MAGLITE SP2209H 2-AA Cell Mini LED Flashlight with Holster, Gray
by MAGLITE
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of MAGLITE SP2209H 2-AA Cell Mini LED Flashlight with Holster, Gray
Customer Review: Best Maglite Mini yet, but needs some improvements
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm sure as most of us know Maglite is well known for their simple understated flashlight design that's durable and well built. These U.S. machined aluminum lights lasts for years, the only thing that ever needs replacing is the krypton bulbs (I usually burn them out by dropping the flashlight) or a new set of batteries. The o-rings do a good job of sealing out water, making the light good for emergency situations. Maglites are the ones I go for when I need a flashlight I know won't quite on me. Most of us have our Maglites "borrowed" and never get them returned which is the only reason we have to get a new one, when the borrower sees the quality they just by chance forget to return the light.
I will admit Maglite was a little slow in getting into the LED market, and even still they're lagging behind when it comes to the LEDs they put in their lights, but in the end it IS a Mag that has a decently powered LED in it. I read on the Maglite website that the krypton bulb of a Maglite Mini was supposed to be about 15.2 lumens, and from what I read the Luxeon Rebel LED is (and this is without official report) about 75-70 lumens, so the bulb is definitely brighter than a krypton bulb.
The battery life is supposedly ten hours, which is also higher than the krypton bulb. I believe there is a capacitor in the light that provides a constant flow of energy to the bulb (hence the slight flickering of the bulb which I find to be annoying) so that the light output will be the same until the battery dies (also why it shuts off so abruptly). This is a pro and a con at the same time. The light brightness stays steady and usable until the battery is dead, but when it dies it DIES, leaving you literally in the dark. There should be an indicator on the light, perhaps a small red light that comes on when the battery is almost dead. Other than that (and like I said the light flickering from the electronics storing energy and releasing it to make constant lumen amounts) it works very well.
Something else I didn't know about until just a while ago was the 100% brightness, 25% brightness, and flashing modes. I had read on the package about it but was confused how to obtain the modes, but after some reading I found out you twist the cap to ON, then off, and you get 25% light, then off and ON again to get flashing. Quite handy, but the documentation wasn't very good. As far as the light itself goes it lasts a long time, it's brighter than a normal Mag Mini, and it has Mags years of experience behind it. Great light that I would recommend to anyone.
Customer Review: Takes the "flash" out of flashlight
Summary: 1 Stars
I wanted a flashlight for rollerblading at night, and since it was "just" a flashlight I bought the name-brand without doing any homework. Bad plan. My main complaint is with the switch mechanism: you turn the head of the flashlight both to turn it on and off and to focus the beam. There are four modes of "on": on, dim, plus two modes of flashing. The first problem is that when you turn it off, it changes the focus of the beam so it needs to be re-focused each time you turn it on. There are two problems there: first, it takes two hands to turn it on, and second it takes some time and patience to refocus the beam. The next problem is you change between the four modes by turning it off then back on - each cycle advances from on to dim to flashing then back to on. So if you turn it off and then want it back on fairly soon you get the next mode, and of course when you finally cycle through to the desired mode you have to refocus the beam. As a practical matter, if you find you need light suddenly you are better off concentrating on doing what you are doing in the dark because you are not going to have useful light any time soon. And it gets worse: once the batteries are a little worn down, shaking the flashlight makes it switch to the next mode. Recall that I bought this for rollerblading: if I hit a rough patch in the road the vibrations change the light from bright to dim to flashing just when I need it the most, and of course it takes two hands and some thought to turn it back to bright and refocus the beam. A simple on-off switch and one mode would be a big improvement.
The product is attractive and does work, so it might merit more than one star, but this thing is actually worse than a free flashlight I had gotten in some promotional deal. Worse than free sounds like one star. I have since done some homework and bought a Brinker 3W LED for $30. The Brinker has a Cree bulb, uses 3 AAA batteries and produces 140 lumens. The appearance and build quality of the Brinker are not as nice, but the brightness and functionality of the Brinker are much much much better, plus it has a simple push-button on-off switch and one mode.
Customer Review: Very Bright -- Power Hungry and Worth It!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a very bright light, much brighter than the older incandescent Mini Maglite and very much brighter than a single-LED flashlight I have from Brinkmann and a 9-LED light from Harbor Freight Tools. The illumination pattern is also much smoother, and I like that you can adjust it by rotating the head of the flashlight (although the range of adjustment is fairly limited compared to the incandescent version). I also like the cool white color of this flashlight.
