Fri 03 Jul, 2015 12:09 am
Fri 03 Jul, 2015 1:45 pm
Wed 25 May, 2016 3:21 pm
Wed 25 May, 2016 4:57 pm
Wed 25 May, 2016 5:32 pm
GPSGuided wrote:Pretty good price. By the photo, it seemed to be comparable to those from Aliexpress. I might buy some fizzy tablets and try your diffuser design on my existing torch.
Sun 29 May, 2016 9:21 pm
Sun 29 May, 2016 11:20 pm
Eremophila wrote:"Keith's DIY Light Sabre"
Mon 30 May, 2016 7:57 am
Tue 31 May, 2016 12:29 am
GPSGuided wrote:Keithy, do you know a good site page that has a good comparative summary of all the LED emitters out there? Otherwise, your double light stick will more likely to guide in some alien spacecraft.
Mon 21 May, 2018 10:48 am
Tue 05 Jun, 2018 7:51 pm
Wed 06 Jun, 2018 2:47 am
Wed 06 Jun, 2018 11:57 am
Wed 13 Jun, 2018 4:41 pm
Wed 27 Jun, 2018 1:55 pm
keithy wrote:This is a quick review of the "LED Trekking Torch" as sold by Aldi sometime in May 2014 and May 2015 for $14.99. It is branded a Lightway W2 Cree LED 2xAA torch.
I picked one up in May as an impulse buy, and forgot about it when I went away. But I've taken it out and had a go with it now.
It comes in blister packaging, and came with a nylon sheath and two AA Alkaline batteries.
Official specs are:
- 3 Watt Cree LED globe with 120 Lumen light output and light range up to 120 metres
- IPX4 Waterproof rating
- Impact and shock resistant
- 2 brightness levels: 100% or 50%
- Product Length: 160mm - I measured 155mm; body diameter 22mm, head diameter 27mm
- Net weight: approx. 106g (without batteries) I measured 100g
- Material: Torch housing: Aluminium, Lens: PC, Clip: Flexible, Steel, Pouch: Nylon
- Luminous flux: 120 lumens,
- Light colour: white,
- Beam length: 120 metres,
- LED life span: 50,000 hours,
- Run time: 100% - about 2,5 hours; 50% - about 4 hours,
- Waterproof: IPX4 (impact and shock resistant)
- LED 3W: CREE Q3-LED (High Power LED), CREE XP-E, Photo biological safety tested (according to DIN EN 62471)
- Accessories included: Batteries: 2 x AA (LR6) Brand Activ Energy, 1.5 V volt (included), Reverse polarity protection, Protective pouch included
The body is aluminium, and reasonably well made. The knurling around the body is nicely done and not too agressive, and the threads seem ok. No battery rattle in mine using Eneloops. I have already dropped it onto concrete from about 1.2m, and it survived with some slight scratches, but the zooming mechanism is still smooth, and it works ok.
There is a reverse clip on the end of the body, so when you clip it to something, the torch head points up. The clip is quite strong, and also has the advantage of stopping the torch rolling on an uneven surface.
The torch can tail stand so is good for being used as a candle/lantern. There is no lanyard hole or attachment point anywhere.
Head and tail can be removed with o-rings installed. The power on/off switch is in the tail cap, and is a reverse clicky - this means that you press in then it clicks on when it comes out.
The beam has a nice flood. Standing approximately 1m from the wall, it has a clean diameter of approximately 1m that you can see below. The light as a focus zoom head, so you can focus the lens for distance, but I highly doubt the official specs of the 120m range (More on this below). When zoomed, and still standing at about 1m from the wall, the focus point comes down to around 20cm in diameter.
The brightness compares well with my other AA torches that output between 100-130lm.
The beam modes are High -> Low -> Off. It will always start in High mode. The Low mode is a bit disappointing. It actually isn't 50% as specified. I reckon it is about 75-85%, if not higher, so there is probably a resistor at the switch instead of more intricate circuitry. This will have a bearing on the usage life in half mode. On a pair of new alkalines on high mode, it lasted around 2 hours until I noticed significant drop in output.
The Cree emitter does appear to be an XP-E, but I haven't unscrewed the head to have a look at the circuitry or the heat sink.
As mentioned above, I have doubts on the output range of 120m mentioned on the packaging. I haven't tested this out as yet, but I am dubious, as even better quality, higher output 2AA torches like the Fenix LD22 (215 lumens and 113 metre range) or the Fenix E25 (187 lumens 156 metre range) or the Nitecore Sens 2AA (170lumens 100metre range). These Fenix and Nitecore torches also have more modes, and higher waterproof ratings, but are around 3-4 times more expensive.
Note that this torch does not accept rechargeable 14500 lithium batteries, but will accept non-rechargeable 1.5V lithium batteries.
Overall, this is an ok torch, especially considering Aldi's 3 year warranty - so save your receipt! I would say it should be worth around the $10 mark when compared with other Chinese made Cree LEDs.
Still, it's better than the overpriced Maglite Mini or Ledlenser torches you can buy at hardware stores, but not as good as 2xAA offerings from Fenix, Nitecore, Xtar, Sunwayman, etc.
Wed 27 Jun, 2018 3:09 pm
Wed 27 Jun, 2018 4:28 pm
BushcrafterAU wrote:Great review! But why do you say it is better than Maglite or LED Lenser? I’ve had a LED Lenser las me 9 years and still going strong.
GPSGuided wrote:One unfortunate thing about this torch is how the square LED source is projected, a square spot light. For those with OCD, it's a hassle whilst using it. Could it have done a spherical spot?
Wed 27 Jun, 2018 7:28 pm
keithy wrote:That is interesting. So the 2018 model also changes the lens - both my 2015 and 2016 model show a nice circular when zoomed in (see my pic from 2015 above), rather than the shape of the LED emitter. Or it might be a more powerful LED emitter and they didn't adjust the lens distance from the emitter.
Wed 27 Jun, 2018 8:49 pm
GPSGuided wrote:Yes, when I max zoom, the square emitter shape is clearly visible, more obvious than the photo below which has rounded the corners. No problem when lens pulled back for maximum light spread.
Wed 27 Jun, 2018 10:07 pm
Fri 06 Jul, 2018 10:23 am
keithy wrote:BushcrafterAU wrote:Great review! But why do you say it is better than Maglite or LED Lenser? I’ve had a LED Lenser las me 9 years and still going strong.
When I posted that back in 2015, I really meant it mainly in terms of price - in the preceding sentence I mentioned I felt it should be worth around $10 when compared with torches directly from Chinese manufacturers.
I also had an AA Led Lenser from way back, but I think I paid close to $100, maybe 8 or 9 years ago? So mine was about 6x the Aldi torch price. I have a few other issues with Led Lenser torches (direct drive only, state they couldn't use NiMH, splashproof only etc, could not tail stand), but note that their warranty is also pretty good.
And I have also had various AA Maglites, from the older non-LED variety to trying out an LED drop-in module, to one of the newer LED types. But they were significantly more expensive than $15 - even the LED drop-in module to replace the non-LED variety was significantly more expensive than a new Aldi torch.GPSGuided wrote:One unfortunate thing about this torch is how the square LED source is projected, a square spot light. For those with OCD, it's a hassle whilst using it. Could it have done a spherical spot?
That is interesting. So the 2018 model also changes the lens - both my 2015 and 2016 model show a nice circular when zoomed in (see my pic from 2015 above), rather than the shape of the LED emitter. Or it might be a more powerful LED emitter and they didn't adjust the lens distance from the emitter.
© Bushwalk Australia and contributors 2007-2013.