“REVIEW”: Livarnolux 314791 – Push-Pull Zoomie Flashlight – 2xAA – Cheap – From LIDL!!! =)

LED Flashlights – General Info Multiple AA / 14500 Flashlights
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Hi BLF!
This is the review of the LIVARNOLUX 314791!
It is a 4,99€ flashlight I bought in LIDL super market. More information can be found here.

This is a 2xAA flashlight, a push pull-zoomie!
I couldn’t find any review here on BLF. However, there are other zoomie flashlights from this brand and from this market referred here before.
Here´s the thread where you can find it: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/55182

The main reason why I bought this light was for FUN!
I do like zoomable flashlights, I have 4 or 5, but I was curious to see how good or bad these lights are!
Also, I was looking to see how moddable they can be! Check it down below to see what I think :wink:

GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS
Body Colour: Black
Material: Anodized Aluminum
Emitter: Cree XPE – 3W
Lens: Plastic (acrylic?), optical
Battery: 2 x AA
Switch: Reverse clicky tail switch
Max runtime: 5 hours on high / 12 hours on Low
Max beam distance: 80m
Max output: 120 lumens
Waterproofness: IP44
Candela: Not Specified
Impact resistance: Not Specified
Low Voltage Warning: Not Specified
Reverse Polarity Protection: Not Specified

Despite the user manual and the package has some information about the flashlight, it is not complete as other manufacturers we know! And if even the “big brands” don’t have all the “important” information, would we expect that from a “super market” brand? :stuck_out_tongue:

PACKAGE: THE FLASHLIGHT & ACCESSORIES

The flashlight comes in a plastic box! Inside we find the LIVARNOLUX 314791, with a lanyard already attached, 2 x AA Maxell batteries and a User Manual!
In the back of the package there is some general information about the flashlight!


The flashlight has a “shiny” look, but the anodizing doesn’t seem to be hard! Despite the price and the type of flashlight, it has no visible imperfections.
The flashlight is composed by 3 main parts: head, battery tube and tailcap! It has some square knurling in the battery tube, and it has some thin grooves in the head and in the tail.

The threads are thin and seem to be triangular. They are not lubbed so they will need some work! Even with some lubrication, they seem to wear fast with the screw/unscrew! There are o-rings in each extremity of the tube. The edges of the tubes are anodized, but the threads are not!
This means that physical lock-out is not possible!!!

The battery tube is reversible but it has a cut in the upper part, unlike the lower part. The pocket clip can also be used in the upper or in the lower part of the tube.

The head works as a push-pull zoomie that can be easily operated with one hand, despite being a little stiff. It is composed by: bezel, optical lens, white o-ring; aluminium pill with an XPE LED (???), white gasket/reflector, o-ring and the driver. There is also the “sliding” part of the headm which I didn’t dismantle. There is a yellow “warning sticker” outside the bezel.



The lens is plastic, not AR coated (of course). I didn’t try it for scratch resistance :stuck_out_tongue:

The pill is hollow and it has an o-ring around the top; the driver is around 14.8mm; the LED PCB is aluminium, 0.6mm thick and around 14mm diameter (but smaller). The white gasket is press fit and it can be pushed from below, after taking the driver apart.
The driver has no spring but it has some kind of insulation plastic. Maybe due to this, the batteries rattle a little bit inside.

About the LED, it seems be XPE, but it is the first time I have this kind of LED, so I don’t know if it is a real Cree or a fake? Any clue? BTW, the led was a bit dirty as you can see on the last macro :smiley:

The tailcap has a black rubber cap and it is tough to click. In the interior, it has a thin spring that emerges from a white plastic “platform”! I didn’t dismantle it as I didn’t want to damage it! The tailcap also has a drawing about the correct polarity of the batteries. The switch is reverse clicky! For the looks, it doesn’t appear to have a PCB, just the switch with the spring.
I must mention that the tail button protrudes a little bit, hindering it from tailstanding perfectly. Also, when using a lanyard in the hole, it complicates even more :X

ACCESSORIES
About the accessories, well, the lanyard won’t even be mentioned, it is not worthy! It is cheap cheap and with poor quality. The batteries are regular 1.5V AA alkaline batteries. Nothing more to say too!
The pocket clip is thin. It allows a so-so retention so I wouldn’t trust it for carrying the light…if it was expensive! LOL This way, it is good as it is and being reversible, it may get some use!

