Amazon COB Keychain Flashlight quick and dirty review
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
- Sorry was a bit sick with a cold.
Unit tested:
www.amazon.ca/...
New unit ordered:
www.amazon.ca/...
The real specs on the new unit(scroll down):
www.amazon.ca/...
Aliexpress version:
www.aliexpress...
This is a great review. Thanks for all the detail and interesting info. I just received one of these lights (not the newer design from your other vid) that was included with a Nitecore power bank.
I noticed something interesting though. This light charges properly when connected with a USB-A to USB-C cable. It does not charge when connected to a power supply via a USB-C to USB-C cable (charge indicator light does not illuminate). My other USB-C devices charge with both types of cable. 🤔
I had never seen that before so I did some reading and apparently USB-C PD chargers don't always output voltage if they don't receive the correct handshake from the device. USB-A chargers always output 5V, so it's not an issue with any device. But you probably already know this stuff.
P.S. I subscribed to your channel.
Thanks. Yeah for little devices like this light the expense of having PD profile circuitry is not really worth the cost. The only "USB-C" about this device is the actual plug itself it's still old school USB-A speeds. It charges at a max of 500mA which is more than enough for the size of the battery (1C) that's about as fast as it can get without toasting the battery.
Nicely tested and summarized!
I agree with your conclusions, it is very useful despite the drawbacks, especially at home, but there is one more mode on these lights that make them useful to bring with you in a car or on a trip: the SOS flashing. You activate it by double-clicking the power button. I would guess it can flash SOS for a very long time on 500-600mAh cell. And especially if you brought a powerbank with you or a foldable solar panel, it should be able to make sure your SOS signal is seen all through the dark hours.
I was thinking, regarding the charge rate and smart powerbanks with cutoff...if you use the included (or any other high AWG wire), it will charge a lot slower - but fast enough to keep the powerbank happy for longer. And if you connect two of them (to a dual output powerbank), then will the combined power draw from both be enough to keep the powerbank from cutting off maybe as well?
EDIT: Actually I just noticed that the "worse" lights that I have don't seem to have SOS flashing, while the better ones do (via double-click)
Ok I did an absolute dead until full battery test on the one I thought was 600mA and indeed it is. I got 606mAh of charge into it. Now it's not good to totally deplete the battery but it's ok to do it once or twice as I don't know if these units have low voltage cutoff either in the battery or on the PCB. I'll be keeping this one and comparing it to what's coming in. Maybe a battery swap might be in order if the new units perform well but have less battery capacity. I'll maybe measure the dimensions of the battery and see what can be put in there. 750mAh? 1000mAh? I'll have to wait until they come in.
Looks bulky for a keychain flashlight. If you want a keychain flashlight the Olight 1R 2 Pro 180 lumens but that’s for sheer means of having your keychain being not cluttered. Where’s the video about the Kyokyo solar panels? I loved the video. The way you do the review I personally learned a lot. Very in depth. I subscribed. Make more videos I believe your a good UA-cam reviewer.
Thanks, As far as the flashlight goes I clip it on to a carabiner on my work bag. I wouldn't bother carrying on a keychain. A new one is coming in which should be more appropriate mini worklight. My Keychain light is an Amutorch E3S with a Turbo lumens of 3000. It's a real nut burner if you're not careful. Even on the high 700 lumens it will heat up quite a bit after half an hour.
As for the Kyokyo panel, I'm waiting for another day to do the video, but here are the specs I got. It's an impressive 60w panel for the price ($137 CDN).
Panels rated at 1000w/m2 at 25 degrees Celsius 60w
Solar radiation as tested Jan 14th location Toronto, altitude 76m above sea level: 383w/m2
Temperature: -9 degrees Celsius, very slight haze
Open circuit voltage 23.8 volts
short circuit amps: 3.68 amps
Forgot my damn load meter so I'll put it an edit tomorrow of load voltage and amps which will be a balmy -2 C and full sun, no haze
Max wattage off the USB box bypass lead: 52w(wow) hovering around the 48-52w with mostly 50w, depending on the depth of the haze.
Max wattage with the idiot box DC out: 47w(still good)
Test power station: Golabs R300 Max input voltage 23.5, Max input current: 3 amps
Ok I did a test on my load meter and I let the panels heat up as much as possible to make sure it was a fair test and the panels were as close to 25 degrees Celsius as possible.
