Reylight Penlight Aluminum Flashlight Review
The ReyLight Penlight MkII Aluminum is a fun 10880 penlight by Rey. It features the incredible (and high CRI) Nichia 519a at 4000K, and can also run two AAAs!
Official Specs and Features
Here’s a link to the ReyLight Penlight MkII Aluminum product page.
Versions
There are many versions of the Reylight Penlight. In aluminum, there are two bodies (frag and smooth) and many colors (black, blue, orange, grey, green, and this raw aluminum). The page shows only the Nichia 519a emitter option (and it’s a good one!)
Price
The ReyLight Penlight MkII Aluminum sells for $39 at Reylight.net.
What’s Included
- ReyLight Penlight MkII Aluminum flashlight
- Unbranded 10880 cell
- Spare O-rings (2)
Package and Manual
There is no manual.
Build Quality and Disassembly
The build quality of the ReyLight Penlight MkII Aluminum is good. It has a pretty typical build quality of other ReyLights, and the “raw aluminum” is a great finish, too.
I don’t know how the light is made (or “finished”), but it does seem to me in these photos and in person that the head is ever so slightly different than the body.
The head has a tiny brass button. I believe the driver is screwed in.
Down inside the cell tube is a spring on the switch.
Size and Comps
Officially: 134.2mm length (including the switch button), Diameter: 15mm
Here’s the light in hand:
Here’s the test light with the venerable Convoy S2+. The version below is a custom laser-engraved Convoy S2+ host by GadgetConnections.com. I did a full post on an engraved orange host right here! Or go straight to GadgetConnections.com to buy your Convoy S2+ now!
Also in the photo above, my Standard Reference Material (SRM) flashlight is the Hanko Machine Works Trident, an 18350 light. While I have not reviewed or tested the Gunner Grip version seen here, I have tested a Hanko Machine Works Trident Total Tesseract in brass. I love the Trident, and it’s a striking contrast to the inexpensive Convoy S2+, another great SRM.
Retention and Carry
The ReyLight Penlight MkII Aluminum flashlight in titanium ships with a two-screw clip installed.
This clip is an upgrade or difference from other Reylight Penlights. This two-screw version of the pocket clip carries a bit shallower than the bent collar clip.
Also, notably (probably moreso on this raw aluminum light), the clip will rub the finish as you unscrew the body. You can avoid that by always unscrewing the head for cell swaps. Or you could throw a protective piece in there. Either way, these scratches are avoidable.
Power and Runtime
The ReyLight Penlight MkII Aluminum flashlight in titanium can run two 1.5V cells (double AAA), and also the included 4.2V 10880 battery.
The cell is installed in the normal direction – positive end toward the head.
The cell is interesting. It’s two 10440 cells in series, but electronically they are in parallel. I didn’t tear the cell down to see it, but it’s an interesting setup. Do NOT take this long-boi 10440×2 to mean that you can use two 10440 in series. You can not. The driver will be unhappy and will let out the magic smoke.
Despite being essentially electronically the same as the 10440 version, the output is a bit higher here.
Low voltage protection was not observed in any of the tests, so that’s a big downside. It could be that the cell has protection, though, and the protection was tripped. I’m not sure how to check that. It did charge right back up, though.
The temperature lines in these charts are included as general context, not precise measurements. The values represent the range (min to max) during testing, but should not be taken as exact readings. A temperature sensor is not always attached to the bezel (or even the hottest spot, assuming that could be defined). Even with ideal placement, too many variables affect temperature to definitively state a specific max value.
Charging
While the ReyLight Penlight MkII Aluminum itself does not have charging, the included 10880 cell does. It nearly has to, because I don’t imagine anyone has a bay charger that’d fit this long cell. Charging is by way of a USB-C port in the positive end.
Charging is fine, if slow. “Slow” is probably better for this battery, though, and around 4 hours isn’t too long to wait.
Modes and Currents
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens | Tailcap Amps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100% (10440) | – | – | 324 (0s) 304 (30s) |
1.55 @4.2V |
| 20% (10440) | – | – | 96 | 0.43 @4.2V |
| 2% (10440) | – | – | 9 | 0.06 @4.2V |
| Moonlight (10440) | – | – | 0.3 | 0.01 @4.2V |
Pulse Width Modulation
Many of the modes do use PWM, but in all cases, it’s very fast and unlikely to be visible.