The User Manual is written in 3 languages: French (FR and BE), Flemish (NL and BE) and German (DE, AT and CH). I only know French so I gave it a quick read to see if there was any relevant information. Nothing relevant apart from what has been mentioned.

I took this photo only, ’cause I found it funny! :smiley: Specially the part referring to the User Interface :FACEPALM:

USER INTERFACE & RUNTIME

The flashlight has 4 modes : High > Low > Strobe > SOS.
Besides this, it has a weird “no memory/ next mode memory”:

  • If the light is turned OFF and turned ON within 0-4 seconds, it will turn in the next mode (next mode memory).
  • If the light is turned OFF and turned ON after 5 seconds, it will turn on in High mode (no memory).

As you may guess, it was not this AMAZING UI that took me to pick this light, right?!!! :stuck_out_tongue:

Despite this, the user interface is simple:

  • Turn ON/ Turn OFF - Single Full Click
  • Change modes - From ON, half press to advance the modes in the sequence High > Low > Strobe > SOS .
  • OR, as mentioned in the USER MANUAL, you can full click for ON and full click for OFF rapidly to change modes! :smiley: Funny, no? NO! :stuck_out_tongue:

The only information provided about runtimes is that it will last:

  • High – 5 Hours
  • Low – 12 hours

SIZE COMPARISON
Just for reference, along with my other two 2xAA flashlights, the Tool 25 and the Blitzwolf BW-ET1 (host, ATM):

PWM AND BEAMSHOTS
I didn’t do specific photos over the led to show PWM because the other beamshots already show it. PWM is not visible at naked eye, but it is very visible with the camera.

The distance covered on High is not much more than 40-50m when zoomed IN. When zoomed OUT it clearly decreases and is about 20m max.

The beam has several shifts, some of which cannot be seen in the photos: there is a slightly yellowish “dot” in the center of the beam; then a pure white “hallo”; then a yellowish to greenish spill; then a “white-that-seems-blue-or-purple” ring, and and then again the yellowish-greenish outer spill!
I hope you can see it in the photos… In resume, not good! Lol

Wall closeup >>>>>> Ceiling

Beam profile
Zoomed Out >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Zoomed In

Beamshots
Zoomed Out

Zoomed In

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS!

I did this review for FUN more than anything else. Cheap Zoomable flashlights deserve their place in our flashaholic world! They are surely useful for some people and someone spent time and money to make it work. So it has to be recognized and respected! :THUMBS-UP:

Despite this, the flashlight doesn’t have an astonishing quality! It also needs to be said.

The exterior looks good, there are no visible physical flaws (according to its design), the zoomable function performs well.
It is a basic light that can be used as backup. Using AA batteries (or eventually Ni-MH, which I also tested and that have a tight fit!!!) it can be seen as a backpack or car flashlight!

However, I do believe that most of us wouldn’t use it on a daily basis: few lumens, PWM, baaaad tint shift, hollow pill, triangular threads, XPE led, aluminum PCB, no physical lockout, not tailstanding, acrylic lens… .

