Fenix LD05 v2 Penlight Review
Here is the Fenix LD05 v2, an AAAx2 penlight. This flashlight has a simple UI and includes a cell! Read on for thoughts and testing!
Official Specs and Features
Here’s a link to the Fenix LD05 v2 Penlight product page.
Versions
I’m not exactly sure how many version 2 of the LD05 there are. There’s definitely a previous version that has UV, but some documentation leads me to believe there might even be a v2 with UV. And there’s also a much warmer high CRI older version, too.
Price
These are going for $39.95 right here.
Short Review of the Fenix LD05 v2 Penlight
This is a good penlight. It’s slim and appropriately pen-like. I like the TIR beam profile quite a lot, though I would really prefer a warmer and high CRI option, too. The UI is nice and simple, and the modes are decently spaced.
Long Review
The Big Table
| Fenix LD05 v2 Penlight | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | Cree XD16 CW |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $39.95 |
| Cell: | 2xAAA |
| Turbo Runtime | High Runtime |
| LVP? | No |
| Switch Type: | Mechanical Reverse Clicky |
| On-Board Charging? | No |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 150 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 158 (105.3% of claim)^ |
| Candela per Lumen | 3.7 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | 51 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 23lux @ 3.915m = 353cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 37.6 (73.7% of claim)^ |
| All my Fenix reviews! | |
^ Measurement disclaimer: Testing flashlights is my hobby. I use hobbyist-level equipment for testing, including some I made myself. Try not to get buried in the details of manufacturer specifications versus measurements recorded here; A certain amount of difference (say, 10 or 15%) is perfectly reasonable.
What’s Included
- Fenix LD05 v2 Penlight
- Spare o-ring
- AAA primary cells (2)
- Manual and paperwork
Package and Manual
Build Quality and Disassembly
The build quality here is good. Nothing too exceptional, and nothing bad at all. It’s very much like a pen.
Even (or particularly?) the clip is very much like a pen clip.
The driver is screwed into the head – should be fairly easy to access the internals, too. The tail end has a spring for contacting the negative terminal of the cell.
The threads on the head end are fine and long(ish) and unanodized.
There’s no knurling on the body, but there is some texture anyway.
Size and Comps
Length: 5.3” (135mm)
Diameter: 0.5” (13.5mm)
1.0 oz. (29.7g) excluding batteries
Here’s the LD05 v2 beside the Lumintop IYP365 – an AAAx2 light, with a reflector.
Retention and Carry
It’s a penlight, so you’d expect a pen-like clip and to carry this light like a pen. It doesn’t disappoint. The clip will allow this light to blend right in with your writing utensils!
The clip isn’t removable or reversible. There is no other way to carry the LD05 v2.
Power and Runtime
I tested the light with two LADDA AAA cells. Performance with primaries should be approximately similar (and is expounded upon in the manual). Performance was good, but there appears to be no LVP whatsoever. Surprisingly High has a stepdown – I’d expect the light to maintain 150 lumens for longer than 5 minutes. But once it steps down to around 110 lumens, it’s exceptionally stable.
The output on Medium is basically unregulated and shut off when one of my cells tripped or was overdrained, or.. something. The voltage was zero, whatever the case.
There was also no evidence whatsoever of LVP on bench power.
Modes and Currents
These claims are for NiMH. Alkaline has slightly different claims.
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens | Tailcap Amps (@3V) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | 150 | 2h45m | 158 | 0.40 |
| Med | 60 | 3h15m | 60 | 0.19 |
| Low | 30 | 9h30m | 27 | 0.07 |
| Eco | 3 | 66h | ~ | 0.01 |
Pulse Width Modulation
No PWM on any mode! Great!
Here you can see a “baseline” – a chart with almost no light hitting the sensor.
Then there’s the Ultrafire WF-602C flashlight, which has some of the worst PWM I’ve seen. It’s so bad that I used a post about it to explain PWM! Here are multiple timescales (10ms, 5ms, 2ms, 1ms, 0.5ms, 0.2ms) to make comparing this “worst” PWM light to the test light easier. That post also explains why I didn’t test the WF-602C at the usual 50us scale.
User Interface and Operation
The switch is a single tail mechanical reverse clicky. It’s quite clicky, easy to actuate, and has a nice metal cover.
This metal cover allows tailstanding somewhat, but not all that reliably.
Here’s a user interface table!
| State | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Click | On (Mode Memory) |
| On | Click | Off |
| On | Press (or “Tap” without clicking) | Mode advance (ELMH) |
Very simple UI right there. Very simple.
LED and Beam
The only place I could find information about the emitter was in the manual (not mentioned on the website!). It’s apparently a Cree XD16 S3 and in cool white format. The emitter is behind a TIR and gives a nice spot output.
These beamshots are always with the following settings: f8, ISO100, 0.3s shutter, and manual 5000K exposure. These photos are taken at floor level and the beam hits the ceiling around 9 feet away.
Tint vs BLF-348 (KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b version) (affiliate link)
I keep the test flashlight on the left, and the BLF-348 reference flashlight on the right.
I compare everything to the KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b BLF-348 because it’s inexpensive and has the best tint!
Conclusion
What I like
- Good build quality
- Very simple UI
- Includes cells
- Great beam profile
What I don’t like
- No LVP
- CW only
Notes
- This light was provided by Fenix for review. I was not paid to write this review.
- This content originally appeared at zeroair.org. Please visit there for the best experience!
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