[Review] Lumintop EDC Pico

DavidEF · 2019-08-29T20:53:49.000Z

Mocarny:

But why someone would need tail stand in such small light?

Some people use tiny lights and/or not-so-bright lights to go to the toilet at night. So, maybe tail stand is for when you’re sitting on the pot and don’t want to have to hold the light while doing your business? I’m sure there are other uses as well. Just thought of that one first.

RelakS · 2019-09-16T18:36:25.000Z

I have an Astrolux M01, but it is an almost useless flicker party. What about with this light? I assume it is ok because no flicker is mentioned in the test.
So, my question is: if the battery dies, can it be changed, like in the Astrolux? Lumintop’s page says it have a 10180 battery, but is it welded/soldered/glued in, or replaceable?

Mocarny · 2019-09-16T20:38:09.000Z

There is no noticable pwm even on the camera.

Battery isn’t replacable, it is integrated part, so when it dies, it dies. But I wouldn’t worry about it, everything seems good quality, so battery should last reasonably long.

Terry_Oregon · 2019-09-16T23:42:17.000Z

Thanks for the review. Got mine back in May, directly from Lumintop, right after it became available. Chose pink for something different. If it had been really really pink, I would not have chosen that color. But it's more like rose gold.

It can actually tail stand - if you don't mind fiddling with it for a few seconds.

Mocarny · 2019-09-17T14:15:20.000Z

Nice rosy color

For that “toilet use” with tail standing that DavidEF mentioned, I’d choose IYP07 if I can choose from Lumintop.

phouton · 2019-11-02T23:27:32.000Z

Mocarny Thanks for this review. I loved the humor and the flashlight!

Have you checked the parasitic drain on it? How long does it hold a charge? Some reviews mention that the battery is flat after as little as 24h, which would make it useless! Lumintop EDC Pico Keychain Flashlight Review - ZeroAir Reviews

JasonWW · 2019-11-03T01:11:40.000Z

phouton:

Have you checked the parasitic drain on it? How long does it hold a charge? Some reviews mention that the battery is flat after as little as 24h, which would make it useless!

I think I see the problem.

Lights like this that twist to connect power have zero parasitic drain. When you twist it Off, the battery is not connected at all.

What Zeroair is refering to in his review is a drain due to leaving the charging cable attached. It’s as if the charging circuit does not go to sleep after it’s fully charged.

If you charge it and then remove the plug there will be zero parasitic drain so the light is fine.

If you charge it and don’t remove the plug there will be the drain.

His charging circuit might be defective or it might be it is just designed poorly. There is also the possibility that the 10mA draw he saw on his usb power meter was a draw between the charging circuit and the usb plug. Meaning the charging circuit is not pulling power from the battery at all. This would make it a non-issue.

Unfortunately, you can’t check the actual parasitic drain due to the sealed battery. My guess is it’s zero. I doubt they would design a flashlight that self drained in 24 hours.

phouton · 2019-11-03T01:18:40.000Z

Hmm, that’s a plausible explanation. Unfortunately since the charging circuit is inside the battery side of the light’s body, it’s conceivable that it might still be draining the battery even with the head not connected, no?

Ultimately it would be best to hear from owners on how long it retains a charge.

d_t_a · 2019-11-03T04:14:23.000Z

JasonWW:

phouton:

Have you checked the parasitic drain on it? How long does it hold a charge? Some reviews mention that the battery is flat after as little as 24h, which would make it useless!

I think I see the problem.

Lights like this that twist to connect power have zero parasitic drain. When you twist it Off, the battery is not connected at all.

What Zeroair is refering to in his review is a drain due to leaving the charging cable attached. It’s as if the charging circuit does not go to sleep after it’s fully charged.

If you charge it and then remove the plug there will be zero parasitic drain so the light is fine.

If you charge it and don’t remove the plug there will be the drain.

His charging circuit might be defective or it might be it is just designed poorly. There is also the possibility that the 10mA draw he saw on his usb power meter was a draw between the charging circuit and the usb plug. Meaning the charging circuit is not pulling power from the battery at all. This would make it a non-issue.

Unfortunately, you can’t check the actual parasitic drain due to the sealed battery. My guess is it’s zero. I doubt they would design a flashlight that self drained in 24 hours.

Ok, maybe that could be an explanation… but I also got the EDC Pico — I got 2 actually, a black and a pink.

The black one has the exact same issue mentioned by ZeroAir (and also in another post I visited), the battery self-drains in about 1 day, after charging it. The charging cable is NOT plugged in the EDC Pico after I finish charging it. I just let it stand (even with the head off), and the battery self-drains.

This occurs on 1 unit. The other unit EDC Pico doesn’t have this issue (at least it won’t self drain completely after several days of not using the light).

But based on the number of EDC Pico with this issue, I would think there is some real issue about the battery self-draining, but unfortunately I don’t know how to troubleshoot it…

phouton · 2019-11-03T05:27:03.000Z

Thanks for reporting. The inconsistent quality is quite disappointing. I would hope it could last months without recharging. I quite like the design and form factor.

There are many other brands that have essentially the same design but with different bodies and emitters. I wonder if they are similarly affected. Olight i1R, Wuben G series, Trustfire Mini2, Acebeam M50, and probably several others.

