DEC 20th 2009 - More pics, beam shots and runtime to be put up soon.

4Sevens Quark Mini 123 Review

CPFM - http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=203486

4Sevens - http://www.4sevens.com/

 

704744355_vAgpN-S-1.jpg

 

NEW Lightbox2 using 3.23V Panasonic Primary CR123A (new)
High = 375 lux
Med = 76 lux
Low = 9 lux

 

NEW Lightbox2 using 4.15V Trustfire Protected RCR123A (fresh off charger)
High = 485 lux
Med = 95 lux
Low = 9 lux

 

** More info about NEW Lightbox2 here - http://www.jayki.com/5754

 

Weight = g / oz (without battery)

 

Initial Impressions
- Wow. It's tiny. Smaller than any 1RCR light I've reviewed.

 

What's in the box
- Quark Mini 123 flashlight
- Small ring for keyring
- Nice very long lanyard with 2 stoppers and a spring hook clip with swivel base.
- 4sevens CR123A 1500mAh 3V non-rechargeable battery

 

Build Quality
- Nice grippy diamond knurling through out both tail / body / head. Not as rough as Nitecore's but rough enough.
- Thread is nice and smooth. Came with light lubing applied. 1 black o-ring on the thread. Came with 1 spare.
- Perfectly centered Cree XP-G R5 emitter.
- Nicely textured aluminium reflector. Rough enough to make the beam super smooth.
- Glass lense and o-ring in front of the lense to keep water out.
- It has a single hole at the tail end on the side. So it allows it to tail stand perfectly flat even with ring/lanyard attached.

 

Light Output
- Quark Mini 123 has 3 main modes. Low - Med - High. (in order)
- In high mode, it it very bright. Bright enough to wow your friends. Especially with RCR.
- Med mode is at a very useful output level and Low mode is very low. It's great for stealth lighting.

 

Modes
- It always starts in Low mode after couple of seconds being off.
- If you cycle through the 3 modes twice fast, you get the extra strobe / SOS modes.
- The special modes are Strobe / SOS / Beacon (fast) / Beacon (slow)
- With RCR charged at 4.2V on High mode, I've noticed that it won't stay on for more than 5 minutes. It turns OFF.
- Even when I was cooling it down with a fan, it turned off after 2-5 minutes.
- But then it can be turned off and back on instantly. But will turn back off if left on at High for 2+ minutes.
- However, with Primary CR123A, it will stay on as it should even in High mode.
- So I would recommend the 3V RCR's instead of 3.6V RCRs. (Some super safe LifePO4 17340 batteries)

 

In Use
- It is very easy to use single handed. Body is slightly indented inwards so it's gives you a secure grip also.
- However, to get to the special modes, it's not so easy single handed as you need to cycle the modes fast.
- I like how it always starts in low mode first. But maybe that's just me. Some may prefer it starting in High first.
- It does not have last mode memory. So it always starts in Low mode if you leave it off for longer than 2 seconds.
- The thread has just enough travel so when you unscrew it a little to turn it off, it still can be squeezed on.
- To some, this is good as it can provide momentary on/off feature just by squeezing it tight and letting go.
- But to some, it means you need to be careful to unscrew it a bit more so it doesn't accidently come on in your pocket.

 

Conclusion ★★★★★
- It's US$39 shipped. At this price, it "just" makes it worth its price in my opinion. Not an absolute must-buy.
- But it's still very good either way. It has its merits. It's tiny, well built, has useful modes and super bright.
- I give it 5 stars. It was was $29, I would have given it 6 stars but that's my budget minded brain talking. =)

 

[Flashlight Photos]

- On my hand.
54092704.jpg

 

- Attached to my keychain

47697572.jpg

- Compared to TANK007 E07 AA and Trustfire XP-E F23 AAA.
22737532.jpg

 

- That is the latest and greatest LED from Cree at the time of this review. It's the Cree XP-G R5. Super bright and super effient.
91747728.jpg

 

RUNTIME

- Only have done High runtime test as I don't have any more primary batteries.

- As can be seen, it's got some weird output drops. Not sure why.

- Flashlight was cooled during the entire test with a fan.

- I will test Med and possibly low mode with some recharcheable RCR batteries. 

 

quarkmini123.jpg

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alfred

2010.01.09
15:14:01
(*.12.117.69)
Damn that sucker is tiny.....

id: jaykijayki

2010.01.16
16:14:06
(*.185.55.9)
profile

I'm currently doing some more runtime test with a different LifePO4 rechargeable battery.

I will also upload the kitchen beam shots soon. (I have shot them, never got around to upping them....)

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