Great little torch at aldi £10.99

wack61

wack61

I've got an itchy hatch
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Picked one of these up today 5w led, runs on 3 AAA batteries, nice and compact 3 year warranty and very very bright.
 
wack61 said:
Picked one of these up today 5w led, runs on 3 AAA batteries, nice and compact 3 year warranty and very very bright.
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Yup! I was just looking at these a couple of hours ago, but £11........ for a torch! .... :eek:
 
I've just been outside with it, I used to have a mag lite that took 4 d cell batteries and was massive, this is twice as bright, it's like one of those stage spotlights, well worth £11
 
Splog said:
Yup! I was just looking at these a couple of hours ago, but £11........ for a torch! .... :eek:
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My most expensive torch is a Surefire, cost me around £70 (and its one of their cheap models).
 
Dave1 said:
My most expensive torch is a Surefire, cost me around £70 (and its one of their cheap models).
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£70.... :eek: Why?.... Must be a special sort of light ;)

My torch is a wind up keyring jobbie and cost £1.99 :lol:
 
BpmJames said:
im looking at getting a led lenser p14 for around 70 quid, decent torches arent cheap even if it is aldi
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nice looking torch, if a little bulky. I have the Fenix P30D which has a similar output (but from 2 CR123 batteries instead of 4AA) in a smaller body. On Turbo these torches can really light up an area.
 
Splog said:
£70.... :eek: Why?.... Must be a special sort of light ;)
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lots of light, virtually unbreakable and super reliable (lifetime warranty for a start), the night you really need a torch and the £1.99 cheapie decides not to work, you just might wish you had spent a little more.
 
Dave1 said:
nice looking torch, if a little bulky. I have the Fenix P30D which has a similar output (but from 2 CR123 batteries instead of 4AA) in a smaller body. On Turbo these torches can really light up an area.
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it was either the p14 or the p7 and the p7 doesnt look big enough to me, i like to be feel it in my hands and i lose things also ;)
 
Dave1 said:
lots of light, virtually unbreakable and super reliable (lifetime warranty for a start), the night you really need a torch and the £1.99 cheapie decides not to work, you just might wish you had spent a little more.
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And when the batteries run out on the £70 expensie then you'll have exactly the same problem ;)

Jeez! £70 for a torch........ :shrug:
 
Splog said:
And when the batteries run out on the £70 expensie then you'll have exactly the same problem ;)
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you misunderstand, even a £70 torch has the ability to be opened and for fresh batteries to be inserted ;)

and using CR123 batteries mean the spares in the drawer have a 10 year shelf life, as well as the torch having low/medium/high modes with the torch rated at 126 hours on low (which is probably brighter than the £1.99 cheapie), so when a night lasts longer than 6 days I might have a problem ;)

Having said that, my new favourite is a 4Sevens torch which only cost about £32 from the USA.
 
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Look at some torches for scuba diving if you want to see expensive torches!

£1230!! To be fair, for some types of diving a good torch is literally life-saving equipment, so it's not quite as mad as I'm pretending!
 
The CPF Forums can be an eye opener (some people pay into the thousands for custom made lights).
 
Dave1 said:
you misunderstand, even a £70 torch has the ability to be opened and for fresh batteries to be inserted ;)
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Indeed, but a £1.99 jobbie doesn't need batteries :) Just a quick fiddle for about a minute and it's working again for another twenty minutes. ;) Anyhoo, I have good night vision :D
 
michael23 said:
can I just ask, whats the brightness and range like on these? Look very handy.

Also to the op, the same question to the aldi torch?
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The Aldi torch lights up roofs 100m away with ease, I've probably freaked the neighbours out with it :lol: brightness says 480-500 lumens,the joby is 65 lumens for a comparison
 
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wack61 said:
The Aldi torch lights up roofs 100m away with ease, I've probably freaked the neighbours out with it :lol: brightness says 480-500 lumens,the joby is 65 lumens for a comparison
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michael23 said:
Thanks Darren, sounds very good. Might have to buy 1! :thumbs:
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I get it now :) Big torch for those scared of the dark? :lol: .......... wimps!
 
Step away from the big boys toys, stick with the wind up kiddy toy :D
 
michael23 said:
can I just ask, whats the brightness and range like on these? Look very handy.

Also to the op, the same question to the aldi torch?
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by Wack's description it won't be as bright as the Aldi one, but it IS bloody bright, our back gardens are 110ft long 35ft wide and I can go 7 or so neighbours down and light up the trees at the back so its plenty bright and add the Joby magnetic legs its a handy little torch IMO.
 
Dave1 said:
lots of light, virtually unbreakable and super reliable (lifetime warranty for a start), the night you really need a torch and the £1.99 cheapie decides not to work, you just might wish you had spent a little more.
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Yip. I've got a couple of Surefires. They cost a bit less than £70 - in SA - but they are expensive. They're really targeted at the military/police market, and you get what you pay for. Running costs on CR123A batteries are high though, although the LED versions are probably a bit less painful.

