Review: Laserlands 520nm 5mw pointer

Hey all, I figured I would post a short little review for this new product. As far as I can tell, it's the cheapest direct diode 520nm pointer on the market right now.

Links:
5mW 520nm Green Portable Laser Pointer Point Pen Laser Diode Pointer Osram LD in | eBay
It's slightly cheaper to buy directly from their store if you don't wanna go through ebay.
https://www.laserlands.net/laser-po...oint-pen-laser-diode-pointer-osram-ld-in.html

Shipping:
Time from purchase until I received the item was roughly 2 weeks. Not bad at all considering it came from china with free shipping.

Packing: The laser was packed safely enough, except I don't like how it came in a giant box labeled LASER TORCH! This could be an issue for those who live in countries with strict customs enforcement. Fortunately, US customs seem to slack off quite a lot.

Overall feel and quality of the laser:
For the price I paid, this laser is surprisingly well put together. Nothing rattles, the threads are smooth, the batteries make proper contact etc. It doesn't feel overly cheap or sloppily put together.

Power: I LPM'd this laser and it hovers at exactly 7mw once warmed up with no noticeable variation. Pretty close to the advertised 5mw output, and generally safe to shine around the house or use as a pointer so long as you don't do anything stupid with it.

Beam profile/specs: The divergence and spot shape of this laser leave a bit to be desired when compared to a DPSS 532nm pointer such as my laserglow Luna, but that's to be expected. The luna costs >3x more, and uses DPSS technology for a better beam.

Would I recommend it?
If you're looking for a super cheap introduction to 520nm direct diode laser pointers then go for it. If you want high quality beam specs then you'll probably be disappointed, but it still works well enough for general pointing/presentation/mess around use.

Overall rating encompassing quality/value/wait time/etc: 4.5/5 stars.

Pics:

Nice review Razako! Thanks

-Alex

Would it be considered thread-jacking for those of use that got sent these to add ours to this vs creating 6 more threads for the exact same thing?

CynicalBrad said:

Would it be considered thread-jacking for those of use that got sent these to add ours to this vs creating 6 more threads for the exact same thing?

Click to expand...

Feel free to add all you want to this one. I won't mind.

I will add some pictures to this post when I have had some sleep.
Got mine today (surprisingly actually delivered vs pink slip), guess no shipping a box of lead just yet.

The laser is reasonably well built for the price point, the threads are surprisingly smooth without feeling sticky and it feels very solid.

I metered mine at 3.9mW however my batteries were not fully charged(or the right size) as I unfortunately need to order some 16340's.

I used two rechargeable cells which were at 8v for the pair and the current draw was a firm 80mA from them.

The spot is clean without any hazing like cheap lenses can give which is a plus.
The spot is not bad at all for a diode and in a well lit room a faint beam was visible looking down beam with some minor particles in the air from cooking earlier.

Internals appear to be an acrylic lens and a simple linear driver as best I can tell.
The diode is pressed into a brass module with driver attached to the diode which is then pressed into the host from the front.

My only minor complaints or rather things I would have done differently would be to use a boost driver if not cost prohibitive and to thread-lock the middle section as I accidentally unscrewed it thinking it was a mid open host like some of the out there currently as well as a small bump or solder blob in the tailcap for the positive end to make connection with flat top batteries a little more securely.

I will have to wait for my diffraction grating to get here but it definitely appears to be slightly lower wavelength than my 520nm pen build.

I have to say so far I am impressed and would have been if I had payed $23US for it.
The biggest shock is the power actually being really close to as advertised vs the 532's which are usually dangerously overspec.
I would recommend this laser to anyone wanting a cheap low power diode green so long as you know what 5mW of green is actually like.