BUT, it has some modding potential, I guess. Putting brass, copper or aluminum into the pill for heatsink; using a better LED over a DTP MCPCB (careful, the white gasket/reflector may not fit correctly if it gets too much raised), and specially a better driver, can make this a niceflashlight! The heatsink and heat dissipation will probably less than perfect, but it can be a funny light with an appropriate mod :wink:

Speaking about mods… the Nitefox ES10K body threads into the head :smiley: I put some round magnets to make contact between the battery and the driver and…it worked :smiley:

I didn’t do comparative beamshots because my zoomies were not available at the time! So…this Livarno Lux has its’ moments of glory ^:) :smiley:

Hope you enjoyed this “cheappo” light review as much as I did :stuck_out_tongue:

Be well! :beer:

2

Looks similar to an XB-D or XT-E, but not quite.

3

Thanks for the detailed teardown. Might be a useful flashlight with a White Flat 1mm in there.

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Hum, I was searching but found no correspondence. XP-G3 seems to be similar too, but the inner “square” is smaller than the XP-G3 :zipper_mouth_face:

Thanks SKV89! Yup, a throwy led like that may be a good option! Also, it probably wouldn’t create such a huge tint shift :stuck_out_tongue:

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Probably just some generic Mystery LED for cheap.

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So, in the couple days I’ve been messing with this Livarnolux flashlight.

I replaced the driver for the one Lumintop Tool AA (V1) and put a XPL-HD led. The driver is not the best, it whines in the Low and Medium modes, but at least it doesn’t have strobes nor blinkies nor memory.

Due to the shape of the driver and the diameter of the pill, I had to shave the edges of the driver a little bit.
On the top, I “had to” solder the XPL-HD to the original PCB board, as I wasn’t finding another one with that specific size. I wish I could have put a thick piece of alu/brass/copper below the PCB to heatsink, but I didn’t have any with that diameter at hand.

The beam didn’t change that much, although it is brighter and less Cool White .
But usability has improved :wink:
_

After doing this mod, I got inspired and I bought another Livarnolux flashlight at Lidl. It was around 7€ (around 2€ more expensive that the reviewed above).
It is a different model, it is the Livarnoux 314951!

The overall length is the same, but this one is slightly thicker and larger. The parts are not interchangeable between the two lights.

It came with 2xAA batteries, a lanyard with split ring, and a belt holder (the other one didn’t have this, but…it doesn’t worth more 2€…).

About the quality…I feel that the 314951 has overall less quality than the 314791 version. Why?
#The threads on both ends of the battery tube are very irregular, were not lubbed and wear out much faster;
#The driver wires to the PCB were poorly soldered (see the photo below);
#The o-ring on the head is not completely round and it is missing a part (on my sample);
#The white gasket is more pressed and it put some difficulties to take it out from the driver part;
#The matte anodizing is more prone to be scratched (specially by the NON-REVERSIBLE clip) and already had some scratches when I took it out of the box.

What is different on this 314951 model?
#The UI is: Medium - High - Strobe with memory! :person_facepalming:
#The pill is shorter;
#The driver is slightly larger in diameter (see the photo, the one with white tape, on the left, is the ’951 version);
#The anodizing is matte, not shiny;
#The overall shape is different, of course;
#The bezel is like a smaller ring, not a big part with the lens+o-ring incorporated as the ’791 version;

What may be slightly better ?
#The inner o-ring of the zooming part was well lubbed;
#The push-pull is smoother and faster (maybe too much!) than on the ’791 version, where the action is harder
#The overall body, being thicker, makes it seem more robust, as a work light!

What did I mod immediately?
1 - I replaced PCB (put a slightly thicker on, from alu) and the LED (put a XPL-HI NW around 4000-45000K, but I can’t remember the reference)
2 - I replaced the driver, and put a Reylight Pineapple driver (a version from 2016) with ML-L-M-H (that whines in all modes except in ML). However, I had to put a brass ring around the driver to hold it in place, due to the pill diameter. I soldered the driver to that ring.
3 - As I was having some kind of malfunction (the light was not turning ON when the PCB was in place :neutral_face: ) , I had to put some tape behinh the Led PCB to insulate it from the pill! All works now :smiley:

If I can, during the weekend I will try to take some photos comparing both light’s beams!