Layman’s Flashlight Reviews

Full-flood, wide angle beam, 4 individual color dies(dice?), 8 modes, 32 possible different outputs. 4Sevens has created an incredibly unique light with their Quark RGB model. I am not certain there is anything out there that can genuinely be considered to be a competitor.

4Sevens Quark RGB

Meat and Potatoes

The shallow reflector of the Quark RGB can hardly be assisting to focus the light at all, merely serving to redirect the odd stray photon back to a roughly forward emission since its beam more closely resembles that which has come to be known in the flashlight community as a mule head. A completely unfocused, hot-spot free, pure flood beam intended for short range illumination and a wide field of view. The 150 lumen top end of this light at first had me curious as to where they had pulled such a number until I forcibly reminded myself about how a lumen is about total quantity of light rather than brightness. The profile of such a beam alters how the light is perceived by spreading the brightness over a larger area.

The smooth wide spread of light coming from the Quark RGB is actually incredibly useful for nocturnal navigation and short range work even on lower settings. The lack of any form of hotspot removes the tunnel-vision induced by most flashlight beams giving back much more peripheral vision than you normally expect to have at night. The resultant lack of head-knocks or bad footfalls is readily apparent. Utilizing it to light up under the desk or inside the computer casing works quite well also since it will reveal the entire area rather than just the single spot where you are directing it, making the task of finding that lost case screw that much easier.

The Quark RGB’s true glory however comes from the fact that it is, as far as I am aware, the first mass produced torch to use Cree’s multi-colored MC-E diode. This fact quadruples the existing 8 modes (5 brightness and 3 “blinkeys”) giving redundancy in each of the 3 single color (red, green, and blue) modes as well. Want a super low red-only moonlight mode as the ultimate night-adapted vision preserver to help you navigate that barbed wire fence on your way to the deer stand or read that star chart in astronomy class? Got it. Want to leave a green beacon flashing at the end of your dock to guide you back from a nocturnal catfishing expedition? It’s got you covered. Want to easily switch back to turbo full white light in a hurry to check if that noise was a raccoon or a bear? No problem, this light remembers a different setting for the white light from what is being used in the colors. This is quite possibly the most versatile light I have run across yet.

Cree MC-E RGBW

Constructive Criticism

With all of that versatility comes the unfortunate side effect of complexity. Yes this light can be set to give you virtually any output in any color you might want, but it comes at a price. There are simply too many parallel options on this light to quickly find your way to the mode you are looking for. With 8 modes in each option, and without a guaranteed brightness level when you first activate the light, it requires starting over from the lowest output and takes a concentrated effort to count which mode you are currently in to make sure you wind up where you want to be. Also, since the 3 additional colors are alternated by entering the secondary, “bezel-loosened” mode, I constantly find myself cycling through colors to get back to the one I was really wanting. I believe that this light would benefit from something a bit different in the UI. There should be some way to pre-program both the output levels and specific color selected and “lock” it in to avoid such frequent shuffling through so many options.

The Quark RGB’s use of only one die at a time from a multi-die LED means that the lit die will inherently be drastically off center in the reflector. This naturally produces the side effect of having a lopsided beam pattern as well. The decision to use such a shallow floodlight reflector was no doubt to help mitigate the effects of this, and the lack of a defined hotspot does reduce its appearance. The fact remains however that there is some slight migration to one side within the beam and several unilateral artifacts in each of the 4 spectrums. Unfortunately without the use of a highly complex (and therefor expensive and likely to fail) cam system re-centering the LED each time the die is changed, I don’t see a way to avoid these slight issues. In reality, these differences will not affect real-world use much in the least, but they will be readily apparent to the urban white wall hunter.

4Sevens Quark RGB

Conclusions

The Quark RGB is, for lack of a better description, the most versatile, specialized light I have ever used. That dichotomy makes it incredibly unique and very well loved. The bonus is how darn useful the thing is at the same time!

Provided for the duration of the review by 4Sevens.com

NeoFab Legion II

The Legion II by semi-custom manufacturer Neofab, has truly stepped up the output race to the next level. No longer can incandescent lamps claim absolute superiority. If this monster doesn’t best them, it does at least give them a run for their money.

