“Three thousand friggin lumens for two dollars!”
Thats what I exclaimed as I saw this new (?) AAA light on ebay, almost spilling
my morning coffee all over my keyboard. 3500 lumens on a triple-A light is
something unheard of, and I quickly ordered one. Is this dynamic stick of
dynamite going to do history?
Fast forward a couple of weeks and it arrived. In anticipation, I had already
dumped my Olights and Convoys in the backyard dumpster. Who needs 1000 lumens
when you can have 3500 in a smaller light?
I admired the sleek little wonder. I couldn’t imagine how they were going to
pull something like 50 amps from a humble eneloop battery, but obviously their “high
efficiency booster circuit” had something to do with it. And just imagine the cooling system
which allows an XPE to do 3500 lumens. Certainly no-one has done that before. Those crafty Chinese…
In no time I clamped it in front of my diy integrating sphere. I also had my fire extinguisher ready
in case things get totally out of hand. I put my sunglasses on, and protective goggles over them. You know, just to be sure.
I slid an eneloop battery in to the light, took a deep breath, and then pressed
the tailcap power switch which energized this stick of dynamite.
60 lumens.
Perhaps it was just warning before it REALLY turns on? 60 lumens is, after all, just 1.7% of claimed 3500 lumens.
I waited, holding my breath, but after few minutes my vision started to turn white, and I had to give up and face
the dark facts: No history was made, and it was time to do some dumpster diving…
Ok, kidding aside, this is pretty nice little zoomer. Here are the specs from the ebay listing.
Specifications:
- Brand: Sky Wolf Eye
- Emitter Brand: Cree
- LED Type: XM-L
- Emitter BIN: Q5
- Light Color: White
- Casing Color: Black
- Material: Aluminum Alloy
- Lumen: 3500 Lumens
- Power Supply: 1 x AAA Battery (Not Including)
- Mode Arrangement: high / middle / SOS
- Lifespan: 100000 Hours
- Switch Type: Clicky
- Switch Location: Tial
- Strap/Clip: Strap Included
- Zoomable: Yes
- Dimensions: 80*13*13mm
- Weight: 20g
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The specs seem to be all over the place, like they often are. XM-L emitter, waterproof, hi/mid/strobe?
It has none of those, it’s just ONE MODE light. It weighs 18g. And it didn’t come with a strap either.
Lenght is right (80mm), but the diameter is 14.5mm. Didn’t try the waterproofness claim, but I doubt it…
It has one of those purplish-hue XPE emitters, which are familiar probably to everyone who has bought a cheap ebay flashlight.
It has the stiffest switch I’ve ever tried. I thought it was broken at first, but when
I rammed my thumb as hard as I could on the switch, it turned on. Certainly works as
a competent child lock-out feature.
Here it is compared to some other lights. Certainly one of smallest zoomies out there.
the beam angle seems rather narrow even in the widest setting. Beam width is 80cm/31.5” at
1 meter/39.4” distance.
Taking the light apart…
Driver & led seems to be about 10mm diameter each, with no emitter shelf.
And last but no least we see the below-average efficiency.
So in the end you get what you pay for. Unless you expected 3500 lumens, that is
But in defence of this light, about 60 lumens in AAA light is nothing to sneeze at.
I would still advice you add few bucks and get a 5$ Singfire sf-348.