$11 single AA/14500 XPG R5 450 lumen flashlight ??? - review link added

[chaosdsm]

I just saw this tonight Rosewill RLFL-14001 with Cree XPG-R5 LED: I think this is a new release, but wondering if anyone has one???? If so, what are your impressions, thoughts, etc... ???

I'm thinking of getting one for my mom. She uses a little mini-Maglite to get around their house-boat at night instead of turning on lights, complains that it's not bright enough for everything, but doesn't want to spend $25 on the new 226 Lumen Mini-Maglite Pro LED. From the 'marketing' it sounds ideal

What I like, price, light weight, small, several brightness levels, adjustable from spot to flood, can use standard AA batteries, & I especially love that it has S.O.S. mode which could come in handy on a boat... But, is it even possible to get 330 lumens out of an XPG-R5 with just 1.5V???

The marketing:
Constant Power Control with the Integrated Circuit Provide a Steady Discharge, Constant Brightness, and High Efficiency in Battery Draw Ensure Maximum Performance
Over Voltage and Short Circuit Protection
High Efficiency LED with Long Lifetime up to 50,000 Hours
Professional Optical Designed Reflector with a Distinctive Finish Process, Provide Maximum Illumination. Adjustable Zoom Head for Illumination Focus Control
LED type: CREE XP-G R5 LED
Output: Max. 330 Lumen with AA (1.5V), Max. 450 Lumen with Li-ion (3.7V), up to 7,500 lux at 3ft
Zoom Lens: Wide-angle to focus (adjustable)
Throw: 150~650ft
Voltage & Current: Dual-Power: AA (1.5V) & Li-ion (3.7V), 60mA~600mA
Battery Type: 1 x AA 1.5V or 1 x 14500 Li-ion 3.7V (battery not included)
Lumen: 450~330lm (100%), 220~160lm (50%), 50~20lm (10%), 450~330lm (strobe), 450~330lm (S.O.S.)
Dimension: Diameter Head 1", Body 1"x length 3.9" ~ 4.5" (adjustable)
Weight: 2.60oz (73g) Water Proof: IP-65

It "sounds" like one heck of a deal. I am familiar with Rosewill products, I have used several of their computer hardware & peripheral products over the past 5 years, all of which have been pretty good quality products. Not best in class by any means, but equal to or better than many "budget level" products from some of the biggest names. However, I haven't looked at any of their lighting products till now.

Finally got my 'review' finished & posted: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...10#post4522410

 

[Jeffg330]

Re: $11 single AA/14500 XPG R5 450 lumen flashlight ???

I've never seen (or heard of) a Roswell flashlight. It might be a decent budget light, but I can safely say there is no way your going to see 330 lumens coming out of that thing.
If it has all the features your mom likes then why not grab one for her? Who cares about the actual lumens as long as she thinks it bright enough?

 

[GordoJones88]

Re: $11 single AA/14500 XPG R5 450 lumen flashlight ???

My experience with budget lights is they don't work right most of the time.
It's frustrating having a light in your hand that doesn't make light when you need it.
Then you wish you had gotten a better brand that works when you need it to work.
It can be a waste of time and money.

I do like small lights that use a single AA NiMH battery and an XPG LED.
That Mini Maglight Pro is quite nice for $25.
However, you can be the guinea pig and buy the Roswell and let us know how you like it.

 

[dgbrookman]

Re: $11 single AA/14500 XPG R5 450 lumen flashlight ???

"Rosewill" is the house brand of Newegg, better known as a vendor of computer parts. Rosewill items used to be available only at newegg.com but now are occasionally seen elsewhere. In the past year or two Newegg has been increasingly branching out from computer kit to basic consumer items. I seriously doubt that Newegg (or "Rosewill") actually manufactures anything -- most likely they just buy from whatever contractor in China gives them a good deal.

My experience is that the quality of Rosewill items is highly variable. Sometimes they're great bargains, sometimes they're awful no matter how cheap, often they're somewhere in the middle. Therefore I'd suggest only buying Rosewill items that have a track record of customer feedback.

I gather cost is a constraint (as it is for many of us). Fortunately nowadays there are plenty of good, serviceable flashlights in the $10-20 range. Would your Mom consider something like a Tank007 E09, or maybe a Fenix E05?

 

[chaosdsm]

Re: $11 single AA/14500 XPG R5 450 lumen flashlight ???

As for what mom is looking for:
diameter 0.7" - 1.1" - she has commented that it's easier for her to hold onto my SRT-7 than her mini-Maglite, but the SRT-7 is also a bit heavy for her.
length 3" - 7"
2-mode minimum - low & high - preferably low, mid, & high modes so she can use mid for most things, low for navigating at night after bedtime, & high for those times when she just flat out needs more light.
130 lumens or better on high - the LED in her Mini-Maglite (~80 lumens IIRC) just doesn't cut it.
preferably focusable from spot to flood.

