Here is a Battery Backup from Monoprice that has 7 5-mm LEDs.
http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=108&cp_id=10831&cs_id=1083110&p_id=10577&seq=1&format=2
It’s quite bright! The light is a touch on the blue side; but it’s much better than the single 5mm built into a lot of battery backups, that are usually pretty dim.
Hi folks,
Just received a couple of these Kmashi USB charger flashlights. I was surprised the High and Low setting for the flashlight was as bright as it actually is. Best of all, it had no problem recognizing and started charging our Ipad 1st gen, Iphone 4S, and Iphone 5s.
The first quick press of the power switch shows the current charge status via 4 blue LED’s on the front of the reflector. Holding down the button for a second switches “On” the flashlight to High, pressing for another second to Low, and then to off.
Not the greatest UI, but I’m still impressed that it recognized what I may use it to charge when on the go, and all metal construction seems to make this a great deal for about $14.00. It does come with a Micro USB cable to charge it through your computer Testing it on my Apple products, I simply used the USB cords that originally came with them. The fairly tight light beam has a yellowish color similar to the NW tint of the MT-G2 LED.
I thought it was pretty nice for the price and the Amazon electronics guru, Mr. Lee, gives it high marks in his customer review. Looks to me like glued together though so not sure how easily it will open up for battery determination and replacement. For the price though you get a nice combination of a power bank and emergency light.
Thank you Richwouldnt for starting this thread.
Actually, when I was ordering the light, my wife walked in and saw the photos of it. She loved the look of it so much, she asked me to order two of them. She really seems to like gold colored flashlights. It’s why my wonderful first generation Skyray King sits on her side of the bed…LOL. While out last night, she pulled out the USB charger light from her purse to recharge her iPhone 5s. Worked great and she’s very happy with it.
Now that I have a bunch of the $1 18650 batteries from user 18sixfifty (thanks!)… any suggestions on a decent USB charger box to use them in?
Here is HKJ’s tests of USB power boxes including versions for “supply your own batteries”.
I have both of the lights listed first in the above linked to thread and the first version I have appears identical to the silver color light except that it is black anodized rather than silver colored. Both it and the plastic housed version below it were bought from Amazon sellers. Both open up by having the front section unscrew from the back part. Looking inside NEITHER has any heat sinking for the LED. The LED mounts on a PCB which appears to pretty thoroughly isolate it from the light body and there is basically no sign of the housing getting warm. As the plastic one claims only about 20 Lumens probably not a problem but the black aluminum body unit puts out light at a level similar to the XTAR UL1 in medium to high mode and the Xtar housing does get warm to hot at even it’s 60 Lumens rated low output level much less at the two highest levels. I judge the black anodized one’s genuine output to be in the 90 to 100 Lumens level.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E3A3NJS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
My brightest USB powered light is the one at the above Amazon link. Bright but not 1200 Lumens. Using a USB voltage and current monitor at maximum it is drawing about 1.14 Amps at 5.15 volts but I have no idea of the accuracy of the meter. I have a second meter from another maker on the way so I will shortly be able to compare readings. Certainly the claimed output is impossible for a power draw of just under 6 Watts. It includes a headband for use as a headlamp and a primary mount designed to mount to bicycle handlebars. Quite nice for the price.
I just got a batch of 10 of the continuously variable touch adjustable 6 LED versions and they are neat. The ebay seller I used charged $1.88 each including shipping which I consider to be dirt cheap. With no lens or reflector they are totally flood output. At max output they do get warm but not too hot to touch. Very fast delivery as I ordered on the 11th and they arrived on the 17th, today.
If you put one on a charger doctor, you will notice that if you just barely dim the output from max (just barely dimmed down perceptible to human vision) the current draw of those little boards is cut considerably…check it out…those things would make EXCELLENT emergency “candles” with rechargeable mobile power banks
I purchased about 8 of those, 4 CW and 4 NW. Also picked up the goose neck extensions for them too. They are great in the car at night plugged into a cigarette lighter adapter to power it. By dimming it, the NW version is perfect if you need to look in the center console for something.
My 10 are 5 CW and 5 NW. The 40 cm goose neck extensions are on the way but have not yet arrived though I do have the one 37cm version that comes with the XTAR UL1 and three 20 cm ones from an Amazon seller.
I’d like to see these done with red and amber emitters for low light/dark night use.