Good flashlights, at home and in the car, are worth having for me and I'm prepared to pay for them. I want something that will always work when I need it. Lenser are reliable too, just not quite as bulletproof.
 
Aaargh dammit! if there's one thing I hate about a torch it's having to cycle through multiple on off presses just to get a steady beam. I should have read the packaging on that Aldi torch before I bought it, though to be fair it doesn't seem to actually say anything about that.

For info switch on once get full power light, switch on next time get half power light, switch on a third time and get S.O.S flashing, fourth is back to full power.
 
I have one of those mahoosive yellow rechargeable torches that shines like an air raid search light and capable of cooking bacon.

Only problem being - I can only walk 100 yards from the house with it otherwise it doesn't last long enough to get me the 100 yards back :bonk:
 
Steep said:
Aaargh dammit! if there's one thing I hate about a torch it's having to cycle through multiple on off presses just to get a steady beam. I should have read the packaging on that Aldi torch before I bought it, though to be fair it doesn't seem to actually say anything about that.

For info switch on once get full power light, switch on next time get half power light, switch on a third time and get S.O.S flashing, fourth is back to full power.
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Picked one up today, you don't have to actually switch on/off to cycle the modes. It turns on at full (as you say), if you lightly press the on/off switch it will cycle to half power, light press to strobe, light press back to full power.

It's an unusual light, it actually has a front lens element for focussing the beam and this is what gives it the ability to throw the beam so far. seems worth the money so far, quite well made.
 
MartynK said:
Yip. I've got a couple of Surefires. They cost a bit less than £70 - in SA - but they are expensive. They're really targeted at the military/police market, and you get what you pay for. Running costs on CR123A batteries are high though, although the LED versions are probably a bit less painful.
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Depends on the model too, a Surefire 6P is cheaper at around £50, but a B1R is a little more than £70 (around £3000 last time I looked). I've been using rechargeable 123's for years (even though it is possible to get normal ones for around £1 each). I do keep standard 123's as my emergency back up batteries though.

It was actually while in SA that I was converted to high quality lights, we were caught in a flash mud slide and flood that hit the area where we were, half the houses were washed away down the hill and as I recall, the only light still working in the tropical rain was my 6P. It is quite difficult to find people in the mud in the dark without light.
 
I have found cheap torches with low output are really not very good at shining enough light onto the path to avoid treading in dog turds.

My rechargable cost me about £30 and money was very well spent.
 
RichardtheSane said:
I have found cheap torches with low output are really not very good at shining enough light onto the path to avoid treading in dog turds.

My rechargable cost me about £30 and money was very well spent.
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500 lumens isn't low output
 
Steep said:
Aaargh dammit! if there's one thing I hate about a torch it's having to cycle through multiple on off presses just to get a steady beam. I should have read the packaging on that Aldi torch before I bought it, though to be fair it doesn't seem to actually say anything about that.

For info switch on once get full power light, switch on next time get half power light, switch on a third time and get S.O.S flashing, fourth is back to full power.
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You don't have to do that, you cycle through with a half click, if you give it a full press it uses whatever mode it was last on, if it's only used on full every time you switch it on its on full, well mine is so I assume yours is the same
 
Yeah I know about the half click from previous torches, this one cycles through each setting when you switch off/on with a full press though, maybe the black one is different to the gunmetal one?
 
wack61 said:
500 lumens isn't low output
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It's bright, but it isn't a true 500 lumens, I have some torches that are a true 200 lumens and they are around the same output.

The lens allows the beam to be focussed very tight and that probably allows for the supposedly higher rating. A 5w led running at 4.5v would probably come out around 200-300 lumens max.

But whatever the true lumens, it is very bright, and the zoomable lens make for a very good beam "thrower".
 
Any of these torches give a nice flat spread of light without any central hotspots or 'halo' (ring) around the edge of the beam? Also a nice bright white and not blueish or yellowy colour temperature?
 
BlackCloud said:
Any of these torches give a nice flat spread of light without any central hotspots or 'halo' (ring) around the edge of the beam? Also a nice bright white and not blueish or yellowy colour temperature?
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The Aldi one is quite a brilliant white, and being focusable means you can get a perfect hotspot if you want. At the extreme spot focus you can see the dies in the LED if you close focus.

The lens in front of the LED makes for a very consistent beam shape (think HID style lens).
 
Thanks Dave. I was trying to avoid hotspots as I use one for examination and you just want a nice even flat but brilliant white light. I have one with a single giant flat LED which is great but costs several hundred pounds. Finding something a bit cheaper as a next replacement would be ideal.
 
What a super little torch the Aldi is - thanks for the heads up.

Bought one lunch time. Very well made and great value for money.

Triple purpose for me - dog walking am and pm plus internal roof / underfloor inspections for the day job plus in the photo bag for light painting.

Super value for money and very versatile.
 
Just got one myself, not bad at all. Seems to have a single LED but like a flat version rather than the bulb. It looks like a tiny version of the LED in my expensive torch for work. Beam isn't too bad either. thanks to the op.
 
Looks like I'm a victim of my own making

I went back to buy another 2 today and they've sold out :lol:
 
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