Review: Aurora SSC P7 AK-P7-5 "900 lumens"

I'm not a big "flashaholic" and my knowledge of LEDs and flashlights in general ain't much.
This is just a basic review and, more importantly, an excuse to practice with my brand new Canon EOS 60D & 18-135mm IS lens! So, if the image quality sucks, let me know, and I'll use my 1.3Mp cell-phone camera instead.:san:

Overview:
I was searching for a solid, bright light with lots of battery capacity that I can take on hiking/camping trips etc. since I plan on getting out the door more (another hobby of mine).
I came across the "900 lumen" Aurora P7 light on Dealextreme.com. For $33 and some change, I figured it was a good deal. I snagged one up, not expecting the full 900 lumens, but still with high hopes of finding what I was looking for.

Appearance and Construction:
My first impression was that this light is substantially smaller than I expected. This is a plus, because I don't like big lights (except in the case of high power lasers).
The anodized aluminum body is great. There are no defects and I love the grey color. Once I get some wear on this light, we'll see how hard the finish is.



All the threads are well machined and smooth. The light comes with some nice o-rings which are lubricated. I have not yet dunked the light to test its aquatic abilities. The reflector is textured (which I like) and the window is glass, apparently not AR coated.
I really like the stainless steel "strike" bezel, although I do not plan on striking anyone with it (not that I could maim someone with it anyway - it's too shallow and dull). It makes a nice accent.



Again, I don't know squat about LEDs, so I am going to assume that the LED is a P7, but if it were not, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference unless I looked it up. Which I am too lazy to do.


:can:

The click switch is great and controls the modes.
One thing that I find annoying, though, is that during use, you must cycle through the Low mode before the light can be turned off.
It goes: Off - High - Low - Off.

Power and Performance:
Having a powerful camera with full auto really comes in handy for this. I tried my best to get brightness comparisons as true to life as I could (for the outdoor shots, anyway).

Now, this laser... uhm... I mean flashlight (reviewed too many lasers)... is a bit brighter than some "230 lumen" lights I've owned but not so much that I would believe this thing outputs 900 lumens.
The light draws 1.0A from a 2600mAh Panasonic 18650 (only the best!).
On low, the light is much dimmer, but outputs just enough to be useful. I won't bother measuring current here.

Here is the beam on Hi/Low at 1 meter:


Here is the beam on Hi/Low at 20 meters:


On Hi mode, the las- erm... light, does get warm after a minute or two of operation. It's not something I am concerned about, though.
I haven't done any tests on battery lifetime yet, but It should be good and long, considering it pulls less current/voltage than some of the lasers I have owned.

The throw is pretty poor, but the flood is good and bright. It would be nice to get a better beam, but I don't really care that much.
Compared to any of my lasers, the beam divergence is awful.


The color is a pretty well-balanced white, IMO. A warmer tint would be nice for someone looking for a more "natural" beam of light.

Beam shot:


Oops, how'd that get here?
Here we go:


Conclusion:
I really like this light. It is more than adequate for my needs and fits well within the specifications I was looking for. It is not too big and has just the right amount of modes: two.
It seems rugged enough and I expect it to last me many trips.
Besides all that, the body is quite nice and could make a sweet host for a 2.5W 808nm portable in the future... maybe.

Not having anything "superior" to compare it to, this is easily my favorite light. I can't wait to take it on an adventure.


Pros:
Compact, good finish, good power source, bright output, good color temp., low price.
Cons:
Poor throw, must cycle though modes before turning off, not likely 900 lumens.

I'll give it a 4 out of 5.

"Appearance and Construction:
My first impression was that this laser is substantially smaller than I expected. This is a plus, because I don't like big lights (except in the case of high power lasers).
The anodized aluminum body is great. There are no defects and I love the grey color. Once I get some wear on this light, we'll see how hard the finish is."

Don't you mean torch or flashlight?

and nice review!+1
i got the same light, pretty sturdy light! just to bad you cant screw the head of, seems to be pressed onto the battery barrel, atleast mine does.

Xtrm2Rick said:

"Appearance and Construction:
My first impression was that this laser is substantially smaller than I expected. This is a plus, because I don't like big lights (except in the case of high power lasers).
The anodized aluminum body is great. There are no defects and I love the grey color. Once I get some wear on this light, we'll see how hard the finish is."

Don't you mean torch or flashlight?

and nice review!+1
i got the same light, pretty sturdy light! just to bad you cant screw the head of, seems to be pressed onto the battery barrel, atleast mine does.

Click to expand...

Thanks for that. It's really hard not to type in "laser."

Yes, it doesn't seem to want to unscrew, but I'll see if it can be removed somehow.

RA_pierce said:

Thanks for that. It's really hard not to type in "laser."

Yes, it doesn't seem to want to unscrew, but I'll see if it can be removed somehow.

Click to expand...

