# Mini Maglite 2AAA LED penlight



## parnass (Oct 10, 2012)

I added a new Mini Maglite 2AAA LED penlight to my penlight connection recently. It is a new model and I didn't know it existed until I saw one in a sporting goods store.

It's not a bad light for about $18 and is possibly my thinnest penlight. It is rated for 84 lumens and out throws my other 2AAA lights when the focus is adjusted for a tight hotspot.

The furnished pocket clip is the same one used on the Solitaire and it slides along the somewhat slippery battery tube. Perhaps the black colored Mini Maglite 2AAA LED light is grippier, but this was the last Mini Mag in the store.

The tint is fairly white, though the hot spot looks yellow when focused against a white wall indoors. "Candle stand" operation is possible, as with other Mini Maglites, by removing the head and standing the remainder of the flashlight inside the head.

The Pelican 1920 remains my favorite penlight, though it is thicker and heavier.

Photo of 2AAA lights below shows (left to right): Inova Bolt, Mini Maglite 2AAA LED, Streamlight Stylus Pro C4, Pelican 1920, and Icon Solo


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## El Camino (Oct 10, 2012)

I ordered one this afternoon from Amazon. It was a PITA to find. Maglite just released this along with the LED Solitaire (finally!) so I guess stores - both online an B&M - haven't gotten them in yet. 

One thing I like about the AAA Mini is that it fits in my tool bag in one of the pen slots. Imagine that. My old one incan version just doesn't cut it anymore, so I'm looking forward to the LED version. I do wish Mag would offer a tail cap switch for their Minis and Solitaire models. There's obviously a market for them.


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## parnass (Oct 10, 2012)

El Camino said:


> ... I do wish Mag would offer a tail cap switch for their Minis and Solitaire models. There's obviously a market for them.



Two brightness levels, as found in the larger brother 2AA Mini Maglite LED would be useful on the 2AAA and 1AAA Solitaire models, as well.


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## ozner1991 (Oct 11, 2012)

is there any chance of you posting a picture of the emitter and or the light without its bezel?


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## parnass (Oct 11, 2012)

ozner1991 said:


> is there any chance of you posting a picture of the emitter and or the light without its bezel?



I use a flatbed scanner, not a camera, and I cannot capture the image of the LED. The LED emitter in the new 2AAA Mini Maglite looks different than those used in my C4 Streamlight Stylus Pro and Pelican 1920 penlights.


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## AnAppleSnail (Oct 11, 2012)

parnass said:


> I use a flatbed scanner, not a camera, and I cannot capture the image of the LED. The LED emitter in the new 2AAA Mini Maglite looks different than those used in my C4 Streamlight Stylus Pro and Pelican 1920 penlights.



Can you remove the bezel and scan the 'candle mode' LED end of the light? Thank you kindly,


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## parnass (Oct 11, 2012)

The first flatbed scanner image is that of the LED used in the new Mini Maglite 2AAA. Though it was lubricated at the factory, I added Nyogel grease to the threads and O-ring.

The second image is a comparision of the new Mini Maglite 2AAA penlight to the 2AA Mini Maglite LED flashlight. The size difference is striking.


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## my#1hobby (Oct 11, 2012)

Looks like maybe a Nichia LED?


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## brted (Oct 11, 2012)

It's a Rebel, right?

http://www.brightguy.com/images/products/MAGSP32016_3.jpg

EDIT: Now I'm thinking it must be a Luxeon C, which is similar to the Rebel, but smaller. This is also used in the new LED Solitaire.


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## parnass (Oct 11, 2012)

brted said:


> It's a Rebel, right?
> 
> http://www.brightguy.com/images/products/MAGSP32016_3.jpg



The LED in the Brightguy photo looks like the LED in my 2AAA Mini Maglite.


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## parnass (Oct 11, 2012)

The description of the Mini Maglite 2AAA LED on Brightguy's web page claims:

_"Maglite recommends using only alkaline batteries in the Maglite LED flashlight. The use of lithium, NiMH, NiCad, etc is not recommended."_​
There are no restrictions against NiMH or Energizer Lithium primaries mentioned the instructions furnished with my light.

BTW, Maglite warrants this light to the original purchaser for only 10 years from date of retail purchase -- no lifetime warranty.


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## Burgess (Oct 12, 2012)

Is it just a Single Level ? ? ?

No Low mode ?


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## parnass (Oct 12, 2012)

Burgess said:


> Is it just a Single Level ? ? ?



Yes. The new 2AAA penlight looks as bright and throws as far as my 2AA Mini Maglite LED in high mode (a 4 mode light).



> No Low mode ?



No.


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## El Camino (Oct 13, 2012)

Mine arrived today. It's great! It's nearly as bright (to my eyes) as the Terralux 140 lumen Mag AA drop-in. It looks and feels just like the incandescent one, but it's way brighter. I can see easily across my yard, and into the neighbor's yard, and easily lights of tree tops. The light will focus with about a half turn of the head; which turns very easily and can be done with one hand. The spot is nice, with a smooth bit of spill. The color is slightly peachy, but pleasant. No noticeable rings when focused.

