Fenix L2D CE Premium Q5

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I was asked to do a review of this torch so I through I would post it here as well. I bought the torch online from an Australian company for $71 including post. I hope this doesn't sound like an add which is not my intension.

I bought L2d CE Premium Q5 for two reasons. As a house hold torch. My other torch seems to have disappeared and to see what 180 lumens looked like on my bike. I decided to purchase this torch after watching someone called Doc who is the English importer of the fenix range demonstrate the L2D and other torches on youtube.
The L2D has four light types low, medium, high and turbo. Plus two flashing modes.

Low is good for working inside things like computers. Reading in bed and walking around both inside and outside the house.

Medium is a general mode and is probably all you need for most applications.

High is brighter again but at the expense of run time.

Turbo is amazingly bright; looking into the light is not a good idea

The two flashing modes are slow SOS flash. When I first tried it I thought there was something wrong because of the slow nature of the flash. Until I worked out what was going on. The other flash mode is a strode. Really good if you want to annoy somebody.

The Light has a really bright centre which can be a bit too bright when working up close to an object. Easily fixed by going down a mode. Surrounded by a dark ring, then there is a larger ring of spilled light followed by an abrupt cutoff.

The L2D is a bit shorter than three AA batteries placed end to end and a bit fatter than a single AA battery and is fairly lite. The torch takes two AA batteries the switch is in the end. You click it on with a firm press. The light always starts in low then it’s a half press to medium and another half press to high. I really like this method to move between modes. The turbo mode is reached by tightening the bezel at the front of the light. It says in the instruction to only use turbo mode for 10 minutes. The torch does get hot when run in this mode for any length of time which is not a good thing as electronics and batteries don’t like heat. The torch is warm to tough when in high mode. I’m using Duracell 2650mah batteries and getting run times of two hours fifteen minutes in turbo and five and a half hours on high. The Duracells are new and take some cycles to reach maximum capacity so I’m hoping for around two and a half hours on turbo. At the moment you can buy 2700mah and 2900mah but in the future as battery technology improves 3000+mah batteries should make longer run times possible.

So what is it like on the bike? This is the first see where your going light I have owned as in the past bike lights weren’t good value a couple of years ago a light with this power and run times would have cost hundreds of dollars and had a battery the size and weight of a small station wagon with a similar replacement cost. With the new LED technology it now makes it possible to have good power with reasonable run times at an affordable price. The L2d would make a good commuter light. Turbo is not a problem because of the air flow over the torch and the rain helps too! The light is washed out in well lit areas and by car headlights but I have heard even 600 lumens is washed out too. It does fill in the dark patches between streetlights nicely. The throw is around 20 to 25 meters. With my eyes high is enough in well lit areas and to about 30ks on unlit roads. I’m not too comfortable at this speed having to swerve around road debris at the last moment. Although I did manage to avoid two small frogs and a snail at this speed. I think I may have been holding the snail up and it was trying to pass me. In turbo mode 40ks is comfortable and I have descended at 50ks but you have to concentrate. This morning I descended at 75ks, couldn’t see a bloody thing but it was fun. Yes I’m an idiot. Turbo is instantly accessed by turning the bezel unfortunately turning the bezel the other way gets you low so you have to cycle through the modes to get the one you want. It takes some practice to do this on bumpy roads without turning off the light or having to cycle through the modes a couple of times. Medium is good for climbing. I like to use different modes to increase the run time.

The L2d real is amazingly bright but as HG and Roy would say too much light is barely enough.

Geoff

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+1 for an amazing light source.

I recently bought the small brother (with slightly lower max light output and run time) of this product using one AA battery. Been similarly amazed by the efficiency of this light. Apart from being more than adequate for night time city riding (lit streets), it's a handy little tool around home. I brought it out yesterday during the day for a play and have actually found it to be able to create a light patch in the lightly shaded area around midday. That says something about its power. For attaching to the handlebar, I built up a support pad using a rolled up segment of an inner tube along with two heavy duty rubber bands. More than sufficiently secure over pot-holed streets.

Thoroughly impressed with this little one.