I was quite surprised this morning when the postie delivered the Chinese made evilbay torches I ordered a week ago.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300964949...:MEBIDX:IT&clk_rvr_id=776483323697&rmvSB=true
At £2.50 each including postage from Hong Kong, they're well and truly in the budget niche for torches and take a single AA sized battery (more on this later - see note 1 below) with a claimed 7W output. I've already got another one which was a little more expensive (IIRC just under a fiver posted) and a refrakta single AAA (about £12 from Maplin) which are my regular pocket torches to compare them with.
Side by side comparison between similar models:
The good:
Aluminium body reasonably constructed, deep threads where it screws together
Black (anodized ?) finish well adhered and doesn't rub off
Good positive end cap switch with easy to cycle partial press
Removable pocket/belt clip - this is useful as if you bend it you can remove it and bend it back or reshape it
The not so good:
Barely any difference between full power and reduced output mode
The O ring seals are about half the thickness in the cheaper model
The lens isn't sealed into the threads in the end cap which leads me to be suspicious of the waterproof claim - see note 2 below
Finish on the end cap thinner and sharper, so less comfortable than the more expensive one.
Quite a lot of light spill on the cheaper one both at max spread and max zoom
Pocket/belt clip loose on the cheaper one - both screws already tight
Zoom/focus not as smooth on the cheaper one.
The cheaper torch feels lighter, so I suspect there's a bit less material in the construction
Output - what it's all about really.
Pics worth a thousand etc, will get some range shots when it gets dark, meanwhile:
£5 torch on the left, £2.50 torch on the right - odd halo and bluer light from the cheaper one - all looks pretty good until you add in the refrakta, see below:
The refrakta doesn't zoom/focus, the flood from it is quite good but actually better on the cheaper torches. Brightness though, speaks for itself.
Zoomed
Zoomed - all three
Note 1: The more expensive Chinese torch has a battery compartment almost exactly the same dimensions as a single AA battery. The cheaper one has a whacking great cavity - whether this is going to be an advantage or not I don't know. I don't think there's a current battery which it would have been sized to fit and a single AA is held in place by the spring in the switch cap tightly enough that it doesn't rattle when shaken.
Note 2: I've not tested the waterproof claim, I didn't buy them as waterproof I bought them as cheap emergency torches to leave in car glove compartments and coat pockets.
Am I happy with them? Extremely, they'll do exactly what I need them to do and as I bought three I got an additional discount and discounted postage so my total price for three was a few pence under £7 - they've gone up 10p since I bought mine.
If I were buying one torch as a do everything always on my person torch, I would definitely go to Maplin and pay the 12 quid for the refrakta - bear in mind that it will burn a fourpack of AAA's in 2 hours at maximum output. I've not tested the burn time for an AA in the either of the cheap torches.
Pics of max distance etc later.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300964949...:MEBIDX:IT&clk_rvr_id=776483323697&rmvSB=true
At £2.50 each including postage from Hong Kong, they're well and truly in the budget niche for torches and take a single AA sized battery (more on this later - see note 1 below) with a claimed 7W output. I've already got another one which was a little more expensive (IIRC just under a fiver posted) and a refrakta single AAA (about £12 from Maplin) which are my regular pocket torches to compare them with.
Side by side comparison between similar models:
The good:
Aluminium body reasonably constructed, deep threads where it screws together
Black (anodized ?) finish well adhered and doesn't rub off
Good positive end cap switch with easy to cycle partial press
Removable pocket/belt clip - this is useful as if you bend it you can remove it and bend it back or reshape it
The not so good:
Barely any difference between full power and reduced output mode
The O ring seals are about half the thickness in the cheaper model
The lens isn't sealed into the threads in the end cap which leads me to be suspicious of the waterproof claim - see note 2 below
Finish on the end cap thinner and sharper, so less comfortable than the more expensive one.
Quite a lot of light spill on the cheaper one both at max spread and max zoom
Pocket/belt clip loose on the cheaper one - both screws already tight
Zoom/focus not as smooth on the cheaper one.
The cheaper torch feels lighter, so I suspect there's a bit less material in the construction
Output - what it's all about really.
Pics worth a thousand etc, will get some range shots when it gets dark, meanwhile:
£5 torch on the left, £2.50 torch on the right - odd halo and bluer light from the cheaper one - all looks pretty good until you add in the refrakta, see below:
The refrakta doesn't zoom/focus, the flood from it is quite good but actually better on the cheaper torches. Brightness though, speaks for itself.
Zoomed
Zoomed - all three
Note 1: The more expensive Chinese torch has a battery compartment almost exactly the same dimensions as a single AA battery. The cheaper one has a whacking great cavity - whether this is going to be an advantage or not I don't know. I don't think there's a current battery which it would have been sized to fit and a single AA is held in place by the spring in the switch cap tightly enough that it doesn't rattle when shaken.
Note 2: I've not tested the waterproof claim, I didn't buy them as waterproof I bought them as cheap emergency torches to leave in car glove compartments and coat pockets.
Am I happy with them? Extremely, they'll do exactly what I need them to do and as I bought three I got an additional discount and discounted postage so my total price for three was a few pence under £7 - they've gone up 10p since I bought mine.
If I were buying one torch as a do everything always on my person torch, I would definitely go to Maplin and pay the 12 quid for the refrakta - bear in mind that it will burn a fourpack of AAA's in 2 hours at maximum output. I've not tested the burn time for an AA in the either of the cheap torches.
Pics of max distance etc later.
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