Fenix has launched a new LED flashlight with a cool color temperature of 6,500K. This flashlight features a status display and a rotary control that allows users to toggle between spotlight and floodlight modes. Fenix refers to this device as a "digitally focusable torch," but they don’t clarify the internal mechanism, such as whether it uses a reflector or an optic.
Brightness and Range Settings
The flashlight's rotary control can turn 270°, letting users adjust the brightness up to a maximum of 2,800 lumens as needed. Fenix claims that the flashlight can reach a distance of 480 meters. Users can also view setting information on a small built-in OLED display, which shows battery life and lumen levels.
Different Lighting Options
This device offers five brightness levels along with strobe and SOS modes, with the lowest setting being 20 lumens. Fenix mentions that the replaceable 21700 rechargeable battery, which has an 18 watt-hour capacity, can last for 65 hours. However, when used in high mode at 1,000 lumens, runtime drops to 2 hours and 50 minutes. Turbo mode is a bit more complicated.
Battery Limitations
In turbo mode, providing 2,800 lumens, the flashlight runs for 2 hours and 40 minutes. However, this duration includes a dimming phase after some time. The graph below (marked by a red line) shows that the actual runtime of turbo mode quickly falls under the 1,000 lumen setting just after a few minutes. Therefore, it's best to start with a fully charged torch if you plan to use turbo mode.
The 21700 rechargeable battery can stay in the flashlight for charging through a USB-C port. Nonetheless, Fenix has issued a peculiar warning regarding battery replacement. They stress that using the Fenix ARB-L21-5000, Fenix ARB-L21-5000U, or other smaller models is strictly forbidden. The reason given is that the flashlight requires up to 15 amps, while other batteries only provide 14 amps, according to Fenix. The only acceptable battery is the ARB-L21-5000 V2.0, as mentioned on their overview page. Yet, further down, Fenix seems to contradict themselves by also endorsing the ARB-L21-6000 and ARB-L21-4000P models.
Product Availability and Pricing
The flashlight measures around 16 cm in length and weighs 300 grams. It is expected to be available soon, with a price tag of just under $160 on the Fenix Store.
