About 12 months ago I ordered The Iain Sinclair Eon Extreme2 Floodlight which is the latest evolution of the concept. it takes the interesting design a step further with a Micro USB cord to charge an internal 750mah battery and rather than using oddly tinted 3mm LED it seems to have two Cree XM-L2's which are a nice white tint. Well, the light just arrived. Ordered from the UK, made in Hong Kong, and shipped from California. The way I figured IF I got the light it would either be crap or very interesting, luckily it's a nice little product. :D
Pros:
1.5 ounces, 3-6mm thick depending on the place of measurement, and about 5cm long. It's like a bulbous aluminum credit card which make it pretty comfortable in the pocket. Two clicks starts it on low (about as bright as an iPhone camera), three clicks starts it on high (a true about 300 lumens; it's friggin bright!), four clicks is a pretty disorienting strobe. The MicroUSB works great and the two LED's alternate flash on low power until it's fully charged. At that point they both switch on high and pulse together. Of course, lastly...it's weird but well presented. A great toy for a techie.
Cons:
I'm so used to carrying flashlights with clips or on keychains that a non-clipped or lanyard light that isn't a boat anchor is a bit strange. I guess for the non-flashoholics this would be great in the front pocket or even in a purse/coinbag pocket. Also, being flat there is no room for reflectors or optics so the throw is nonexistent; think of an iPhone "flashlight" but on steroids (plus it won't drain your phone battery, obviously). The LED's are covered in what seem like rubberized/epoxy domes and while they are hidden inside the aluminum case I would be curious about longevity. On that note, the battery is likely a propriatary rechargeable setup instead of stacking coin cells meaning at some point it will likely end up in a landfill like many other electronic devices. Similar to above...it's weird so that can be a bad thing too.
Summary:
I expect the quality from Hong Kong is decent to good. The price point was fairly attractive ($48 shipped) depending on how long you had to wait and how much you wanted it of course. I probably wouldn't run it on high for very long. While it's rated for up to 2 hours on high I'm sure that's on a less than optimally rated regulation meaning it will dim over time. Low is rated for 12 hours which is probably accurate as if it has two XM-L2's that is a very efficient setup.
If you are looking for something funky I would definitely buy one. You might get it in a week or it might take 12 months. It's surely a funky little toy for the money that pushes a TON of floody light. Kudos to Sinclair for making something different. Just don't toss it in the washing machine. :eek: :rolleyes:
Edit: I'll have to check my credit card...it's been a while. I think it was 48 British pounds, not dollars. Lol.
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