Ultrafire WF-501B with 5-mode MC-E drop-in

Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Summary:

Pros:

• Bright
• Cheap
• Mode memory works well
• Nice Low

Cons:

• Under-driven
• Dark donut hole in beam
• Current not well-regulated
• Whines on medium
• Host can't handle heat
  

"Omnipotent Power" PR-838 Battery Charger

Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆

Summary:

Pros:

• Very cheap
• 4 independent charging circuits 
• Automatic shutoff per-battery when charged
• Low power output is easy on batteries

Cons:

• Low power output takes forever to charge batteries
• Not enough power to run the indicator LEDs with 4 batteries
• Marginal build quality
  

UltraFire WF-502B with 1-mode XP-G R5 drop-in

Reviewer's Overall Rating:  ★★★★★

Summary:

Pros:

• Bright
• Cheap
• Good battery life
• Looks good

Cons:

• Rough threads
• Not much heatsinking

Romisen RC-I3

Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★★★☆

Summary:

Pros:

• Very high build quality from a known brand
• Excellent runtime on 1.2V NiMH battery
• Very sturdy pocket clip

Cons:

• Poor performance on 1.2V NiMH battery
• Can't tailstand
• Annoying mode memory
• Flashing low-battery feature artificially limits runtime
• A tad bit pricey
• No official product specifications

TrustFire R5-A3

Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★★★☆

Summary:

Pros:

• XP-G R5 emitter produces beautifully smooth, incredibly bright beam
• Excellent build quality
• Tailstands perfectly with recessed glow-in-the-dark tailswitch
• Pocket clip to which a spare lanyard can be attached

Cons:

• Terrible runtime on low
• Ridiculously bright low-mode
• Rather expensive
• Very tight battery fit

Was looking at Jay's comments on the just arrived Romisen RC-C8

http://www.jayki.com/9617#comment_9769

So followed the link to the KD page

http://www.kaidomain.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=10395

and got the sizes which are pasted in

It is 4 feet 9 inches long!! So I dug out my measuring tape and laid some lights along it. It took 2 6D, and a 3D Mag plus anAurora SH-032 to get to that length!

NANJG AK47 1050mA 4-Group Driver

Reviewer's Overall Rating:  ★★★★★

Summary:

Pros:

• Customizable number of modes
• Well regulated
• Very efficient
• Nicely spaced group of 3 modes
• No PWM on low

Cons:

• Group selection requires soldering
• Difficult to solder to board correctly
• Mode memory a little odd
• Narrow voltage input range (1 li-ion cell only)
  

HUGSBY P31 HA-III Cree Q3-WC 160-Lumen LED Flashlight with Clip (1*AA)

Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★★★★

Summary:

Pros:

• Pretty bright
• Works with alkalines and NiMH
• Hard Anodised (Type III)
• Clip can be used head up or head down
• Threads lubed, but not excessively so which is often the case if it is lubed at all.
• Heatsinking good.
• Best thrower on NiMH of any AA light I own.
• Definitely waterproof
• It has a build date on the tailcap. Why?

Cons:

• Not a dive light - it will leak under pressure. I'd not want to submerge it past five feet (1.5m) for any length of time
• Gets warm, but not hot which is actually a good thing but some people find it worrying.
• Current draw. 2A on alkalines, 2.46A on NiMH
• For me a con that it can't use 14500 - but this one is going to spend its life on alkalines which is why I bought it.
• It has a build date on the tailcap. At least I assume it is a build date. Why?
  

Piritlight SG-L8 MC-E

Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★

Summary:

Pros:

• Bright. Very bright
• Throws
• Feels good in the hand
• Good optics
• Drives an MC-E like it is meant to be driven. Most Chinese lights don't
• Manages to get the heat away from the LED
• Did I say it throws?
• From the lightbox numbers it is putting out (Give or take 50%) 550 lumens
• Spill is very usable, even on low. Most dedicated throwers have useless spill.

Cons:

• Atrocious build quality redeemed by the fact that the electronics and optics do what they are supposed to.
• Gets hot - it is a 10-11W device
• Shows a hole in the beam even at 50'
• Reflector not really designed for a quad die LED
• Despite the repairs, it can still flicker a bit. Time for some gorilla action on tightening everything down. May need to fiddle with the reflector as should be able to get more throw out of it yet.
  

NANJG 112A 1000mA 4-Group Driver

Reviewer's Overall Rating:  ★★★★★

Summary:

Pros:

• Customizable number of modes
• Seems well regulated on 18650
• Runs on a single AA
• No PWM on low

Cons:

• Group selection requires soldering
• Mode memory a little odd
  

AKOray K-106 3-mode Programmable

Reviewer's Overall Rating:  ★★★★★

Summary:

Pros:

• 3 programmable modes
• Very good build quality
• No PWM on low modes

Cons:

• Difficult to program
• Not as bright as I hoped
• Poor tail clicky

Trustfire F20

Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★★★★

Summary:

Pros:

• Three useful modes
• Great runtime on low
• Good build quality
• Great price
• Bright, smooth beam
• Attractive tailstanding design
• Glow-in-the-dark switch

Cons:

• Required initial cleaning and tightening to work correctly
• Last mode remembered only after several minutes
• Worthless SOS flashing mode

ZY-30 Flood to Throw Light

Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆

Summary:

Pros:

• Great throw
• Bright
• 3 modes
• Uses NiMH batteries
• Quickly goes from flood to throw

Cons:

• Cheap construction
• Not real practical
• Bluish tint

Aurora SH-032 Stainless Steel Cree Q3-WC 3-Mode 160-Lumen Memory LED Flashlight (1*18650)

Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★★★★

It claims Q3 in the spec, but the head says different. From the output I'd say the body is telling the truth.

Summary:

Pros:

• Small for an 18650 light
• Doesn't get as hot as some stainless steel lights
• Bright
• Quite a narrow beam (Some may call this a con)
• I like the heft of stainless steel lights (Others might find them too heavy)

Cons:

• Has a disco mode
• Stainless steel lights cost more
• Heat sinking not as good as an aluminium light