RovyVon Aurora A3 Pro Keychain Flashlight Review
RovyVon released a “Pro” version of the Aurora A3 keychain flashlight. This light differs notably in that it’s a reflector light. Read on!
Official Specs and Features
Here’s a link to the RovyVon Aurora A3 Pro Keychain Flashlight product page.
Versions
There are simply too many lights in the Aurora series to mention. The most similar to this light is the already mentioned A8x (or A-x) series (which includes the A2x, A3x, A5x, A7x, and A8x – possibly more).
The Pro version of the Aurora line has this light (the A3 Pro) and a UV-C A8x Pro.
Price
The A3 Pro goes for $34.95.
Short Review
This is another good entry into the Aurora series. There are so many options in this line you’d be very unlikely to be unable to find one that suits your needs.
Long Review
The Big Table
| RovyVon Aurora A3 Pro Keychain Flashlight | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | Cree XP-G3 (5000K) |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $34.95 |
| Cell: | Internal (330mAh LiPO) |
| Turbo Runtime | High Runtime |
| LVP? | Switch warning |
| Switch Type: | E-Switch |
| Quiescent Current (A): | ? |
| On-Board Charging? | Yes |
| Charge Port Type: | Micro-USB |
| Chargetime | |
| Power off Charge Port with no Cell? | |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 500 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 277 (55.4% of claim)^ |
| Candela per Lumen | 5.3 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | 34.95 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 133lux @ 3.264m = 1417cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 75.3 (215.5% of claim)^ |
| All my RovyVon 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
- RovyVon Aurora A3 Pro Keychain Flashlight
- Charge cable (USB to micro-USB)
- Lanyard
- Split ring
- Pocket clip
- Manual etc
Package and Manual
Not the clearest manual, but I’m fairly sure the two lines on the top of page 2 are for the separate temperatures of emitters.
Build Quality and Disassembly
The body of the A3 Pro says it’s “7075 Aerospace Aluminum.” That’s a just fine metal but I think just about any aluminum flashlight could claim that too. The build is good.
Here’s the reflector, which again separates that from the other Auroras.
The bezel is a much darker color than the body. In-person it’s not nearly as noticeable as in the photos here.
This light would be great in brass!
The bezel does not simply unscrew. It may be threaded, however…. but seems to be threadlocked in place. The head/bezel is clearly the access point, so it’s probably possible to mod this light if you wish to break the threadlock (probably with heat). I did not attempt this (past just trying to unscrew the bezel.)
Size and Comps
Length: 60.5mm / 2.38”
Diameter: 15.6mm / 0.61”
Weight: 20g/0.71oz
Here are a few RovyVon lights. Let’s call this “my collection” but I think I have a few elsewhere… To be honest I still grab the A29 an A23 when I’m just making some random short trip out. I really dig those!
Retention and Carry
A clip is included. It’s a friction fit clip that will fit on the “front” or “back” and also can be oriented up or down.
The clip fits right in the middle of the body.
I’ll throw this in here because why not – the light will technically tailstand on the tail loop but it’s not the least bit stable this way.
The tail loop also supports the large split ring (included) and/or the lanyard (included). This package doesn’t include a chain, which others in the Aurora series did. (This is fine with me, I did not find the chain compelling.)
Power and Runtime
The A3 Pro is powered by a single 330mAh LiPO pouch cell, which is not interchangeable and not user-replaceable.
Here are a couple of runtimes. The light runs heavily downward from startup, despite having a claimed timed stepdown at 1.5 minutes.
Overall the aggressiveness of the stepdown is quite frustrating, barely giving the light time to heat up. This also makes the 30s measurement of High be below the 30s measurement of Medium!
In both cases, the switch exhibits a low voltage warning. In one test (High) the light did eventually shut off. The manual states the cutoff voltage is 2.4V.
Charging
The A3 Pro also has onboard charging. The charge port is micro-USB and has a push-in silicone cover. I found this cover to be exceptionally frustrating, and only with the help of a tool (straight pin) could I get the cover firmly back in place.
A cable is included – USB to micro-USB.
The charging looks fairly good. Charge current is 1C, and charging consistently takes less than 55 minutes. This graph (and all future charge graphs like it) includes more data than before, which I hope you enjoy.
During charging, the switch is “breathing blue.” When the charge is complete, the switch will be solid blue.
Modes and Currents
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens | Tailcap Amps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | 500 | 1.5m/90m | 277 | – |
| Medium | 260 | 1.5m/120m | 278 | – |
| Low | 15 | 10h | – | |
| Moonlight | 2 | 40h | – |
Pulse Width Modulation
There is PWM, but you’ll have to be very adept at spotting PWM to see it. I could convince myself that I see it on Moonlight, but definitely not on the higher modes.
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
There’s a single side switch for operating the Aurora A3 Pro. It’s a clicky indicating side e-switch. It’s a silicone switch cover.
That’s different from the original too, which had a much bigger and fairly prouder switch. I have no complaints about the upgrade, except I wish they’d thrown a metal (or at least hard) switch cover on there.
Here’s a UI table!
| State | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Hold | Momentary High |
| Any | Double Click | Moonlight (technically the manually memorized mode^) |
| On | Click | Mode Cycle (Moon > Low > Med > High) |
| On | Hold | Off |
| On >3m | Click | Off |
| Any | Click 3x | Strobe |
| Strobe | Click | Off |
^ It’s possible to memorize any of the 4 modes with this UI. Just leave the light on for around 3 minutes, and that mode is memorized (except for secondary emitters). Your light will likely ship with this mode set to High!
The UI is not complicated!
LED and Beam
The emitter of choice is a Cree XP-G3. That’s never my favorite emitter, but RovyVon is offering two temperatures, 6500K and 5000K (seen here). The 5000K version is really not bad for temp and tint shift (in my opinion).
There’s a reflector, which has a light texture of orange peel and is fairly shallow.
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 on the RovyVon Aurora A3 Pro Keychain Flashlight
What I like
- Good build quality
- Glad 5000K is offered
- Very simple UI
What I don’t like
- Charge port cover is hard to get back in
- Bezel color doesn’t match body
- Would like a hard metal button instead of the soft cover
Notes
- This light was provided by RovyVon 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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