Originally Posted by
hopperja
Based on the few opinions I could find here, I deceided to order two (one for myself, another to give as a gift) of the Ultrafire lights. I liked the idea that it can run on one AA, as an added bonus. I already have a Fenix L2D Premium Q5.
While I like the Ultrafire, it'll mostly be used as a backup. It isn't nearly as bright as the Fenix. When I compare both, outside, with fresh batteries, in the dark, the Fenix turbo (180 lumens) and high (107 lumens) modes are definitely brighter than the Ultrafire. The Fenix medium mode (53 lumens) is not as bright as the Ultrafire on high. I would rough guess the Ultrafire to be around 90 lumens on high (this may not seem like very much, but this is roughly 2x the lumens of a 2xAA MAG LED), so it's bright enough to ride with in a emergency.
Is it worth it? I'd say yes. However, keep in mind: 1- it's not nearly as bright as the Fenix, so for regular night riding the Ultrafire isn't a replacement for a Fenix; 2- I ordered two Ultrafires, and each of them would not fit AA batteries - the body was too tight. I had to carefully sand both of them out using a Dremel tool in order to fit the AA batteries.
Thanks for the feedback. I just tried the Fenix on high mode and Ultrafire on its highest setting, and they are virtually identical here in the room to a wall 20ft away. Ultrafire appears brighter but as mentioned above, that might be the appearance of blue light vs. yellow. I will go back and remove my comments about the Ultrafire lumen rating in my initial review.
What I really need to do is go back outside on a dark path and set up the lights like I would use them to ride. I may end up keeping the Fenix after all, especially if their high mode is as bright as the Ultrafires on its highest setting and I can get a much longer run time out of the Fenix on high, and have a brighter setting available (turbo) if I feel I need it.
Battery installation in my Ultrafires is the same as in my Fenix -- no problems. My Ultrafires shipped in early July. Just curious when you bought yours, as based on the comments on DX it seems the early lights were different from what is shipping now.
hopperja - just curious what kind of run time you get in Turbo mode before your batteries drop in brightness? Also, my Fenix lights produce a high pitched squealing noise when in Turbo. It is not very loud -- I have to be within 3 feet of the light to hear it. But the Ultrafire doesn't have such a noise at all.