Uniquefire S10 Cree R2-WC 220-Lumen LED Flashlight - Black (1*AA/1*14500)
DX Link: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.30987
$13.58 so good value.
Throw: Units are Lux at 1 metre
Uniquefire S10
Alkaline 2570
NiMH 2960
14500 5650 This is probably as good a thrower as you are likely to get with AA size. It is also 10% more than the Ultrafire
Ultrafire C3 Q5 SS High
Alkaline 2750
NiMH 2440
14500 5060
Lightbox: Units are Lux
Current Draw:
Around 2.1A on high will measure more precisely when the PC stops doing thermal shutdowns which will also make it possible to do runtimes. Time to clean out some heatsinks.
Runtime:
TBA
Weight:
Empty 54.9g
With NiMh 81.0g
With 14500 73.8g
Review:
This is a very good light though it doesn't really excite me. Nothing actually wrong with it. As is my usual choice I went for the single mode rather than the five mode. The only AA light that suits me for pocket carry is the Tank007 E07 but mine has died. Pity, I really liked that light. I have had the Uniquefire in my pocket all week. It works, it has a pretty broad beam – the build quality is nothing to write home about – the threaded portion on the head is too short but it is a bit small for an AA light – but hugely bigger than the Tank007 light. The bezel is a bit sharp for keeping in pockets but nowhere near as silly as the optional (strike) bezel that came with the Trustfire F22 – which is heading for the nearest bin shortly. Quality I’d say is good enough but not brilliant. The Stainless steel Ultrafire C3 Q5 is better made.
Here it is with an Akoray K-106 and an Ultrafire C3 Q5 stainless steel. It is about 3mm longer than the Akoray but once I've ground off the silly teeth, it will be the same size. The teeth are almost sharp so the sooner they go the better. It does tailstand.
It has two O rings at the tailcap end and these are so snug that replacing the tailcap can be a little awkward. This is not a bad thing though. It would be better if the head were equally well sealed but it only has one thin O ring. This is not a dive light but then neither is any other light with a tailcap switch. There is no evidence of water entry after a brief test in very cold water (about 2 degrees Centigrade) in my bathroom sink. It would have been a good idea to remove the lanyard before doing this test though as I’ve still got NiMH and 14500 beamshots to do.
The milkiness in the water is entrapped air as the sink is a lot warmer than the water, the air gets driven out of solution and makes the water look milky.
The beamshots have been done with Alkalines at ~1.6V, NiMH fresh from the charger after an hour or so of trickle charge ~1.5V and 14500 freshly charged at ~4.15V. Exact measurements will be done with the meter tests.
Beamshots:
With Alkaline AA
Control. Note that the sky is much lighter than usual due to the very low cloud. Add to that the local light pollution and it could be what passes for daytime this time of year. I suspect there will be fog in the morning. I've had the lights on in the office all day despite plenty of windows -just no sunlight except the sky hasn't seemed that bright all day. This is, of course an artefact of the long exposure as to the eye, the sky is nowhere near that bright.
Uniquefire S10
Quite a creditable amount of light on an alkaline but it is pulling 2.1A from the poor cell so runtimes won't be all that great. I'd guess about an hour.
For comparison I used an Ultrafire C3 Q5 stainless steel - this draws roughly the same current on high (2.1A)
Ultrafire C3 Q5 SS on Alkaline
High
By eye, comparable brightness but the Ultrafire has a somewhat narrower beam. It is still plenty wide enough though. It has a tighter hotspot so will throw better.
Medium
You can see some blurring in the heather in the lower right - this was the wind - it is a 4 second exposure.
Low
Neither of these lights are really suitable for alkaline cells. With the heavy loads they put on them, runtimes will not be wonderful and there is a severe danger of the cells leaking. I would not leave alkaline cells in these when they were not in use.
Both work well with NiMH cells though.
NiMH control
These extra control shots are probably redundant, but better safe than sorry. In my lab days you did control (blanks as we called them - basically measuring carefully distilled water) and standardising stuff more often than you did actual samples. But that was 30 years ago and I digress. Again.
Uniquefire NiMH
Ultrafire C3 Q5 SS NiMH (It's tedious to type that lot, so Ultrafire from now on)
High
Medium
Low
14500
Control
Uniquefire
Ultrafire High
Ultrafire Medium
Ultrafire Low
The reddening of the sky in all of the shots with illumination shows how blue LED illumination is compared with high pressure sodium street lighting. The camera is trying to "correct" the white balance. One day I must find the manual and see if I can lock the white balance. Neither of these lights with any form of power actually appear blue to the eye.
This light surprised me - it is a pretty good thrower for an AA sized light. It gets warm but not hand burning on a 14500. I've given it five stars - it is a very good light, but it is not perfect. Some might want to knock off a star or part of a star for the silly teeth on the head end. If I want to hit someone with something, it won't be a torch (Unless I have my 6D Maglites with me). The teeth are a danger to pockets everywhere. My camera's not that good at close ups but I'll get some shots to illustrate. The switch is OK, but not great. It does have avery postive action.
