Flashlight design and features ideas

#41

So I own the original LC40, LC90, LC130. I prefer the size of the LC40 but like the focus adjustment of the LC90. They modified the LC40 recently, I have one in the post due here next hours I’ll be able to do a comparative review but I wish they’d made it zoomable, so I can choose between diffuse lower light or focused brighter.

Most of my intersection of needs with Anker is compact extension of being able to handle common tasks for longer off-grid, so like the adding of charging port in the new LC40 so simpler smaller for longer off-grid.

The ideas for bigger torches and filters, I can understand others would want them but they all make torches bigger and more expensive and the issue I found is bigger tends to be not with you when you need it, so small is more useful.

#42

To each his own. Personally I would like a more multi functional light and would not mind the extra size and price. Other flashlight manufacturers with similar functions already charge 2-3 times the price. I believe a company like Anker can bring a flashlight like this to Market for a reasonable price it would be a big seller.

#43

I know I’m reviving a zombie thread, but the subject of this thread is exactly why I came here.

I would buy a half dozen flashlights immediately if there were a slight change to the “mode” operation. It seems that every 18650 flashlight built these days is designed for police or security - someone who wants the flashlight to pop into “High” brightness immediately so they can light up a yard or warehouse. I’m not a security guard; I’m someone who uses a flashlight around my house, when camping, etc - and “High” brightness is what I almost NEVER want because it’s so blinding at short distances even when simply reflecting off surfaces. Strobe and SOS modes are worse - they’re hugely annoying features that I’ll never, ever use but occasionally end up on accidentally.

Give me a rechargeable LC90 with three modes - first click a very dim “Low” that’s appropriate for finding your shoes in a tent in the middle of the night, second click “Medium”, third click a light-up-the-world “High”. Eliminate the blinking modes. If you have to call it a “Camping Flashlight” to sell it, keep the SOS mode and place it last in the sequence.

If you want me to recommend it to my kid’s entire Boy Scout troop, it would need one additional feature - a way to light a surface that the flashlight is sitting on without blinding someone near it using it as a work light. This could be done with a tail-stander and a pop-up head that uncovers a 360 degree lens that distributes around the flashlight aimed towards the tail. Conceptually, this is similar to:
https://www.amazon.com/Nite-Ize-Radiant-LED-Flashlight/dp/B016B8TUU0
but built to Anker standards, rechargeable, and in a form factor similar to the LC90 or LC40 Bolder with an 18650. If you wanted to make me so happy I’d quit my job and sell your flashlights across the country, build in a kickstand of some sort to keep it from falling over when in lantern mode.

By the way, thanks for being my go-to company. Every Anker product I’ve bought has been superior in function, design, build, and price to everything else out there, so when I see something with your name I know I can rely on it. I didn’t know Anker made flashlights - but when I needed one, and an Anker flashlight popped up in my Amazon search, I knew that I wanted whatever you had. I can buy a $10 18650 flashlight that I’d be forever unhappy with the functionality and reliability of, or I could buy a $100 Streamlight or Fenix and get the functionality and reliability. But I’ve always seen Anker as providing the highest functionality and reliability at a vastly lower price than the high-end parts and still only slightly higher price than the cheapest. That’s why I (and my family) have Anker power banks, and wall/car USB chargers, and USB cables ( I threw away dozens of micro-USB cables once I found Anker cables). And, I hope someday, Anker flashlights…

1 Like
#44

Ooh good call on that niteize fladhlight, I have the exact same model and honestly I never realized just how much I use the tail end “room” light. It is very functional and useful when needing to light up an area without beine blind. And since you can set low power mode it can last a long time during a power outage or the likes. If Anker made one I would be all over it as my EDC light

1 Like