Review: Snap-On ECFSN4AAAF (the $124.95 flashlight)

[ericedelman]

A few days ago I asked, Has anyone tried the $124.95 Snap-On Flashlight? . Well, since none of the 3 pages of helpful replies had actually tried the flashlight, I decided to get one, and it arrived today.

Snap-On ECFSN4AAAF, Flashlight, Inspection, Focusing, 4 "AAA"

My overall impression of the light is that is produced in of China's better sweatshops (factories). The fit and finish is first rate, even the packaging is nice (a box with a cutout piece of foam for the light and batteries). Batteries are included (four AAA Duracell). There is a lockable front focusing ring, a 2 level tail switch (100%/50%/OFF), and an interesting parabolic reflector that is recessed within the aluminum housing to protect it (the focusing mechanism).

From top to bottom:
Surefire E2 (incandescent - 60 lumens, 2 CR123 batteries)
Snap-On ECFSN4AAAF (LED - 200 lumens, 4 AAA batteries)
Surefire M3 CombatLight (incandescent - 225 lumens, 3 CR123 batteries)
Maglite (LED - 124 lumens, 3 D cell batteries)

And from left to right, the Maglite, Surefire M3 CombatLight, Snap-On ECFSN4AAAF, and Surefire E2.

Here are all four lights shining against a toolbox. Each light has fresh batteries. In order of output, the Surefire M3 is slightly ahead of the Snap-On. The Maglite and Surefire E2 are not even close.

Here is the Surefire M3 Combatlight and the Snap-On. Although slightly brighter, the Surefire has a runtime of only one hour with this 225 lumen bulb.

Conclusion: Not a bad light for $124.95. In comparison, the Maglite is around $35, the Surefire E2 is around $80, and the Surefire M3 is around $225. For around the same price as the Snap-On, you could also get a quality 200 lumen LED flashlight by Gerber, Pelikan, Streamlight, or Surefire. However, if you want the easier to find AAA batteries, this is a nice choice.

 

[richfinn]

Wow, thats a lot of money for a torch thats not rechargeable. I had a rechargeable from Maplins (like radioshack) that lasted 3 years for about £30 ($50). I suppose these high quality lights might be more durable, but its going to use batteries.

 

[Moose-LandTran]

Wow, thats a lot of money for a torch thats not rechargeable. I had a rechargeable from Maplins (like radioshack) that lasted 3 years for about £30 ($50). I suppose these high quality lights might be more durable, but its going to use batteries.

Look into LED Lenser. Not sure if they do rechargeable or not, but they're good lights. I have a P60 (3xD) and it's extremely bright. My P6 (2xAA) isn't far off it in output either.

 

[Tarheelgarage]

No thanks, way over priced and too bulky.

I'll stick with my freebies from Harbor Freight

 

[richfinn]

Look into LED Lenser. Not sure if they do rechargeable or not, but they're good lights. I have a P60 (3xD) and it's extremely bright. My P6 (2xAA) isn't far off it in output either.

Yeah Ive seen the LED Lenser in "Go Outdoors" (a chain of hiking/camping shops) and we get a good discount with out loyalty card, I might try one

 

[Hiball]

Thanks for taking the time to review the flashlight.... Not sure why people feel the need to drag Hf or free flashlights into your thread, but whatever.

 

[fordbroncodave]

the only reason i use streamlight is because the ones i get are rechargeable. rechargeable is the selling point to me.

if i were to get a flashlight that required battery replacement these are the ones to get:

http://www.homedepot.com/buy/gift-c...ed-flashlight-with-battery-2-pack-185254.html

 

[BrokewrenchLS1]

I'd be curious to see what the actual real-world runtime is with those AAA. Also be interested to see how it stacks up against a similar AAA Fenix.

 

[ncfh]

I will never understand the male obsession with flashlights... err, sorry "torches."




"I've got 50 more lumens"

"Well I am more efficient with my double unobtanium reflector that mitigates your lumen output."

"But mine is pointlessly hexagonal in twelve places."

