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I own several different kinds of LED flashlight, and this is my favorite model. It will work with either one 3.7V 18650 battery or two 3V CR123A batteries. My WF-501B is a 900 lumen model. To select through the modes, just tap the clickie button at the back; don't push it all the way in. It took me a while to get that figured out.
The beam from this flashlight doesn't have an annoying tight spot with a wide, more dimly lit peripheral area. The bright part is bigger, so you can see more of what you're looking at better. That's the main reason that I like this flashlight better than the others I've tried.
The only (mild) complaint that I have about this flashlight is that the end cap, which you remove to replace the battery, isn't smartly milled in the screw-on threads. As the result, you have to push against the spring while aligning the cap by eye, and it can be a little difficult to get the cap back on. If you want to see an end cap that has much better-milled threads, check out the Romisen RC-B12. That's not a major issue though.
Using one recently charged 18650 battery (UltraFire 3.7V 3000mAh), the beam from the flashlight (on the brightest mode) will stay very bright for about 90 minutes, after which there will be a slow decline in brightness over the next five hours or so. At the end of the 6.5 hours, the battery will probably be about pooped out, with a voltage under load of about 3.0V. So even if you use the bright mode continually, you should get enough light to see your immediate surroundings (at least) for maybe five or six hours.
Of course, to save on battery power, you should use the low intensity beam most of the time. I haven't tested, yet, how long the battery will last if you use only the low intensity beam.
Added 10 February 2012. Since this review first appeared, I have found other flashlights that I like better than this one. I still like the Ultrafire 501b, but these are even better (in my opinion):
Trustfire Z3 with zoomie lens.
Romisen RC-T601.
Romisen RC-E4.
Ultrafire WF-502b.
Keygos pro-series Z16 with zoomie lens.
All of these flashlights have the 5-mode XML T6 LED, although the Romisen RC-E4 had to be upgraded with it. All of them use 18650 li-ion batteries, one each, except for the Keygos, which uses two.
And my EveryDay Carry (EDC) flashlight is an UltraOK VS-O5 with a three-mode Q5 LED.
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Other users seem to have good luck with this flashlight, so I hoped for the best. When I got it, I tried it out and WOW was it bright. My flashlight is 230 lumens, and this one blew it out of the water. I gave it 2 stars because if the thing actually worked it would be a definite keeper! However, my particular flashlight was a big flop.After testing it out briefly inside, I gave it a test run on my bike flashlight holder, set it to high, and 100 feet down my road it suddenly went dark. I saw the faintest light still coming out, but there was nothing I could do to revive this light (half press to cycle through the modes, or full press on and off
When I got back home, I recharged the batteries, but could no longer get the back cap on, I believe the back cap failed similar to another reviewer here. I consider myself a handy guy mechanically, having replaced the engine, transmission, and suspension in my car, this flashlight was a total failure.
I recieved a flashlight that had 2 catastrophic failures within the first half day of testing.
Thankfully I have a good Fenix flashlight as a backup. That brand I would recommend without hesitation; they cost a little more, but a much better value for quality of construction and 'smart' led control so the intensity of the light stays constant for the life of the charge.
If you're tempted to try this light out, I'd say go for it! If you get one that works, you'll get a great light. If yours doesn't work, amazon will pay for return shipping, and you've lost nothing.
******UPDATE
If you're looking for a good bike light, you have to check out the bicycle headlights
CREE XML T6 Bicycle Headlight LED 3 Files 1200 Lumens
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My light has a defective rear tail-cap switch. When the tail cap is screwed on completely, the light will not operate at all. Unscrewing the tail cap about 2/3 of the way will allow the switch to operate about 50% of the time. Another turn or two and the tail cap comes off.This is totally unreliable and unacceptable. Unfortunately, the seller requires a 15 day return period and I didn't get to test the light until 2 weeks after it arrived resulting in a total waste of my money.
When the unit actually emits light it is a very bright, very broad, pattern best described as a flood light and not a spot light. The 220 Lumen Dorcy 49-4299 or 300 Lumen MXDL CREE illuminate a target at 125 yards far better than this "900 Lumen" UltraFire. For work at close ranges (10 to 40 yards) this light illuminates a broad area with a clean white light.
Testing the light against white double garage doors on a moonless night reveals some minor shadows, defects, and "ghosts" in the pattern but nothing too bad, especially given the short range flood light nature of the product.
I do not have the test equipment to verify UltraFire's claim of 900 lumens, but I very much doubt it. Comparing this light to many "big name" brands such as Streamlight, Pelican, Dorsey, Fenix, MagLite, Surefire, etc. I can't see that it is any brighter than their 200~300 lumen models.
Of course none of that matters when the switch is defective and the light doesn't work. Other reviewers have had better luck but quality control is obviously an issue with this unit.
05-SEP-11 UPDATE: After disassembling (not simply unscrewing it) the tail-cap/switch assembly and putting everything back together the switch started working normally with the tail cap fully screwed on. I've not unscrewed the tail-cap since for fear it will stop working again... once the battery runs out, I will be forced to try my luck. I've increased my rating from 1 star to 2. No customer should have to repair a brand new product. At this point, I have little confidence in this light and wouldn't count on it for life/death situations. If it continues to work correctly after several battery changes, I'll increase the rating again to 3 stars.
25-FEB-12 UPDATE: I've used this unit now for nearly 6 months after finally getting it to work. After the first battery change, the switch acted up again but removing the tail cap, messing with the spring, and reinstalling it has worked flawlessly ever since, even through several more battery swaps. Since it HAS been working, I've used it a lot around the home and ranch. I've decided it is ideal for in-house and close (up to ~ 50 feet) work outside. I'm raising my rating to 3-stars, but will not go any higher due to all the initial problems.
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this is a very nice flashlight but definitely not 1000 lumens but still a very bright flashlight. check out my video to see the light in action.
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I read all of the bad reviews and decided to try my luck. My luck was bad, no matter what tricks i tried with the tail switch, i could not get the light to go into or stay in the mode i wanted so I decided to return it imediatly for a refund. I collect LED flashlights and this one is clearly of lower quality but if it worked, I would not have minded because it is extremely bright and so reasonable. I wish they could just fix the switch problems.
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