitecore Tini is definitely more usable. Nice spill and uniformity. I had to pass on Nitecore because I had an absolutely horrible experience with two Nitecore TIP CRI lights. First, lousy construction. Worst, parasitic drain that was even worse in lockout mode (so Nitecore did away with lockout altogether and provided a plastic clip/cover as a guard—totally unacceptable!). I was shocked, as I have an EC4GT that has very minimal parasitic drain in lockout. I guess they couldn’t figure out how to scale it down from 2x18650? I have read reviews of some other EDC lights by Nitecore and they seem to be doing better, but at this point getting anything more would be an over-duplication.
Speaking of which, a short while back I got a Wuben G2. It’s not bad for an angle light, making it super easy to clip onto a shirt collar or pocket for hands-free illumination. Tint is too cool, though, and the battery is a bit small. I bought it because of a flash sale.
I saw too many thumbs up for the MINIX, so I have one on the way. I really don’t need it, but $16.50 was cheap enough. I’ll have to do my own flavor of mini EDC review comparisons.
minix is ok, UI is pretty primitive and 2011-ish, though
wle
You can see from the pic that mine cops some punishment- literally in my jeans/ pants pocket everyday with all those keys rubbing on it. I tried to find when I bought it, but can’t find any record. It’s probably 5 years old? It’s lasted a lot longer than I expected it to. The output is easily good enough to use it for walking through scrub etc. I’m disappointed in a way they’ve discontinued it and the new model Tini 2 has that display- I can’t see that fairing so well in my pocket with keys. 
As mentioned there are other similar build lights from other manufacturers now. When it dies I guess I’ll be buying one of them.
OK, it arrived. Yeah the UI is a bit primitive, but it works and is actually not bad. Very nice build! And smaller than I expected. I am glad I bought it. Tint is a bit cool but acceptable. Don’t know if I’ll ever make much use of the UV light (it’s not particularly strong), but I rarely use red so I chose that.
I would’ve preferred if the MINIX came with two white primary LEDs instead of just one, a mix of CCT… and with the existing UI you could just switch between them, or have both on simultaneously. Given that the battery is 300mAh, for this sized body I’d expect something higher like 500 or even 600mAh.
The only real negative I can think of is the beam. It has a lot of artifacts (pseudo-rings). But that’s only noticeable on things like white walls.
Yeah, seems to be holding up well to the physical scuffing. My Fenix L0D has quite a bit of anodizing loss at the edges. Still works well, but I’ve retired it (don’t like the very cold CCT and trying to swap the emitter just isn’t worth the time given other lights available). I was surprised to see the TINI 2 get a display. It really makes no sense in such a small form factor. An LED showing the charge level is about it. The MINIX has green, yellow, red, and red flash indicators.
On the Tini a quick push of the top button will light it up to tell you the battery state. It’s only 1,2 or 3 flashes to indicate the level, but that works fine.
I have a DQG spy that I wear on a silver chain around my neck. I even swim with it sometimes. I really like the size.