Picked mine up hot off the press.
At first click on it looked way stronger than 10mw but again I don't have any green 520 nor 532 metered to anything close.
It seems to have dimmed a tiny bit, maby cause it was warehouse cold and winter cold as I had battery's in it 3 minutes from the time I got in the door...or just could be my eye's adjusted to it, and it didn't help I brought out my 301 532 to compare that I have no clue what it puts out:thinking: which by the way the 301 is about 1 1/2" shorter and a bit thinner.
Like said its just about a true pointer with yes a little visible beam in a darker room and cigg smoke.
For $23 this sure feels good in hand, again like said everything screws smooth and the tail clicky snaps nice. Attachment threads up front.
Razako seemed to think the beam spec weren't to great "compared to the 532" but mine is a tight dot and the beam which I was able to coax with smoke. The focus knob also stops all the way in to what might be infinity. No splash but its also not very powerful.
The only strange thing to me is that for pointer use its kinda bulky and the tail switch but again its people preference. I can't see this laser having a short duty cycle either:undecided: with it AL heft.
Can't go wrong for the money as even if the diode were to blow the host itself seems worthy of trying to do something with it.
The box also is nice with foam inserts and polarity instructions on the back. Although it did come wrapped with the grey side of a plastic express package and heavily taped to what looks liked and reminded me to when I watch border wars and how they find the drugs packaged and hidden in the gas tanks but i'm sure Laserlands did it just to insure undamaged delivery..the "Laser Torch" part on the box was covered.

Laserland, thank you as to me and what seems the rest of us is a very very good bargain with what "feels" like a sturdy host that will last, and you always claimed it at 5mw+ which sure seems on par

What would others that got one think on its duty cycle? I can't feel any warmth..

GSS said:

Picked mine up hot off the press.
At first click on it looked way stronger than 10mw but again I don't have any green 520 nor 532 metered to anything close.
It seems to have dimmed a tiny bit, maby cause it was warehouse cold and winter cold as I had battery's in it 3 minutes from the time I got in the door...or just could be my eye's adjusted to it, and it didn't help I brought out my 301 532 to compare that I have no clue what it puts out:thinking: which by the way the 301 is about 1 1/2" shorter and a bit thinner.
Like said its just about a true pointer with yes a little visible beam in a darker room and cigg smoke.
For $23 this sure feels good in hand, again like said everything screws smooth and the tail clicky snaps nice. Attachment threads up front.
Razako seemed to think the beam spec weren't to great "compared to the 532" but mine is a tight dot and the beam which I was able to coax with smoke. The focus knob also stops all the way in to what might be infinity. No splash but its also not very powerful.
The only strange thing to me is that for pointer use its kinda bulky and the tail switch but again its people preference. I can't see this laser having a short duty cycle either:undecided: with it AL heft.
Can't go wrong for the money as even if the diode were to blow the host itself seems worthy of trying to do something with it.
The box also is nice with foam inserts and polarity instructions on the back. Although it did come wrapped with the grey side of a plastic express package and heavily taped to what looks liked and reminded me to when I watch border wars and how they find the drugs packaged and hidden in the gas tanks but i'm sure Laserlands did it just to insure undamaged delivery..the "Laser Torch" part on the box was covered.

Laserland, thank you as to me and what seems the rest of us is a very very good bargain with what "feels" like a sturdy host that will last, and you always claimed it at 5mw+ which sure seems on par

What would others that got one think on its duty cycle? I can't feel any warmth..

Click to expand...

I'm assuming an effectively unlimited duty cycle at this power level. I might conduct a 'torture test' with this and leave it on for a few hours while checking for heat, just to see.

Nice detailed reviews guys...:gj:

Jerry

Razako said:

I'm assuming an effectively unlimited duty cycle at this power level. I might conduct a 'torture test' with this and leave it on for a few hours while checking for heat, just to see.

Click to expand...

Yeah!! take one for the team:beer:
also just noticed if you take out the needed battery isolation tube there's room for some 18350's..

GSS said:

Yeah!! take one for the team:beer:
also just noticed if you take out the needed battery isolation tube there's room for some 18350's..

Click to expand...

I left it on for one hour, and the host only got very slightly warm to the touch. I'm just gonna say these have unlimited duty cycle.