This Rosewill is the only light I've seen in our current price range ($15 max due to me being unemployed & her only wanting to spend no more than $15) that fits as many of these criteria as possible.

SO, I think I'm going to order the Rosewill when $$$ comes available. Though I do not have the capability of doing any kind of proper review, so I can't be any decent kind of guinea pig for anyone else... After I get back to work, then I'll look into getting her something decent, like maybe a ThruNite T10T if the Rosewill turns out to be junk.

BTW... I've bought about $1,800 worth of Rosewill products from Newegg in the past 10 years and have yet to be disappointed. Even the two Rosewill LCD displays I purchased (17" & 19") exceeded my expectations with zero dead/stuck pixels even after 9 years of use. Also, you are partly correct, Newegg & Rosewill do not manufacture anything. Rosewill primarily re-badges European & Asian products for resale in North America. Some of their power supplies & gaming keyboards are among the best in the world beating out name brands like SeaSonic & Corsair in review testing.

As far as I can tell, Rosewill is still owned by Newegg, but has been run & operated (since incorporating in 2008) as a completely separate entity. You can often find their products for less than Newegg sells them for... i.e. this flashlight is $15 at Newegg Vs. $11 sold & shipped from Rosewill Inc. thru Amazon. Most of the Rosewill products I've purchased have actually been from Provantage (a direct competitor to Newegg), which usually has the same item for 3% - 5% less than Newegg after shipping.

 

[wreckless1]

Re: $11 single AA/14500 XPG R5 450 lumen flashlight ???

Sounds a bit shilly to me .there is no way in **** that an xpg can do 450 lumens . it's just impossible .So one of two things is going on . They are ignorant of what they sell or they are lying .neither one is a good thing .it's a 15$ light so buy it if you like the looks of it and are interested .But I wouldn't expect it to perform any better than a $4 Sk68 clone
Why anyone would put an xpg in a aspheric is beyond me .
I've looked at these lights and like the look of a straight AA zoomie too.IMHO it's worth half of what they are asking .it's a nice cheap 7$ light

 

[Bob Damon]

Re: $11 single AA/14500 XPG R5 450 lumen flashlight ???

We all have inexpensive lights, some work great, others disappoint. I say just buy the Rosewill, and hang out here and gain some knowledge for future purchases. One of my favorite lights is my $11 Rayovac Indestructable.

 

[GordoJones88]

Re: $11 single AA/14500 XPG R5 450 lumen flashlight ???

Sounds a bit shilly to me.
There is no way in **** that an xpg can do 450 lumens.
It's just impossible.

The Jetbeam BC10 XPG does 500+ lumen.
Selfbuilt reviewed it back in March 2011.
Mine still works great after 3 years, keep it in the car dash.

 

[baterija]

Re: $11 single AA/14500 XPG R5 450 lumen flashlight ???

An R5 binned XP-G lists a calculated 348 minimum lumens at 1 Amp (with a typical forward voltage of 3,15.) Many budget lights claim emitter lumens (What's right there coming off the emitter as opposed to what actually comes out the front.) I'd be surprised if you get 60% of the light when it was zoomed in to flood mode to capture more. Even at 60% you'd have to be over the max rated 1.5A to the emitter to get close to 330 lumens OTF. While the emitter can handle much more than the rated spec it takes attention to detail on good heatsinking and thermal path... which you likely won't get at that pricepoint. So let's call it emitter lumens at 1A and you're actually getting 200-210 if you can power that.

Looking at the power side of things even assuming 100% efficient boost driver (and I'd be excited if you were getting even 60-70% efficiency out of a budget light's boost driver):
- 1A to the LED is 3.15 Watts
- to get that from 1.5 Volts and 100 percent efficiency takes an input current of 2.1 Amps
- the right fresh charged NiMh rechargeables could about maintain 2A current draw for a bit but have lower voltage requiring more than that
- alkaline (who's voltage will droop rapidly under heavy load requiring even more current to make up) won't handle that

Throw in a non perfectly efficient driver and.... well you likely can't power it anywhere close to the level to maintain the 200 lumens number up top.

Simple answer to your question if it's too good to be true... YES. It might be a nice light. No way you are getting 330 ANSI measured lumens out the front on AA.

 

[chaosdsm]

Re: $11 single AA/14500 XPG R5 450 lumen flashlight ???

Finally got my 'review' finished & posted: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...L-14001-budget-AA-light&p=4522410#post4522410

Bottom line, definitely does not live up to the marketing, and seems to have some flaws. For $11, wouldn't mind trying my hand at some modding with this light, but it's definitely not going to mom. Guess mom will just have to wait till I can get her something like the ThruNite T10 or T20.