Neofab Legion II

Meat and Potatoes

Neofab has taken the extensive R&D that went into producing the Spartanian II and used it to very great effect in it’s big brother the Legion II. There is no doubt you can see the family resemblance, however when it comes to specifics, nearly every aspect of the Spartanian II has been improved upon dramatically. Where the S2 rattled and shook, now the L2 feels solid and smooth. I thought the S2 was quite a decent light for what it is, however I feel the Legion II to be in another category all together.

Where output is concerned, I do not believe I have met this lights equal. The Legion II is capable of putting so incredibly much light down range that everything else I have reviewed pales in comparison. While the fact that it is utilizing a 4-die Cree MC-E LED proves that this is not magic, it still is none the less impressive. Best of all, this torch is equipped with extremely adequate heat sinking to better accommodate even extended runtimes at such a high level. Neofab has also included amazing regulation to the point where you are guaranteed that every time you fire up the L2, you will be receiving exactly the same brightness. No matter the battery state, full or nearly empty, regulation is perfectly ruler flat, with no discernible decrease in light from beginning to end.

The Legion II has been equipped with 5 levels of brightness to better suit your output needs. There are times that you actually can quite safely scale back from the searing 700+ lumen level and still provide ample illumination for the tasks at hand. Boasting well over 90% electrical efficiency in the exquisitely crafted driver circuitry, even moderate reductions in brightness will net excellent gains in runtime. While this light does not have a genuine “Low” mode capable of preserving night-adapted vision, I do not see that as a weakness in the current form factor. The approximately 100 lumen lowest setting still increases runtime to over 20 hours, barely sipping energy from the three Lithium-ion cells.

Outstanding output aside, the control ring switch carried over from the Spartanian II is still the crowning achievement of the Legion II. Gone are the rattles and shakes, and especially the propensity for gritty buildup that the S2 had. Instead of bronze bearings, the L2 has been improved to utilize advanced Teflon bearings riding on brass runners to maintain proper tolerances after anodizing. The finished product is extremely smooth and feels very durable.

Constructive Criticism

Mass quantity of output is not lacking in any stretch of the imagination with this light, however one area that I still see room for improvement is beam quality. Originally I started testing this light with the smooth reflector installed and it was starkly apparent then that the reflector shape gives a very pronounced dark spot in the center of the beam. This is due to the use of a multi-die emitter and the inherent difficulties they entail. Once I replaced it with the textured reflector I found myself far more pleased with the beam pattern, however a dark shadow did remain in the center of the beam at any distance at all. This is one of my personal biggest pet peeves. I am willing to sacrifice quite a few things in favor of a flawless beam of light. After all, that’s what a flashlight is all about, right? The light is useful the way it is, but I feel the Legion II might have been better off with a mass market optic or possibly just pursuing an open flood beam instead to better balance the beam pattern across the board.

During my time with the L2, I took the opportunity to swap the reflectors back and forth a few times to better get a feel for both types of beams. In so doing I was able to notice a possible shortcoming in this lights design. While the ability to remove the bezel is far easier than it was on the S2, and the shock absorption o-rings that surround the heavy duty UCL lens are very adequately thick, I did notice that they had a tendency to displace when I was tightening down the bezel. I am not sure how they could have been better retained, but as they are some careful consideration was required when swapping out parts. In the grand scheme of things, this is not a major issue, since most users will decide early on which reflector they will choose and not switch again. I feel it is worth mentioning though.

Although the action and feel of the proprietary ring switch has drastically improved over the previous versions, the overall User Interface has remained unchanged. This UI has many good points, such as direct access to two user defined levels and the ability to rapidly change level up or down when constantly on. Also, the fewer number of levels in the L2 is definitely a benefit, allowing traversing the entire range to occur much more rapidly. There are, however, some slight drawbacks to this current setup. Whenever you want to switch the light to constant on, it requires holding the switch for 1.5-6 seconds before the light will “lock” on. At the same time this limits the usable momentary on function to a maximum 6 seconds before requiring you to hold the switch to turn it off. I do know however that slight adjustments to the UI are being considered by the manufacturer and these specific issues may well be addressed and corrected shortly.

Neofab Legion II

Conclusions

If you are looking for an every day carry light, capable of the full range of illumination, I suggest you look elsewhere. However, if you are interested in a specialized monster torch of exceeding caliber, and are willing to reach for a larger light to achieve it, the Legion II may just fill the ticket for you. Neofab has definitely upped the ante here with this amazingly high output light.