Dawingdd Zebralight SC52w L2 AA Flashlight Neutral White

I'm happy and impressed with this flashlight. It's got great ergonomics and seems to be built with good materials and quality. However, there's a 'but.'I've had this light for about a year now and here's the things I appreciate about it and a couple disappointments I have with it.This light is small enough to fit in your hand and pocket comfortably - it's a nice size and I like the feel of it in my hand.The battery life seems pretty reasonable using good standard AA batteries. I haven't tested it for runtime, but haven't noticed anything out of my expectations. Regardless, this is a very important aspect to a flashlight and every effort by the manufacturer should be taken to extend the battery life, so it is competitive with other similar flashlights from other makers. This goes for all manufacturers.The light has a nice clip so you can attach it to your belt or the side of a pocket. The clip seems strong enough and would likely hold it to a belt well, although I haven't used or tested it in that way very much. The clip is smooth, so I could see it sliding off without too much force applied to it, and not noticing it.For me, the most important aspect on any flashlight is the button and how it functions. It's definitely in the right place on this light, unlike so many other makers of flashlights who think the on/off switch belongs on the tail cap - it doesn't! (Unless it's a tactical light). The position of the button on the side lets me use the light from almost any position my hand is in. Flashlights with the button on the end cap are only useable from a couple positions - I don't understand why most flashlight manufactures put it there - unless you're using it with a gun in your other hand, and that doesn't happen very often.The button on the ZebraLight is also recessed nicely so it's unlikely that you'll accidentally turn it on in your pocket or backpack, although that did happen to me a couple times. The button has a defined 'click' to it, so you know if you've actuated it or not. The noise it makes is about as loud as taping your fingernail on the screen of a smartphone. The one drawback with the button is you can't use the button to signal, like morse code, if you wanted to, without double clicking for each flash, but that can't happen because of the logic on the button. If you've ever owned a Mag-Light you know what I mean. I think I'd prefer a silent switch but I'd like to feel the click, so I know I've engaged it or not.The button is also easy to find without looking at the light. The body is raised around the button and the clip is opposite of the switch, so it is intuitive when looking for the button. You can easily pull it out of your pocket with your thumb on the button ready to go, without thinking about it. ZebraLight did a fantastic job in designing that part of the light.The tail-cap can also be used to lockout the power. A little turn, about 1/8 rotation (45 degrees), or more, keeps the battery disengaged so it can't be turned on with the button accidentally. This is a great function when you're traveling.The color of the flashlight is a nice olive green but I wouldn't mind it f Zebra offered a couple options. An orange or yellow coating would be nice in case you are one of those people that loses everything every 2 minutes, like me. If I were camping or in any other situation where the olive green would easily bend in you could lose you light pretty fast. A bright color would be easier to spot, and perhaps prevent someone from losing their light.The ZebraLight doesn't have a lanyard hole, but you can use a hole on the clip to attach one to. You can also tie a lanyard to the body, as the body is recessed in the middle with nice groves, but If you wrap the cottage around a few times it would likely interfere with the clip function.I don't feel like I have to be gentle with this flashlight. I dropped mine several times and never damaged any of them (I own several), so it seems pretty rugged, but it's still a piece of metal. Although, I have to say; I wouldn't mind trying one of these with a nice rubber coating, as long as it's durable.Now for the big 'but.' The one thing I would change on this light is the logic of the button. I think the developers of this flashlight put some thought into the logic of the button, to get to various light levels, but they missed the mark - by about 5,000 miles. (If they are reading this: I'm right and you're wrong - seriously!)This is a very important aspect to a flashlight for me and I'll admit it is easy to get to most intensities (lumens) on this light - but not all of them. I'm a big fan of low intensity (lumens) on flashlights but the setup on this light keeps the user from getting to all of them easily.Anyone buying this flashlight should know that it is programmable. But in my humble opinion; that seems a little, I mean a lot, overboard for a flashlight. In fact it think it's silly to have the intensities programmable. The programing on this light let's a user program their light so they get the secondary intensity they chose (that they have preprogramed) at each of the three levels - but only three levels. I can see why they thought that the programing would be a good idea but the way they did it is more of a hindrance (for me) than helpful.The intensity on each of the three main levels, high, medium and low, have a secondary intensity at each level, so a user can select a second intensity at each level once at each of the levels. The six levels levels available (three main and three sub levels) are; low-low, low-high, medium-low, medium-high, high-low and high-high, and each of the lower intensities at each level are programmable but not the higher intensity - that's six. However, there are ten intensity levels available on the light. At high there are three levels available, in medium there is also three and there are four in low mode [ten total], but you only get to set one alternative in each level, in user mode, unless you go into the programing mode - so there are four levels you can't get to without reprogramming. So you have to anticipate what levels you'll want beforehand.Here's the intensities available at each of the levels:High-high: 280.......................... Not programmableHigh-low: 172 or 108............... Programmable (one or the other)Medium-high: 50.......................Not programmableMedium-low: 25 or 12............. Programmable (one or the other)Low-high: 2.7........................... Not programmableLow-low: 0.34 / 0.06 / 0.01..... Programmable (only one of the three)It's a grate selection, but, again, you're limited to whats a alone by the programing. I like to stay away from using the highest level because it uses up the battery life pretty fast, 0.9 hours at the highest level. The high-high is great to have when you need it but I don't need, or want, it all the time. And let's face it; if you need that many lumens all the time this is not the right flashlight.I set my high-low level to 108 lumens, which gives me 3 hours of battery life. In medium-high you get 7.5 hours of use, which is where I like to go most each time I use the light. I also really like the 0.34, 0.06 and 0.01 lumens for covert work - and that's where one of my issues with the light really comes in.Let's say you have programed your light for 0.01 lumen and your sneaking around your room looking for your keys in the predawn hours but you don't want to wake up your wife or girlfriend, assuming they sleep on opisit sides of the bed. You turn on the light to 0.01 lumens but you realize you need just a little more light. But you can't get to 0.06 or 0.34 lumen without reprogramming the light. So your only other option (in low) is 2.7 lumens. That's surprisingly bright in the middle of the night after using 0.01 lumen. So you go outside to reprogram your light - that's not going to happen.I also don't like that that the light comes back on to the last setting (the last time it was used) at each level. If you turn off the light in Low-high, 2.7 lumens, it comes back on at 2.7 and you have to double click to get to low-low. So there's way to guarantee you can get to low-low if you want that - you have to chance what it was on the last time you used it, or change it if you want something else. But that destroys your night vision. Again, if you turned it off at 2.7 lumens and it's now the middle of the night you get 2.7 when you turn it on, no matter what you want. That was a bad programing idea. Another way to say that is if you hold the button it comes on at either low-low or low-high, what ever you turned it off at. And if you're trying to preserve your night vision there's no way you can positively start with Low-low setting, without previously setting it.It would have been smarter of the manufacturer (at Zebra) if they did away with the need to reprogram the light to get to all the intensities. A better programing solution would have been to only set the intensity level it comes on at, not limit your selection outside of the programing and always come on at the lower, or user programed, level. Seriously; why can't I get to all three low's, 0.01, 0.06, 0.34 and 2.7, without reprogramming it?One of the nice functions of the button is it does come on to its low level if you press and hold the button (although not necessarily the lowest). If you continue to hold the button it moves to medium and them high, but it does skip all the other sub-levels. It goes through all three levels (but not the sub levels) pretty fast. I see improvement here too.My other issue with the logic of the on/off intensity selection of the switch/button is the single click to get to the highest intensity of the light. As I mentioned already; I rarely use high, to save battery life. However, the logic of the button is that the high level comes on with one click - not the way I want to use it most, but you can't do anything about that. You can easily get to medium with a double click but you get a flash of high for a fraction of a second between the first and second click - again messing with your night vision - not a good idea! It's not the end of the world, and I'm sure some people want the highest level every time they use the light, but certainly not everybody. It would have been smarter if one click got you to the last setting, from the last time the light was on, and a double click got you to high, or highest. Again, if you always need to use high-high this is the wrong light - IMO.There's also a flash mode, which is good, but it needs more options - mostly slower and maybe an SOS mode too. More improvement here too.I truly believe this light would be the perfect light if they did away with the programing and changed the button logic to a more practical and logical logic, keeping all the intensity levels though.Here my suggestion on how they should change the logic:1) One click, from off, goes to the last setting the last tie it was on.2) Two fast clicks, from on or off, goes to the highest setting.3) Press and hold (from off) goes to the lowest setting (0.01), then (continuing to hold) goes to the next (0.06), to the next (0.34), to the next (2.7), to the next (12),.... until the highest setting is reached, and has an appropriate amount of time between the transition at each intensity level - not too short, not too long. It will stop at the intensity level it is at when the button is released. If the light is on, at any level, pressing and holding the button moves to the next highest level. It will also lower in intensity if the button is held when at the highest intensity level.They got a lot right with this light, but they got some of it wrong. They could have the perfect light if they changed it, as I've suggested here.That's my two cents. This light is truly a fantastic light, but it could be a lot better.

