REVIEW - Romisen RC-G2 (non-Q5)
The Romisen RC-G2 is a one level light that uses a Cree XC-E P2, the 1 watt version of the XR-E. My item was bought from DX for $11.30, SKU: 3607.
Specs from DX page:
- Feautres a Cree XR-E LED Emitter
- Glass lens with aluminum reflector
- Powered by 1 x AA battery (1.2/1.5V)
- Single mode tailcap clicky on/off
- LED bin code: XRCWHT-L1-WG-P2-0-01
First I was not impressed how Romisen decided to package the light. When I got the package from DX, I immediately found the Romisen stuffed into a small white paperboard box, with nothing but a cheap stiff lanyard attached.
My first impression was that this was another $11 wasted on DX. I was completely wrong! I will explain more into that later. It is a decent light for the money, with quality components, like an aluminum reflector, and glass lens, and to my impression a Type III HA.
The light came with a lanyard. That's it. Nothing else. Not even a spare switch boot or O-rings.
It looked as if Romisen just slapped a label and barcode on a box, and slipped the light inside.
The light has a rather large reflector for a 1AA light, and the orange-peel reflector gets rid of the Cree rings to some extent, and makes the beam rather useful.
The head can be twisted counter-clockwise to "focus" the light, but cannot be twisted more than 3 times, in which the O-ring is showing out.
The finish looked dull and matte, which lends me to believe it is HA III, but the coating is already gone on the edges of the light from a couple weeks of carry.
The reflector is all aluminum, which I did not expect on a $11 light.
The reflector is medium orange peel, and makes the beam rather smooth.
Perfectly centered is the Cree P2, which is one of the not-so-common LED's.
It has 2 bond wires like a luxeon, but you can clearly see that it is a Cree.
The reflector is very well polished on the inside, but on the outside there are some dark spots, burn marks?
The newer models have glued in reflectors, which might not be as good for modding.
As you can see in this picture, this is not the smallest 1aa light around.
I was really against the weird square and circle shape of the light at first, but I found the shape to be quite useful at gripping the light.
The light has a orange forward clicky, that is very tactile.
I found the clicky on this $11 light to be more user friendly than the one on my $55 P2D.
The knurling on the tail and head of the light do provide extra grip to some extent, but are a bit too rough for me.
The light is very easy to grip in anyone's hand, big or small, as it has some length to it.
As you can see here, you can disassemble the light into 5 parts.
It can be fully disassembled by taking the tail cap apart, and replacing the glass lens, and gutting the insides.
One thing I noticed here was that the o-rings were very small near the head, while the o-rings were big and thick at the tailcap of the light.
It is o-ring sealed at all parts of the light, but I would consider it to be not suitable underwater, but splash able.
I also liked the glass lens, not AR coated, but so far it has stood up to my keys in my pocket.
The OP reflector really helps here. The Cree rings are still there, but the beam is smoothed out a lot.
The tint of my item was not warm, but not cool, neutral.
This makes my other entire LED lights look purple, while makes my Surefire G2 look ultra yellow.
The regulation is fine, but nothing special, the light is about 45 lumens at turn on.
The light is constantly dropping from the time it has been turned on, and at 2 hours, is at about 75%.
Then there is a bigger slope, making the light output drop faster, but still provides useful light (10 lumens) for about another half hour.
The runtime was completed with energizer alkalines, and with Ni-mh's would be better.
Another comparison shot against the LD01, G2, and X5. About the same overall size as the X5.
I was very impressed about the thickness of the walls. It should be able to take quite a beating without breaking.
The body gets slimmer, so I don't think it is very thick where the middle of the light is.
The head of the light used fairly thin aluminum though, but I didn't expect a bombproof light for $11.
Overall, the Romisen RC-G2 is a great light that really applies to the KISS concept, with a one level, and very good forward clicky.
The light cannot tail stand, which I would have liked. The beam is a very nice tint, and it throws pretty far for its size.
The light looks like it could take a fair beating and still work well. I would definitely recommend this light to a friend.
Rating: 3.875 – Very Good
Build quality: 4
Brightness: 3.5
Features: 3
Price: 5
