[Review] Lumintop IYP07 (1xAAA, 219C, reverse clicky)

bmengineer · 2019-08-12T16:03:24.000Z

The Product

Lumintop sent me the IYP07 to take a look at. This is a single AAA light with a tail switch, and part of their recent expansion of their popular IYP and Tool product lines.

The IYP07 is available in a number of anodization colors, and with either a Nichia 219C or a Cree XP-G3 LED. The variant I have today is the black Nichia model. The IYP lineup also includes the original IYP365, which is longer and takes 2 AAA cells, and the even larger IYP25, which is powered by 2 AA cells.

Spoiler

This is a great light. It's tiny, well built, has a great LED, exceeds its advertised runtimes, has a solid clip, and even looks nice. The styling actually reminds me a bit of the FW3A - collared clip, tapered head and tail, metal switch.

If you're looking for a 1xAAA light, I can't think of many better options, or reasons not to buy this one. For the price, I'm inclined to say everyone should just pick up a few and keep them in bags, pockets, and first aid kits as their backups. It's great. I hope they make these in more fancy metals in the future like they did with the IYP365 - stainless would be fantastic.

Physical Dimensions

The light measures 81.7 mm long, 14.5 mm at the widest point and 12.5 mm at the slimmest.

Here's an image showing an AAA cell, Lumintop HLAAA 2.0 (sadly discontinued), Folomov EDC C1, IYP07, BLF-348, and IYP365 Ti. The IYP07 is quite a reasonable size for a single AAA light - in this lineup, the two shorter lights both use e-switches to reduce their length a bit.

Build

The light is made of aluminum with black anodization.

The head of the light has a smooth bezel with a slight chamfer. One side of the head is etched with the Lumintop name, logo, and the product name. According to Lumintop, "IYP" stands for "In Your Pocket", meaning the light is small enough to live in your pocket 7 days a week.

At the two ends of the light, there are small brass accent rings. The ring at the head of my light is not clamped down by the head. This means the ring can wiggle a bit and spin freely. Functionally this isn't a problem, but it does indicate loose tolerances. This isn't unreasonable given the price - making the ring too thick would result in poor contact, and could prevent the light from working.

If you don't like the look of the brass ring, this can be removed, but it will leave a notch between the body and head of the light.

The cell tube tapers from the head to a narrower body. At the tail it widens again, and there are four cuts around the tail for aesthetics. These do not serve to stop the light from rolling on a flat surface, but I certainly like the look of them.

The tail of the light has a metal switch cover, another brass ring, and a pocket clip. I was not able to unscrew the upper part of the tail to remove this second brass accent, but I imagine that is possible with enough encouragement.

Inside the head of the light, the positive contact is handled with a brass button. The threads are anodized, so slightly unscrewing the head will lock out the light and prevent accidental activation.

I was unable to remove the tail of my light, so cell changes will happen at the head. The negative cell contact is served by a spring.

What's Included

The light ships in Lumintop's standard card box. In the box you find:

The light itself
2 spare o-rings
A diffuser cap
Paperwork

Ergonomics and Retention

This is a pen light. By nature, the ergonomics of such a slender design are pretty good. The body tapering at both ends also helps the light feel comfortable and not slide out of grip while in use. The tail switch has a very short travel for half presses when changing modes, so it's easy to accidentally turn off the light until you're used to that. There's also a fair bit of travel in the switch cover before the switch is activated.

The clip is good, too. Clips with this profile - parallel to the body, with a circular pressure point at the far end - always work great for me. The have enough grip to stay put, but slide onto clothing easily. I've started to notice that all my favorite clips have this shape, and this one is no exception. The clip is fixed to the light with a collar, so there's no real risk of it coming loose.

The clip is not reversible, so this won't work as a hat light. There's no other method or retention included in the box, nor would I expect there to be for this style of light.

Modes and Interface

This light has a single reverse clicky switch at the tail. The UI is simple:

Press to turn the light on in the last used mode, and press again to turn off
While on, half press to cycle high>medium>low>high etc.

Some people might prefer the light without mode memory - personally I don't mind it in a reasonably powered pen light like this.

Light Quality and Beam

A Nichia 219C is used in an orange peel reflector, with a glow in the dark o-ring sealing it in place. This makes a great neutral white beam. Being a pen light, this isn't super powerful. It's designed to give a bit of light at close range, and that's what it does.

Compared to a 4500K E21A, you can see there is a slight dark spot in the center of the beam against a white wall - but not enough to be noticeable in normal use. The tint is a lovely pure white.

Power and Runtime

The runtime was tested with an Ikea Ladda NiMH cell.

On both high and mid, the runtime exceeded specifications by a large margin. Both also had perfectly flat output until the voltage was too low.

Summary

Pros:

Great looking light with a lovely compact form
High CRI, neutral CCT Nichia option
Metal switch boot is nice
Collared pocket clip is great

Cons:

Clip isn't reversible
Some people would prefer the UI to not have mode memory

Notes and Links

This product was provided free of charge from the manufacturer. I was not paid to write this review, and have tried to be as unbiased as possible.

Manufacturer's product page

Zeroair's review

Product listing on Amazon (affiliate link, and only the pink is available at the time of posting)

LightObsession · 2019-08-12T19:44:08.000Z

Thanks for the great review. I like most of what it has to offer.

The UI blows it for me. I never got used to the MLH mode sequence on my IYP365.

I would be more inclined to buy one if they’d offer a version with the LMH mode sequence.

I’m okay with the mode memory.

I’d prefer the the clip be either reversible or bezel up for hat brim use, which is how I’ve typically used 1 AAA lights. This alone would likely make me pass on this light for my own use.

bmengineer · 2019-08-12T21:08:31.000Z

I’m sure you could find a way to reverse the clip with enough effort, but it’s certainly not intended.

DavidEF · 2019-08-12T21:45:56.000Z

My preferred mode sequence is lowest -> highest, but with this being a 1xAAA powered pen light, and only three modes, I could probably live with hi -> med -> lo. I do like “last mode” memory. I think the Nichia 219C is not well liked around here, and I wonder why they used it. My Copper A01 has Nichia 219C and I’m fine with it, but a lot of people will be turned away from buying this light because of that emitter choice. For kicks, it would be nice to see a “White Flat” emitter in there, and a OP reflector. The brass “accents” look out of place, because the rest of the exposed metal parts are steel. I generally like brass with black, but it just doesn’t “fit” with those other metal elements.

Overall, I like the body shape/design of the light, but it’s not made for me. I think it will be popular to some degree, but it won’t be especially loved around the usual BLF crowd. My opinion only. YMMV.

bmengineer · 2019-08-19T14:11:35.000Z

Official product purchase link - and Lumintop has generously added the coupon code LMT202 for any order over $19