Photon X-Light Micro

http://www.photonlight.com/X-Light-Micro-Keychain-LED-Flashlights-p/xm-keychain-led-flashlight.htm

Bought it just a couple of weeks ago. Very satisfied! It has exactly the same Smart Circuit features as the famous on this forum Photon Freedom Micro.

Pros:
- I like the shelfs above and below the LED, they're mechanically protecting the "bulb" and somewhat - your eyes from the direct light;
- Very easy to open without any tools to dry it out or to replace the batteries;
- Glow in the dark button;
- I like its shape more than Freedom's (concave sides vs convex);
- It was reported noticeable brighter than the Freedom Micro, 45 lux vs 18 lux, and also has a wider usable beam (see here
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/lri_xlight.htm , compare to the freedom micro here: http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/photon_freedom.htm ).
- It's more than twice cheaper ($8.95 vs $19.95);

Cons:
- It's heavier 0.4 oz vs 0.25 oz (unnoticeable anyway);
- Larger size compared to Freedom;
- Not waterproof at all (will try to improve that with silicon caulk);
- There is no accessories included, and it's not compatible with the hands free, multi-purpose Photon Clip (I'm going to use the plenty of spare space in the corners of its case and insert some neodymium magnets to make it stick to metal).

Hi Alex,

I have never really liked the micro keychain lights powered by 2016 lithium cells due to the cost of long term ownership and their poor overall performance.

It terms of ergonomics, weight and usefulness both the LRI Xlight and the Freedom Micro are actually poor performers compared to other solutions. Although the Xlight is 3 times brighter using a very good Nichia LED the battery time I suspect would be just over an hours use compared to the Freedom Micro 3 hours use.
Taking into account the 2016 battery costs also compared to a rechargeable AAA Eneloop cell for example. 1 hours use for X-light is going to cost $2.00 (assuming each 2016 cell costs $1.00 each).

I personally would use a Fenix LOD CE flashlight with an Eneloop AAA cell or lithium AAA cell both on a keychain or even in a small tobacco tin type PSK, just because of the extraordinary performance no matter the cost of initial ownership (though the long term costs of ownership are actually less after say about 20-25 hours use when compared to the 2016 powered X-light). The Fenix flashlight weighs in at just over the oz mark (with a Lithium AAA cell) and is just slightly larger, its performance is just nothing short of amazing being brighter than a 3D Maglite for 1 hr NiMh (1.5 hrs with a Lithium AAA), and more light output than a 2D maglite for more than 3 hrs NiMh (4hrs with a lithium AAA). On its lowest power setting it will last more than 8 hrs at the same light output as the X-light making it more than 3 times more efficient if overall weight differences are accounted for. Also in an emergency replacement cells are much more readily available than the 2016 cells. Although the initial cost of ownership is around $45 for the Fenix it makes much more sense in the long term than any 2016 powered light. 2016 powered lights may be useful for certain tasks but when the chips are down I would rather have the flexibility of the Fenix LOD CE.

We bought a pair of them last year at Cabellas on the way to a camping trip. One failed while on the camping trip and a week or two later the switch stuck on the other and the battery went dead. I vowed to never again buy a coin cell light, will be nothing but AA or AAA powered for me.

Well, I'd agree with all of that in general (bentirran). But I've been carrying the round flashlight MAG Solitaire at work, with the original bulb upgraded to Tektite LT-3 UB LED thing. The exact purpose of the upgrade was the possibility of complete consumption of the partially discharged AAA batteries, left from the other toys. It works nice, but I don't like its size for EDC. I saw Fenix LOD CE, and yes, it's a bit shorter, but noticeable bigger in diameter than MAG. I needed something to keep it comfortable on a key ring in my pants pocket. So, a flat flashlight with shielded bulb had the best fit.

Another thing I like in the 2016 based flashlights is the simplicity of the battery holder. It's easy to attach a couple of wires from an external power source to power the LED circuit. 5-6 Volt is very common in modern electronics. So I'm trying to have all of my gadgets powered in this range. Try that with any AAA flashlight.

Regarding the batteries. My job is IT guru. All of the dead PC's ends their path in my office. They use 2016 batteries for the BIOS power, so I have an unlimited supply for now

By the way, the rechargeable coin cell batteries do exists in the nature: http://www.saveateagle.com/b-332.html?ovchn=OTHER&ovcpn=Froogle&ovcrn=B-332&ovtac=CMP

Thanks for the warning. I have a bad feeling for the switch reliability too. Sure thing, I'll post here when and if mine breaks

I could never get my brain around the Tektite mod for the Solitaire. A $20 mod for a $6 light.... OK, it is brighter and the battery life is better and you don't have to worry about the bulb. But still. :P

I was just too greedy to throw away AAA's depleted to 1.2V Each could work with this LED for about a week of a typical occasional use at work.

These are great and cheap at a buck each. Cheaper than batteries. They are bright and last a good long time.

We give them out in our kids' party grab bags with a bunch of other goodies. Funny that the kids tend to gravitate towards and play with the lights more than the other stuff.

Our kids have one of these lights and a whistle attached to them when we are camping and hiking. I use them as zipper pulls on packs. I give them to clients for keychain use. I have used these for a couple of years now and haven't had one run out of batteries yet. I used to prefer the Inova ones, but these are just as bright and are much less expensive. My kids have drained an Inova microlight in one night's play.