"Hexagonal, pleh. Mine is parabolicly knurled for ultimate grip in high G situations."

....

and on and on it goes. omg.

This is when I pull out my 6 or whatever cell MAG light, and threaten to beat them both to death if they don't take their teeny weeny "torches" and go.

The MAG wins every time. lol

 

[american lockpicker]

Mines bigger...

 

[Moose-LandTran]

Yeah Ive seen the LED Lenser in "Go Outdoors" (a chain of hiking/camping shops) and we get a good discount with out loyalty card, I might try one

They're good. Mine have had a hard life and have held up great. Lifetime warranty too.

 

[BrokewrenchLS1]

I will never understand the male obsession with flashlights... err, sorry "torches."




"I've got 50 more lumens"

"Well I am more efficient with my double unobtanium reflector that mitigates your lumen output."

"But mine is pointlessly hexagonal in twelve places."

"Hexagonal, pleh. Mine is parabolicly knurled for ultimate grip in high G situations."

....

and on and on it goes. omg.

This is when I pull out my 6 or whatever cell MAG light, and threaten to beat them both to death if they don't take their teeny weeny "torches" and go.

The MAG wins every time. lol

Having a very powerful flashlight can be useful at times, especially one small enough to fit in your pocket. Adjustable light output to scale to what you need it and allow longer run-times, 100% brightness until the batteries die (compared to regular flashlights), etc. I went from a 3-D Maglite to a 2-CR123A Fenix as my main hunting flashlight, and would never go back. Smaller ones are nicer for doing inspection stuff too, since it's a lot harder to whack yourself in the head with an 8" flashlight than a 16" Maglite when you're under a car.

I do agree that the whole "torch" thing is strange. I get it, that's the Brit word for flashlights, but seeing a bunch of Americans call flashlights "torches" is just funny.

 

[rockchucker]

I think the Arsenal of Mag-Lites goes without saying. I have switched all of my Mag's up to the LED's and they really make a difference and last a super long time. Have one in every rig.

 

[ncfh]

I fully understand the goodness of compact LED flashlights, but to the extent that some go is just... too much.

I live in a world of darkness, I am a welder/boilermaker. I am in all sorts of dark scary places every day and the cheapie LED lights (<$30) and MAGs have served me well.

I've got the xenon or whatever bulbs in my MAGs and they are pretty good, better than the original bulbs and plastic lenses.

I've seen the LED kits but never was sure which one was best? Suggestions?

 

[american lockpicker]

I've seen the LED kits but never was sure which one was best? Suggestions?

Malkoff(spelling?)

 

[MattT]

ericedelman,

Glad the idiots didn't discourage you from posting a review

Is the lens plastic or glass? I'd expect glass at that price point.

Also be interested to see how it stacks up against a similar AAA Fenix.

That'd be the test to see if the Snap on light is a good value. The higher end Fenix are very high quality flashlights. About the best readily available lights out there that take regular batteries, though Surefire has them beat on the 123A stuff.

 

[G1GRANDEUR]

Can't believe you bought one.

Although thanks for the review.

 

[ericedelman]

The lens is glass.
I will look for an appropriate Fenix to compare with.

ericedelman,

Glad the idiots didn't discourage you from posting a review

Is the lens plastic or glass? I'd expect glass at that price point.

That'd be the test to see if the Snap on light is a good value. The higher end Fenix are very high quality flashlights. About the best readily available lights out there that take regular batteries, though Surefire has them beat on the 123A stuff.

 

[Buckgnarly]

Throw them both against a wall and tell us what happens.

I hate the batteries required by Surefire, but after beating the living piss out of some in Iraq, none better IMHO.

 

[richfinn]

I will never understand the male obsession with flashlights... err, sorry "torches."




"I've got 50 more lumens"

"Well I am more efficient with my double unobtanium reflector that mitigates your lumen output."

"But mine is pointlessly hexagonal in twelve places."

"Hexagonal, pleh. Mine is parabolicly knurled for ultimate grip in high G situations."

....

and on and on it goes. omg.

