List Price: $22.29
Sale Price: $19.56
Today's Bonus: 12% Off
This package (Coast Cutlery Company TT7547-39CP "Triplex/Nano" LED Flashlight Combo Pack) contain a 2xAA-cell LED flashlight, the Coast 7547 "V2 Triplex", and a much smaller keychain LED light, the Coast 7839 "Nano".
The first thing you need to know about the V2 triplex LED flashlight is that: it is a FLOOD light, not a spot-light. A typical flashlight (either LED or incandescent) gives out a narrow beam at 15-degree angle or less. The beam coming out from this product is more like 60-degree wide! It doesn't even have a well-defined bright spot. The three LEDs simply illuminate everything in front of this light.
Why am I telling you this? Because, if you intend to use this 'flashlight' to shine on anything farther than 20 ft or so, you'll be sorely disappointed. But on the other hand, if you intend to use it as a work-light or reading light, then the wide beam and lack of hotspot makes it perfect for such applications.
Some other observations:
The new design uses 2x AA cells (the old design uses 3x N-cells). It is significantly smaller and lighter when compared to other 2xAA LED flashlights, such as the Mini-Maglite LED Flashlight and Rayovac SEC1W2AA-B Sportsman Xtreme. (see my Customer Image for size comparison)
Spec of this product claims its light output is 30 lumen, and power consumption is 0.79W. I have measured its input power and found that: it indeed consumes 0.8W at battery voltage of 3.0V (two fresh alkaline cells). However, when the battery voltage drops to 2.5V (two NiMH cells), the power is reduced to 0.4W, so its light output is also reduced by half. This seems to be a common problem with most 2xAA LED flashlights.
The claimed battery life is 16 hours. I have no doubt that it can achieve this run time. But as the battery voltage drops, the light output also dims down quickly. The LEDs can remain lit even when battery voltage drops to 1V. Of course, the light becomes barely visible at the stage.
The "Nano" keychain LED light is very well constructed mechanically. But again, its beam is unfocused. See my separate review on Coast 7839 LED Keychain Flashlight Nano for details about it.
Overall, this is a reasonable package assuming that you are actually looking for a flood-light. But for its relatively high price, I expect more functionality (such as the multi-mode electronic switch found in MagLite mini LED flashlights). Too bad something like this didn't exist when I was a teenager. Otherwise I would love to use it under the blanket to read P1ayB0y magazines for the articles, of course.
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