Something tells me the young people making these don’t understand dark from personal experience, although they may have heard stories from grandparents …
“the urban night-skies … are on average ~100 times brighter than at the darkest rural sites …. the worst … can be over 500 times brighter than the darkest sites in Hong Kong.”
http://nightsky.physics.hku.hk/
This light has some potential, I’m gonna be receiving this pretty soon. Hopefully it can be water resistant and have a 17mm driver.
Looks interesting but expensive considering the gold color Kmashi power bank and flashlight posted about earlier is about the same price on Amazon and includes the batteries, though not removable. This one does have a removable head, possibly useable on other power banks and ports, but it is single mode while the XTAR UL1 designed for use with any power bank or USB 2 or later powered port is much more versatile with it’s multiple modes it appears to me.
I knew I should have done a review on these.
I’ve purchased two versions of this light recently, and I wasn’t happy with the black one at all. The flashlight aspect of it, the color temp must easily be 8000k or higher, and is all flood.
Now, this second version I purchased, has a proper beam profile (mostly beam, some flood) and color temp is no more than about 6000k.
Other than the above issues, both work perfectly using an AW Protected flattop cell.
Mini USB Light Black Version - Due to improper white balance, you can’t see how cold the hot spot really is. But still a nice
emergency USB charger.
Mini USB Light Silver Version - Much better as a flashlight when not needed as a emergency charger.
If messing with USB lights and power boxes this may be useful.
Basically a LCD display USB power meter that can read out Volts, Amps, Watts, capacity in mAh, total capacity in mAh and time connected. A very fancy Charger Doctor with added capabilities and LCD display for easier reading in sunlight.
I am seeing direct USB powered lights for sale on ebay and Amazon which are claiming outputs up to 2000 Lumens. Typically these are using XM-L T6 LEDs so I downloaded the XM-L LED data sheets. At 1000 mA to the XM-L T6 LED output will be circa 388 Lumens and at 2000 mA the output will be circa 692 Lumens. This is LED Lumens out with no circuitry losses so you can see how truthful the manufacturer and seller claims are. Circuitry losses combined with reflector and lens losses in the light will reduce the theoretical output by at least 25% and only actual Out The Front (OTF) Lumens are of any use to the user.
No normal USB port is going to put out much more than 2 Amps and then only from a power bank or high power wall wart. The measured highest I have seen one of these lights actually draw so far is 1.1 Amps and this is a bicycle light that claims 1200 Lumens out. I figured with circuit and reflector/lens losses a genuine 300 OTF lumens is probably about the maximum possible for this current draw from this light or 25% of the claimed output.
Just be aware of how exaggerated the claimed outputs can be for the more powerful of these devices. I have one light measured by RMM to put out 2000 Lumens maximum so if I ever get a USB light that comes even close to being as bright I will have a direct comparison light available. Of course no USB port or wiring could support the needed current for such a light. 
JohnnyMac just posted a review of a combined single 18650 power bank and flashlight from Powertac, their E8. Four modes from a 1 Lumen firefly mode to a 388 OTF measured Lumens high mode. Not cheap but the highest power light with integrated USB power supply I am aware of. Of course with this combination the light is not limited to what a USB port can provide as the port is an add-on to an 18650 powered flashlight.
Here is the link to the makers web site. Not on Amazon yet that I could find.
http://powertacusa.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=241
http://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10002784/1484400-enb-1a-1-2-3-18650-li-ion-battery-usb-emergency
I just received this one linked to above. Not bad if you can live with the listed 1 Amp out power limitation but with 3 high capacity 18650 batteries it theoretically is close to 10,000 mAh capacity. Also the flashlight is relatively bright even though only two modes out, flashlight and low frequency flashing. Cooler output than the Kmashi but similar overall light level in a less focused beam, so a larger hot spot.
Takes a firm grip and pull to separate the grey and white parts to install or remove the batteries.
Chinese Lumens claims have not improved in 4 years, just gotten worse. They are now claiming 2000 Lumens for USB powered light heads and direct drive from USB power bank bicycle lights. Also they are now claiming 9900 mAh capacity for junk 18650 batteries, actual tested capacity about 1000 mAh. Even Chinese sellers on Amazon. If I do some Amazon reviews of their stuff then they are going to be very unhappy sellers. I wish Amazon would put a stop to this crap being listed.
There are currently about three USB powered light heads that plug into a power bank for their power I found on ebay and Amazon that look good. Machined and anodized aluminum construction with 3 or 4 output levels. I have ordered units and will report on them once they arrive.