Click here to 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 on the ReyLight Penlight MkII Aluminum flashlight in titanium is a mechanical clicky. It’s a reverse clicky, which means the modes can be changed while the light is on. The switch has a tritium slot.
One of the great things about the new tailcap is that it makes the switch much less proud. It also makes tailstanding much firmer, too. The user interface actually has some programming features. Mode memory can be turned on or off (default is off, thankfully). There are a bunch of mode options, too. Here’s a user interface table!
| State | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Click | On (Low, if mode memory is off) |
| On | Click | Off |
| On | Tap | Mode advance (LMHT) |
| On | Tap 8x | Enter programming mode^ |
^ Programming goes like this. Once in programming mode, the light will blink once, then blink very quickly (strobe-ish), then blink twice, then blink very quickly (strobe-ish), and so on, up to five blinks. In order to program a certain feature, click during the “strobe-ish” section after the blink. Each of these blinks represents a programming option, as follows:
First blink: Program the mode groups. Only this option has sub-options. In this option, the light will blink slowly 4x. The mode groups are as follows:
1 blink: (ML)-2%-20%-100%
2nd blink: (ML)-10%-40%-100%
3rd blink: (ML)-2%-10%-50%
4th blink: (ML)-50%-100%-strobe-SOS
To accept any of those four mode groups of your choice, click after the appropriate blink. So if you want the third option, wait for the light to blink 3x, and tap the switch. You’ve programmed the third mode group. The light will run the 4x blink cycle twice and then exit programming.
Second blink: Toggle mode memory. Off is the default.
Third blink: Toggle moonlight mode. On is the default.
Fourth blink: Toggle mode order. Default is ascending. Can be toggled to descending.
Fifth blink: Reset to factory settings.
LED and Beam
One of the updates on this ReyLight Penlight MkII Aluminum flashlight in titanium is that the light uses a Nichia 519a. 
LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)
CRI is well over 90, and CCT is in the 4000K range. Duv is slightly negative, too, which really just makes this about the perfect emitter.
CCT (Correlated Color Temperature) refers to the measurement of the color appearance of light, expressed in Kelvins (K), which indicates whether the light is warm (yellowish) or cool (bluish). A lower CCT (below 3000K) is considered warm light, while a higher CCT (above 5000K) gives cooler, bluish light.
CRI (Color Rendering Index) is a measure of how accurately a light source renders colors in comparison to natural sunlight. Scored on a scale from 0 to 100, higher CRI values indicate that colors appear more true to life and vibrant, similar to how they would look under the sun.
Beamshots
These beamshots always have 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. These photos are taken around 18 inches from the door.
I compare everything to the KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b BLF-348 because it’s inexpensive and has the best tint!
Summary and Conclusion
I love that raw aluminum is being offered! The beadblast finish gives a nice, consistent look, but I’m afraid it could be a little fragile (but no more fragile than properly raw aluminum). Output isn’t amazingly high, but it is amazingly high CRI and a great CCT. Nearly perfect CRI, in fact! I love that this light supports the included 10880 cell and that it will also run two AAA, too. It’s a great option for penlights, and inexpensive!!
The Big Table
| Reylight Penlight Aluminum Raw Beadblasted | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | Nichia 519a (4000) |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $39.00 |
| Cell: | 1×10880 |
| Runtime Graphs | |
| LVP? | Unknown |
| Switch Type: | Mechanical |
| On-Board Charging? | Yes |
| Charge Port Type: | USB-C |
| Charge Graph | |
| Power off Charge Port | – |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | – |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 304 |
| Candela per Lumen | 4 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | – |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 60lux @ 4.73m = 1342cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 73.3 |
| Claimed CCT | 4000 4000 |
| Measured CCT Range (K) | 4000 3900-4200 Kelvin |
| Item provided for review by: | Reylight |
| All my Reylight 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 I like
- Nichia 519a!
- 4000K!
- High CRI!
- Aluminum (I don’t care so much about the “raw” aspect, but it’s also neat.)
- Programming options – mode groups, memory or not, etc.
- Supports both 1.5V and 4.2V cylindrical AAA-sized cells (but only use the included 10880 for 4.2V!)
- Seems like tapping to directly access turbo has been fixed in the Mk II edition
What I don’t like
- No low voltage protection (because it supports AAAx2).
Notes
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