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 have carried this flashlight daily for over a year now. It works great. No issues what so ever. Worth way more than what you pay.

To start off, I have DOZENS of flashlights from a variety of well known "enthusiast" brands in a variety of sizes and configurations, so I think I can judge this flashlight with a fair eye. I originally bought two when they were on sale (the warm versions). As soon as it went on sale again, I ended up buying two more (cool which I MUCH prefer). When it goes on sale again, I'm probably going to buy a few more. So that's probably a good indication of how much I like this little light.The best features are the size (small and slim)/weight/light output. It's weight and form factor makes it easy to hold in your mouth easily for two handed tasks in the dark. It's lightweight so I don't even notice it in my pocket. It has multiple brightness modes which for me, covers almost everything I would expect from such a small light (I do run a 14500 in it). The user interface is simple and straight-forward.The beam pattern is perfectly adequate for a tiny light. It has what I would consider a medium hotspot, then a slightly "colored" ring (a warm-ish ring on the "cool" LED) and then the dropoff with all transitions being mild. At about a foot away, the hotspot is roughly 5" in diameter. Perfectly acceptable beam performance for this type of light and better than nearly all "cheapie" flashlights I've seen which usually have a hard hotspot and not much else. If you look at the photos from other reviewers, that gives you a good idea.I was a little apprehensive about the dimly glowing blue tailcap, mostly due to battery drain concerns but after using for some time now, I don't think that it drains the battery much at all. I have not noticed that this flashlights kills battery faster than any other light with similar lumen output. Plus I actually LOVE having the dim blue light for locating in the dark. It's come in handy many times. The green glow-ring in the lamp is a nice touch, would be nice if it was a little more prominent for a little more glow.Getting back to the blue light and battery drain, if you're concerned about long term storage battery drain, I'd recommend you leave a spare battery or two with the light, which you should be doing anyways. For the flashlights in my cars, I always keep a few extra batteries with the flashlight, simple solution. For a long term option (up to 10 years), you can get 1.5V Lithium AA (non-rechargeable). Of course, the flashlight will only be as bright as using Alkaline AA batteries but it's better than no light when you need it. The brightness with a standard AA isn't bad at all either.Now the negative. The pocket clip. This light REALLY needs a "deep" pocket clip. Deep clips should be the default clip on any flashlight people are expected to EDC. And for the people who like flashlights that stick out of the pocket, an easy solution is to just mill in a extra "band" around the middle of body (possibly two bands, one more biased towards the tail, one more biased toward the head). This way a deep carry clip can serve as both a deep and non-deep carry clip in both directions. The clip is what prevents me from giving it 5 stars.One other very minuscule negative is that when you use a 14500, the "moonlight" brightness is a little **too** bright. With a AA, it's perfect. It seems (to my eyes) like it's roughly twice as bright so the manual's 7lm vs 8lm isn't accurate. It's more 7lm and 14lm. Not a deal breaker for me, just a passing mention really.So overall, 4 stars. 5 stars if they do a deep carry clip.