Energizer Triple Beam 3-LED Compact Flashlight (Batteries Included)

I've seen these in Target, but selling for around $18. Amazon's price is $7 and some change, so I figured "why not?"First off, the light is plastic. Polypropylene, polymer, whatever you want to call it. It's plastic. This reduces weight, and in the cold or heat, it makes the light more comfortable to hold. I don't have any problems with durability; this light is tough. I kicked mine around a little bit, dropped it off a ladder, and threw it against a concrete wall. The only damage was a split in the seam between the black plastic and the olive green plastic, but the light still functions 100%. The split was an easy fix with a few drops of super glue, but electrical tape would fix heavier damage. I need to point out that this wasn't normal use; I deliberately tried to damage the light.The light has finger grooves on the underside, and it was designed for a "mechanic's grip" where the beam comes out between your thumb and index finger (as opposed to a "cop grip" where the tailcap is between those fingers). If you care, the month and year of manufacture is on the light. Look right in front of the tailcap, on the left side, under the MADE IN CHINA stamp. Above it will be "Patent Pending" in white lettering, and under it will be the date. Mine is from 10/2011.The light runs on two AA batteries, and two Energizer alkalines are included. Lithium and NiMH cells will also work. The tailcap uses Energizer's lock / unlock deal, where the tailcap doesn't unscrew like a threaded cap, but lines up with a "locked" icon to indicate that the tailcap is locked on. The tailcap then rotates about 1/4 of a turn to the "unlocked" icon and can be removed. I don't like this, but it's not a big deal. The tailcap has a lanyard slot in it; I always lanyard-up my lights.The buttons are electronic switches, so there is no "click" when you use the light. There is no parasitic drain (where the switch runs down the batteries, even when the light is off) with this light. The buttons are on the side of the light instead of the tailcap. This is fine with me, and works well.Output is really nice for a $7 flashlight. The front button is red and operates the red 5mm LED. Press once for on, and again for off. The red light is about 7 lumens and runs for 71 hours. There's a few halos in the beam, but it's only noticeable when lighting a featureless surface. In everyday use, it's fine. The red light is great for preserving your night vision or looking at something without waking up anyone else in the room.The middle button controls the white light, which is a Cree XR-E I think. Press once for low, twice for high, and a third time for off. If you have the light on low and wait for more than two seconds, the light will turn off with the next button press. Low is 50 lumens with a 5-hour runtime. High is 93 lumens for two hours. The beam on mine is pretty nice, very white, but the hotspot looks like a cloud. Again, this is only noticeable when looking at a blank wall or something similar. The low mode is good for most tasks, and the high mode really lights things up.The last button is for the green 5mm LED. Press for on, press again for off. The green light is about 12 lumens with a 50-hour runtime. It has the same halo problems as the red light, but they disappear in real-world use. The tint isn't as green as I'd like; it's too light. For most people, it will be fine. The green light is ideal for looking in cracks or when you need to see a lot of detail. It also works well when searching for change in the couch cushions or on the bed, as green helps with color definition.The LEDs aren't exposed; there's a plastic lens to protect them.Another thing about the electronic switches is you can toggle between them at any time, but you can't have more than one of the lights on at the same time (from white, a press of the red button will turn the white light off and the red light on, etc.). This also mean you can't have the red and green on at the same time, but I don't know why you'd want to anyway (red mixed with green gives you an ugly brown color).Overall, I love this light for seven dollars. Finding a light with 93 real lumens for this price is a good deal, and finding a multi-colored LED light for this price is also really nice, but having both in the same package is just outstanding. Thinking about it, a non-LED MiniMag AA costs more than this. This Triple Beam blows away the MagLite in every aspect.I've left some photos in the product photos for clarity on some things.

I bought this ergonomic LED flashlight in December 2013 for $9.95 to keep handy on the nightstand for emergencies and to preserve my night vision when getting up at night. I also toss it in my photo bag when traveling, particularly for the red LED feature. To date, it's held up to regular but light-duty indoor use at home and on the road.The build quality is good overall. The hard plastic exterior is relatively smooth; it doesn't have a rubberized coating. The three rubberized on/off buttons are well located and can be easily operated with your thumb. The battery compartment has a bayonet twist-off cap but doesn't have a mechanical lock to keep it from eventually coming loose with rough handling. The weak end cap is what makes this light a poor choice for outdoor/heavy use and keeps me from giving it more stars.The white LED light is very bright with two brightness settings – pressing the round rubber-topped “on” button once turns on the white LED; pressing it quickly again makes the white LED somewhat brighter. The main on/off button has a good feel and has a muffled 'click' when pressed. The switches for the red and green LED lights are rather small and require more deliberate force to turn on/off; they don't really 'click' when pressed. The switching mechanism is such that you can only have one LED on at a time. The red and green LED's are not nearly as bright as the main white LED and are of limited use outdoors.Pros:Ergonomic design, comfortable gripBright white LEDSeparate switches for red and green LED'sWorks with 1.2v NiMH rechargeable batteriesCons:Red and green LED's not very bright; best for indoor useBattery cover has no mechanical lock; can come looseLittle/no warning when batteries run down, as light simply stops workingBattery cap has an eyelet for a lanyard, but lanyard not providedOverall, this flashlight is a good value at $10 to throw in your kit bag for light-to-medium-duty use.

I really liked this flashlight for the year that it worked. I loved the separate switches for the red and green LEDs, so I didn't have to cycle through a bunch of button presses. It was nicely sized, not some dainty thing. It rolled pretty easily when placed on a slanted surface - a squarer shape might be a nice improvement. The end cap - the only removable part - went on and off smoothly, with a firm detent when locked. The red LED was too bright to really preserve night vision, but because it was in its own lens cup it would be easy to put red nail polish or enamel paint over it to dim it down. I had planned to do exactly that, but before I got around to it the switch failed. None of the buttons would click, as if they were all jammed. I went to the Energizer website and found that this is apparently a common problem, which now has me concerned about the Energizer headlamp I own that looks like it uses the same switch.At any rate, I used the "contact" system on the Energizer website and got a canned email response. A week or so later, I received another email saying I'd be receiving a postage-paid return sticker. I received the return sticker about a week later and sent it back on their dime. A couple weeks later, I received a check in the mail for $30, which is I guess the retail price of the flashlight.So: boos to the Bunny for a possible faulty switch, but bouquets to the Bunny for standing behind the product and making things right.And what am I buying with the $30 from Energizer? As much as I liked the Energizer flashlight, the mixed reviews on the switch has me wary; I'm probably going to try something else of similar size and function.