Lumintop EDC02 Magnetic AAA Flashlight Review

Lumintop has released the EDC02 Magnetic AAA flashlight, which offers an easy twist interface, simple modes, and a strong magnet. Read on!

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Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the Lumintop EDC02 Magnetic AAA flashlight product page.

Versions

The box indicates there might be some other color bodies of the EDC02, and possibly some emitter options, as well.  But all I actually see is this one black body with Pusra.1 emitter.

You recognize this light, though, no doubt.  The Lumintop EDC02 Magnetic AAA flashlight is a twist on the Lumintop Worm.  I don’t have a Worm (!!!), but based on photos it seems that the difference is the magnet tailcap and the removable pocket clip.  All in all, I’d call this an upgrade.  I am unsure if the head from the Worm will fit the EDC02.  It’s likely though.

Price

The Lumintop EDC02 Magnetic AAA flashlight is going for $15.95 now.  I find that to be a reasonable price entirely.

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Short Review

At first, I didn’t love the EDC02.  But then I realized that the rounded holed tailcap piece actually pops out (just insert something and pull).  This lets the clip be removed, and also allows the light to stick smartly to places where you’d want it.  And once I had that all sorted, I like the light a good bit.  Simple modes, simple and smooth user interface – all in all, not a bad keychain light at all.

Long Review

The Big Table

Lumintop EDC02 Magnetic AAA Flashlight
Emitter:	Osram GW Pusra.1 PM (Cool white)
Price in USD at publication time:	$15.95
Cell:	1xAAA
High Runtime Graph	Medium Runtime Graph
LVP?	No
Switch Type:	Twisty
On-Board Charging?	No
Claimed Lumens (lm)	120
Measured Lumens (at 30s)	104 (86.7% of claim)^
Candela per Lumen	5.9
Claimed Throw (m)	37
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	93lux @ 2.885m = 774cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	55.6 (150.3% of claim)^
All my Lumintop 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

• Lumintop EDC02 Magnetic AAA Flashlight
• Diffusor
• Spare o-rings (2)
• Keychain clip
• Manual

Package and Manual

 

Build Quality and Disassembly

The build quality here is fine.  The finish seems good, the knurling is good, the branding is minimal.  Overall a good experience.

I tugged on this little loop by hand and didn’t get it to budge.  Once I looked at the product page more thoroughly, I saw that I should put something through that hole for leverage, and in that case, the loop will pop out fairly easily (but probably not accidentally).  More on that later!

As you can see on the head here, there’s knurling exactly (and only) where you need it.

This is clearly a Lumintop Worm but with a reworked tailcap.  The Worm has a built-in “paperclip” pocket clip, and I don’t think it has a magnet.

Whether this is better will be a matter of choice.

The head comes off for cell swaps, and also for the user interface action.  The threads are fine and anodized and appropriately lubed.  They’re smooth threads.

The head has only a button.  Inside, though I don’t think I show it here, is a spring in the cell tube.

Removal of the pill is easy – just unscrew the pill from inside the head.

It’s nice to note that this isn’t a single-piece driver/mcpcb combo.  So emitter swaps will probably not be too difficult for those who are able to do emitter swaps.

Size and Comps

Officially 75mm x 14mm, and 21g.  That 75mm is with all the goodies.  I measure 66mm without the pocket clip and loop.

If the flashlight will headstand, I’ll show it here (usually the third photo).  If the flashlight will tailstand, I’ll show that here, too (usually the fourth photo).  With the loop removed, the light will in fact tailstand.

Here’s the test light with the venerable Convoy S2+.  Mine’s a custom “baked” edition Nichia 219b triple.  A very nice 18650 light.

And here’s the light beside my custom engraved TorchLAB BOSS 35, an 18350 light.  I reviewed the aluminum version of that light in both 35 and 70 formats.

I happen to have this other Lumintop in for review as well, and sort of guessed the parts might be interchangeable.  They fit but they don’t work.  No big deal of course.

Also since this is a Lumintop AAA light you might wonder if the tube would work on the GT Nano – no it will not.

Retention and Carry

Being a keychain light, you expect there to be a good keychain connection.  There is, primarily through this loop in the tailcap.

This loop is removable, but not just easy… you’ll need to grab inside there and pull straight out.  Once I realized this, I liked the light a bunch more.  I didn’t like that the loop prevents tailstanding, and the magnet use was a bit weird as such.  But with that stuff gone, the tailcap is perfectly flat and the magnet is still there.

However, if you both tailstand and pocket clip your light often, then this is going to be inconvenient.  You can’t really tailstand (without the loop) and also keep the pocket clip installed.  This tail loop holds in the pocket clip.

The pocket clip is a very standard Lumintop.  Like you should recognize this clip anywhere!  It’s a fine clip.  Good mouth, easy to use, and also deepish carry.

Lumintop includes this clip.  I know I’ve installed it in “not the right way” but I’m just showing it off here.  The clip will be very useful for attaching to keychains.

In case you’re wondering, yes the pocket clip can be removed, and the tailcap loop is still attached.

Here’s a bit of a breakdown of the end, with the things removed.

Power and Runtime

The Lumintop EDC02 Magnetic AAA flashlight is powered by a single 1.5V AAA-sized cell.  Either primary or rechargeable (NiMH) will work fine.

The cell is installed in the usual way – positive terminal toward the head.  The light does not support 10440 cells.

I have not observed low voltage protection in either test here – the Medium test shows 1.05V, but that’s after bouncing back for some number of hours.

Modes and Currents

Mode	Mode Claimed Output (lm)	Claimed Runtime	Measured Lumens	Tailcap Amps
High	120	30m	104	0.72
Medium	32	4h	28	0.30
Low	5	36h	–	0.17

Pulse Width Modulation

No PWM on any of the 3 modes is seen.

For reference, here’s a baseline shot, with all the room lights off and almost nothing hitting the sensor.  Also, here’s the light with the worst PWM I could find.  I’m adding multiple timescales, so it’ll be easier to compare to the test light.  Unfortunately, the PWM on this light is so bad that it doesn’t even work with my normal scale, which is 50 microseconds (50us). 10ms.  5ms.  2ms.  1ms.  0.5ms.  0.2ms.  In a display faster than 0.2ms or so, the on/off cycle is more than one screen, so it’d just (very incorrectly) look like a flat line.  I wrote more about this Ultrafire WF-602C flashlight and explained a little about PWM too.

User Interface and Operation

The Lumintop EDC02 Magnetic AAA flashlight operates by twisty action.

The knurling there is in the perfect place for one-handed operation.

Here’s a UI table!

State	Action	Result
Off	Tighten head	On (Mode Memory)
On	Loosen head	Off
On	Quickly loosen and tighten head (off then on)	Mode advance (HML direction)

LED and Beam

Lumintop has put an Osram Pusra.1 in the Lumintop EDC02 Magnetic AAA flashlight, and there’s a dimpled TIR optic, too.

As stated above, the emitter is readily accessible, so swapping won’t be difficult if you have that skill.

There’s also a little glow gasket between the optic and the bezel there – the optic is exposed; there is no lens.

Also included with the package is a glow diffusor.

These beamshots are always with the following settings:  f8, ISO100, 0.3s shutter, and manual 5000K exposure.

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

• Low cost
• Strong magnet
• Able to be modified
• Simple UI with no strobes
• Plenty of ways to attach the light to a keychain

What I don’t like

• Cool white emitter
• High – Medium – Low mode order
• Mode memory

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Notes

• This light was provided by Lumintop 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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