Review of Astrolux A01: Pics and Runtime

Budda

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Italy
I received the 3 Astrolux A01 from BangGood

They came very well secured from damage during shipping.



Each Astrlux A1 comes in a cardboard box.




Inside each box there is a light with a spare o-ring and a splitring.

The A01 comes in 3 colours: black, grey and purple. Grey and purple are kind of glossy and tend to reflect the light a bit.


Size is typical for an AAA class light: 70x16 mm.


On my 3 samples the anodization is flawless.
There is some knurling on the head. Well lubed sqare threads, and an o-ring on the body.


A big lanyard hole is at the end of the body. Of course, hard to tailstand for the A01.


On the plus pole of the light there is a sponge ring, like on some other lights.


Oh, did I mentioned the Neutral white nichia emitter? It is in an OP reflector.


UI
The light will turn on when the head is fully tightened on the body (as stated on the head)
The A01 has 4 levels: low (firefly like), medium (less than 10 lumens), hi (100 lumens) and strobe.
The light has no memory, and will turn on at low level. To advance to the next level, you need to turn off and on the light quickly (loose and tighten the head on the body), thus you will go from low, to medium, to high, and finally strobe.
The light has no memory, after 5 seconds since turned off, the light will turn on at low mode.

Runtime test:

At hi level, the initial output is similar for the 3 different cells: alkaline, nimh and lithium. The regulation, however is better for the lithium and nimh cells. Alkaline are semi regulated. Please note that lithium are ufficially unsupported, but I decided to test them anyway.


The specs state 7 hours at med level. Here you can see that the light keeps running for almost 10 hours, keeping the output constant all the way.

My thoughts:
This is a simple and well made AAA light. I am impressed by the quality of the light given the price (less than 10€ as today).
I like the body with the round/squared portions, they also help improving the grip, without the need of knurling on the body.
The grey and purple anodization colours are not common in this class of lights. If you are not a fan of this colours, regoular black is also available.
The tint it is great. The usual nichia 219b is hicri and 5000 k. I love hicri lights but I find the 5000k too similar to CW. But the nichia on this Astrolux A01 it's much warm, around 4000K.
The output it's ok: 100 lumens are more than enough for what I usually do with an AAA light.
One thing I don't like is the lack of memory: when you turn on the light, you always get firefly mode. If you need something more than .1 lumen, you have to turn off and on again the light. Thus doing, you get mid level, which is around 10 lumens. If the A01 had memory, for my use will be better.


Other test and beamshot will follow.
Thanks for reading.
 
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maukka

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Re: Review of Astrolux A01 - for subimission in the review Forum

Thanks for the review. I just got my A01 and the runtime matches quite well with yours.

My finish was a bit scratched on the grey one. Purple is perfect.

rtBwPUc.jpg


Here's a couple measurements on the color.

KnUniWq.png


iL3mVwN.png
 

KeepingItLight

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Re: Review of Astrolux A01 - for subimission in the review Forum

Thanks for a nice review! I appreciate all the work you put into this one.

I ordered one of the gray ones, hoping it is a natural, undyed anodization. Three more colors, red, blue, and orange, are being offered in the group buy at BudgetLightForum. I believe they will be ready next month sometime. A copper version is contemplated, but signups at BLF only indicate interest at this point.

Pluses:
High-CRI Nichia 219B in a 3-mode, 1xAAA flashlight is a great deal for the price. I ordered mine using the public coupon code that can be found at BudgetLightForum. It's good for a dollar off.

Concerns:
I would have preferred springs instead of a foam pad, and a switch instead of a twisty. I am not sure I will like the 4000K CCT, but I am looking forward to trying it.

By way of comparison, the BLF-348 has both springs and a reverse clicky switch, but it only has one mode. The 5000K, high-CRI Nichia emitter it uses is nearly perfect.
 

derfyled

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Re: Review of Astrolux A01 - for subimission in the review Forum

Is the power regulated by PWM ?
 

Budda

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Re: Review of Astrolux A01 - for subimission in the review Forum

I am very sensitive about pwm, and this light I can't detect it.

I love warm tints, so I don't like the usual 5K NIchia 219 that I have for example on my sportac dropin.
To my eyes, used to 7A3 and 8B4, that 5k looks like a royal blue :)
So, I am very pleased with the tint on the A01.

Thanks maukka for providing that graphs and infos. Could you tell me which instrument did you use to get them?
 
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maukka

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Re: Review of Astrolux A01 - for subimission in the review Forum

Thanks maukka for providing that graphs and infos. Could you tell me which instrument did you use to get them?

X-rite i1Pro spectrophotometer with ArgyllCMS and HCFR software.
 

Budda

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Re: Review of Astrolux A01 - for subimission in the review Forum

Thank you for the reply and for significant contribution to the thread.
Can I also ask what is the difference between CRI (Ra) and CRI (R9)?
 

maukka

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Re: Review of Astrolux A01 - for subimission in the review Forum

CRI (Ra) is the average of eight different colors (R1-R8). R9 is deep red that is not included in the calculation of CRI (Ra). It is usually the most difficult one for LEDs since the light output at that wavelength is so small. R12, deep blue, is also challenging.

Here's an example how well a high CRI Eagletach D25LC2 with a Nichia 219 emitter renders different colors.

UgZBY1x.png


CRI (Ra) isn't necessarily the best way to tell if an LED light source is great at rendering colors accurately, but it is the most common standard. To remedy this TLCI was developed.

