# Fenix P3D with pics



## EV_007 (Apr 29, 2007)

I finally decided to check out Fenix’s newest, brightest offering, the P3D. I ordered from Lighthound, which arrived quickly as usual. I held out on the P1D CE due to its twisty interface and ringy beam profile users have been reporting. 













The P3D reminds me of the L1P in terms of overall construction and general appearance, except on a much larger scale. I wasn’t a big fan of the thinner L2T design, so I was pleased to see that Fenix has kept the lines of the P3D sleek and aesthetically pleasing.





AW's protected 3.7v 750mAh batteries with label facing away for size comparison

Sizewise the P3D is slightly bulkier (thicker) than the SureFire E2E, and a little shorter as well. The wider width makes it stand on its end better than the narrower L2P design. The light feels a bit slippery due to the lack of checkered knurling on the main body, but I don’t mind the smoothness of it. 

This is one of the better UI Fenix has come up with for cycling through the different levels.  

Click once and you are in the lowest setting - 9 Lumens (65 hrs) 

Half-click or tap again and the middle brightness level is activated - 40 lumens (13 hrs)

Tap once again and the 3rd brightness level is activated - 90 lumens (4.8 hrs)

Fully clicking again brings you to the SOS mode. 

Now within any mode, twist the head tight and the Turbo mode kicks in. 
160 lumens (1.8 hr) 

While in the Turbo mode, tap the clickie and the strobe kicks in.

I like the fact that you can enter the lowest or highest turbo modes from initial start-up without cycling through to get to them.

I also like that PWM is not used to achieve the multi-level brightness settings. No more flickering.





P3D business end



































The beam seemed slightly unfocused, but this is only obvious when wall hunting. There is also a straight, thin line next to where the LED sits. Not sure if this is normal or not. Yes, the LED does indeed look off center. The tint leans slightly toward the purplish side. Someone mentioned that this might be characteristic of the LED being overdriven? The tint reminds me of the Streamlight PP 4AA and the L2P MM version. Although I prefer warmer tints, this isn’t much of an issue for me. Thankfully this latest offering from Fenix does not seem to suffer as bad from the rings reported in the P1D CE, however, there is a dark band around the outer most portion of the spillbeam, then faint rings visible toward the unfocused central hotspot. The camera does not show the various nuances of the beam profile. Not a huge issue in the real world, but YMMV. 

The location has nearly zero ambient light from the city. My friend was kind enough to let me flood his mailbox with photons.
 




Around 35 feet to mailbox.

The SureFire U2 on high (100 lumens) puts out a broader, more even beam than the P3D on Turbo (160 lumens?). The Lumens Factory EO-E2R is the closest incan I have housed in the SureFire E2E body for a direct comparison. IMHO the incan wins in terms of overall throw and color rendition. The P3D wins in terms of overall runtime, which was the main reason for acquiring it. 











Aside from the standard 123a battery, AW’s protected RCRs fit snuggly in the tube, however, you do need to tap and shake the light to get them back out. Removing the label from the battery should help. The AW protected 17670s do not fit. The unprotected 123a size Li-Ions fit as well as the unprotected 17670s which Lighthound sells.





Shot the P3D against the Lumens Factory E0-E2R housed in the SureFire E2E. The camera picks up the bluish hue and shows it slightly brighter than the naked eye observes. Digital sensors seem to bias a bit towards the blue spectrum over the warmer tones, but the P3D did a nice job, even though a bit washed out as most LEDs render compared to incans.







I like the overall look and solid feel of the light. The refined user interface is a huge plus. I like the fact that I can turn on the light in either low or high mode without cycling through multiple actions. The long runtime is what sold me on this light. 

Although the Fenix P3D is not the smallest, lightest flashlight in the world for EDC, it certainly would be worth considering for daily carry.


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## AFAustin (Apr 29, 2007)

Thanks---very helpful review. I've been mulling this one over, but am currently a bit "overbought" on lights  . Looking forward to your beamshots.


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## ensile (Apr 29, 2007)

Thank you very much for the effort! the shots look great. ​


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## Kilovolt (Apr 30, 2007)

Very interesting review. Thanks


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## JKL (Apr 30, 2007)

Thanks EV_007,nice pictures and very interesting review :goodjob:
Waiting beamshot :naughty:


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## Kippers (May 1, 2007)

EV_007,

Mine has the thin straight line inside the emitter, so this must be normal. I see your emitter is not centered in the reflector. I lucked out, mine is almost perfectly centered. There is however, a shadow ring around the central beam between it and the spill beam. In use it is not very noticeable. I am happy with the tint, no green, white with hint of blue depending which light you compare it to. Spill is very bright and useful. I like starting in low and working up to what you need. High is plenty bright and I probably will stick with the regular modes for the increased runtime.

Kippers :candle:


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## Jackyl (May 1, 2007)

Awesome review and pics!!! How do you turn it off? Did you mean 1.6Hr. run-time in turbo or is that a typo? Fenix claims 1.8Hr...or are AW's rechargeable? Thanks.


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## EV_007 (May 1, 2007)

Jackyl said:


> Awesome review and pics!!! How do you turn it off? Did you mean 1.6Hr. run-time in turbo or is that a typo? Fenix claims 1.8Hr...or are AW's rechargeable? Thanks.




Yes, it should read 1.8 HR. You turn the Turbo mode off by loosening the bezel slightly from the tightened position.


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## Jackyl (May 1, 2007)

Thanks again, but I mean how do you turn the light off completely? I assume you just hold the button down for a few seconds, but I've never even seen a light that had UI.  My P3D should be here in another day or two.


