Customer Reviews

Forever Last Flashlight

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

I wish I could recommend this but I really can't, unless you're willing to tinker with it.

These forever flashlights have seemed like fun for a while, and this is the first one where the reviews seemed good enough to make it worth ordering. And, the price is lower - for the price of some of the others, I can get a really nice MagLite, so I'm not going to buy those.

They did a lot of things right with this product:
- the LED is bright enough to give enough light for reading a book or walking (BUT see below); though it is much less bright than a regular flashlight, and someone with difficulty with night vision might not find it usable.
- the light lasts long enough that it wouldn't need constant shaking. there is some light for over 100 minutes ... that's not an exaggeration, but it does dim over time.
- it's not terribly noisy when it's shaken to charge it, because they cleverly put small magnets at each end of the channel to repel the big magnet and keep it from striking the inside, so it's like there's an invisible magnetic cushion at both ends.
- it's close enough to waterproof in shallow water (a few drops got in, OK at this price), and it does float - though just barely.
- it's fairly lightweight, though the metal magnet inside is about the size of a C battery, and there are copper coils around that, so there is some weight to it.

So what's the problem? The smallest, least expensive part - the lens. For some crazy reason they must have decided they wanted a tiny beam of light that goes farther, rather than an broader beam. So they have a curved lens that concentrates the light. The problem is, the tiny center of the beam is brighter but much too small, and the concentric circles around it are darker. So it's not as useful for walking or reading as it would be with a simple plain clear lens.

It's easy to unscrew the top and take out the lens to see - and some people may want to use it that way, but of course with no lens it loses protection and the ability to float and keep water out. Or find a replacement lens, but that's a bother. So it's a shame over such a small part, but it really makes the light a lot less useful as shipped. Let's hope they change the lens, or ship both types of lenses if they think a tiny, brighter beam is useful in some practical way (as opposed to for marketing claims about how far it goes, or how bright it is).

If you've been intrigued by one of these and want it just for fun, or would use it without the lens (or could replace the lens) - then give it a try. If you don't like to have to mess around - you might want to wait. It's not quite the perfect light for reading under the covers at camp yet.

A couple other things:
- as others mentioned, the magnet is very strong. you can pick up metal objects with it! so keep it away from sensitive things.
- they suggest shaking it horizontally and not vertically, which makes sense but isn't mandatory.

Because it's clear and easily dis-assembled, it also makes a fun science demonstration - do a web search on Faraday.

They, too frequently, promise more than they are capable of delivering. However, every once in a blue moon, a product comes along that meets a common need in an uncommon way at an uncommonly low price. Such is the case here.

The iTouchless Forever puts out a strong enough beam of bright white light to read with, seems sturdy, yet is light weight. At $12.99, it is certainly not going to break the bank.

One cautionary: Since the 'innards' are protected by a clear plastic case, there is no block to the electro-magnetic field generated by the iTouchless Forever. The instructions recommend keeping the light at least a foot away from other sensitive items, computer memory storage, pacemakers and the like. To that, I would add digital camera memories. As attractive and interesting as the 'innards' are, I would have preferred they be shielded.

The lens rattles a lot when you shake the flashlight, the guts come out of a notch requiring you to disassemble and fix. (not dooable in the dark) I'm sorry I bought these. They're worth about $3.

I shook this flashlight for 2 minutes instead of 1 minute and
still I only get about 3 minutes of light. I bought my grandchildren
a different brand and it works much better. Don't waste your money
like I did.

As a fireman who works in emergency situations I give this product a D-. The manufacture claims if you shake the light for 1 minute it "will last up to 100 minutes". This is false. I followed manufactures directions and shook for 1 minute (approx. 180 times). What I got was 6 minutes 45 seconds of light which consisted or 3 minutes of good light followed by the rest consisting of dim night light. I repeated this experiment 10 times, each time getting similar results. After that I shook for 2 minutes and lasted for about 8-9 minutes each time. The only reason I gave it one star is because unit if built well. Too bad the light part is very poor. I'm going to return this and try wind 'n go flashlight. I'll update this review after I get it.

The Bad
- It's not as bright as I expected.
- The solenoid gets stucked sometimes and wont let you recharge.
The Good
- Very strong casing. It's almost unbreakable
- Still a good concept product.

Within a week the switch on this flashlight broke. I was able to fix it and now, a few months later, it's just stopped working completely. It flashes on for a second each time you shake it, if you hold the switch on... Great idea, poor execution!

I bought two of these and they were already charged when they came out of the box. I have had them a couple of weeks and so far neither one of them has run down completely and I have not shaken either of them for over 30 to 45 seconds total. One of them I let burn for about 45 minutes before turning it off and the light did not diminish in that time. They appear to be superior in this respect and compared to earlier models these do hold a nice long charge with minimal shaking.

The reason for the four stars and not five stars is that the beam of light is a tad disappointing. I realize that these led lights do not produce the same amount of light as a battery flashlight and a standard bulb, but some improvement is necessary in the brightness of these flashlights if they are to totally replace battery flashlights, as I suspect they will one day.

Still I am pleased with these two and I may even pick up a couple more of them as I am terrible about keeping batteries charged and the beam of light on these is far better than I get from a flashlight with dead batteries. I plan to keep one in each vehicle, one in the nightstand, and another one just for general use around the house.

Hopefully with in the next year or so, they will get a light as reliable and as easy to charge as this one that puts out a serious beam of light comparable to a good standard battery flashlight for about this price. Then I will give it a full 5 star rating. Until then this is a pretty handy little light. I would recommend one of these for emergency use, especially if you do not keep a good store of batteries for your flashlights.

I bought several shake and wind up flashlights (all less than 20 clams) to test for myself and to pick one to give as a present. This one seems the best made and worked the best. It sells elsewhere for 20-25 clams (twice the current price at amazon).

If you look closely, you will see the DLX model has two coils instead of one, and has a rubber coated push button switch instead of a plastic slider.

The best part is a tiny red LED inside that flashes when you shake it - this provides good feedback that you are really charging it and that the charging circuit is working.

This product did not work out of the box. It was a present for my son who loves flashlights. I thought I might save on batteries. I shook the flashlight many many times and it just didn't work. Unfortunately I missed the return date and it is now in the trash. That is a very expensive piece of trash. I do NOT recommend this to anyone.