Aimkon iTP A1 EOS CREE XP-G2 250 Lumen Keychain Flashlight 3-Levers of Outputs, Black

Overall I'm pretty impressed with how effective this is for such a tiny light running on relatively a low power battery. Normally for my flashlight needs I use a large one that uses an 18650 and outputs supposedly as much as 900 lumens. Compared to that this one is pretty dinky and pitiful, but then I can hardly really hold that against it. After all, with a 16340/RCR123A or a CR123A you can't really pull 6+ watts and expect things to go well... (Not to mention if it used that much power with such a small thin casing it wouldn't be able to handle the heat this would produce.) Now, for real use, it's actually pretty useful all the same. Within the target area you have quite a lot of light and can easily see well enough to work on small details that would be really difficult with a normal flashlight.Now, I will say that the focusing is a bit of a con in my book at least. Perhaps because I'm just too used to the optics in higher output larger LED flashlights which use curved glass (or plastic) projectors to focus the light in a much smoother, better focused area, I find it a bit disappointing in that respect. This has a very wide area of very little light with a really focused inner area where most of the light output actually goes. Within that focused area you get quite a lot of light and it's great for that, but it would be far more effective with projection. (And the plastic projectors really aren't that expensive. They cost about the same as the metal reflector they used instead these days. It could have gone inside with the glass on the outside still to help protect it from scratches and it would have been more effective I think.) I can't even figure out how to get this one apart though as it doesn't have the usual standard. (The holes are in the PCB and super tiny. I think the PCB itself actually has to be pulled loose somehow before one can get to the innards. Normally the holes are in the metal inner frame and you simply twist with an appropriate pull to get it loose, but twisting doesn't seem to be working here. The PCB is really jammed in and even a razor blade seems to be unable to get in sufficiently to pry at it.) Otherwise I'd give that a shot and see how it goes.Also, the fact that it is twist to activate does mean you have to twist on, off, on, off, and finally on again really quickly if you want the brightest setting. Even just to get the medium setting it's still a bit tricky. Sometimes the timing is a bit off and it resets and sometimes if you twist just wrong it actually gets JUST enough of a connection to start, then loses the connection and goes to the next brightness setting. This makes it quite a lot of trouble actually getting the brightness where you want it. If it at least gave you more time it would make it easier, but you have to twist pretty hard and fast to get it right. I'm definitely used to clicky button lights and even have another similar LED keychain light that, in fact, came with this and that works just great (except unfortunately it's probably about half the brightness as this one.) The fact is, there's no reason they couldn't go with the standard clicky connector at only the addition of just a few millimeters in total height (though it's nice to have this as small as possible, the difference there would have been worth it.) Unfortunately, almost none of these do that and most seem to be pretty bad. Again, if I could get the PCB out maybe it would fit the other (I think the internal size is the same, though sadly the external size is different enough that I can't screw one top onto the other bottom.) Oh well.Now, that said, the brightness is great and it IS quite possibly the smallest 16340/123A sized flashlight on the market. (And with smaller/thinner batteries you have to have less brightness of course.) Compared to that other keychain light (which was already one of the smallest I'd seen) it's not only shorter, but even less thick, which is really nice. Despite that incredibly tiny size, the casing is very tough and this feels far far sturdier than that other keychain light. In fact the other one got bent slightly just from where I held it with pliers for a short time. I feel like this one can take anything reasonable probably. The positive contact on the PCB does get scratched by the battery top though, so I do worry it will wear out over time. (The big lights I'm used to have a small metal cap or in cheaper cases, a spring to prevent the battery itself from wearing out the connection on the top.) I worry a bit about its longevity changing/charging batteries. For now I've put No-Ox Id Special one it. (This stuff is like a dielectric, but actually seems to improve conductivity instead. So it sort of acts as a lubricant to help avoid scratching, but even improves connection quality along the way.)Oh, and it shouldn't be coming on in a pocket. I think you would have to have it just barely twisted off to be able to bump it on in a pocket. The twist is tight enough and hard enough to actually do that it's unlikely you can bump it from a reasonable position. Putting some of that No-Ox Id Special on the screw threads does make it harder to turn though, so if anyone has this problem I'd say just try something like that. (Or if using a dielectric, just as long as the top is clean it shouldn't hurt. If some is on the top it might make it harder still to get the right brightness though since it would have to get a bit tighter before the connection is sufficient for it to come on.)

It's a good light with a couple of issues. The following is my review.Brightness and beam profile:It is surprisingly bright for this size!!! If I compare A1 EOS with my Fenix TK12 R5 (280 lumens), the through is much less, however, amount of the light A1 EOS produces is about 80-90% of the TK12 R5. I believe that their claim (250 lumens) is pretty close to the reality. The beam profile is very smooth and large enough to illuminate dark trails while hiking at night.Operation:I understand that some people are complaining about the operation since twisting back and forward of the head to select the next brightness is very annoying. I admire that A3 EOS (it uses 1 x AAA battery) has the same user interface but much easier to operate due to the smaller diameter. You can try to select the next level by just pushing the head toward the body and then release before you tighten it completely. Repeat until you get the desired brightness and then fully tighten to use.Battery life:It will last about 40min. with the O-light RCR123A (650mAh) at the highest output. If you use a CR123A (around 1500mAh), you might get a pretty close result to their claim (1.6h). The power consumption I measured is about 4.5w(high)-1.2w(mid)-0.3w(low) at 3.7V. You can estimate run time for each level with your battery by calculations.Water resistant:They claim it is water resistant but actually it is not !!!! This is a biggest con on this light and the reason it got only 4 stars. I try to submerge the light into water and result was disappointed.Other thoughts:I use it on my neck strap with the company ID and it won't bother me at all. The diameter is slightly big (0.8") but very short (2.5") and light.The pre-installed clip is useless for me and it was hard to remove. I hope it came without installed. In case you don't need it, just pull it straight out with a pair of pliers but expect to get some scratches on the groove.

This little guy puts out a fair amount of light, I mean its small, really small and the light output is seriously good! The problem is the manner in which its activated... you have to twist on and off and you twist on and off to switch through the modes.. its frustrating! Its not a one handed operation, it actually distracts you from whatever it was you pulled the light out to see in the first place.. not good if that reason is coming at you. If you leave it on for a min or so, it will begin to heat up on you and heat kills .. I mean it does. Last thing I will bitch about is that little hook attached to it.. Its too week to be a dependable way of attaching it and it is always in the way!! If you buy the light and decide to keep it, tear that little thing off! Did I mention it puts out a great amount of light for the size..

I bought these on sale adding some quality CR123 batteries and saved them as gifts. For size, run time, brghtness and decent tint they are hard to beat. The price/value point was right.Only drawback is until it is needed, not really appreciated.

It is small, but kind of awkward to hold its short stubby body.It has 3 intensities. It is not much brighter than my other 100 lumen flashlight, so the claimed 250 lumen may be overstated.It has a magnetic base which is useful. Not too many LED lights have magnetic base, so this one of the reason to get it.Unfortunately its steel hook is always getting stuck and is in the way of the magnet, so it is a bit of pain to get the hook out of the way.One big negative is that it gets very hot when used for more than a minute. It gets hot enough to be very uncomfortable to hold in the hand. A workaround is to use lower intensity setting or use it intermittently.