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Tuesday 19 July 2016

Unbranded Q5 Led Torch + Laser Review

Flashlight Fiesta


Q5 LED Torch with Green Laser Pointer



What the Mary Poppins is This!


A slightly unnecessary Star Cap


Price:. £4.00
Manufacturer: Unknown ?
Model: Unknown
Power: Cree™ Q5 5W? / 1mW Green Laser unit
Run By: 1x 18650 Lithium
Focus Type: Fixed
Vendor: seller via ebay
Description: super bright LED flashlight with green laser.
Shipped From:. China
What's in the Packet?: Just the torch

First Impressions
It's been a fortnight since I bought this from some guy out in China. 
Originally the auction lot contained the torch, 1x 18650 battery, battery charger and the standard army style plastic hard case. What I received this morning was only a quarter of that package. Just the torch!? Placed within a plain white cardboard box In the usual China post silver bin bag. No fancy green case!?
OK so I have already sent a scathing email to the seller so maybe he will refund or send the rest? Anyway, I got the torch so I'm going to carry on. 

The main body of the Torch is made from reasonable quality aluminium. Not too thick not too thin. The torch is quite light in weight considering they bolted a laser to the top.
The torch head features two power buttons. One button for each device.
This device works pretty well when you remember which button does what! 
Moving on to the screw fittings and it's a horror story. Not only is there no lubricant on the threads but the rubber o-ring disintegrated on contact. This doesn't bode well for a waterproof test.
One saving grace for this torch is the LED Emitter. It's looks like a genuine Cree™ Q5 especially with the type of reflector used. Textured and not shiny.... I will explain some other time.

Overall then not that impressive. Sub standard build and half the order missing 😨. This torch needs to redeem itself in testing!

They look like they are taped together from this angle!


Testing:
First to be tested is the little green laser thing mounted on the top. It appears that the end star cap is fixed to the laser and cannot be removed easily. That's awkward if you want to put a spot on a target. So just stars on the wall then - and not very good stars either. The millions of little stars are out of focus and cannot be adjuated leaving little green fuzzy blurs on the wall. Absolute crap! So at the end of the day this extra feature is a waste of time. I feel like ending this review here. 😥 - but we still have the main event.!
The genuine Cree™ Q5 torch underneath is actually very good! The diode is set well and the reflector looks like the real deal. It's a three mode torch so you get high, low and the obligatory distress beacon settings.  I wouldn't put this torch in water to be honest. Apart from the piss poor o-ring the back plate which goes over the rear of the laser and torch is not water tight.  
Overall then it's OK if you just use the torch! lol
One slight niggle is the intrusion shadow cast by the laser on top. It makes the circle of light look like it's had a bite taken out of it. Annoying somewhat.
Also noticed that it can be switched on rather easily if left in you pocket 😣 that's not a good feature.
One redeeming feature is the charging port on the side of the head. It's covered by a rubber bung to keep dust and moisture out. It's actually a very nice feature, its just a pity the torch is tripe. Wether I would actually risk charging an 18650 in here is another question. Does this torch have protection circuitry in there? Hmm?




Rating: ✅✅✅ 3 out of 5 
Oh dear! This is the first 3 tick ratings for a cheap Chinese torch. It is crap though. 
Considering what was paid and what was actually received it should really get a two.  But the main torch is pretty good.
During a power cut you could use this dwvice to get you out of trouble but the laser is pointless in its present state.
Don't bother unless you want a novelty flashlight.

*Update : I received a full refund from the ebay seller after pointing out that the box and batteries were missing and the fact that the torch was crap.  They said I could keep the torch too so a big thank you to the seller.