More about TLCI: http://www.asensetek.com/television-lighting-consistency-index-tlci-introduction/

There's also CQS, CRI2102, GAI and MCRI, but these are not standards. I recommend reading the manual of Babelcolor CT&A software for more information:

http://www.babelcolor.com/index_htm_files/CT&A_Help.pdf
 

Budda

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Re: Review of Astrolux A01 - for subimission in the review Forum


At hi level, the initial output is similar for the 3 different cells: alkaline, nimh and lithium. The regulation, however is better for the lithium and nimh cells. Alkaline are semi regulated. Please note that lithium are ufficially unsupported, but I decided to test them anyway.


The specs state 7 hours at med level. Here you can see that the light keeps running for almost 10 hours, keeping the output constant all the way.

I added the graphs and some thoughts to the review.
 
Last edited:

stephenk

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Re: Review of Astrolux A01 - for subimission in the review Forum

Thanks for this review, I wasn't aware of this light. I like firefly being the first mode.
Anyone know if there is realistically likely to be a copper version?
 

kreisl

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Jul 5, 2012
Messages
2,241
Re: Review of Astrolux A01 - for subimission in the review Forum

I received the 3 Astrolux A01 from BangGood
They came very well secured from damage during shipping.
Each Astrlux A1 comes in a cardboard box.
Inside each box there is a light with a spare o-ring and a splitring.
The A01 comes in 3 colours: black, grey and purple. Grey and purple are kind of glossy and tend to reflect the light a bit.
Size is typical for an AAA class light: 70x16 mm.
On my 3 samples the anodization is flawless.
There is some knurling on the head. Well lubed sqare threads, and an o-ring on the body.
A big lanyard hole is at the end of the body. Of course, hard to tailstand for the A01.
On the plus pole of the light there is a sponge ring, like on some other lights.
Oh, did I mentioned the Neutral white nichia emitter? It is in an OP reflector.

UI
The light will turn on when the head is fully tightened on the body (as stated on the head)
The A01 has 4 levels: low (firefly like), medium (less than 10 lumens), hi (100 lumens) and strobe.
The light has no memory, and will turn on at low level. To advance to the next level, you need to turn off and on the light quickly (loose and tighten the head on the body), thus you will go from low, to medium, to high, and finally strobe.
The light has no memory, after 5 seconds since turned off, the light will turn on at low mode.

Runtime test:
At hi level, the initial output is similar for the 3 different cells: alkaline, nimh and lithium. The regulation, however is better for the lithium and nimh cells. Alkaline are semi regulated. Please note that lithium are ufficially unsupported, but I decided to test them anyway.
The specs state 7 hours at med level. Here you can see that the light keeps running for almost 10 hours, keeping the output constant all the way.

My thoughts:
This is a simple and well made AAA light. I am impressed by the quality of the light given the price (less than 10€ as today).
I like the body with the round/squared portions, they also help improving the grip, without the need of knurling on the body.
The grey and purple anodization colours are not common in this class of lights. If you are not a fan of this colours, regoular black is also available.
The tint it is great. The usual nichia 219b is hicri and 5000 k. I love hicri lights but I find the 5000k too similar to CW. But the nichia on this Astrolux A01 it's much warm, around 4000K.
The output it's ok: 100 lumens are more than enough for what I usually do with an AAA light.
One thing I don't like is the lack of memory: when you turn on the light, you always get firefly mode. If you need something more than .1 lumen, you have to turn off and on again the light. Thus doing, you get mid level, which is around 10 lumens. If the A01 had memory, for my use will be better.

Other test and beamshot will follow.
Thanks for reading.

Wow, awesome review!!
 

Phlogiston

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Scotland
Re: Review of Astrolux A01 - for subimission in the review Forum

A good review and lots of interesting information in this thread.

Thanks to everyone involved :)
 

jon_slider

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Mar 31, 2015
Messages
5,108
Re: Review of Astrolux A01 - for subimission in the review Forum

Anyone know if there is realistically likely to be a copper version?

I do not know, but given that I have been buying Copper Worms, Tools and Maratacs for over $40 each, I doubt the AO1 in copper would be the same price as the Aluminum ones.

I would not be suprised if they come out with one that is Copper COLORED, but not solid copper. These are however just my opinions, based purely on speculation without evidence. I look forward to being educated further.
 

stephenk

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Re: Review of Astrolux A01 - for subimission in the review Forum

I do not know, but given that I have been buying Copper Worms, Tools and Maratacs for over $40 each, I doubt the AO1 in copper would be the same price as the Aluminum ones.

I would not be suprised if they come out with one that is Copper COLORED, but not solid copper. These are however just my opinions, based purely on speculation without evidence. I look forward to being educated further.
I think there was talk on the other forum about a copper version being under $20, which is pretty cheap, though no confirmation that it will go ahead.
 

Bullzeyebill

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Re: Review of Astrolux A01 - for subimission in the review Forum

I'm thinking that the foam pad is used for mechanical reverse polarity protection. I may be wrong, with it being used for protection for the + side, and to keep accidental activation from occurring.

Bill
 

Budda

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Re: Review of Astrolux A01 - for subimission in the review Forum

you can see a white plastic ring, on the plus pole, under the foam ring. this should provide also the absolute protection of polarity inversion.
 

Budda

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Re: Review of Astrolux A01 - for subimission in the review Forum

Yes, they are.
On another forum a member has one with not centered led, and the beam is fine.

EDIT: I looked again at the black one and is off center, but the beam is fine also on this one.
 
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