I know how you feel, afterall we are all here for the lasers right!

i even tried clamping it in a vice but i couldn't get it to unscrew so i do think they most likely press-fitted it, np for me since i rather use it as a laser....uhm flashlight

anyway its certainly a nice and sturdy torch for the money! i dropped it a few times on hard surfaces and it still works perfectly, the glass just cracked after the 5th time.

it does seem to get a little warm/hot after having it on for a while on high mode if its not in my hand.

i just found 1 more con about this light, it cant tailstand :yabbmad:

That's a gorgeous looking flashlight

And exciting for me to see here. Being a "flashaholic" myself, but a complete novice in this world of lasers, it's nice to see something truly familiar on here

The P7 is a great emitter, and I wouldn't have any reason to doubt that you have a P7 in that torch. The close-up you posted of the chip certainly looks like a P7. I can see the 4 disctinct cells. While some other LED chips have 4 distinct cells too, they tend to be the newer/good chips as well.

In terms of the output, there are a couple things to be aware of. The SSC P7 *can* do 900 lumens, but:

- The "C Bin" of that chip (in your torch) can do 700-800
- And that's when driven at 2800mA

Since your torch's driver puts out 1800mA, you're probably getting about 66% of 700-800 lumens. So for ease of math, I'd estimate around 500 lumens.

That said -- this is normal. In fact, this is good for a single 18650 cell SSC P7 torch. A lot of single-18650 lights are driving the emitters with much less (1200 or even 1000). So far, 1800mA is the highest current from a single-18650 I've seen for sale in a pre-built torch.

So, IMO -- you did well!

Xtrm2Rick said:

i just found 1 more con about this light, it cant tailstand :yabbmad:

Click to expand...

Yes, I did notice that, too. I forgot to mention that. It's not a big deal for me since I have a mini tripod I can stick it in. But it would be nice. I imagine that with some small modifications it could be made to tail-stand.

rhd said:

That's a gorgeous looking flashlight

And exciting for me to see here. Being a "flashaholic" myself, but a complete novice in this world of lasers, it's nice to see something truly familiar on here

The P7 is a great emitter, and I wouldn't have any reason to doubt that you have a P7 in that torch. The close-up you posted of the chip certainly looks like a P7. I can see the 4 disctinct cells. While some other LED chips have 4 distinct cells too, they tend to be the newer/good chips as well.

In terms of the output, there are a couple things to be aware of. The SSC P7 *can* do 900 lumens, but:

- The "C Bin" of that chip (in your torch) can do 700-800
- And that's when driven at 2800mA

Since your torch's driver puts out 1800mA, you're probably getting about 66% of 700-800 lumens. So for ease of math, I'd estimate around 500 lumens.

That said -- this is normal. In fact, this is good for a single 18650 cell SSC P7 torch. A lot of single-18650 lights are driving the emitters with much less (1200 or even 1000). So far, 1800mA is the highest current from a single-18650 I've seen for sale in a pre-built torch.

So, IMO -- you did well!

Click to expand...

That sounds reassuring.
Would you say installing a driver capable of more current would be beneficial/worthwhile?
I have no idea what 2-300 more lumens would look like.

Lol this torch should not be modified to be a laser. It's awesome as it is

RA_pierce said:

Yes, I did notice that, too. I forgot to mention that. It's not a big deal for me since I have a mini tripod I can stick it in. But it would be nice. I imagine that with some small modifications it could be made to tail-stand.



That sounds reassuring.
Would you say installing a driver capable of more current would be beneficial/worthwhile?
I have no idea what 2-300 more lumens would look like.

Click to expand...

i'd imagine that it would shorten battery life time by a decent amount, might also get pretty hot.

i would say keep it the way it is, a pretty well balances light.

Xtrm2Rick said:

i'd imagine that it would shorten battery life time by a decent amount, might also get pretty hot.

i would say keep it the way it is, a pretty well balances light.

Click to expand...

I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the input. :wave:

RA_pierce said:

Would you say installing a driver capable of more current would be beneficial/worthwhile?
I have no idea what 2-300 more lumens would look like.

Click to expand...

Nope, I don't think so.

- I'm not sure you'd find that the jump from say 500 to 700 lumens would be impressive. In fact, I would lean more towards "difficult to notice", unless you're really paying attention.

- I'm also not sure that you'd actually be able to realize this goal. I don't know the capabilities of your 18650's, but I would imagine that there is a practical limit to the amount of current any driver can provide from just one 18650. I've seen a few torchs that claim to have drivers supplying 2500mA from one cell, but I'm not sure there's much consensus that this is the actual output of the driver when driven from one 18650. If you look at drivers meant to provide say 2800mA, they always require two 18650 cells.
For example - DealExtreme: $5.62 Regulated CV/CC 5-Mode LED Driver Circuit Board for Cree MC-E/SSC P7 Emitters (8.4V Max Input)

I think the only real way to get some extra lumens out of your torch would be to switch the emitter for an SST-50 or Cree XM-L, which are slightly more efficient on the same levels of current. But again, I think you'd be looking at the tiniest, maybe another 100 lumens, of increase. And you'd be spending another $25

So no - I'd enjoy your flashlight as is. I think it's a great choice.

