AstroLux A01 Nichia 219B - Single AAA Torch $12.43 (USD $8.99) @ Banggood

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OzBragain on 06/07/2016 - 14:10 banggood.com (296 clicks)
Last edited 06/07/2016 - 14:58

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First heard about this torch from a previous deal here but missed out.

In depth review at Budget Light Forum. Feedback looks good.

Rotary switch
4 modes - Low, Mid, High & Strobe (thankfully the annoying strobe mode is somewhat hidden in that you have to cycle twice through L>M>H to activate)
Single AAA

Price comes down to $11.90ea if you buy 3 or more.

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• 

  Black Hole on 06/07/2016 - 14:24

  Thank you OP. I bought blue, green, orange, and purple.

• 

  seb on 06/07/2016 - 14:47

  Bought 3 last time these were on Ozbargain. I find these torches to be adequate brightness etc but to be a bit fiddly to handle. I find the Fenix E01, E05 and torches of that ilk to be much more user-friendly to hold and handle.

  • 

    skyva on 06/07/2016 - 14:48

    Do you have large hands or is it just the design of the torch? I quite like small torches, I am always looking for one when I have to do stuff outside.

• 

  haz on 06/07/2016 - 15:00

  +6

  If you have used LEDs before, you will probably have noticed that colours tends to be washed out when using it outdoors. This is due to many LED's having very poor CRI, or Colour Rendering Index. You might have noticed that your old Dolphin lantern allows you to see more, despite being dimmer and that's because incandescent bulbs produce a CRI of 100%.

  Anyway, the Nichia 219B has a CRI of 90 which is pretty decent and much higher than most other LEDs you see in cheaper lights. Most people just look at lumens and underrate the importance of CRI.

  Higher CRI let's you see more outdoors, the contrast will be better, you will be able to distinguish leaves from branches and you will see things much better in the dark.

  • 

    WatchNerd on 06/07/2016 - 15:21

    I'm not going to take a photo, I just want to light stuff up, will contrast matter that much?

    • 

      haz on 06/07/2016 - 15:52

      +2

      Depends where you are using the light, it's sort of like black and white tv vs colour tv. With a colour tv, you can distinguish what's red and what's brown. With a higher CRI, you will see the spectrum of colours better. This is not as noticeable indoors, but is more noticeable outdoors. A low CRI light will still light up what you want, but it is more difficult to differentiate similar colours. I've tried spotting animals in trees at night with a low CRI LED. You can barely make out the difference between the leaves and the branches, let alone see the animal. Some people complain about LEDs making the scenery appear in '2D', as the LED washes the colour out and everything appears relatively flat.

      • 

        mskeggs on 06/07/2016 - 17:48

        I bought one of these last time, and the light is yellower and much more appealing than my other LEDs. I am considering getting another, although the 3-way switch is tedious.

      • 

        pinchies on 06/07/2016 - 22:44

        +2

        @mskeggs: you might consider one of these torches instead: they use the same LED but only have on and off! click here and use coupon 348309CM

        More info on this torch on the BLF forums here

      • 

        mskeggs on 07/07/2016 - 07:12

        @pinchies:
        Thanks. I have ordered one at $USD6.99, so we'll see how it goes. I like the screw on/off as they are so reliable, but a reliable switch is better, and I don't need multiple modes.

      • 

        OzBragain on 07/07/2016 - 15:17

        @pinchies:

        Damn you!! As much as I dislike GB, I've just ordered a few of these too.

      • 

        mskeggs on 01/08/2016 - 13:21

        +1

        @pinchies:
        This flashlight arrived today.
        Very high quality construction, bright, small. A pleasing beam colour.
        All in all a great buy.
        Thanks pinchies!

      • 

        OzBragain on 03/08/2016 - 13:24

        @pinchies:

        Having had the chance to try both I find myself going for the AstroLux much more often. Mainly because of the multiple brightness levels but also because it has a much nicer light. I thought the twisty switch would be a pain but it's not bad…especially like that it starts off on low each time don't have to scroll through the strobe if I don't want it.