It is advertised as being a 3 watt LED, so being an engineer, I had to measure it. It draws 370mA of current at 3 volts, so that's more like 1 watt of actual power dissipation. I guess they rate it compared to the amount of light that would be put out by a 3 watt incandescent bulb. By the way, my old incandescent bulb version of the same Mini Maglite draws 300mA of current, so don't expect more battery life from the LED version. My Brinkmann and Harbor Freight Tools flashlights draw around 50-60mA, so their batteries will last a lot longer at the expense of much less illumination. If you're concerned about going through batteries, you can use NiMH rechargeable batteries.
Overall I'm very impressed with this little light. It's a bit longer than the incandescent version but I haven't found that to be a problem.
UPDATE 1/11/09: As expected, my first set of batteries lasted about 8 hours. There is no warning when they go. The light just suddenly goes out. It might go off and on several times as the battery voltage hovers around the minimum necessary to keep it lit. At first I thought there was a loose connection. I was out hiking on a cold night when this happened, and I was able to get another 20 minutes of life by warming the flashlight inside my pocket for a few minutes. I still stick by my 5-star rating as you get a much brighter light with batteries that still last as long as in the older incandescent version of this flashlight.
Comment
Customer Review: Good but could easily be improved
Summary: 4 Stars
Are you listening Maglite? I want you to do well since you're Made in USA and China is beating you at your own game. This Maglite with LED blows away the ones with conventional bulbs - don't even bother with the old school bulbs. This model lacks the power of the Fenix LD20 but does come close, but then, the Fenix is about $55 vs this Maglite which is under $20, and I think I got mine for $12 during a Christmas sale at a box store. Cons: It has no clicky ON button, you have to turn the head. In practical terms, this means you need two hands to operate it. Not always feasible. The tube/grip is incised for a better grip, but these incisions are so shallow they are just for show. The incisions should be deeper to afford a better grip, like on an olympic barbell, or like on the Fenix. Maglite needs to add some ribbing or something to give a better grip. I tightly wrap some rubber bands around mine for something to hold onto. The grip on the turning head can be improved as well. It has no hole for a lanyard which I find annoying and could have been engineered in for about 5 cents per unit. The head is cylindrical, which means it can easily roll away from you (I think they sell a plastic octagonal shaped edge that can go over the head and fix this problem). The beam is not as smoothly graduated as the Fenix, and the Maglite has more artifacts than the Fenix. However you only really notice this when shining it against a white wall for test purposes. The head comes off to expose the lit bulb at its brightest for use as a lamp of sorts. The strobe feature is a slow strobe better to attract help and the slower strobe ostensibly lasts longer, whereas the Fenix is a rapid disorienting strobe better for shining in an intruder's eyes. All in all, when cost is taken into consideration, this light is a great value compared to the Chinese made Fenix. I prefer the Fenix but I would rather have 3 of these Maglites than 1 Fenix at the same cost.Customer Review: Improved LED light, multi modes make this a very good choice
Summary: 5 Stars
While MagLite has a long history and a storied reputation for its lights, it was slow to convert to LED lights and the performance of some of its early models was not exemplary. MagLite has updated its 2 AA SP2209H light with two very important features, which make this light a very good choice for many users:
- It now has multiple "modes" - standard brightness, 25% brightness (for long battery life), flashing blink-mode and SOS. This gives a lot of flexibility in using the light in situations where you don't need (or want) the full brightness, or want to extend the battery life.
- An improved LED, reportedly a Luxeon.
The packaging for this light emphasizes the new features - "New Performance Enhanced LED", and "New Multi-Mode Electronic Switch" - so be sure to look for that when you buy a light to be sure you get the current version. (The Amazon product image shows this text if you zoom in.)
A couple of other positive points:
- The 2 AA size gives a good combination of portability and relatively long life (as AAs have much more capacity than AAAs, enough for most uses with the more efficient LED bulb).
- Like most MagLites, there is some ability to focus the beam, which adds to the flexibility of this light.
This isn't, perhaps, the ultimate flashlight There are lights with LEDs that a more efficient or a lot brighter. Hardcore flashlight aficionados will want to do the research to get that increment of performance from a light. But for most people, this is a very good choice and the fact that it's widely available is a big plus.
Finally, MagLite made these changes about a year ago. So reviews here that are more than a year old won't completely reflect the current version of this light. Focus on the comments in more recent reviews.