Thanks for the detailed info.

The 18650s I use are Panasonic 2600mAh and Sanyo 2400mAh (and a couple "backup" TrustFires). I have no problems running a 2W 808nm LD at 2A and a 2.5W at 2.8A, but the Vf is only ~2.2.
I'm not sure what the Vf of the P7 would be but I'm sure much more than the LD.
I'll have to check and see what the W/h output of these 18650s are.

I think I will take the advice here and keep the light as it is.

I have this light, it's great! The build quality is the best I've seen from a DX torch, and it's soo bright... And BTW mine survived the dunk test fine.

rhd said:

In terms of the output, there are a couple things to be aware of. The SSC P7 *can* do 900 lumens, but:

- The "C Bin" of that chip (in your torch) can do 700-800
- And that's when driven at 2800mA

Since your torch's driver puts out 1800mA, you're probably getting about 66% of 700-800 lumens. So for ease of math, I'd estimate around 500 lumens.

Click to expand...

Some of that's right, but mostly off by a good bit... First of all, where did you get 1.8A? I read 1.0A from the original post. That math is pretty much right, but this light is directly driven. There isn't any current regulation, so each individual light will draw something different depending on that LED's Vf. You're also counting LED lumens, which are pretty far off from out the front lumens. ~800 LED lumens will give you about 450 out the front.

That said -- this is normal. In fact, this is good for a single 18650 cell SSC P7 torch. A lot of single-18650 lights are driving the emitters with much less (1200 or even 1000). So far, 1800mA is the highest current from a single-18650 I've seen for sale in a pre-built torch.

Click to expand...

You don't have much experience with DX lights, do you... I have a few P7's, all pulling at least 2.8A - my AK-P7-5 pulls 3.4 amps.

I hate to tell you this RA, but your Aurora is probably giving you less than 300 lumens. Although if it's bright enough for you, don't even worry about it.

randomlugia said:

First of all, where did you get 1.8A? I read 1.0A from the original post.

Click to expand...

I got it from the specs of his torch. Give them a read if you'd like. Use the search function on Google, you'll find it

randomlugia said:

You don't have much experience with DX lights, do you... I have a few P7's, all pulling at least 2.8A - my AK-P7-5 pulls 3.4 amps.

Click to expand...

You have an AK-P7-5 from DX, running on a SINGLE 18650, that feeds the emitter 3.4 amps?

If you're sure about that, link me up, because I'd sure love to own that magical torch

And btw - they say direct drive on DX - but that's never in my experience true direct drive. There's always some sort of PWM in b/n. There certainly has to be here, otherwise he wouldn't have 5 modes. That functionality comes typically from the driver.

If this were truly direct drive, I don't believe it would be pulling just 1 amp as posted.

He doesn't have 5 modes, he has 2 modes!

RA_pierce said:

The click switch is great and controls the modes.
One thing that I find annoying, though, is that during use, you must cycle through the Low mode before the light can be turned off.
It goes: Off - High - Low - Off.

Click to expand...

Mode 1: direct drive

Mode 2: resistor in the tailcap

rhd said:

I got it from the specs of his torch. Give them a read if you'd like. Use the search function on Google, you'll find it

Click to expand...

Once you use DX enough, you start to realize that their specs are crap... 900 lumens? RA's readings obviously contradict those, and he's the one testing his own torch. Like I said, each individual light will have a different current draw based on the Vf of the LED.

You have an AK-P7-5 from DX, running on a SINGLE 18650, that feeds the emitter 3.4 amps?

If you're sure about that, link me up, because I'd sure love to own that magical torch

Click to expand...

Yes, it's the same one. DealExtreme: $33.09 Aurora AK-P7-5 HA-III SSC P7-C 2-Mode 900-Lumen LED Flashlight with Assault Crown (1*18650) But again, I cannot guarantee you'll get one with the same performance, it really just comes down to luck with these Chinese dealers.

RA, you should take apart your light (including unscrewing the LED pill), and thoroughly clean all of the threads and contacts. This has made almost all of my lights stronger than they were out of the box, and if there's a problem with one of the threads, it might bump it up to 3 amps!

You can never trust their lumen specs. But DX is fairly honest about that - for a cheap Chinese site. They usually disclaim "manufacturer rated" or something along those lines.

But their other specs are typically truthful, and they're good about correcting mistakes upon notice.

For example, the output of drivers in their lights, is generally dead on. I'm really curious about the resistor in the tailcap. I've never seen that before. The only direct drive light I've owned still had a non-driver pwm.