        Surprised that the light from the AstroLux is much warmer given they're supposed to be using similar emitters.

        Having said that, my wife prefers the single on/off and the clip (suspect the clip is the main reason) of Singfire and has taken one for her handbag.

      • 

        mskeggs on 03/08/2016 - 13:32

        @mskeggs:
        Price down to 4.84USD/AUD$6.71 if you get the version with the engraving:
        http://www.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_332445.html

      • 

        mskeggs on 03/08/2016 - 13:35

        @OzBragain:

        I just compared the two, and as you say, the Astrolux is very noticeably warmer in colour side-by-side. That said, I used the BudgetlightForum one for an hour or so last night and found it very good, but a lot of that was because I was turning it on and off a lot, so the twist on the astrolux and 2 steps to get to bright would be painful.

      • 

        OzBragain on 03/08/2016 - 14:01

        @mskeggs:

        Price down to 4.84USD/AUD$6.71

        Worthy of it's own post. Will likely be grabbing a few more as gifts at that price.

      • 

        mskeggs on 03/08/2016 - 14:24

        @OzBragain:
        I agree, I wrote one up before the system blocked me because Gearbest is a banned site ;-)

      • 

        OzBragain on 03/08/2016 - 14:27

        @mskeggs:

        Oops, forgot about that

      • 

        pinchies on 03/08/2016 - 14:54

        @OzBragain:
        I like the astrolux - I have one on my keys, but I definitely love the light that the blf 348 puts out.

  • 

    llama on 06/07/2016 - 18:39

    +3

    So-called "CRI" can be measured in MANY different ways. Inherently it is a totally flawed metric, however we are kind of stuck with it.

    The "Flashlight guys" have absolutely no frigging idea what they are talking about with the technical aspects of lighting, and they don't even use the correct terminology. They talk about "tints", which I guess is what they mean by Colour Temperature, however even with CRI (Ra) there is another colour criteria variable that's also important (and more like a tint)

    The Flashlight guys also have absolutely no clue about Lumens and Candela, so they use terms like "throw" rather than proper scientific and measurable criteria.

    Anyway, White LEDs are Blue LEDs with a yellow phosphor to convert some of the blue to yellow. The contents of the phosphor define what the final colour will be. The chips are just "made" like aples are grown, and then they sort them

    The easiest measure of CRI is the Ra9 scale which is how well it illuminates the colour Swatches R1 to R9 in this example:

    http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0210/0136/files/efficiency_…

    Since Red and Skin tones are not included, you can see that it's possible to have a very high "CRI" yet have a complete inability to illuminate Reds. A typical LED usually has a Negative value for R9!

    LEDs are batched
    a) Output
    b) Colour Temperature eg 4000K
    c) Deviation from the CIE Black Body Locus
    c) CRI (Ra9)

    The Colour Temperature is in the scale Red > Orange > Yellow > WHite > Blue

    The Deviation is in the opposite direction to that - the amount of Pink <> Green tint.

    So, you can have an LED with a High CRI that doesn't show some colours very well.
    And you can have an LED with a Colour Temperature of 3000K (Warm White) that looks Pink!

    A LED doesn't need to have good CRI in order to make green leaves stand out well. Confusing, huh?

    In summary. Don't trust CRI as a measure of "illumination quality".

    • 

      pinchies on 06/07/2016 - 22:55

      +2

      Sounds like you have an accurate grasp on the torch terminology - would you consider enhancing the ozbargain torch wiki with your knowledge? :-)

      • 

        llama on 07/07/2016 - 15:24

        I have worked in lighting for about 35 years. But I have no idea about "torch technology"… those guys just make up their own technical stuff.

        Quite silly really, when there is a scientific methodology and international standards that are already in place. There are scientific ways to measure light output, lumens, intensity, life, LED chip temperatures, LED lifetime, etc, etc.