Razako said:

I left it on for one hour, and the host only got very slightly warm to the touch. I'm just gonna say these have unlimited duty cycle.

Click to expand...

I'd say so as well based on how it is put together. unscrew the very front where the lens is and you will see what I mean.
Mine only pulled 80mA aswell so not a lot of energy going into it to be turned into heat.

I will do a lot more testing of this laser when my IMR 16340's arrive including power over time and temp/battery voltage at intervals of lets say 5 minutes for an hour.
That brass heatsink is only a couple of millimeters thick but should be fine for this use.


Spread out in order.


The lens assembly.


The diode in its brass heatsink.


Driver Side 1


Driver Side 2

If you don't mind Razako, I add some things on here.

Laserlands 5mW 520nm Laser Pointer.

Wavelength: 520 +/-5nm

It has a beautiful colour, resembling traffic light green. I was pleasantly surprised by the colour compared to that of a 532nm. This wavelength is more pure of a green IMO.

Power: 5mW (Rated) Actual 10mW+ (tbc by LPM)

Its power also was of a surprise to me, I was in a reasonably lit room at the time and I was able to see a dim beam when hovering over black objects. Without an LPM test I can't say for definite, but the power is most likely exceeding 10mW. In a dark room, the laser is able to compete with my 589 Spartan so I'm most content with the power.

Batteries:

This laser takes 2x 16340 (CR123A) at 3.7V each. It is too early to tell what the battery lifetime is yet, but I can imagine it will be longer than that of the 589 Aurora and slightly less than the 589 Spartan.

Build quality:
For the retail price of this laser, one thing that was impressive was the quality of the host. The host is actually of high quality. The batteries fits fine, with no contact problems or rattle. The tail button turns on/off without issues. The lens end is well designed. The only thing I would say, is I'd rather have a glass lens. But for the price, I really can't complain. The lens does the job, you just have to be extra careful when cleaning it.

Beam Specs:

I will record the specs and photograph the dot/beam when I can.
I can say that I'm happy with the beam quality. The dot looks slightly oval, but will have to confirm that this is not an illusion. Divergence looks good, but haven't tested this in a larger space yet.

Shipping:

The shipping was quicker than expected, seeing that it was coming from China. Usually it can take up to a month for things to arrive, but only 9 days after I received my tracking number, it had arrived. Very good for the impatient hobbyist.

Packaging:

The seller had packaged the laser well. No risk of the laser being broken, as there was protective foam inside the laser box as well. But like Razako already said. The box saying laser torch on it does make it a bit risky going through customs. 1) Seeing the word laser, already can flag interest with the authorities. 2) The word 'torch' usually is an object which is particularly bright. Put both together, and you could have a problem.
Luckily for us, we didn't. But the custom label did state the item as a gift.

Overall, this laser has made a very nice addition to my collection. It is highly stable, giving me the idea that the diode inside might be able to cope with some more power? Are these MDF520's or more powerful Osram PL520-50's possibly?
Well anyway, I finally have a 520. Already considering a 1.4W 520 soon.

I will add pics, and hopefully an LPM reading soon.

Also, just a quick thank you to Laserlands. He didn't have to send out free lasers to us, so again thank you. :beer: These are by far, the cheapest 520's on the market at the moment, and you sure would not think it. I highly recommend this laser to anyone, not just beginners.

So we seem to agree its a nice piece for the money and a heck of a starter laser
I couldn't of used any cheaper battery's than my GTL's and after a total of 20 or 30 minutes run time, no drainage really measured.
Also was curious of what seemed more initial brightness when I first got from the PO warehouse and 5 minutes in the freezer really seamed to step it up a bit before it settled down again..

The laser seems to be an all round pleaser.
Maybe someone should do a operating temperature test. It will be interesting to see how temperature affects the laser. One thing you may notice GSS, is that the wavelength may ever so slightly shift.

Nice additions to the thread all. This laser looks like a winner all around so far.

It sure is Razako. :beer: