Ok BLF’ers. I just want to apologize in advance that the video is 7 minutes long for a $15 flashlight. Banggood.com contacted me and asked to send me a few things to review for them. I tried to cater the video review to Li-ion newcomers as well as people who like buying flashlights. So while you may ignore the very very basics of Li-ion stuff, there’s: Beamshots, tailcap readings, actual runtimes (I tested them) and a dissection and disassembly of the light too. So you can determine if the light is for you or not.
I have a few photos I’ll upload tomorrow that show tint comparisons. If anyone would like any detailed pics of the innards just ask and I’ll provide them.
The following info is contained in the video but I’ll highlight for people who don’t want to watch it.
Pros:
Well machined and well built.
Very solid tail switch- very similar in feel to the Asgard- one part of that light I really like.
Tailstands well.
Nice even flood mode.
Comes with a AAA adapter for 4xAAAs (I guess this is a pro if you’re gifting it.)
Cons.
Next Mode memory. Like one that lasts over 24 hours.
Sort of hollow pill. But it’s thick walled, so if you add a copper or aluminum slug to rest the star on, it should be really great.
Short runtimes on AAA- I guess thats expected.
Oh and the lens is plastic and it wasn’t well lubed.
Anyway, the videos long enough- so I’ll finish up and let you be amazed or annoyed by it.
Good review video. You did a whole lot in that 7 minutes. What model is that one? You don’t have the model listed anywhere where I can just copy/paste it into a search.
Great question. Boy I’m a dummy. I forgot to include the product link.
Oh and by the way… I would avoid the charger bundle. The battery in the set it ok, but the charger has a major design flaw- in which the spring-loaded mechanism is attached to thin pieces of plastic- and it breaks. Luckily the Xtar WP2 mark 2 can charge this battery- even though it says its not designed to.
Nice job with the review but with that hollow pill design it has little heatsinking. I would not recommend it due to that but run on primaries it would be fine.
The beamshot comparison was the only weak part I think. The differences between the beamshots wasn't easy to see. Otherwise the video was slick, entertaining and informative. Would that more reviewers were as concise.
That star is sitting on a very narrow shelf in the pill - not much surface area to transfer heat to the light.
I absolutely agree. Unfortunately I own a very cheap point and shoot digital camera that has little to no manual controls- which is what I use to shoot the video. Since auto controls aren’t great for beamshots because no two pictures use the same settings (save for ISO control) I have to use another camera to get those. So for the beam shots I’m using an ancient 6.0mp Nikon DSLR on loan to me from a friend’s work- and all it has is a single prime 50mm lens. And I broke my tripod a month or two ago so it’s all handheld. I’m working with very subpar gear. But I understand editing well and have a few older macs that I edit with on final cut pro. That and I use a passable lavalier mic for my voiceovers.
I know the camera stuff sounds like excuses, but it’s really all I have to work with right now. When I eventually get a nice DSLR and a tripod those things will improve.
And yeah the hollow pill isn’t great for heaksinking, and I was sure to include that information- because I knew it is important to a lot of people here.
Not at all. It sounds like the real world - we don't always have the right tools to work with. Using a closer target might work better when working with a 50mm lense. I enjoyed the review and hope there are more to come.
No offense mate, but you sound really robotic in your delivery. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly couldn’t do any better, I just thought you might like a bit of constructive criticism.
Thanks for the review, you certainly fit alot into 7 minutes!
That sounds like a better idea. Trying to hold the light steady on that far away pole, while also trying to steady the camera and point it at the same spot in darkness is too much movement without a tripod. I’ll set my sights on something more realistic next time. The problem with a 50mm though is that it’s not wide enough to give an idea of distance. I don’t know- I’ll come up with a better combo next time around.
I have a 3-xml bike light video coming up sometime next week. Stay tuned!
The robotic voice is intentional- I’ve eased up a bit though. Spacy robotic delivery and cheezy music go together. Since I have no music creation skills, I have to use terrible public domain stuff- and I just can’t take anything with that music in the background seriously.
Umm… weren’t you the one who posted the wallbuys contest? I paid for that EA4 from Fasttech full price (you can find my original thread here if you want and posted that review months ago- saw your (shill!) post about it and figured it’d be an easy way to win $600. So you’re pretty wrong on that one. I mean, as in not right about it at all.
I got another review coming up you can troll too if you want. You’re such a super sleuth! Actually I wondered when you would start posting in one of my threads to be honest.
Actually the time I put into the reviews is not worth the product. If I spend 15-20 hours on a video (all time included) and it’s a $15 light… well- let’s just say I’m doing it more to improve my editing skills than for free stuff- because it’s so time consuming. So I know what you mean.
A few more beamshots. I understand they’re slightly out of focus… but I found a cheap tripod this time. They were done quickly. Hopefully this sort of makes up for the terrible ones in the video.
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