Product Description : Details: ? Cree XP-G LED (R5) with a lifespan of 50,000 hours ? Uses two 1.5V AA (Ni-MH, Alkaline ) batteries ? 150mm (Length) x 21.5mm (Diameter) ? 60-gram weight (excluding batteries) ? Digitally regulated output - maintains constant brightness ? Push-button tail cap switch ? Capable of standing up securely on a flat surface to serve as a candle ? Made of durable aircraft-grade aluminum ? Premium Type III hard-anodized anti-abrasive finish ? Toughened ultra-clear glass lens with anti-reflective coating Notice: The above-mentioned parameters (tested by 2500mAh Ni-MH battery in Lab) are approximate and may vary between flashlights, batteries, and environments. I'm an enthusiast about flashlights and coolers. There are several things that I look for when considering a flashlight. 1) Only flashlights that use AA or AAA batteries are considered. Those two batteries are the cheapest and most readily available batteries. Plus, in an emergency, I do not want to be scrambling for different types of batteries (C, D, 9V, CR123, or any other type of specialized battery). 2) The design has to be shock resistant and waterproof. 3) The longest battery life in proportion to the output as I would like an efficient flashlight. The Fenix LD20 meets all of those standards. This is a review of the Fenix LD20 flashlight with a CREE LED and a maximum 180-lumen rating. If you want more details about this light, please read on. If you want the short of it, skip to the conclusion.Brightness: The low setting of 9 lumens is similar to the Nichia LED flashlights. Plus the battery lasts an exceptional 70 hours at this level. The better Nichia LED lights would last about half that time for the same level of brightness. The medium setting of 47 lumens is about the same brightness as my Luxeon 1-watt flashlight with over double the battery life. The high of 94 lumens is as bright as any flashlight I have seen. The turbo mode with 180 lumens was just amazing. I could shine the flashlight up at the ceiling and it lit the living room like a bright table lamp.Color of the light: Many LEDs have a cool "bluish" color. Others have a warm "yellowish" color. The Fenix LD20 appears to put out a neutral white color temperature.Beam: The beam was bright in the middle with a smooth and bright spill beam surrounding the core. This is a characteristic of higher quality flashlights that use textured "orange peel" type of reflectors. What you will notice with lower quality flashlights are dark rings present in the field of light, making the output inconsistent. The LD20 tested had an output that contained no inconsistencies.Throw: The throw of the light, or how far the light will project is considerable. I often test lights by shining them down my street. The intersection is approximately 100 meters, the trees across the street are about 50 meters, and the neighbor's house is about 20 meters away. When testing the throw, the LD20 was able to reflect street signs at the intersection well, far greater than any of my Nichia, Luxeon, and Incandescent flashlights, and even Xenon flashlights using similar power.Efficiency: The CREE LED technology appears to be the most efficient lighting. The early Nichia type LEDs had fairly good battery life, but output was limited. The next generation of Luxeon LEDs, were more powerful, but lacked efficiency. CREE LEDs appear to be the most powerful and most efficient light sources in flashlights today. The Fenix LD20 readings had the most efficient battery life to lumen ratios of flashlights using 2-AA batteries. In addition the Fenix LD20 has circuitry that regulates current to the light, so the output remains consistent until the battery is fully drained.Build: The Fenix LD20 was smallest and lightest of its 2-AA Olight and NiteCore counterparts, which is a plus considering that they all have the industry standard aircraft grade aluminum construction, level III anodized protection, o-rings for waterproofing, and anti-roll features. The LD20 has a user-friendly operating system with a full depression of the rear rubberized-button for on or off and half-depressions changing the output. One thing to note is that there is no beam adjustment, which does not appear to be necessary as the output is bright, smooth, and even.The only picky thing that someone might complain about is the instability when the flashlight is stood like a candle. This is understandable considering Fenix designed the flashlight to be the size of a thick pen. Bottom line is that the flashlight can stand on its end on a flat surface, but I am more appreciative of its small size and portability.Conclusion: Overall, the Fenix LD20 is a top quality flashlight with excellent build quality and exceptional light output, with all the features desired and found in the best 2-AA flashlights. I would rate this flashlight a 5.0 out of 5.0. With other makers such as Olight and NiteCore also having similar top quality flashlights, it becomes a matter of personal preference. I now have difficulty appreciating my other flashlights (Energizer, MagLite, Inova, Coast, Princeton Tec, Serengeti, Surefire, etc.) now that I have the Fenix LD20. Why?He is obviously a Surefire homer or something of that nature, anybody who knows about lights know that the cost of this light is very reasonably price as compared to SF lights.For a SF light that only puts out 60lumens you will pay either the same or more. Some surefire lights cost over $100 and then some and still don't have the output of the LD20 and they usually all take 123 batteries.This light is worth every penny, it is well built, can take abuse and still light up.It has 2 modes with 6 types of output.Lower mode: 9 lumens, 47 lumens, 94 lumens, then goes to S.O.S mode which can be used to save your life.The 9 lumen level is ideal for looking around in your closet, behind a desk, reading a book if you