Customer Reviews

Fenix LD01R2, 3 Level High Performance CREE LED Flashlight

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

You might be put off by the high price of this flashlight. Don't be. This is an investment in a high quality tool that will outshine flashlights several times its size. The LD01 improves on the already excellent L0D. The LD01 has 85 lumens of pure white light, a super reliable switch, and no flicker at the two lower light settings. It does not have the flashing modes of the L0D which are rarely used anyway. It comes with a stiff stainless steel pocket clip, but I prefer to attach a Fenix lobster claw key clip instead and attach it to the key ring in my computer bag. The small size of this flashlight makes it convenient to carry with you at all times. It will fit into the change pocket of your jeans. If you're storing this flashlight in an emergency kit or other place where it will not be used often, I recommend using a lithium AAA battery so that it'll be ready when needed and won't leak if left unused for a long time. You won't be disappointed.

I was looking for a small yet powerful flashlight to carry with every day while deployed overseas. I've been a huge surefire fans for years but was getting fed up of trying to find CR-123 batteries, especially on some of the smaller based and did not want to spend over $100 for a small, LED flashlight. After doing some research and reading reviews, I decided to go with the Fenix LD01. All I can say is wow! The light is nearly as small as my key, not much longer than the AAA battery used to power it. I can easily put the flashlight on my key ring in my pocket and literally not know it is there. Having the flashlight always on your person is the first test of a truly portable flashlight...and this one passes with flying colors!

The light is well constructed. No scratching or dings on it after a few weeks of carry. The operation is simple. A twist on and twist off will take you through three settings: low, medium and high. The low setting will save your batter life but provides more than enough illumination to see while walking in the dark. The medium setting has a good throw and provides you a greater viewing distance at night. The high power is just as strong as some of the much more expensive, two cell Surefire lights I own...simply amazing! The ability to use a standard AAA battery just adds to the overall effectiveness of the little powerhouse.

I highly recommend keeping an LD01 on your key chain. It is THE perfect powerful yet portable LED flashlight.

This is my 3rd Fenix flashlight and easily my favorite. Smaller in diameter than my little finger, light in weight, and with an interface that is easily manipulated one-handed, this tiny flashlight provides either really long periods of modest light or a brief hour of incredibly intense light (85 lumens). At this level it puts out more light than my LED Surefire light that is far, far larger. It is not ideal for tactical situations because it starts on the medium setting, but for general flashlight uses is the THE product to have.

For background--I am a moderate flashlight nerd and one of those guys who always carries some kind of pocket tool on my belt (along with a pen or pencil and a little flashlight, which brings us to this review). This review is for the Fenix LD01.

My quest for the ideal belt-pouch flashlight has been a long one and there have been several notable also-rans. LED Lenser has a great little light that is about ten bucks and has an on-off button on the end, operable by the thumb, but it uses 4 watch batteries and I wanted to find one that uses a more "standard" battery; Lenser's LEDs also seem to lose intensity pretty quickly with lifetime. Photon has a little light (Arclite I think) that is pretty nice and bright and uses a single AAA battery, but their twist-on/twist-off mechanism proved unreliable despite the high price of that light. The single-AAA Maglite is nice because it's got a good, white light with a continuum wavelength distro, and their twist-on/twist-off mechanism is good, but the connection to the battery across the screw-out battery cap is not reliable and thus the light ultimately proved unsatisfactory. I mention these things so that you will know why I am happy with the Fenix light where I was not happy with other similar lights.

The Fenix is extremely bright, lighter than any of the other tinylights I have tried (it is astonishingly light when empty), and has so far been entirely reliable (2+ months and counting). Having 3 different intensities is nice, and Fenix have very sensibly made the default brightness setting--the first one in the 3-setting sequence--the medium-powered setting, followed by the dim/long-life and the super-bright settings. I miss having the focusability offered by the Maglites, of course, and all the twisting is a little inconvenient, no doubt, but it's quite bearable and can be done with one hand. The middle power setting is fine for most applications I run into--it's actually brighter than all the lights I mention above except the Arc. And the brightest setting is really pretty awesome.

One thing I had trouble figuring out from reviews was how the user interface is set up, so I'll clarify that now: it's ceiling fan logic, except with twists instead of chain pulls and repeats Medium-Low-High instead of LMH0. The light powers up from rest to its middle power setting. When you power cycle (untwist and twist) again within a couple of seconds, it goes to the dimmer setting; another power cycle within a couple seconds gets you uber-torch mode, repeat if desired. If you leave it off for a few seconds and turn it back on, it resets to the default middle brightness mode.

A possible long-term concern I noted is mechanical reliability: power switching is accomplished by unscrewing the two halves of the case from each other, thus making the battery compartment longer than the battery. The positive terminal of the battery touches the tail end of the LED/power management assembly at the head of the light by means of a flat contact plate that is fabbed directly onto the PC board at the back of the head module. I'm not sure if/what kind of braining they have done on designing this bit, but if the light fails with extended use, my money is on this interface as the point of failure. Very likely they have alloy smart guys and reliability smart guys that have got this problem solved so that it won't be a problem, but you never know.

Overall, the money is steep, but this seems to be the best answer currently available to my belt-pouch flashlight conundrum, and I was more than willing to spring for it to have the tool I need when I need it. I believe they designed the light and then built it the way they designed it, without cutting any meaningful corners, and I don't want to try to predict the future in terms of reliability--thus I'm giving them the full five stars because this light is a good product and it does exactly what I need it to do. Props to the people at Fenix.