 

[shotgundoug13]

Re: $11 single AA/14500 XPG R5 450 lumen flashlight ???

Might be worth a try. I'd risk $11 on it. Worst case it gets thrown in the I don't care if I loose it box.

 

[Norm]

Re: $11 single AA/14500 XPG R5 450 lumen flashlight ???

Personally I wouldn't waste $11 on a cheap light when these days you could buy something worthwhile for double the money.

Different strokes for different folks.

In your review you list

Stand-out features:
5 light modes
90 grams with a New Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA battery Vs 101 grams for the Mini-Maglite with 2 Ultimate Lithium AA batteries.
bright for a single 1.7V battery

For me the only thing that stands out about five modes is I avoid it at all costs.

Norm

 

[Crazyeddiethefirst]

Re: $11 single AA/14500 XPG R5 450 lumen flashlight ???

The Jetbeam BC10 XPG does 500+ lumen.
Selfbuilt reviewed it back in March 2011.
Mine still works great after 3 years, keep it in the car dash.

The Jetbeam BC10 uses a CR123A, 3 Volts-not a AA, apples to oranges comparison.


Sent from my iPhone using Candlepowerforums

 

[GordoJones88]

Re: $11 single AA/14500 XPG R5 450 lumen flashlight ???

The Jetbeam BC10 uses a CR123A, 3 Volts-not a AA, apples to oranges comparison.

No.

"Max. 450 Lumen with Li-ion (3.7V)"




* And I was comparing bananas, for scale.

 

[Rosoku Chikara]

Re: $11 single AA/14500 XPG R5 450 lumen flashlight ???

...wouldn't expect it to perform any better than a $4 Sk68 clone...<snip>

I very much tend to agree with wreckless1 on this one, and the flashlight in question now sells for $14.99 not $11. But the "mystery" and all this "debate" is killing me... Why don't you settle the matter by going ahead and buying one and telling us all whether or not it is indeed dramatically brighter (or even noticeably brighter) than a Sipik that uses the same emitter driven by a 14500 cell. I would say that it certainly appears to me to be a very "nice looking" little flashlight. Get one and tell us all about it.

 

[chaosdsm]

Re: $11 single AA/14500 XPG R5 450 lumen flashlight ???

I very much tend to agree with wreckless1 on this one, and the flashlight in question now sells for $14.99 not $11. But the "mystery" and all this "debate" is killing me... Why don't you settle the matter by going ahead and buying one and telling us all whether or not it is indeed dramatically brighter (or even noticeably brighter) than a Sipik that uses the same emitter driven by a 14500 cell. I would say that it certainly appears to me to be a very "nice looking" little flashlight. Get one and tell us all about it.

pst... if you look up 5 posts from your post, you'll find a follow-up reply from me with a review link

 

[Rosoku Chikara]

Re: $11 single AA/14500 XPG R5 450 lumen flashlight ???

pst... if you look up 5 posts from your post, you'll find a follow-up reply from me with a review link

Sorry, I missed that post. Thanks for the useful and comprehensive review. Too bad it didn't live up to your expectations.

 

[chaosdsm]

Re: $11 single AA/14500 XPG R5 450 lumen flashlight ???

Sorry, I missed that post. Thanks for the useful and comprehensive review. Too bad it didn't live up to your expectations.

For $11 with free shipping, I wasn't expecting what they had it marketed as... so at least I wasn't let down too much :laughing:

 

[how2]

Re: $11 single AA/14500 XPG R5 450 lumen flashlight ???

I have over 100 cheap lights and only 1 gave me any problems. When you look at lights on website always look at the pictures carefully, as this will give details if the build quality is any good. You will get about 100 to 120 lumens from a AA light, if you want higher lumens output you need to get 14500 li-ion battery which is the same size as a AA battery. Have a look here.

 

[chaosdsm]

Re: $11 single AA/14500 XPG R5 450 lumen flashlight ???

I know of at least 5 lights that hit 160 lumens or better on a single 1.2V NiMh; JetBeam SSA10, Nitecore SRT3, Zebralight SC51, Thrunite Neutron 1A, & Sunwayman V11R, & there are probably others. With a 1.5V alkaline they should be much closer to 200, & with Energizer Ultimate Lithium, they'll definitely be over 200 lumens, & possibly as high as 250 lumens.

My estimate for this light is about 150 lumens with AA alkaline, about 200 lumens with Energizer Ultimate Lithium, & about 225 lumens with 3.7V Olight Li-Ion 14500. Estimate based on visual comparison between 226 lumen rated Mini-Maglite Pro LED (as used in my review now linked in OP), & Coleman Max LED (pictured in review, but no beamshot comparisons) rated at 110 lumens.