I am looking for a small but powerful keychain light that can be charged via USB.
I have that old silver Trusfire Mini with a T6 and ~400 lumens and I like it, but I don´t want to get the battery out and a take a charger.
I currently have the Jetbeam Mini One (“GITD plastic”) on my keychain and I’m reasonably happy with it. Max. 500 lumens (‘floody’), several ‘side lights’ (RGB LED + UV LED), built in battery with USB-C charging. There are a lot of manufacturers who make these type of lights now, so there is a lot of choice.
I also have a Trustfire Mini 2 (which I won), but even though it is smaller (with build in battery), I wouldn’t recommend it; only 2 settings (“high+low”), ugly square hotspot and the threads are ‘sharp’ and don’t feel great.
A few of them have high cri emitters if that is your thing. Single mode though. Don’t know if you need lower modes. Simple twisty, off and on. Pretty simple.
I love RovyVon keychain flashlights, but they are pricey.
RovyVon seems to get everything right that I care about.
If you’re not super picky, you’d probably be better off with something cheaper.
My most used light is a Fenix E03R, around 300 lum max, built in battery and usb C charging.
Their version 2.0 was just realeased, 500 lumens max on that one.
I prefer the first version, good mode spread, great interface, no strobe, no memory to garantee low start. The 2.0 has a mode memory and some fancy red and blue strobe modes.
Another good one is their E05R if you prefer the more standard 1xaaa tube light form factor, but its also a built in battery and USB recharged. Same interface (button, no twist head!) and a 400 lumens momentary/burst mode.
Have a friend that loves his, only light he uses work or play… Had to give him mine since his kids loved his enough to lose it.
I got the Trustfire Mini-02 and like everything about it BUT that I have to take out the battery to charge it (+ get the charger).
Then I also got and currently use a CooYoo Quantum with USB charging. I also love this one, but the Trustfire is much more powerful.
I´d really love something like the Trustfire but with USB charging.
What do you guys think about the Trustfire MC1 and the Olight Baton 3? From a first look I like them both and while they don´t seem to have keychain whole, their clips look very useful.
I have two TIP SE’s. They’re great. The UI is simple, because there are separate buttons for on/off and mode changing. They are also built well, and have useful mode spacing.
Two TIP SE’s !?
OK now you’ve convinced me. I’ll buy TIP SE soon.
((when finding something really good (and affordable ) I tend to buy two of them. I have two SC31 Pro’s, two TS10’s, nów ordering two SP10 Pro’s, etc etc. ))
I am just not fond of that form factor for a keychain light. The tube twisty AAA lights just work better on a keychain for me. I think even AA lights are too big for this use. But I can’t remember any of those (AAA) that have USB charging… and adding USB charging would add length and weight anyway. OTH, I have no problem with removing and charging or replacing a battery. Especially on a keychain light that usually does not get used often… or for very long when it is used.
I have two different Nitecore keychain flashlights.
One has a plastic body, the other has an aluminum body.
Both of them fell apart, and no longer work any more.
I had two AAA twisty keychain flashlights in the past. Put one in my keychain, lost the head, only battery tube was left . Tried the second one, made sure the head was really tight but same thing happened. I still keep their battery tubes …
Since then I really hate twisty flashlight of any type.