I’ve visited the website of Iain Sinclair before, when I’d read somewhere about their superlight and supersharp utility knife, the size of a credit card (the CardSharp). Last year, I saw a new product had become available: the Eon Extreme, a credit card size flashlight. (Apparently all their products are credit card size, more or less.)
Specs: 45 grams, dimensions 8.5×5.5×0.4-0.8 cm, 230 lumens and rechargeable via micro-USB.
It boasts to have the highest power to weight ratio of any flashlight/torch in the world.
The Eon Extreme has 3 4 settings:
- Discreet eco light, 12 hours on a full charge
- Hyperbright light, 2 hours on a full charge
- Strobe light, 5 hours on a full charge
- Slow strobe light, ? hours on a full charge (undocumented)
(Since I’ve only had the unit for less than a day (more about this later) now I can’t comment on the battery life myself yet.)
My first impression is that it’s a good solid product that delivers what it promises. Since there is no focusing head, you get very little throw (which is fine for the target of the product). When used in a small room (4×5 meters), at first glance, you would be surprised that you aren’t using an overhead fluorescent light in the room, so bright is it.
About the ordering/delivery process… I placed my order in November 2011, and the unit arrived… This week (August 2012)! It has taken me many, many emails to their customer support (which changed email addresses a couple of times during the process, and uses Gmail…). A couple of times I was promised the unit would be shipped ‘next week’, but when I checked back a couple of weeks later it was delayed once again. A similar experience with the CardSharp as well.
Can I recommend them? Well… Their products are great, no doubt about that! So if you have a lot of patience, and don’t mind ‘poking’ their customer service every now and then, go for it!
Update:
On November 14th I noticed my Eon Extreme wasn’t functioning properly anymore. I’v contacted Iain Sinclair who identified it as ‘a faulty unit’. I’ve returned it to them, and am now awaiting a new unit.
After they received it I was told (on November 27th) the shipping of the return unit ‘won’t be immediately as we don’t have the stock at the moment but I will prioritise yours as soon as we do and I’ll let you know once it’s been despatched’.
Update 2: February 13th, 2013 by now. Still no sign of the replacement… 🙁