This is when I pull out my 6 or whatever cell MAG light, and threaten to beat them both to death if they don't take their teeny weeny "torches" and go.

The MAG wins every time. lol

Think about it, its just an evolution of the old flaming Torch using batteries and bulbs/LEDs.

Do you really go around flashing lights at each other??

Flashlight isn,t even a good description of what it does, your all insane

 

[chewy7]

Think about it, its just an evolution of the old flaming Torch using batteries and bulbs/LEDs.

Do you really go around flashing lights at each other??

Flashlight isn,t even a good description of what it does, your all insane

alrighty mate

 

[richfinn]

Having a very powerful flashlight can be useful at times, especially one small enough to fit in your pocket. Adjustable light output to scale to what you need it and allow longer run-times, 100% brightness until the batteries die (compared to regular flashlights), etc. I went from a 3-D Maglite to a 2-CR123A Fenix as my main hunting flashlight, and would never go back. Smaller ones are nicer for doing inspection stuff too, since it's a lot harder to whack yourself in the head with an 8" flashlight than a 16" Maglite when you're under a car.

I do agree that the whole "torch" thing is strange. I get it, that's the Brit word for flashlights, but seeing a bunch of Americans call flashlights "torches" is just funny.

How come they didn,t rename it the "olympic flashlight" in 1984

"flashlight" makes no sense

and whilst were at it, WTF are "Lug nuts" they hold wheels on not Lugs

 

[NinetyTwoFifty]

Alright, then. Why do they call it a "boot" over there? You don't wear the thing on your feet.

Trunk. That makes so much more sense. What do you do with a trunk? You put things in it. What do you you do with a boot? You wear a pair of them

 

[Skin]

How come they didn,t rename it the "olympic flashlight" in 1984

"flashlight" makes no sense

and whilst were at it, WTF are "Lug nuts" they hold wheels on not Lugs

pretty sure "Lug" came from another word that meant protruding, hence "lug nut".

 

[Buckgnarly]

Alright, then. Why do they call it a "boot" over there? You don't wear the thing on your feet.

Trunk. That makes so much more sense. What do you do with a trunk? You put things in it. What do you you do with a boot? You wear a pair of them

What about "pitch".....that's what you do in baseball......

 

[kms]

The lens is glass.
I will look for an appropriate Fenix to compare with.

That will be tough. You won't find many (any?) 4AAA lights from any manufacturer. That is an uncommon (weird actually) configuration. Most will be cheapies.

Most 3AAA lights are pure ****; they are made that way because it is the cheapest way to get enough voltage to drive an LED without using a driver.

Better lights will use AAs, Cs, Ds, and LiON.

For $125 you have a wide selection of high quality lights.

 

[richfinn]

Alright, then. Why do they call it a "boot" over there? You don't wear the thing on your feet.

Trunk. That makes so much more sense. What do you do with a trunk? You put things in it. What do you you do with a boot? You wear a pair of them

Cos the "Boot" is always round the back, like in a **********

A Trunk is part of a tree/a dead body with head and limbs removed/a wood box

 

[richfinn]

What about "pitch".....that's what you do in baseball......

Football pitch

pitch a tent

sales pitch

You see its simple, what a baseball pitcher does is throw a ball across the pitch to a batsman, in cricket we call him a bowler

 

[richfinn]

pretty sure "Lug" came from another word that meant protruding, hence "lug nut".

In England Lugs are Ears, I wonder if Lug nuts was your version of wing nuts

 

[BrokewrenchLS1]

How come they didn,t rename it the "olympic flashlight" in 1984

"flashlight" makes no sense

and whilst were at it, WTF are "Lug nuts" they hold wheels on not Lugs

But the Olympic torch is designed around an actual torch - a bit of wood with some flammable junk on the end that's lit on fire. Flashlight makes more sense than torch in the concept of hand-portable lights; you're flashing a light into dark places to be able to see.

Lug nut would be called such because I'm guessing lug was a synonym for stud (maybe lug denoted a mechanical or automotive application?) and the nut threads on to that.

Those examples aside, I will say Brits and Aussies definitely have more colorful descriptive words for objects. Except lorry. It just sounds funny.

