Fenix E25 Flashlight

A spot light that fits in your pocket and runs on 2 AA's.

This is my go-to light. It's very bright, and shines a beam like a spotlight up to around 50 yards, but will light up things up to about 100 yards.

I have no issue at all night hiking with this light because it's so bright and shines so far. I initially got it for exploring mines and caves because my Petzl TacTikka XP just wasn't enough for the mist filled air, or the long tunnels (good headlamp, bad spot light).

i got my E25 for $30 and could not be more pleased. Fenix makes many other models that run on other batteries, but I went for the ones that use AA and AAA for availability reasons in an emergency (I also own the LD02, but haven't used it enough yet for a review).

Construction seems very solid, and has good texture for a secure grip. The light turns on by holding in the power button for a few seconds, and you can switch through the three brightness settings by clicking the power button, once you have it turned on. It has a circuit memory that makes it use the same brightness setting as when you last turned it off. Unscrew the head to change batteries.

When this light is turned on indoors and pointed at the ceiling, the entire room will light up as if there was a lamp in the room. I was very impressed with how much light this this puts out from just 2 AA's.

As the batteries lose power, the light will start to only allow the lower brightness settings to work. It will still take 3 clicks to go through all of the settings, but 2 or 3 of them may be the same brightness due to low battery power. I thought I had somehow damaged my power button at one point, but after replacing my batteries I was back to high lumens, 3 brightnesses, and a smile on my face.

After using this light quite a bit for a few weeks, I would easily recommend this product to a friend, or anyone who I might have to rely on in the wilderness. I've been thoroughly impressed, and it has out shined every other light that it's encountered by far.

UPDATE 12/2016 :

I just bought the "Ultimate Edition" of this light as a replacement for my old one that I had misplaced, and my immediate impressions were not very good. 

The price has gone up from when I first bought it, so I ended up paying $50 instead of the previous $35, and I assumed "Ultimate Edition" meant better.

The on/off button has been "enhanced" to activate more functions, but in reality it just complicates a great flashlight's simple job. 

They've also added tactical "ribs" around the area of the on/off button, making it almost impossible to feel for when in the dark (unlike the simple model that I first bought). Prepare to fumble this design around in your hand a few times before turning it on.

After realizing that I was less than impressed with a once great product, I turned it on outside to see how good of a beam it shot (the reason I purchased the original). It did alright, but I thought it wasn't as good as the original. I went inside, and turned it on in the living room to check how well it illuminated an entire room. As soon as I turned it on, I looked at where it was pointing, and to my surprise, there was my original flashlight!!! It had rolled under a corner of my TV.

I started testing them side by side interchanging batteries, and the original version is hands down a much better product.  -1/2 a star for dumbing down a product. Stay away from the "Ultimate Edition".