        However the Flashlight guys don't seem to use those things. So, anything that I added to a Flashlight Wiki might be technically correct, but would have no "credibility" in a community that doesn't understand what it means (hence will bag it out).

      • 

        pinchies on 07/07/2016 - 16:22

        @llama: Well, there's not really any other way that misconceptions will get cleared up.

• 

  Black Hole on 06/07/2016 - 15:31

  Any one know where to buy the Nichia or any other led itself for molding purposes? I am looking for something 3.5mm or less in size that can take 3V battery.

  • 

    pinchies on 06/07/2016 - 22:52

    +1

    try here

    There's quite a few LED modding suppliers - probably best to join BLF forums if you have torch specific questions.

    3.5mm?? or 3.5 cm?

    • 

      Black Hole on 06/07/2016 - 23:14

      Thank you. I was trying to mode this 3V small but expensive halogen bulb to LED format.
      https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/27018626/Bulb.jpg

      • 

        pinchies on 06/07/2016 - 23:15

        Sorry, that link doesnt work for me. If you want something small, how about this?

      • 

        Black Hole on 06/07/2016 - 23:25

        @pinchies:

        Sorry, damn dropbox, not sure what they are up to recently.
        This is from google drive.
        https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2upsXOy6ezfSUUtbHV3Y19Pa0k…

        The bulb is small about 3.5mm in diameter. It is for my otoscope. This is directly driven by 2x1.5v battery. No fancy regulator. I have managed to take it apart to reveal the bare halogen.

      • 

        pinchies on 06/07/2016 - 23:46

        @Bargain Zombies:
        Sounds like a cool project, but I suspect that you won't be able to find any driver electronics that size to make your idea work with the 219B? A "normal" shape LED (something like this? with a current limiting resistor inside a few layers of heatshrink might fit that kind of size?

      • 

        Black Hole on 07/07/2016 - 00:10

        @pinchies: thanks you.I will explore that.

      • 

        llama on 07/07/2016 - 15:36

        +1

        @Bargain Zombies:

        The bulb is small about 3.5mm in diameter. It is for my otoscope.

        An Otoscope requires a light source that accurately shows skin tones, which means that most LEDs are totally unsuitable. You need an R9 CRI/Ra value of over 50%, and to do it properly you need a properly balanced colour range like what is required for Cyanosis clinical observation.

        Also, in such an application, you have no ability to keep the LED cool. That means you will be limited to perhaps 20mA or so drive, which might be enough but also might not.

        This is directly driven by 2x1.5v battery. No fancy regulator

        You (technically) cannot run LED like that - you must control the current using a resistor or driver or the LED will cook itself. 3V supply is not enough to run proper current limiting, so you will need to use a resistor. Most LEDs, whilst rated nominal 3V would need to be run off a slightly higher voltage like 3 x 1.5V.

        Your alkaline 1.5V cells don't give that voltage for very long, and the LED output will drop off significantly below 3V. At normal 1.2V of NiMH rechargeable or a moderately used Alkalines, with only 2 cells most LEDs will be unable to illuminate at all.

        There is no advantage in using an LED in such a application. You don't need to save power, and lamp life is irrelevant because it is used for seconds each time. You have a scientific device that is designed to use a certain component (halogen lamp), and you should replace that with a "like-for-like" component in order to maintain your Otoscope's design integrity.

• 

  iwik on 06/07/2016 - 20:46

  I want to like this light but it is just too fiddly for me and for this type of light I much prefer a single usable output. Really nice colour tint though.

  • 

    pinchies on 06/07/2016 - 22:45

    +2

    You might consider one of these torches instead: they use the same LED but only have on and off! click here and use coupon 348309CM

    More info about this torch on the BLF forums here

    • 

      iwik on 09/07/2016 - 20:08

      Thanks for the reply.

      To me they are much more practical and a considerably better torch.
      I am actually carrying one right now while the light originally posted is in the cupboard. Even had to buy a couple for my wife as she kept stealing them to use at work as a nurse.