JasonWW · 2019-11-03T06:38:36.000Z

d_t_a:

Ok, maybe that could be an explanation… but I also got the EDC Pico — I got 2 actually, a black and a pink.

The black one has the exact same issue mentioned by ZeroAir (and also in another post I visited), the battery self-drains in about 1 day, after charging it. The charging cable is NOT plugged in the EDC Pico after I finish charging it. I just let it stand (even with the head off), and the battery self-drains.

Wow, that sounds bad. Definitely is unusable. I wonder how many units are defective like this. Have to talked to them about getting refund on it?

JasonWW · 2019-11-03T06:45:20.000Z

phouton:

There are many other brands that have essentially the same design but with different bodies and emitters. I wonder if they are similarly affected. Olight i1R, Wuben G series, Trustfire Mini2, Acebeam M50, and probably several others.

I like the Jaxmnve M1. I have several with no issues, but they don’t have the super bright mode like the pico. They are also a bit tricky to find as their store on Aliexpress isn’t there anymore.

Mocarny · 2019-11-03T10:31:41.000Z

So my Pico doesn’t have that problem, I charged it long time ago and it works fine. So yours may be defected.

And yes, when charging cable plugged in after finishing charging, battery drains itself quickly, even after 2h with that cable plugged in and a green diode shining, you can unplug it and plug again and it will shine red and charge.

agent80 · 2019-11-03T11:27:13.000Z

Cut light. Is it practical for use? 25 minutes on high and the next level is 15 lumens which is pretty much useless for outdoor use?

JasonWW · 2019-11-03T14:13:24.000Z

agent80:

Cute light. Is it practical for use? 25 minutes on high and the next level is 15 lumens which is pretty much useless for outdoor use?

15 lumen is very practical. This is not meant to replace a full size flashlight, it’s just a backup or emergency light. Great for finding the key and door lock hole at night when it’s so dark you can’t see anything. Or in a dark room, 15 lumen makes all the difference. It’s very handy.

Mocarny · 2019-11-03T23:32:16.000Z

True. I was looking for my lost dog today and this High mode was impressively bright, and 15lm for other mode was enough for illuminating path.

This high mode has short runtime of course (so better use it only for a while), but between having this small flashlight or having no flashlight there is obvious choice for me.
So you should consider this flashlight as a “130 and 15lm or nothing”

phouton · 2019-11-04T04:25:19.000Z

JasonWW That looks nice too. The Jaxmnve M1 doesn’t seem available anymore although there are some branded differently.

Mocarny Do you have a sense of how long it can hold a charge? Do you think it would make it to one, six, or twelve months?

The quality control with these tiny lights is a bit disappointing and it’s hard to keep track with the number of variants out there. Not too many reviews on them either, which is sad since I think they are the most actually useful EDC in practice because the cost to carrying them is negligible, which as pointed out, means they will be present when needed.

Mocarny · 2019-11-05T08:50:16.000Z

I have no idea how long it should hold a charge, but if it has no defect, I assume it can self drain slowly, like Li-Ion battery, so maybe a year at least. After 2 months of rare use it was still shining well.

phouton · 2019-11-06T20:45:33.000Z

Mocarny:

I have no idea how long it should hold a charge, but if it has no defect, I assume it can self drain slowly, like Li-Ion battery, so maybe a year at least. After 2 months of rare use it was still shining well.

Thanks, I would expect a decent battery/flashlight not to drain itself in less than a year. The reports of so many defective units make me hesitate, otherwise I might have already bought it. Your review made it that appealing. :sunglasses:

Sillen · 2019-11-06T23:41:03.000Z

d_t_a:

JasonWW:

phouton:

Have you checked the parasitic drain on it? How long does it hold a charge? Some reviews mention that the battery is flat after as little as 24h, which would make it useless!

I think I see the problem.

Lights like this that twist to connect power have zero parasitic drain. When you twist it Off, the battery is not connected at all.

What Zeroair is refering to in his review is a drain due to leaving the charging cable attached. It’s as if the charging circuit does not go to sleep after it’s fully charged.

If you charge it and then remove the plug there will be zero parasitic drain so the light is fine.

If you charge it and don’t remove the plug there will be the drain.

His charging circuit might be defective or it might be it is just designed poorly. There is also the possibility that the 10mA draw he saw on his usb power meter was a draw between the charging circuit and the usb plug. Meaning the charging circuit is not pulling power from the battery at all. This would make it a non-issue.

Unfortunately, you can’t check the actual parasitic drain due to the sealed battery. My guess is it’s zero. I doubt they would design a flashlight that self drained in 24 hours.

Ok, maybe that could be an explanation… but I also got the EDC Pico — I got 2 actually, a black and a pink.

The black one has the exact same issue mentioned by ZeroAir (and also in another post I visited), the battery self-drains in about 1 day, after charging it. The charging cable is NOT plugged in the EDC Pico after I finish charging it. I just let it stand (even with the head off), and the battery self-drains.

This occurs on 1 unit. The other unit EDC Pico doesn’t have this issue (at least it won’t self drain completely after several days of not using the light).

But based on the number of EDC Pico with this issue, I would think there is some real issue about the battery self-draining, but unfortunately I don’t know how to troubleshoot it…

Got 1 pink and 1 black in May 2019. Black is fine, pink self drains quite quickly.

Purchased another black in August - no self drain.