Mr AphoristicInvestigates!
Can You Tell A Real Ultrafire Mini From A Fake?
In a world full of product fakery it would appear that the rather excellent Ultrafire Mini has not escaped the grasp of the counterfeiters.
It seems that most of the Ultrafire flashlight catalogue has been copied and copied in large numbers. Some seem to be direct copies including Ultrafire logos etc, and some have another brand name on them. Is it that easy to tell if you have a genuine Ultrafire or not?
According to some flashoholics some online sellers like eBay and Amazon are awash with such fakery.
Ultrafire themselves have acknowledged the problem but dont seem to be doing much about it and not giving any clues away as to what we have to look out for. A bit daft really.
Their website is rather vague shall we say.!
YouTube has several videos dedicated to dodgy Ultrafire torches and how to detect one.
Once you start digging into this subject you find that everybody seems to be saying different things.
So let's have a little look at the two Ultrafire Mini Cree that I currently own and see if we can make some sense of all this.
..
Standard Black Ultrafire SK-68
Camouflage Ultrafire SK-68
FAKE Ultrafire Mini's have commonly been reported as:
• NOT having the registered trademark ® symbol after the Ultrafire logo
• NOT having 3 different modes, just 1.
• NOT having a ring of holes at the base of the main body
• NOT having adequate rubber o-ring sealants
• NOT having the right length and quality of contact spring.
• NOT having a smooth action zoom lens
• NOT having a Light Radiation warning sticker.
• NOT able to be stood on its head without wobbling
• Generally NOT having the same feel of quality
So how much of this is true?
Springs and End Caps different
Why is the Black Torch smaller?
The quality of the reflector and chip is better on the Camo (L)
Both these Len's have a difference in magnification
Noticed the drill holes around the base of the black torch
Left: Cool White LED (Camo) Right: Warm White LED (Black)
Left: much brighter camo. Right: Dull looking Black
What I discovered:
• BOTH have different shaded white LED's
• BOTH have different style belt clips
• BOTH have a difference in height
• BOTH have different convex Lens
• BOTH have different maximum brightness
• BOTH have different Cree™ logo letter fonts
• BOTH have different end caps + springs
• BOTH have different colour buttons (though slight)
• BOTH have different style Crowns or Bezels
• Only the Black Mini has the warning label
So it would seem that there may be many differences between these seemingly identical torches.
Some of the differences I have noted on the list are news to me.
Perhaps I have unearthed a few new ones? lol
What constitutes a genuine product and what is considered a fake is a minefield of miss information. With so many differing opinions it's safe to say that they all can't be right!.
And anyway, what does a REAL Ultrafire Mini actually look like?
How do these people know? Unless you buy direct from the Ultrafire store then who knows what's real and what's not?
In this instance I'd say that perhaps both of mine are Fakes? I just don't know?
But would that really be such a problem if they were? No, not at all, the fact that i only paid a £1 each for these makes them disposable. Who cares as long as they offer good performance and reliability. They both exceeded my expectations. Case closed for now.
On a side note, I'm expecting a consignment of Sipik SK-68's any day soon which although a blatant clone of the mini, are very highly regarded for their build quality.