These 99. cent lights (scroll down the page) are also nice giveaways and cheap enough to put one in every bag just in case. I just listed them as an alternative to the slide switch type aloha mentioned. I have both types and so far I like the squeeze lights better. Not to mention, in my experience the plastic swivel piece on the slide switch lights tends to break rather easily. But really, they're both a good deal.

http://www.lighthound.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=133

I carried a solitaire for many years as an EDC light. Wore the finish off completely so its now bare aluminum. I finally bought an ARC AAA. An AAA light isn't too large for ECD, its longer than a coin cell light sure, but not as wide, its about the same length at the key for my truck so it lays nicely beside it in my pocket and takes up less room than a coin cell light did.
I'm powering mine with an AAA Sanyo Eneloop now as my HP calculator takes 3 AAA's so I have an extra from its pack.

I have had an original run of the Xlight that I got at the 2006 SHOT show. It was given to me by the folks at LRI. This was before they were on the market. It has been on my keys since with no issues.
Just remember it is a keychain light and is not meant to be bombproof.

As far as water-proofing don't bother; lights that run on low power don't need to be waterproof. Just turn on a photon and toss it in a glass of water it will keep working.

You can get cheap batteries from here:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.832

You can also get keychaing flashlights (Photon knock-offs) for less than $0.50 at the same place:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1253

It does take close to a month to get your order, but the stuff is coming from Hong Kong. They are not the absolute best quality, but they are great at geocaching goodies.

I also carry an X-Light on my keychain. I decided to remove the Arc-AAA after the hard-anodize finish wore off the ridges on my keys. It actually killed one of my car keys. After that, I decided that a plastic-body light was the way to go for keychain use. I **LOVE** how the light is dimmable. This is a great feature for those worried about battery life: only use the power that you need.

I had a problem with my X-Light recently. I found that ONE of the two batteries had died. My guess is that the bottom battery shifted and shorted out against the "spring riser" battery contact. Fortunately, I had over a dozen 2016's lying around and was back in business in no time. I could probably rig a permenant fix with a bit of tape, but it didn't seem worth the trouble at the time.

I use a CR2032 (3V) in my X-light and its still fairly bright. Someone mentioned the runtimes were greatly increased as opposed to using the standard two cr2016's so I'm trying it out. Plus I use mine as a night camp light so I don't mind it being 50% dimmer.

I did not know you could use a 2032 in an xlight. Good to know thanks.

You can even put a lithium rechargeable 3.7V 10440 battery in to the Fenix LOD CE to get an absolutely astonishing 120 Lumen output from the tiny AAA flashlight. Thats more than the Surefire M600A Tactical flashlight output.

Does anyone else here wish they had a little more education in the electronics field?

You mean I could have bought the EOD instead of the P2D-CE, and saved $15??

I'm pretty sure the P2D CE has much longer runtimes. A CR123 I think has a lot more capacity than a AAA size 10440. Please someone correct me if I'm wrong.


Bentirran, isn't the max imput voltage on the LOD CE 3.3V? That output is pretty amazing but how long can it maintain that level of output without damaging the led?

Yes the P2D CE will have much longer run times. A typical CR123 has a capacity of about 1200 mAhrs and a nominal voltage of 3V. A AAA sized 10440 will have a capacity of about 300mAhrs to 500mAhrs at 3.7V. Therefore the run times would be (1200x3)/(300x3.7) = 3.24 times less. The P2D CE in turbo mode runs at 135 lumens for 1 hrs. I would therefore expect the Fenix LOD CE with a AAA 10440 cell to last about 1/3 of an hour or about 20 mins.

The LED in the LOD CE is identical to the P2D CE both being Cree 7090 XR-E LEDs. Therefore the LED in the LOD CE is easily capable of out putting 120 Lumen. The driver circuit (pulse width modulated) may be different but I suspect that Fenix would have used the same driver MOSFET as the others in the CREE series to keep costs down. I wouldn't use the LOD CE with the 10440 continuously as the smaller LOD CE would have a greater problems caused the heat generated by the LED. The Fenix store website states an input voltage of 0.8V~3.3V although the thread on
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/archive/index.php/t-149453.html
indicates that it can be used OK. In operation I would turn the power down if the little LOD CE gets too warm.

A note of caution though, the 10440 cell is unprotected and care has to be taken when charging and discharging the cell. Short circuiting the cell would also have a fire hazard. (or depending on your viewpoint another survival means of starting a fire)

Oh the P2D CE is a superb flashlight also and I would consider it to be much more flexible in use than the LOD CE for general use. It can give nearly 32hrs use at a similar light level as the Photon X-light and nearly an Hours use at 135 lumen (greater output than the Surefire M600A Tactical light). Its just too large for my PSK.

Tyrell to Roy

The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long - and you have burned so very, very brightly, Roy.

Very nice info bentirran. Thanks.

I agree. It almost made complete sense to me (that's a small joke) The P2D I bought is sort of a first step into EDC of a flashlight for me, besides the Fauxton on my keychain. I really don't need it for much, though. I think it'll also be my 2nd flashlight while camping. I discovered, after being followed by some creature for 15 minutes, that I'd like a light with longer reach than an LED headlamp.