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## EV_007 (May 1, 2007)

Jackyl said:


> Thanks again, but I mean how do you turn the light off completely? I assume you just hold the button down for a few seconds, but I've never even seen a light that had UI.  My P3D should be here in another day or two.



Oh, just click once from the on position to shut off the light.


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## Jackyl (May 2, 2007)

From what I understood, another full click from the "general mode" put it into SOS, and another full click from "turbo mode" put it into strobe. Are you saying one full click from SOS or strobe turns it off or am I just not getting it?


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## luigi (May 2, 2007)

That LED is really offcentered, do you have a beamshot to see what is the effect in the beam ?

Luigi


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## Frank_Zuccarini (May 2, 2007)

Yes, one full click from SOS or strobe mode turns the light off.

Frank


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## mchlwise (May 2, 2007)

Jackyl said:


> From what I understood, another full click from the "general mode" put it into SOS, and another full click from "turbo mode" put it into strobe. Are you saying one full click from SOS or strobe turns it off or am I just not getting it?



To turn the light off, you simply press the switch fully (clicking it) and it's off (assuming it was on). 

To change modes on a Fenix, you turn it off and then quickly back on. When it comes on, it will be in the next mode. 

Since the Fenix switches are what's known as "reverse clicky", changing modes does not require a full switch press and "click". A reverse clicky can be pressed in slightly to disconnect the circuit and turn off the light without actually "clicking", and then when pressure is released the light comes back on - on the Fenix in the next mode.


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## Jackyl (May 2, 2007)

Thanks for clearing that up.


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## luchs (May 2, 2007)

got mine today:
nice flashlight. fits my hand very well!! LED is well centered.
solid build, threads are smooth and lubed. I like the UI and the switch.
light ist white with just a little purpish but i still have to compare it.

but the beam is very urgly, with yellow rings inside ,
I think about changing the reflector with the M3 ones. 
but i don't find how to open the head!!!???????????????????


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## Kid9P (May 2, 2007)

Here is a pic of the led on my P2D.
I guess not being centered is common with these lights?


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## kingoftf (May 2, 2007)

My P3D, distance about 7 meters:


low





normal





high





turbo:


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## ensile (May 2, 2007)

great shots. cheers. !!


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## EV_007 (May 3, 2007)

*Re: Fenix P3D with pics - Beamshots added*

Beamshots added. Comparing the Fenix P3D to some of my LEDs in my collection. The SureFire U2 still is the best overall LED in my incan biased collection. 

The direct comparison to the Lumens Factory EO-E2R really shows how incans stack up against a comparable LED. Housed in the SureFire E2E, the LF lamp and reflector size of the E2E makes this a fair evaluation of the incan vs. LED debate. I love both, LEDs for runtime and ruggedness and the incan for throw and color rendtion. 

Outdoors = Incans. 
Indoors = LEDs.


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## EV_007 (May 5, 2007)

Pic with size comparison of the P3D to the SureFire U2, L2 and E2E added.


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## bordan (May 5, 2007)

Guys, who liked FEnix P3D - check this out: http://ledmuseum.candlepower.us/ninth/fenixp3d.htm


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## popeye (May 5, 2007)

I am new to the LED kind of stuff. Just recently got the fenix L2d ce and love it. Iwas thinking of the P3D but was wondering if using RCR123a batts would be ok or will they overpower and ruin light?


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## EV_007 (May 5, 2007)

popeye said:


> I am new to the LED kind of stuff. Just recently got the fenix L2d ce and love it. Iwas thinking of the P3D but was wondering if using RCR123a batts would be ok or will they overpower and ruin light?



I haven't had any problems using RCRs.


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## Jackyl (May 8, 2007)

Got my P3D yesterday and LOVE it. Mine's off center too, but not quite as bad as the two previous ones posted. It isn't nearly as white and doesn't seem as bright as my WolfEyes D26 Cree drop-in though.


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## EV_007 (May 15, 2007)

Beamshot comparison of the P3D and the Lumens Factory E0-E2R added.


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## M16 (May 16, 2007)

Thank you


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## techwg (May 16, 2007)

Wow, well done.


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## EV_007 (May 19, 2007)

Welcome.


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## techwg (May 19, 2007)

my P3D ce has impressed the jizz out of me.. i have just done a test today from a guestimated 24m distance and it blew me away. Even in medium i could still see down all the way the garden and see detail, then one turn of the bezel and WHAM you can see the hairs on flies with crystal detail !


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## p3dpaul (Mar 2, 2022)

Probably nobody cares, but I bought one of these in about 2007 when the original review was written - it's still going strong 15 years later with almost daily use.


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## bla2000 (Mar 3, 2022)

That's cool. Mine still works but never got used much. There was nothing wrong with it, I just preferred the smaller p1d which I purchased at the same time.

Perhaps it was this thread that made me aware of Fenix lights and why I purchased them.


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## BroncoAZ (Jul 30, 2022)

I still have a P1D, my first Fenix light. Things have progressed exponentially in the past 15 years, but that is/was one of my favorite lights I’ve owned.


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## DaveTheDude (Aug 9, 2022)

Oh hell, we all have one of these somewhere...


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## id30209 (Aug 10, 2022)

I upgraded my P3D to Nichia 219C 5700K last year. Lumens tripled!


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## DaveTheDude (Aug 10, 2022)

_"I upgraded my P3D to Nichia 219C 5700K last year. Lumens tripled!"_

Now _that's _interesting...


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