Solar radiation: 386 w/m2 Jan 15th, Toronto, Altitude 76m, Temperature -2 C
Max 53.91watts
Load voltage at max: 18.4v
Load Amperage max: 2.93A
I couldn't really angle the panels anymore to the sun so they were off quite a bit. I tried fooling around a bit by tipping the panels and I saw it go over 54v but because they are sectioned I couldn't really hold it and work the controls at the same time and it was a little floppy. Anyway at least it gives you an idea of what you're going to get. 53.91, depending on your MPPT controller should get you mid to high 40's. Maybe I'll try again in a couple of weeks when the sun is higher and stronger. Cheers.
@@chrissinclair8705 I look forward to it. I go with Olight with all my lighting needs. I pretty much have the whole line up of all the lights. Tried and true. I’m a handyman by trade and use the Baton which is small compact the most…… the olight baton went through sooo much abuse it’s still working
@@utkureviews Oh for sure you can't really go wrong with Olight from their little teeny flashlights all the way up to the big mama's they are a quality company that stands behind their products. I even bought my mum who's disabled a Olight IMINI 10 lumens to wear around her neck while she's sitting down so she can see things she's dropped and such and she loves that damn thing LOL. There is no buttons or modes to figure out you just pull it from its magnetic cradle and you have a tiny little 10 lumen light which is perfect for looking around, and it has a magnetic base. To be honest I was surprised at the quality of the light for only $19.99 CDN, it even came with a warranty and spare batteries and a nice box. I'm so used to buying questionable Chinese electronics for experiments that basically come in a plastic bag I was a little shocked 🙂. I got a little scared.
As per user request here is the link of the USB tester I used:
www.aliexpress.com/item/4000511299292.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.67.5a9c1802M0NIK0
All runtime tests were done until the light was almost unusable not absolute zero to preserve the batteries and conducted on the 600mAh one out of the lot of 3. Absolute zero until full charge achieved a 606mAh input on the best one. I also let it sit on a charger after letting the flashlight run for an hour, with the charger on it which I used a 2000mAh battery it lasted about 8 hours before the 2000mAh battery went dead then another 2 hours afterwards on the internal battery on the Turbo low setting 107 lumens step down level. The camera on my phone is compensating for the light levels unfortunately.
Edit: Quick update, I did a runtime test on the last of the 3 I didn't give away and I got only 368mA out of a claimed 500mA from complete dead no light. It must be a bum battery, still good for 2 hours on low from Turbo step down or a 400mA battery was put in there. So what might be a good idea is since they are so cheap, if you need 3, order 6 test them all, take the best 3 out of the 6 and send the others back for a refund. That way you are getting the best batteries out of the lot. The one I'm keeping for myself got an impressive 606mA in there. Need 6? Order 9 send the worst 3 back. The USB charge meter I bought was only like 5 bucks or something and has been handy in testing batteries.
Hello, the voltage/current tester displayed 575mAh but you corrected this figure by stating that the battery is in fact a 530mAh. I know nothing about this stuff, but how was this conclusion drawn i.e. how did you obtain the actual mAh after disassemling it?
Also, I have one of these lights myself and the battery is very bad, i expect no more than 150mAh once I test it with the some tester you used in this video.
DrMBalmer measured one of his ali lights to only 200mAh (by the means of a usb tester). I have seen many claims of 1-200mAh in the ali reviews from where I bought it from too (3 for 6 offering), and disproportinally more than from reputable sale sites. The discrepancy in the battery capacities is fishy (ranging from tested range of about 100-600) and the TOP sellers on ali most likely sell knock-offs or downgraded ones to go with their lower pricing. In support of this is also that the type-C port seems to be off-center way more in ali/shopee reviews then say in with the big amazon sellers; the on/off button is also defective more on here than I have seen on the other sites.
edit : just unpacked five more of these purchased during different times and one of them having a different stand. They all come from the same ali seller which has sold over 50k units on the product page alone (they had some earlier ones as well). Guess what? None of them have SOS mode. I did not even know it existed before your video and I cannot remember seeing it being mentioned in the ali reviews either. The seller does not even market this function on the product page.
@@sign5372 Yes I would be wary of their "claims" if you go through my channel they have an updated model which is much much better and puts out more lumens at the cost of runtime. At some point I plan to transfer that awesome 600mAh battery into the newer model but I just haven't got around to it. We've recently had a death in the family and I'm trying to do that right now.. However if you click my name and search through my videos you should see the review on the updated model which is much better and not that much more in price. I think it was like 2$ more or something? I will put a link in this video to the usb tester tool I use to count current for your convenience.