LUMINTOPTool AA 2.0 EDC Flashlight, Pocket-Sized Keychain Light, Super Bright 650 Lumens, 5 Modes with Mode Memory, IP68 Waterproof LED Torch for Camping Hiking Emergency

I just received the Tool AA 2.0 flashlight and gave it a quick tryout. I am amazed at how small and lightweight it is, especially compared to my Fenix LD12. However, it makes the Fenix LD12 feel like a tactical flashlight, with thicker, sturdier construction that feels like you could run over it with a truck on a concrete drive and it would be ok. But the Fenix is substantially bigger and heavier in your hand, and if clipped on a hat visor tends to drag it down. Both flashlights use a single AA cell and have several brightness modes.Both the Fenix LD12 and the Tool AA 2.0 come with the clip oriented to open toward the front of the flashlight, fine for securing to a belt or strap but not useful for clipping to a hat visor. So you have to pop the clip off and reverse it in order to clip to a hat for headlamp use. [**** Revision: while the Fenix flashlight failed to put the clip groove in a perfect place for the reverse orientation, the Tool AA 2.0 provides a second groove to attach the clip so it is centered in the flashlight and balanced for visor use - nice design!. The Fenix, on the other hand, ends up with the clip on the back end, causing most of the length and weight of the flashlight to be in front of the clip and thus an imbalance when clipped to a visor with the light extending further than desired in front of the visor. Another great light for visor-clipping is my old NEBO NU11K flashlight (AA battery) - it also has a glow-in-dark sleeve and a glow-in-dark end switch button. But it lacks fancy power management -- only one level of brightness, on or off, not super bright. A great camping companion though, and simplicity is a blessing in a pressure situation. *** end of revision.]I do like the Tool AA 2.0. It has a lot of utility in a very compact, lightweight package. I am a little ambivalent about how gentle a touch it takes to cycle through the modes, just a light tap on the end button (or you can uses twisting of the lamp cylinder part, probably not intuitive for me). I feel it is a little too easy to bump it into a different mode. It does seem to retain the last mode that I select when turning back on, but the instructions say you have to wait a few seconds after turning off for the memory to retain. I found that if I'm having trouble getting it to retain the last mode, holding down the rear button for a couple of seconds instead of a quick click when turning it on seems to help.Using an alkaline AA battery, the brightness modes seem good and useful, though the top two levels seem the same (I think the highest level requires the higher voltage lithium battery). I agree with someone else that an even dimmer mode would be useful for when you want to be most stealthy or just make out something to read without disturbing others.The Tool AA 2.0 beam is quite a bit broader than the Fenix or Nebo lights, which have more center-weighted spot beams. The Tool beam is nicely uniform across its circle of light, making a very useful illumination area for close working or in a tent. For outdoor use, the Fenix or Nebo may be more useful for targeting objects at a distance, such as animals, or for searching inaccessible locations, at a given brightness level. However, at max brightness, the Tool, especially with the higher voltage lithium batteries, would probably compensate for its wider beam and hold its own.A very good feature is that the battery cylinder unscrews from both ends (the lamp can come off and the end button can come off). This is important if a battery corrodes and swells and jams in the barrel. You have a chance of ramming it free. I had another cheapo light, about the same size but dumbed down, which only unscrewed from the lamp end. The battery jammed and I never got it out.So, I think it's a good light, at an okay price. Not quite cheap enough to buy a bunch and put them everywhere I want, though.

I originally bought this as a cheap replacement to substitute for my Fenix LD02 that I somehow blew up while I waited for warranty parts. I figured, what the hey? I don't have any AA powered EDC lights, only AAA, so I'll have a look at how the other half lives. I was not expecting much and was honestly a little worried that the AA battery platform would be bulky and annoying.I have to say, I am blown away by the quality and functionality of this light. It is surprisingly small given the size of the battery that feeds it and the bulk has not been an issue for me at all. Unfortunately for the LD02, this has now become my EDC light and has been ever since I got it -- even after I got my old light fixed. In addition to EDC (where I use a light in small-ish bursts constantly while I'm at work) I also use this and my old light for general purpose illumination when I'm camping as I haven't found a large powerful flashlight to be terribly useful around the camp site other than for showing off... The increased battery life from moving up to a AA cell is therefore incredibly useful. I didn't know what I was missing.This sucker is BRIGHT. It is the brightest light of its size I have ever handled. The beam is pretty wide, but not a complete wide angle flood so it is not totally useless for lighting up something 50-60 feet away when on maximum brightness. There is a hot spot in the middle that's fairly wide, and has a smooth but defined drop off to the outer flood area. There are four brightness modes so you can turn it down to something more reasonable. I generally run it at the second highest all the time, and use the lowest when I'm inside my tent in the dark and don't want to blind myself. Switching modes is as simple as a half press of the tailcap button when the light is on. This light has a mode memory and actually remembers the setting it was left on (unlike some others I could mention which start with "o" and end with "light"). You can set it and forget it. My only complaint is that the bit that sticks out around the tailcap switch (which has the lanyard holes in it as well) sticks out a little too far and makes the button hard to press in some orientations.I also like how the clip is reversed from a lot of lights and has the closed end towards the emitter. So you can clip it to the brim of your hat and use it as a ghetto headlamp, but without the need for a bulky out-and-back S bend clip that snags on everything. It's kind of heavy for that, but it works in a pinch. You can remove the pocket clip and flip it around the other way (!) if you want to, which is a feature I have never seen before. It comes with a little silicone diffuser thing so you can use it as a mini-lantern inside your tent or similar. The diffuser glows in the dark which makes it fun to play with, but I am too lazy to keep track of it in my camping stuff so I leave it at home.It has a strobe mode I will never use, which is accessed via SEXTUPLE (6 times) clicking the tailcap. This is great, because it means I will never accidentally activate the strobe or have to toggle past it when adjusting brightness when I don't particularly feel like blinding myself for no reason. I wish more manufacturers would make their strobe work this way. (Or just omit it entirely.)