The bottom line: if you're thinking about buying it, DO IT. You won't regret it. Zebralight has hit a home run with the SC52. It is, in my opinion, the best 1xAA LED flashlight currently available.I am surprised that nobody else has already written an Amazon review! There are many favorable reviews on the various flashlight review sites and forums. CandlePowerForums user "selfbuilt" has an excellent site which you should check out and I trust that you can find yourself, as Amazon usually deletes referring URLs from reviews.This version, the "neutral white" SC52w L2, has a slightly lower nominal lumen output than the "cool white" SC52 L2 (280 vs 300 lumens on HIGH). The SC52w's "daylight" tint supposedly allows better natural color rendition than the bluish "cool white" version. To my eyes, the differences in brightness and tint are noticeable, but are not significant in any environment other than side-to-side comparison on a white wall (which, admittedly, I have done). There is no practical difference in the utility of either version in real-world usage, so the only reason to choose one over the other is simply personal preference.This flashlight uses a single AA battery. You will get better performance from rechargeable NiMH batteries than alkalines -  Eneloop  or  Eneloop XX  AA batteries are excellent options, as are  AmazonBasics AA Ni-MH Rechargeable Batteries  and  AmazonBasics High Capacity AA Ni-MH Rechargeable Batteries , for the budget-conscious. While I have a number of flashlights that use lithium batteries (CR123 primaries and various rechargeable lithium-ion cells), I have come to appreciate the convenience of using common and readily available batteries.This light can be safely used with a 14500 li-ion battery, which will increase the HIGH mode output to 500 lumens for about a minute before it is automatically reduced for thermal protection of the emitter. There is a 2.8V cutoff to prevent over-discharge.If you do not know what a 14500 cell is, you're not really missing out on much: just use an alkaline, NiMH rechargeable, or non-rechargeable ("primary") lithium (e.g.  Energizer Ultimate Lithium L91 ) AA battery and be done with it. Little known fact: the distinctive smell wafting from a freshly opened pack of lithium batteries is "flashahol", that turns normal people into flashaholics.There are three main levels: HIGH, MEDIUM, and LOW. Each main level has two sub-levels (the second of which is programmable), which most users will never need.The basic control scheme:From OFF: Fast click to turn on in HIGH (H1 = 280 lumens, H2 = 172 lm, H3 = 108 lm)From OFF: Double fast click to turn on in MEDIUM (you will probably use this level the most: M1 = 50 lumens, M2 = 25 lm, M3 = 12.5 lm)From OFF: Triple fast click to turn on in STROBE modeFrom OFF: Hold down switch for about 0.6 second to turn on in LOW (L1 = 2.7 lumens, L2 = 0.34 lm, L3 = 0.06 lm)While ON: Hold down switch to cycle through LOW, MEDIUM, and HIGH modes. Release switch when desired level is reached.While ON: Fast click to turn OFFBattery indicator: Four fast clicks while flashlight is OFF: the light will flash one to four times, providing a gross estimate of the remaining battery capacity (1 is low, 4 is high)Sub-levels: I won't bother listing how to access or program them here, as noobs can ignore them, and flashaholics will want to figure it out themselves.With regard to brightness, flashlight manufacturers exaggerate as badly as fishermen. They know that most potential buyers will heavily prefer higher maximum lumen output, because who doesn't love the WOW factor? In reality, using a 1xAA pocket rocket for tasks that involve sustained high levels of illumination is like trying to saw lumber with a pocket knife. There are other flashlights better suited for that. Also bear in mind that the human eye does not perceive brightness in a linear fashion; a flashlight with an output of 280 lumens will not necessarily appear to be twice as bright as one that puts out 140 lumens.Having said all that, I admit that I was drawn to the stated 280 lumen maximum output, which is unusually high for a 1xAA flashlight. I don't have a test rig, but other flashlight nerds who have conducted independent testing generally acknowledge that Zebralight's claim appears to be true. I don't know how all those photons are coaxed out of that XM-L2 LED, but the SC52w outperforms all of its currently existing peers. HIGH mode is significantly brighter than any other 1xAA LED flashlight I own (and I have a LOT of them), except for the  Olight S15 , which is barely edged out. It nearly equals the output of any of my 2xAA or single-cell CR123 lights - at least, for a few minutes until the battery runs down a bit, after which the overachieving single AA can no longer keep up.I mostly use the default MEDIUM mode, which provides a nice balance of brightness and runtime (50 lm for 7.5 hours with a 2000 mAh Eneloop AA battery). I like the beam profile, but your preferences may differ. There are several good reviews with comparative beamshots posted at the various flashlight aficionado sites.Low mode can get very, very low, which I find desirable. You'd think that brighter is always better, and that low mode is for chumps. You'd be wrong, because in many low-light situations, hundreds of eye-searing lumens are excessive: you only need a few lumens to find your way around a campsite or read a map in the dark. Using a dim light will help to preserve your natural night vision, which takes a long time to recover after you expose your eyes to bright light. Low output also means longer runtime from a battery.The overall fit and finish of this light is excellent. Everything - the machining, the anodizing, the tailcap threads, the switch's tactile response, the tension of the clip, the "sealed and potted LED driver circuitry", **everything** - exudes quality. Resting draw (parasitic drain) is minimal - the manufacturer states it is less than an Eneloop NiMH battery's self-discharge rate. The tailcap can be loosened to lockout battery draw or accidental activation while in storage. The light comes in a plain, drab cardboard box with two spare O-rings and an instruction sheet; it doesn't need any embellishments.The only drawbacks I can think of are the lack of an intrinsic lanyard attachment point (the detachable clip suffices for this purpose) and the price. While it is somewhat more expensive than other 1xAA LED flashlights, in my opinion it is worth it, even if you pay the full MSRP (which I did, as this model appears to be difficult to find in stock at the moment). In fact, I am going to buy another one for my wife to stash in her purse, after I finish this review.

I've had this light several years now, it's my go-to light, not the brightest ,but easy to carry, sometimes I hold it in my mouth while working on the car. I'm ready to buy another.