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Reviews -> Flashlights -> Fenix L2D-CE

Last modified on Mon, 4th Feb 2008 at 20:53 GMT by zipplet

Summary


Available from: Fenix-Store (http://www.fenix-store.com/)
Price: $56.50 and free postage at time of review
Link: http://fenix-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_50&products_id=195
Conclusion: This is a light to depend on. Very long runtimes at the very useable low brightness setting (still brighter than your 2xAA typical grocery store light), and very fair runtimes with the insane brightness setting (turbo). Well built, designed to last. NOT a light you will want to leave at home!
Rating: 10/10

Description


Copied from my review I posted at Fenix-Store.

bbcode image
Image from Fenix-Store. I hope I can reuse this image here.

The L2D-CE is one of the best flashlights I have ever purchased. My previous before it was the P1D-CE (also sold here at Fenix-Store).

Batteries:
The fact it uses common AA batteries makes this a very cheap light to run. Best performance is with NiMH rechargeables or expensive lithium AA's - performance is quite poor (although fair) with alkalines. I recommend the use of eneloop rechargeables in this light. It actually *exceeds* the stated runtime figures with some NiMH batteries! Fenix are known for having very efficient LED drivers in their lights, and this light is no exception. The output is very well regulated (it maintains the same brightness as long as it can) and the light does not flicker when dimmed so it's not using a cheap pulse width modulator.

Design:
Very nice. Some may dislike the unusually shaped barrel but I find it enhances grip and makes it look a bit unique. The body has checkered parts to improve grip when twisting the light. Very easy to use too, and not requring much force to twist either end or activate the clicky. I strongly recommend lubricating the threads the first few times you change the batteries as the threads "wear in". The light can tailstand. If the rubber switch boot bulges too much, hold the button in while screwing the tailcap back on - that solves it - it occurs due to air pressure inside the light. The head is large enough to dissipate the heat generated in turbo mode quite well so while you use this light outside it will hardly get warm. While indoors it can warm up quite a lot but nowhere near as bad as some of my other lights.

Beam:
The beam has a very intense smooth hotspot with the classic "cree ring" (a small slightly darker area around the beam), and is well focused. There is a very useable flood area around the hotspot, which I find extremely useful while walking at night. On turbo, I can infact see as far as I can see along the road in many cases with this light, and the flood/spill area of the beam is great in this scenario. Most of the time you will want to leave the light in general mode (head backed away from the body) as the turbo mode is just too bright for most uses! It's great to have a light with so many modes. I actually feel a lot safer outside at night by myself when I have this light, I know I have the ability to throw a huge amount of light should I need it, yet I can run on lower output to conserve power as needed. The lens is glass and antireflective coated for maximum light transmission and this light has a smooth reflector.

Extra features:
The light has an SOS blinker mode (4th mode in general mode) and a strobe (2nd mode in turbo mode). The SOS mode will not be used by most people but it's harmless having it there for people who just may need it. The blinker mode can be quite handy as an attention grabber and might buy you a few invaluable seconds of time at night if you need to disorientate a potential attacker and give you time to flee.

Reliability:
The twist switch in the head should be very reliable. If the light starts to flicker you just need to clean the theads (it makes contact through the threads as well as the top of the body!) and the body/head contacts. I had to do that a couple of times when I first got the light, probably due to it being a little dirty from the factory. Ever since then it has been perfect. The same applies to the tailcap contacts. The clicky switch should be reliable, and the spring for the battery contact even looks gold plated!

Water resistance:
This light is submersible to shallow depths (tested by me and others) aslong as the tailcap is fully tightened, and you don't adjust the head while submersed - you can use the switch safely however. So you can be confident and use it in awful weather and not have to worry about it being broken.

Bad things/nitpicks:
Overall:
This is a light to depend on. Very long runtimes at a useable brightness (still brighter than your 2xAA typical grocery store light), and very fair runtimes with insane brightness. Well built, designed to last. NOT a light you will want to leave at home!

Update


I forgot to put this in my review at Fenix-Store:
I accidentally destroyed my L2D-CE by putting in the batteries backwards. I posted this to CandlePowerForums, asking if I could buy a replacement head anywhere (I stupidly forgot to check Fenix-Store) and the owner of Fenix-Store offered to send me a free replacement head even though I admitted it was my fault! This level of customer service is unheard of usually. So, 10/10 to Fenix-Store too. They also always ship pretty fast.