It doesn't have a low mode (or any strobe modes etc), but when it first turns on, the flood diffuses the light enough that it can be used close range. Like the classic AAA Mini, I can hold it cigarette-style or with my mouth if I need both hands to work. This came in handy when I needed to reconnect some wires on my stereo/theater system. As stated before it easily fits into one of the pen pouches in my tool bag, and doesn't snag. It came with the pocket clip, but no pouch, though I don't need one anyway. It's a good little work light, and its bright enough to easily see while walking at night. 

Cons: Same as the incan AAA Mini - no tail-cap switch, and the head is a little loose/wobbly when focused, but these are not really a big deal, considering the light is $15-$18. There is a bit of dust on the inside of the lens, and on the reflector, but I should be able to remove that with some compressed air or or one of those sqeeze-blow-brush things used to clean electronics.

BTW, It does fit in the AA incan Mini's pouch, but it is small enough that it can fit bezel-down as well, which is cool, though bezel-up would make more sense as your hand is in the natural operation position for this light.


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## parnass (Oct 14, 2012)

El Camino said:


> Mine arrived today. It's great! It's nearly as bright (to my eyes) as the Terralux 140 lumen Mag AA drop-in. .....



Glad you like the Mini Maglite 2AAA LED penlight, El Camino. Thanks for the comments.

It is so slender and bright. My penlight is powered by Energizer Ultimate Lithium primary batteries so it is light weight. I am carrying and using it daily despite having several other penlights.


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## Blue72 (Oct 16, 2012)

Does this light have the same regulation as other modern maglites. Where you have full brightness for 10 minutes then it drops to 25 percent brightness?


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## parnass (Oct 16, 2012)

dd61999 said:


> Does this light have the same regulation as other modern maglites. Where you have full brightness for 10 minutes then it drops to 25 percent brightness?



I would like to know, too. My light is still on its first set of Energizer Ultimate Lithium AAA (primary) batteries.


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## Robin24k (Oct 20, 2012)

Here's the runtime graph for it (NiMH test is still in progress, I'll update the graph when it's complete):




I would estimate that output is almost 100 lumens, which would explain the shorter runtime. I'm going to check with Maglite and see what they say.


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## Slazmo (Oct 20, 2012)

I had the old incan 2AAA Maglite and some douché stole it along with everything else in my car while I was at Uni (good old brick through the window trick)... God how do I miss that little torch!

God how I now want a AAA Led Maglite now - but just purchased a Nite Ize X1DM-GT - yes this was a compulsion buy!


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## parnass (Oct 20, 2012)

Robin24k said:


> Here's the runtime graph for it (NiMH test is still in progress, I'll update the graph when it's complete): ....
> 
> I would estimate that output is almost 100 lumens, which would explain the shorter runtime. I'm going to check with Maglite and see what they say.



Thanks! :goodjob:


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## Robin24k (Dec 5, 2012)

Our review's been posted:

http://www.led-resource.com/2012/12/mini-maglite-2aaa-led-flashlight-review/

Still waiting on a response from Maglite's engineering team about the runtime...


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## TheLightAtTheEnd (Jul 28, 2013)

I just picked up one of these yesterday at lowes. Compared to my aa mag led it is considerably brighter. I measured 340 ma @ tailcap with fresh alka.. seems high to me. Checked a few times. Same numbers. My old 2aa is drawing 78 ma at the tail


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## revolvergeek (Aug 6, 2013)

Very interesting! Thanks for the review. I was not terribly impressed with the initial Maglight LED offerings, so I hadn't given this one a second thought. I will have to pick one up to check out.


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## AnAppleSnail (Aug 6, 2013)

It's a pretty nice penlight. I like mine, and added GITD paint around the emitter.


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## N_N_R (Aug 6, 2013)

Okay ... I've been thinking if to ask or not to ask this question .... why is this actually called a PEN light? It doesn't look like one to me. I mean, the head remains traditionally Maglitely shaped, which is nowhere near a penlight *think*. Also... arent pen-lights mainly clickies? anyway.


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## AnAppleSnail (Aug 6, 2013)

N_N_R said:


> Okay ... I've been thinking if to ask or not to ask this question .... why is this actually called a PEN light? It doesn't look like one to me. I mean, the head remains traditionally Maglitely shaped, which is nowhere near a penlight *think*. Also... arent pen-lights mainly clickies? anyway.



Mag describes it as "a pocket-clippable flashlight that’s not much bigger than a penlight." I wouldn't call it a pen light, although it's similarly sized to Sharpies and slightly larger than standard pens.







I find mine to be a good pocketing size, although it might be awkward in a shirt pocket. I haven't tried that, as it's not long-sleeve weather here.