'19' Comment
Don
- 2010.01.16
- 07:33:26
Here are the throw numbers - these represent how far it'll light things up rather than total light output. the results surprised me as the Uniquefire is about 10% brighter than the Ultrafire. All the throw numbers are lux at 1m. Lightbox numbers (total light output) to follow once i drag out the box.
Uniquefire S10
Alkaline 2570
NiMH 2960
14500 5650
Ultrafire C3 Q5 SS High
Alkaline 2750
NiMH 2440
14500 5060
Don
- 2010.01.16
- 07:47:46
danton
- 2010.01.16
- 09:27:40
Does the throw of the light depend on the wavelenght of the light produced from the emitter? I know it is in physics but i really do not now if it applies here because i believe the two length waves of the lights are about the same.
It seems to me that the ultrafire produces a rather blueish light that has a shorter wavelength the Uniquefire more yellowish which has a longer wavelength.
Don
- 2010.01.16
- 20:39:40
Don
- 2010.01.17
- 17:00:59
The S10 is brighter - just. Throw for S1 is 2830 - for the S10 it is 2960. Total output is 694 for the S1 and 714 for the S10. The difference is about 4% on NiMH so is not going to be noticeable. It really is down to personal taste. Once I've ground off the teeth they will also be the same size.
Don
- 2010.01.18
- 07:49:39
This can very widely between individual lights but my ultrafire tends to the purple whereas the S10 tends to the green - my ultrafire is warmer than my S10. This does not mean that others will be the same - I don't think the LEDs for any of these lights are bought by tint bins - they just buy what they can get.
Don
- 2010.01.20
- 03:48:11
Oops, sorry about that. As my teachers always told me, it is better to answer the question that was actually asked, not what you thought they asked.
The numbers are higher both for throw and total output on the S10. The S10 is about 5% brighter on throw and about 3% on total output. These differences are well within experimental error - it really depends on which one you prefer. The S10 is less bulky than the S1 but they are essentially the same size. As to colour, the S1 is slightly greener than the S10 but neither are what I'd call horribly green. There is a greenish tinge to both, the S10 less so than the S1.
I don't have them beside me as I'm looking after my parents' house and dogjust now but will have to go to my place to pick up stuff for work tomorrow so will pick up the lights and camera and do a side by side comparison.
Don
- 2010.01.20
- 06:48:04
Finally got some pretty bad comparison beamshots. In each of these, the S1 is on the left, the S10 on the right. By eye, I'd say the S10 is fractionally brighter, but then that may just be because I know the numbers. There appears to be little or no difference in these close up white door shots - the lights are less than a metre from the door. The secondary reflections below the hotspot are a predtty fair indication of the relative beam colours.
Vectrex
- 2010.01.22
- 01:20:00
My 6 mode S10 arrived today, man that mode memory sucks... always the NEXT mode... unless you wait 1 minute... better no mode memory than this kind. My tailswitch O-rings were slightly damaged and the front O-ring is too small , it doesn't have contact with the head of the light. Crenelation isn't too sharp but still annoying. Light output is considerably lower than the MTE C3 70120 Q5, especially the side spill. It tailstands on the rubber switch... a little wobbly but OK. For less money you can get the UF C3 SS which I would prefer. The only positive things are the "high" medium mode and the very white tint (won the lottery ; - ) ) and the thick aluminium body .... very sturdy. I will give this light away to a colleague, I don't like it.
brted
- 2010.01.22
- 02:24:15
Vectrex, did you get yours from KD or DX? Mine came from KD who said it was for AA only, but I tried a 14500 anyway and killed the driver. DX says theirs is okay with a 14500, so I was wondering if you were able to check that. I don't understand the point of mode memory like that. If you knock it a little, does it change modes?
Vectrex
- 2010.01.22
- 18:19:58
@brted:
I only use eneloops, I got mine from DX but I saw in the forum of DX that several lights got killed, or semi-killed by 14500's. By semi-killed I mean that the boost driver didn't work for NiMH after putting in 14500's. Makes me wonder if the multi mode has a completely different driver than the single mode. My modes are stable if I knock it hardly against the palm of my hand. Overall there seems to be big quality fluctuations with this light.
Don
- 2010.01.22
- 18:32:05
Makes sense, the single mode needs the driver to do very little - obviously it has to have one since no R2 is going to light at 1.5V, but all it has to do is turn a range of voltages between 1 and 4.2V into the 3.7 or so the LED needs. It probably doesn't care much about current (unlike the multi-mode which does have to worry about that) - will find out when I do runtimes. I suspect I'll jut see a steady decline in brightness with voltage.
Man was i lucky you did this review so soon. I started looking for a flashlight before 2 days and was not sure what to buy.Now i am.
On NiMh it seems that Ultrafire ss has a slightly bigger output.
What a diffrence when 14500 is used in brightness for both. I think Ultrafire wins again here too!!