On a comparable Fenix for the Snap-On, I'm not really seeing anything they have in AAA that would be used in the same application; most of their AAA are keychain lights, or the like. Most of their "daily use" stuff is either AA or CR123.

 

[Golfer]

Thanks for the review. I personally would leave the flashlight stuff to the people that do it for a living i.e. Fenix, olight, surefire, streamlight, malkoff, Etc, and let snap-on keep making quality tools. My theory is that the led industry is changing all the time and these big name tool companies like maglite and snap-on have no reason to keep up with it. When you work graveyards the importance of a good light is everything. Candlepower forums is a great place for reviews too.

 

[richfinn]

But the Olympic torch is designed around an actual torch - a bit of wood with some flammable junk on the end that's lit on fire. Flashlight makes more sense than torch in the concept of hand-portable lights; you're flashing a light into dark places to be able to see.

Lug nut would be called such because I'm guessing lug was a synonym for stud (maybe lug denoted a mechanical or automotive application?) and the nut threads on to that.

Those examples aside, I will say Brits and Aussies definitely have more colorful descriptive words for objects. Except lorry. It just sounds funny.

On a comparable Fenix for the Snap-On, I'm not really seeing anything they have in AAA that would be used in the same application; most of their AAA are keychain lights, or the like. Most of their "daily use" stuff is either AA or CR123.

I will stick with Torch, flashlight seems like a made up word

I was in America recently, and was horrified to learn what Biscuits are and that you eat them with gravy.

In England we call them scones and eat them with clotted cream and strawberry jam

 

[Mad40er]

I think it is a lot of money for what it is. JMO.

As far as the language argument goes, the British invented the language, and the rest of the world speaks the Queens English, so I will award that to them.

 

[BrokewrenchLS1]

I will stick with Torch, flashlight seems like a made up word

I was in America recently, and was horrified to learn what Biscuits are and that you eat them with gravy.

In England we call them scones and eat them with clotted cream and strawberry jam

Hey, in the south we eat biscuits with butter and jam/jelly all the time. Course, we have all sorts of different biscuits, too.

I mean, you guys have spotted ****/spotted dog, lobscouse (sounds like a skin disease), soused hog's face, drowned baby, and the like. And that's just food names!

On topic, I keep coming back to the battery type in the Snap-On light...why 4 AAA? I can see one AAA, or two AA, but AAA isn't as common as AA, and I don't think there's anything 4 AAA can do that 2 AA can't. Just a strange combination.

 

[t100]

for $30 at Costco, you can buy 2 Maglite LED flashlights in a package including a 3 D-cell fullsize and 2 AAA compact, batteries included.

 

[r6_cannibal]

Thanks for the review, the standard batteries would make it not such a hassle.


I was also in the rechargable camp for a while too...
I have these in my surefire A2 aviator and S2: Rechargable CR123
not as long lasting as the Lithium-Ions, but after 3 uses (or about 45 minutes of use in the S2) the batteries pay for themselves.

 

[Golfer]

Thanks for the review, the standard batteries would make it not such a hassle.


I was also in the rechargable camp for a while too...
I have these in my surefire A2 aviator and S2: Rechargable CR123
not as long lasting as the Lithium-Ions, but after 3 uses (or about 45 minutes of use in the S2) the batteries pay for themselves.

Get it bored and run the 18650

 

[MattT]

I will stick with Torch, flashlight seems like a made up word

I was in America recently, and was horrified to learn what Biscuits are and that you eat them with gravy.

In England we call them scones and eat them with clotted cream and strawberry jam

If you ask for a torch over here you'll get something that burns flammable gas.

Did you ever try biscuits? They're good and squirrel gravy is just one of the ways you can eat them. And FWIW they might look the same as scones but they're different. Way more buttery. They're fit to eat by themselves unlike scones which need the cream and jam to make 'em edible.

 

[Givl Reggin]

I was in America recently, and was horrified to learn what Biscuits are and that you eat them with gravy.

I once saw a British chap hold a *** between his lips.