8 MONTHS LATER: Still love this light. The multiple-setting twisty control interface is not as problematic as I feared it might be. One time it did blow up on me--I twisted it to turn it on and the o-ring escaped its groove with a startling and thunderous "SNAP!" This has not happened again and I conjecture that I left it on for a long period and pressure built up within the light due to a combination of a very impressive seal on the case and some possibly excessive off-gassing by the battery. No injury, light still works fine, I just make sure to turn it off now. (-:

16 MONTHS LATER: Still happy. No mechanical failures. Always reliable. Make sure you give it a good twist when you turn it off--if you don't, sometimes it'll creep back on.

I will start off by saying that many folks won't have any issue at all with paying $40 for this light. It's a quality product; well made, bright, extremely handy. This light will last for years and is a step above similar commodity lights that are available in the superstores.

In size, the LD01R2 is slightly larger than the Fenix E01 and slightly smaller than the Monarch 300. Versus the E01 it is considerably brighter and has a much appreciated pocket clip. It also has the three output modes. Unlike the Monarch it uses the twist mechanism instead of a rear switch.

Now I've been carrying around the Monarch 300 for a couple months and it is one of the most damned useful things. This Fenix just might displace it on account of the increased light output and the smaller size. I'm impressed by the amount of light it provides; in fact, I was in a dark parking lot near Key Biscayne a few nights ago and someone remarked about the brightness. The light level is optimal for those not-quite-dark areas where your eyes are adjusted to brightness but you need to peer into a darkened area (for example, the back of a rack of servers in a dimly lit data center).

There are some downsides, however. I much prefer a rear switch as it allows me to easily turn on the light with just one hand. It's possible to do so, but it's not quite as easy to twist on versus click a switch. And unfortunately, the compact size of the Fenix makes this a little more difficult for my clumsy hands. The other minor issue was that the pocket clip was incredibly difficult to attach. I scratched up the rear of the flashlight trying to attach the clip. In its defense, it's not a dainty clip. It's rugged and even with considerable force it did not break. Finally, even though it is very well made, you will pay a premium for this light. I did not take off a star for the price itself, but for $40 I'd hoped that they would attach the clip at the factory.

As a cop I highly recommend this light as a "back-up" lighting system when you don't want to be bothered with one of the larger more expensive "tactical" lights. Don't let the small size fool you, it puts out a good amount of light. I also like the fact that it operates on AAA batteries. If there is one thing I could change about it I would like the ability to operate it one handed with a switch instead of the twist on/off which the light uses. Other than that I find it to be a good high quality light well worth the money.

An update - I've had the LD01 for over 18 months now, on my key chain every day. It's taken a beating but still works great.

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This flashlight is small, durable and unbelievably bright.

I've been using this flashlight for 6 months now - and while at first I was a bit worried about spending that much on a pocket flashlight, I am now convinced it was more than worth it.

The CREE LED is the key.

It has 3 settings - activated by twisting it - for dim, medium and bright. The bright setting will light up even a large room, and is really impressive outdoors.

I keep it on my key chain - it's tiny, hardly bigger than then single AAA battery that runs it. I end up replacing the battery every couple of months just because I figure it's time, but it hasn't ever actually run out on me, though I use it frequently at work.

This is light is a great EDC (Everyday Carry). I carry it with me every time I leave my house. My Leatherman sheath comes with 2 slots on the side for a (mini-mag AAA Solitaire) it fits into it perfectly. I suppose it would also work okay on a key-chain. Anyway, this blows away the Mag-lite Solitaire AAA and probably also the Mini-Mag AA. It outputs 80 lumens, but is so small. I pulled it out when I was camping, and my friend dismissed it .... until I turned it on.

Having said that, it would be a great light to carry. But if you are only going to buy just one flashlight for general use (keeping in the car or at home). I would buy the Fenix LD20, instead. (I would recommend having both... you can never have too many flashlights!)

Also, as a side-note: If you have a white/clear chap-stick cap, you can fit it over the top of the light. It works well as a diffuser/lantern. You can hang it from your neck or sit it upright on a table (it can stand on its end... with some adjusting), works excellent as a lantern with a cap on it.

I bought this device a little over a month ago from amazon. I use a flashlight on a daily basis and I figured that this would be the right item for me.

When I initially got the product, it was amazing. I used it 20-30 times daily for my job and it never failed me. Sadly, 35 days after I purchased the device, it started acting up on me. It would randomly start working when I needed it, the 3 variable lights wouldn't function and I couldn't get the right light intensity needed, and the black metal casing started getting a bit worn. (the casing was likely my fault)

I troubleshot the device and replaced multiple batteries and bulbs before I opted to call amazon. Amazon gave me a full refund for the device, but I have to say that I'm not really impressed with how the device help up after less than a month of a half of use.

I'm giving it 2 starts for how it functioned the first month despite the issues I had with it afterwards.

I was looking for an alternative to carrying a 2AA Maglight in a belt holster, something smaller, lighter and ideally brighter. This item is all of the above. It fits in the watch pocket of my jeans and is always at hand. As a handyman, a flashlight is as indispensable as a 10 in one screwdriver or a molding prybar. It will light the other end of a 40' crawlspace, stand on end and light under a sink, and brighten any dark corner or cavity. It has already survived a front load washer and full dry cycle without a hitch. I use a lot of tools, and have learned that quality may cost more upfront, but becomes a value over the long haul. This flashlight is definitely one of my new favorites.

PS - Wife bought for me as a gift. Michelle isn't the handyman, but she does appreciate one. Joe