[Review] Lumintop FW1AA - 14500 Anduril2 pocket thrower

LED Flashlights – General Info 1 x AA / 1 x 14500 Flashlights
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Intro
Lumintop is pretty well known around here for producing the FW series of lights (FW3A, FWAA, etc) and also an interesting lineup of throwers that all started with the BLF GT (or “Giggles” if you’re so inclined). Today’s review unit comes from the former lineup - a newcomer to the FW series, the FW1AA. If you wanted to put some meaning behind that, “FW” is for Fritz Works (the original designer of the FW3A body), “1” is for being a single LED (not a triple), and while the “A” in FW3A was for Aluminum, you could venture to say that the “AA” in FW1AA is for this being an AA-sized light, even thought it only accepts 14500 batteries, not alkaline or NiMH.

FlashlightBrand approached me about reviewing the Lumintop FW1AA, of course I had to say yes - I can’t deny exploring a new installment of the FW series. A big shout out to FlashlightBrand for providing the light for the review. Note: aside from providing the light, no other compensation has been provided, nor have they put any other stipulations on the review (eg, giving it so many “stars” or saying particular things about it… nothing of the sort).

Packaging
Like many other Lumintop FW-series lights, the FW1AA arrived in a 2-piece brown cardboard box with a foam insert. The foam is cut out to hold an array of goodies: flashlight, manual, clip, spare o-rings, and a battery.

Build Quality & Usage
The FW lights have a very recognizable design language. This is instantly picked up as being a member of the family, its the little fireball brother of the original. The anodizing and machining are very clean and well done. The captive 2-way clip provides good assurance that it’s not going anywhere. There’s a lone e-switch in the tail, whose signal is carried to the driver via the dual-tube design. The metal switch button features that cute little bunny that we all know and love.

LED & Beam
The Lumintop FW1AA comes in your choice of three emitters:

  • Osram KW CSLNM1.TG 6500K
  • Nichia 219CT 4000K
  • Luminus SST20 4000K
    Mine arrived with the Osram CSLNM1.TG. This is the go-to LED for throw as long as you don’t mind the cool-white, average-CRI beam. If you prefer warmer, high-CRI you might want to check out one of the other LEDs. The Osram model is spec’ed at 27kcd for 329 meters of throw. I measured mine at 27,475cd at turn-on and 24,150cd at 30 seconds… so very close to spec. My Opple Light Master provided the following info:

User Interface
The UI is Anduril 2. That means you have access to all sorts of modes, configurations, etc. Too complicated for you? Check out the Simple UI. Not sure what all the fuss is about Anduril 2 or how to use it? Refer to this post for more information.

Batteries & Charging
The Lumintop FW1AA came with a Lumintop-branded USB-C rechargeable 14500 battery. It performed really nicely and its really convenient having the integrated USB-C port. Not worrying about having a Li-ion charger around is great, especially when you’re traveling. I observed a 2.1 watt charging speed, completing the charge cycle in 2 hours and 44 minutes. Note that alkaline AA batteries and NiMH are NOT compatible.

Performance
Lumintop rated this light at 700 lumens, which seems accurate as long as we’re talking about turn-on values or you have the thermal limit cranked up. In the (thermally calibrated) default config with the 45C limit, the FW1AA (like many Anduril lights) starts ramping down pretty quickly. Overall, performance was good and it acted just like you would expect of an Anduril-based FET+1 flashlight.

Verdict
Lumintop has really cranked out a lot of new FW-series models over the past few years. At this point, there has got to be a size and feature combination to suit most use cases. For me, I’m glad to finally see a AA-sized single-emitter version because that’s my go-to config for EDC pocket carry. I personally find that to be the optimal size for being unobtrusive in my pocket, and the single-emitter version (especially with the Osram KW CSLNM1.TG) can throw a bit when you need it to. The USB-C charging 14500 battery means that I never have to worry about getting stuck with a dead battery and no charger. All in all, I think this is a pretty sweet little package. I would be amiss if I didn’t give a final shout-out to FlashlightBrand for providing the flashlight for this review!

Links (non-aff)

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Thanks for the nice review Gabriel!
I have to admit i still do not own any FWXX series light, and actually don’t even know what’s so unique about this specific light. Didn’t they already release a single emitter 14500 FWAA ?
(i have lost the count of variants they released)

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I agree, it’s really easy to lose track of these FW lights. I certainly don’t have a firm grasp on all of the models and when they were released. The FWAA (the triple) has been out for a little bit. In poking around, it looks like production of the FW1AA began in June 2022 so I’d say this is just a few months old.

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This review is of that light … the FW1AA.

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Sorry for having lost count

FW1AA
Single OSRAM NM1 LED 14500

FW4X
Quad (2x nichia & 2x Cree) 18650

FW3G

FWAA
triple 14500

FW3X

FW21 X9L
Single SBT90

FW3A
(original TLF&BLF communty)

FW1A Pro
18650 Single Cree XHP50

FW21
21700 FW3A

FW21Pro
Triple reflector XHP50.2

FW3A Copper

FW3A Titanium
(polished or sandblasted)

FW4A
Quad 18650

FW1A
Single XPL-Hi 18650

FW3A Brass

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How’s the beam on yours ? Mine is kind of diform, potato shaped, not that I care since I bought it for modding it, but they should have gone with a classic 3535 LED and OP reflector, for example SST-20 if they want to keep some throw, the beam would’ve been much more balanced instead of this super narrow one, which isn’t really useful for a small EDC light in my opinion.

On their Aliexpress store they have SST-20 and 219C versions listed but not available, I messaged them about it and this was their reply :

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Beam pattern on mine is good. Nice blend of spot and spill, though I agree for EDC use an OP reflector would be nicer.

I have the Nichia 219C version. Received it probably 6+ weeks ago. These were in production even if they aren’t anymore.

I swapped the emitter for a dedomed Nichia 519a.

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Oh, where did you bought it from ? I checked their Aliexpress store a few times since the initial release but I never saw the SST-20/219C available. Anyway I’ll also put a 519A in there, with a Gagionne TIR lens probably, kaidomain also has one or 2 Op reflector that could fit.

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I preordered mine when they were first released. I’d have to check where I got it. Most likely Lumintop Lighting, but possibly Neals Gadgets.

Lumintop Lighting shows 103 in stock of the 4000K 219C version.

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OK thanks, that’s new because I checked there too before going with the CSLNM1, anyway if they are also SMO then it doesn’t matter.

Edit : your link is for the FWAA

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Oops! My bad.

Looks like Nealsgadgets has the FW1AA with Nichia

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My primary EDC since it came out is the fw1a. Because of this I could not resist the fw1aa. I pre-ordered all three leds at Neil’s gadgets with the extra deep carry clips. These are my first 14500 because I always considered that battery just too small. And I still do for my use. The bezel on the osram was not glued or loctited but the bezel on the other two and all three tail caps have some sort of blue loctite or other glue. Well actually the tail cap on the osram and the bezel on the nichia has not been removed yet because they don’t move by hand. The nichia has the largest hot spot and least amount of throw. The sst20 is my favorite. The osram has a very tight spot and throws farther than the other two by a long shot. And it does not get hot and it does not use a whole lot of battery. It gets a little warm with a full battery. I have not measured amp draw or confirmed temperature settings on any of them yet. I have a wrist strap of 550 cord tied to the body of all of them. I had the sst20 looped around the belt loop above my left front pocket and it went through a full front loading washing machine cycle. The edges of the bezel and the tail cap are no longer anodized. When I pulled it out and inspected I could see trace amounts of water under the lens and on the reflector. I turned it on briefly and then started to disassemble. I found trace amounts of water in the battery compartment. That’s when I found the blue loctite on the bezel and the tail cap. With the bezel off and the tail cap off I was not able to remove the retaining rings to get at the switch or the driver. So I just left everything for 2 days on a window sill in the Sun. All good. I can move the driver retaining ring at this point but I have not taken it all the way out. Because of the loctite I cannot get the switch retaining ring loose. I would like to get it off to add the small o-ring switch mod to stiffen it up slightly but for now I just use the 4 clicks to lock it out when I carry it hanging off the belt loop in the left front pocket. The osram really is impressive outside in darkness. The other two are also but for very short periods. I’m not going to carry it loose in pocket. Maybe some sort of quick disconnect attached to the belt loop and then I could potentially try to use it more but right now I don’t use it much because it doesn’t come off the belt loop quickly. I’m using flat top ydl 1000mAh 10 amp batteries from 18650batterystore.com and one of their in-house epoch button tops.(probably a ydl). I had 5 of the ydl but one of them started self discharging after only a few charges.

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Enjoying mine in CSLNM1.TG. As stated, the beam suffers from some minor focusing issues (on white wall), but outdoors it’s not particularly noticeable. Good coverage out to 150 meters or so. In my experience this emitter is sensitive to over driving, so I run a flat top Vapcell 3A L10. Great companion to the FWAA SST-20 4000K.