don't need that much light, looking in a glove department, etc.47 lumens provides more light and is perfect for under the hood of a car, an attic for close up work, looking for things outside like a toy or whatever, etc.94 lumens is plenty bright for many uses you can light up a room with this mode and wow people. At this level you can temporarily blind a person or even clear a house. Under this mode you can really work on a car or look outsidse in the darkness.S.O.S- Needs no explanation it can very well save your life or flag down a airplane, helicopter, or far off motorist.The high setting180lumens- Under this setting you're more than lighting a room, blinding a person, locating things etc. The spill is great and you can really see what you need to see. Make use of the modes how you see fit.Strobe- Depends on what you need to use it for, Me personally im using it to clear a house or disorient a assailant or inmate. It can also be used to signal for help.The runtimes are great and this light is tough and can be used if need be as an impact weapon.It uses AA batteries which are common so you'll be fine in a disaster, etc. Use rechargeable batteries which are best but like I said in a disaster situation it can and will operate on regular AA batteries.GREAT LIGHT WELL WORTH EVER PENNY! This version of the Fenix LD20 uses the new Cree XP-G LED (R4), which produces more light for the same amount of energy. Thus, it's essentially the same as the standard LD20, but brighter at all light levels. The flashlight comes with a belt clip, lanyard, and a really nice tactical belt pouch.The design of the flashlight body has a very "industrial" feel, and is slimmer than the pictures suggest. The narrowest part of the body is only slightly wider than the AA batteries it uses, and flares out at the cap and tail. Personally I find the design unique and attractive, and it fits very nicely in the hand. The machining is top-notch and highly detailed, and has a very high-quality feel to it. The coating is an attractive satin black, and seems very durable (my Fenix daily-carry light (a single-AAA L0D) has been in my pocket for nearly two years and still has no scratches). The lens material is very hard and is seated very securely. The lens bezel has a five notch scallop, so the flashlight stands securely on the bezel, but the rear cap has a two notch configuration surrounding the button for lanyard attachment. This means that although you can stand the light on its base for "candle" type operation, it's not very stable in that position. I personally never use my flashlights like that, but if you do, you'll have to be very careful to get it to stand by itself.The basic operation of the flashlight involves two controls, the button on the rear cap, and the screw bezel. The light turns on and off using a full click of the button, with "soft clicks" of the button cycling through the light modes. To switch between the "normal" and "turbo" mode sets, you twist the top bezel slightly. The rotation between the turbo and normal modes is only ~1/8 turn, which was much less than I expected. Although you'll probably leave it on the normal modes most of the time, the cap is only slightly unseated from the fully screwed-on position, and I feel confident it won't compromise the watertight integrity of the light. The controls are intuitive once you've used it for a few minutes, and frankly I prefer using buttons rather than twist controls. Interestingly, if you unscrew the top bezel, it opens into the top end of the battery compartment, so I suppose you could load batteries from either end. This means that the entire top bezel, containing the LED and all of the electronics, is a single, sealed module, which really seems like a great design.The light output of this flashlight is quite impressive. The Low setting (9 lumens) is more than sufficient for a lot of personal use and all indoors use, and has a ridiculous 71 hour runtime. Another reviewer mentioned that they thought the Low and Medium settings looked the same, and when used indoors, the 50-lumen Medium setting does look about as bright as the Low setting. However, when used outdoors, the Medium setting is clearly brighter and has a much longer throw than Low. The 105-lumen High setting is quite bright for a handheld light. I found it illuminated objects a good hundred meters away, and is really more light than I need in most situations. The 205-lumen Turbo mode is like having a small star in your hands. The illumination and throw is just amazing; it fully lit the ~3 acre area I was using to test the light, and the reflection was somewhat painful when aimed at nearby objects. The light does warm up on Turbo, but that's not surprising, given the amount of power it's using. Overall I found it highly satisfying to be able to choose between a high level of battery conservation or a high level of light, with the four primary modes nicely covering all possible situations I could think of. Personally, I'm not sold on the two flashing modes (SOS and Strobe); I don't really have a use for the flashing modes and I found it slightly annoying to have to switch past them, but I'm sure that if I ever got lost in the woods I'd appreciate them.The beam pattern is unique to the lights I have, and I really like it. The center "spot" is larger than my other lights, and has a very uniform distribution. There's a slightly dimmer spot in the very center, but it's only visible on a white wall. The larger center spot makes the light much more useful than a narrow-beam spot, while still having a long throw.Overall, this is a phenomenal flashlight and I'd highly recommend it. The sheer quality of the light is visible in every detail, and it's a pleasure to use. The decision between the standard LD20 and this 205-lumen model is up to you, but I feel it's worth the small premium for the additional light efficiency.
