Massdrop Brass AAA EDC Review
Hello all, this is the review of a very interesting new AAA light developed by the Massdrop community and manufactured by Lumintop. So, what is Massdrop in the first place? For those who are not familiar, they are basically groupbuy organizers for nearly every type of product money can buy: flashlights, clothing, knives, PC accessories, photography stuff, high end audio, EDC items… you get the idea.
There is a large EDC community on Massdrop and they had the idea of creating an custom compact flashlight, one that is made from Brass, uses readily available AAA batteries, produces enough light for everyday tasks, and that is easy on your wallet. I’ve been a member on massdrop for many years and they contacted me to review it, but note that my unit is still a prototype so a couple details can still change on the final revision.
The Massdrop AAA Brass EDC will go live on 1/31/2017 6AM PST, with a price tag of $24.99.
Link: (They say it should be up anytime now) Drop Brass AAA Pocket Flashlight | Flashlights | Pocket Flashlights
Quick description and Specs by the manufacturer:
The Massdrop Brass AAA Pocket Flashlight is about the size of a tube of chapstick—but it pumps out up to 110 lumens and casts a beam as far as 154 feet. Despite measuring less than 3 inches long, it weighs 1.5 ounces for a substantial feel in the hand. And thanks to its solid brass construction it will develop a natural patina over time, unique to each user.
Material: Brass
LED: CREE XP-G2 R5
Max beam intensity: 553 cd
Max beam distance: 154 ft (47 m)
Battery: 1 AAA
Low mode: 5 lumens, 36 hrs
Medium mode: 32 lumens, 4 hrs
High mode: 110 lumens, 30 min
Removable pocket clip
IPX-8 waterproof
1.5 m impact resistant
Working voltage: 0.9 – 1.5V
Dimensions: 2.9 x 0.6 in (7.4 x 1.5 cm)
Weight (with battery): 1.5 oz (42.5 g)
It also comes in a Nichia 219B version, with a variation on the performance:
LED: Nichia 219B LED
Max beam intensity: 304 cd
Max beam distance: 111 ft (34 m)
Battery: 1 AAA
Low mode: 3 lumens, 36 hrs
Medium mode: 18 lumens, 4 hrs
High mode: 80 lumens, 30 min
Unboxing
The Massdrop AAA ships in a sealed vacuum bag to avoid unwanted patina and comes with a plastic box. If you had a Maratac AAA in the past this packing should look pretty familiar to you.
It also comes with 2 spare o-rings and a keychain clip.
Build Quality, fit and finish
Upon first picking it up I immediately noticed the substantial, hefty feel to it, because of the brass construction and metallic tail cap. The finish is shiny bare brass, no machining marks to be seen. Of course this pretty finish won’t last very long due to development of patina, although brass does last a little longer than copper. I guess many of you have already noticed the similarities with the well known Lumintop Tool Ti, except for the material of course. 
The gold plated clip is stiff enough to securely hold the light in your pocket. It presses against the body and doesn’t affect when turning the head.
Size and Weight:
A look from the back, here is where it attaches to the keychain
A closer look at the tail switch which is made of titanium. This is an electronic switch meaning that there’s no latching action, but instead a very short travel click with good tactile feedback.
Closer look at the head, it has a GITD o-ring, AR coated glass and OP reflector. Here you can see the knurling in detail, it is very light but I find it adequate for the size and weight.
My unit came with a perfectly centered CW XP-G2 R5 emitter
Size comparison vs the Maratac AAA, which is also manufactured by Lumintop
Finish comparison vs my Prince Brass (also Lumintop :P). This is a couple weeks worth of patina and very light use.
Compared to the Nitecore tube, it is much slimmer and for most people it goes easier on a keychain.
Size compared to some small objects
And some EDC items
Couple more pictures
It disassembles in 3 parts: tail, body and head
The threads are triangular cut, arrived very clean with no left over debris from the machining process.
Closer look at the driver and tailcap. Because the switch is electronic, there are some components in the tailcap. Even though the body is made from bare brass, lockout is still possible by loosing the head 1/4 of a turn.
UI and performance
UI: The Massdrop AAA has 3 modes: Low, medium and high. The light always starts at medium, a single click turns it ON and OFF. A quick double click toggles the mode to LOW, and again to High, then repeat. There is no memory and no blinky modes of any kind. This UI was voted favorite by most because it is easy to use and medium mode offers enough output for most close-up situations.
Note: when inserting batteries into the light for the first time you might notice it won’t immediately turn on, don’t panic! This is normal due to the electronic switch design, it uses a small capacitor/battery to toggle between on/off status and this battery discharges over time. Just leave the AAA battery for a couple minutes and it should turn on after that.
The Massdrop AAA officially supports Alkaline, NiMH and Lithium primaries, Li-ion 10440 also works by sacrificing the modes (will always stay on high), but not recommended due to the high current delivered to the driver and LED.
Current draw on NiMH and Alkaline:
Output and Beamshots
Spec’d trow: 553cd
Measured throw: 765cd measured at 3M
The beam produced by the massdrop AAA is the floody type with a smooth spill-spot transition, as expected from a small OP reflector. My tint was pure white, with a slight tint shift in the lowest mode. The closest light to compare the output with would be the Nitecore TIP CRI on high mode, where both lights have almost the exact same output, but the AAA having a much tighter hotspot.
Camera setting: F4.0; 1/30s; ISO200
Low
Med
High
Runtime figures from the specs:
Low mode: 5 lumens, 36 hrs
Medium mode: 32 lumens, 4 hrs
High mode: 110 lumens, 30 min
In my tests the runtime on high was spot on with an Eneloop AAA, delivering pretty much flat output over 34 mins. With the Alkaline cell the initial output is similar to NiMH but it slowly drops over time and it runs for a little bit more than an hour before shutting down.
On medium mode total runtime with Eneloop was 3hr 42min, again flat output with a small peak before the drop.
Final words: A solidly built and great looking AAA light that combines uncommon material with familiar looks, performance and reliability. I for one would love to see an AA version, with higher output and full li-ion support.
The good:
-Solid brass construction, functional pocket clip
-Good output and flat runtime on NiMH
-AR coated glass and GITD o-ring
-Great price!
Room for improvement:
-Official li-ion support would be nice
-Availability of higher bin XP-G2 such as S4
Thanks for reading and I hope this review was helpful!