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## Nake (Aug 6, 2013)

TheLightAtTheEnd said:


> I just picked up one of these yesterday at lowes. Compared to my aa mag led it is considerably brighter. I measured 340 ma @ tailcap with fresh alka.. seems high to me. Checked a few times. Same numbers. My old 2aa is drawing 78 ma at the tail



Mine draws the same amperage with the said batteries also.


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## N_N_R (Aug 7, 2013)

AnAppleSnail said:


> Mag describes it as "a pocket-clippable flashlight that’s not much bigger than a penlight." I wouldn't call it a pen light, although it's similarly sized to Sharpies and slightly larger than standard pens.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Thanks for the picture comparison with real pens! It was very helpful : ) Yeah, okay, the size of a pen, indeed, but the shape of... something else  Thanks.


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## bshanahan14rulz (Aug 19, 2013)

I was just gifted a Solitaire. The new, updated, LED version!!! Luxeon C, indeed! I wish I had kept the original battery so that I could do a runtime test for you folks! LED appears to be soldered to a piece of plastic, that's strange. Head doesn't get very warm after running for a minute or so; you can feel more heat by holding your hand in front of the light than from holding the light itself. Plastic SMO reflector. No spare bulb in the tailcap (lol). LED is amazingly tiny! I chuckled when I saw that the on-board protection diode is actually taller than the LED chip. 

To turn it on, you loosen the head until the light switches on. At this point, you will have a smaller hotspot, larger hotspot, and some spill. Loosen further to obtain highest lux. Loosen further, and a four-leafed clover shaped hole begins to appear, its symmetricity a testament to the centering of the LED. This light has quite an impressive hotspot for the size reflector. ~16" diameter @ ~9.5ft., 3/8" @ aperture.

This feels just like a solitaire, except that it has the added function of being able to use that AAA cell it carries to output light! This is a nifty feature for a flashlight 

Mine's in the same, beautiful, dark red as the AA mini above.


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## Derek Dean (Aug 19, 2013)

bshanahan14rulz said:


> I was just gifted a Solitaire. The new, updated, LED version!!! Luxeon C, indeed! This feels just like a solitaire, except that it has the added function of being able to use that AAA cell it carries to output light! This is a nifty feature for a flashlight


Thanks for the afternoon chuckle.


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## Lord Flashlight (Aug 21, 2013)

I went into Halfords today and they had these on the shelf. I tried to talk myself out of it but I couldn't and bought one. Glad I did as it's actually a really nice pen sized light, brighter than the standard Minimag LED and with nicer center spot, in my opinion.


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## martinaee (Aug 22, 2013)

I've seen these 2aaa mini maglite led's at Target stores for a while in Ohio. I don't think I saw the led solitare, but I wasn't thinking about it. Is the solitare supposed to be a single output light? If it was 15-20 lumens or so I'd be sold as that would give it decent run time. They probably are going to try make it higher output than that for the masses who don't know better and are wowed by the first few minutes being higher off of an alkaline cell.

edit: yeah just looked it's closer to a claimed 40 lumens.


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## Lord Flashlight (Aug 22, 2013)

There are plenty of other LED keychain lights that fit your requirement. It's not like there's a shortage of choice.


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## leon2245 (Jul 28, 2014)

parnass said:


> The size difference is striking.




I never realized just how much smaller aaa mini maglites were than aa's. Never even considered one lately even if it weren't for the focusing beam, because i'd still generally just assume have a single aa form factor for the size/performance, but no one makes a single mode with a spring, twist only, tailstanding aaa in the high-medium output range, much less in AA exactly what I want, and this 2xaaa is still plenty small enough. THe mini aa's body is damn near as big around as the aaa's head. 

Still have to say, and all due respect as a life long maglite fan, i still can't help but imagine how awesome it could be if some co. like fenix did these specs to their level of quality. Like a 2 cell E05 with a little higher output, 50-100 lumens, it would be same diameter and less than 4 1/2" long! I now would be just as excited about that as I would be a AA e05.


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## Chicken Drumstick (Dec 27, 2014)

Does anyone know if Maglite have changed the LED in these? The original Luxeon C MiniMag AAA was rated at 84 lumens. But the current ones are 87 lumens. Anyone know the difference?


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## AnAppleSnail (Dec 27, 2014)

Going by eye alone, it looked like a bin change, but not an LED model change.


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## leon2245 (Dec 27, 2014)

N_N_R said:


> Okay ... I've been thinking if to ask or not to ask this question .... why is this actually called a PEN light? It doesn't look like one to me. I mean, the head remains traditionally Maglitely shaped, which is nowhere near a penlight *think*. Also... arent pen-lights mainly clickies? anyway.









Close enough.

I think most 2aaa's in general are considered, even if not exact shape & size.


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## N_N_R (Dec 28, 2014)

Loool, thanks for the picture!


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## Agamemnon Jones (Dec 28, 2014)

C n. Tx c bc 


Sent from my iPhone using Candlepowerforums


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