FuzzyPancake
Member
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2020
- Messages
- 48
- Points
- 18
This is the first high powered laser I’ve ever owned or had any personal experience with, so understand that this is not a comparative review. This is my experience with the product and JetLasers as a seller. I have zero affiliations with JetLasers. I chose to buy from them because of the high praise the LPF veterans give them. My expectations were high as I was led to believe JetLasers is among the very best places to buy a reasonably priced enthusiast handheld laser.
Price
I paid $150 USD for the laser itself, $35 for “a pair” of goggles from the laser’s product page (more on that later), and $38 for shipping.
Shipping Time
My order was placed February 14th, 2020 and it arrived March 11th, 2020. At the time, COVID-19 kept the company from functioning fully due to mandatory quarantines, so my shipping time was not typical and I do not hold the delays against them whatsoever. Once the order had shipped and I was subsequently given a tracking number, and it took just 3 days for the laser to arrive from China on my doorstep in rural Ohio via Fedex. The goggles I ordered with it were shipped separately 2-3 days after the laser arrived, and the goggles arrived at my house a total of 6 days after the laser. Note that I was fully expecting the goggles to arrive with the laser and only after emailing customer service thinking they forgot them was I informed that they would arrive separately.
As far as all the customs seizing bullshit you occasionally hear about... I dealt with none of that whatsoever .
Customer Service
I exchanged many emails with the company’s excellent customer service rep, Mr. Gray. While it is apparent to me that English is not his first language, he was courteous, knowledgeable and replied quickly - within hours usually.
What’s in the Box
All the laser components were superbly wrapped and secured. If I chucked that box out of a second story window on concrete I’d trust everything in it to be fine.
All Box Contents:
Again, the goggles were shipped separately. They arrived in a little box with bubble wrap inside of another nice little padded glasses case wrapped in cellophane with a microfiber cloth. Despite Mr. Gray having said via email that I would be receiving “OD3” goggles, what I actually read on the goggles themselves was “OD5+” which I was pleasantly surprised by. They make the dot look harmless even on a white wall and I have zero concerns about my eye’s safety while wearing them. If I took a direct hit to the eyes with these goggles on I’m certain my eyes would be alright.
Craftsmanship
The (steel?) host is a work of art. The machining and finish are top notch. What you see in the pictures is what you get. All the threads for all the components (lens cap, tail cap, battery extensions) operate smoothly. Maybe they could have incorporated some rubber grommets in the design to make the final turns feel tighter and reduce risk of damaging the threads from overturning, but I’m getting into nit-picks here.
The rubberized tail power activation switch is tactile and stiff - an A+. The metal momentary on/off and toggle buttons are... utilitarian. They can spin around in their housings and can wiggle around just a little when you rub your finger over them. The momentary switch audibly and visibly slides out when the laser is tilted upside down, but of course does not fall out or anything. It's somewhat jarring in comparison to the rest of the device’s rigidness. The underlying switches beneath these buttons fortunately are superb and provide a satisfying, audible, and very tactile click when pressed and depressed. To reiterate, the switches under the buttons function well and feel good to press but the button “covers” aren’t great.
The rotating focus mechanism is, as others have said, a little too easy to rotate. I once heard another guy say in his video review for the PL-E Pro that he could probably “blow it” out of focus which is absolutely NOT true (for mine anyway), but it could certainly do with having a bit more resistance. It’s a very functional focusing mechanism that allows for the tiniest of adjustments an I doubt I’ll ever have issues with it being easy to rotate. I think it goes without saying, but it does allow you to focus the beam to the tiniest little slit - perfect for burning.
Using the included 18650 battery sleeves (with 18650’s inserted), there is a little of what I call “battery wobbling” inside the device you can feel and barely hear hear if you shake it, but it is only noticeable if you shake the device and nobody should be shaking this thing under normal use.
The plastic goggles do their job well as I said. They are made with a quality plastic that has a nice amount of flex that should keep them from snapping from minor mishandling. I am fortunately able to wear my wayfarer seeing glasses in front of the goggles due to how very close the goggles are to my face. It’s not exactly comfortable, but not a hassle either.
Performance
The power graph below provided by Mr. Gray per my request shows the laser’s output graphed in mW over seconds. Looks like it’s about 1650mw, so it’s a little over-spec which is welcome and consistent with what I’ve read around here. Beam divergence is… well I don’t have anything to compare it to and I don’t really care enough to measure it, frankly. The laser doesn't output a culminated circular beam but rather a solid rectangular beam. I understand this is totally normal for direct diode lasers. There isn’t a distracting amount of beam “splash”. From what I’ve seen around the web and in comparison to my two <5mW lasers, my device has an exceptionally clean "dot", I assume due to clean and high quality optics.
Mr. Gray informed me via email that the laser’s duty cycle is 3 minutes on and 1 minute off. I was hoping for something like 10 minutes on and 1 minute off given all the space this thing has for a heat sink. I'm not impressed in this regard. The 3W 445nm Sanwu Challenger II at less than half the weight and nearly double the output has an unlimited duty cycle (granted it does cost $90 more right now).
Form Factor
While it should not come as a surprise to any purchaser as it's expressed on the store page, this thing is beyond long (relative to most other hosts from other sellers) at 14.5 inches and very wide at 1.5 inches. I find the device’s incredible mass to be endearing, but some may find it excessive.
Final Thoughts
The JetLasers PL-E Pro 1.6W 445nm is a high quality handheld laser with a lot of functionality for a very reasonable price.
JetLasers as a seller has proven that they sell what they advertise, and that their customer service knows how to take care of buyers. For anybody like me that gets anxious about buying from Chinese companies, rest assured these guys are legit.
Have questions?
I'll gladly answer any questions I can about the device or my experience with JetLasers as a seller. I don't mind if this post is years old by the time you ask.
Video
A quick demonstration of the laser on a foggy morning. Please forgive my horrendous camera. I upped the exposure because the original video was pretty dark. As a result the beam does appear brighter than it was in reality, but it was still very visible.
Pictures
This was taken later in the morning than the video and was not edited in any way beyond lowering the resolution.
Price
I paid $150 USD for the laser itself, $35 for “a pair” of goggles from the laser’s product page (more on that later), and $38 for shipping.
Shipping Time
My order was placed February 14th, 2020 and it arrived March 11th, 2020. At the time, COVID-19 kept the company from functioning fully due to mandatory quarantines, so my shipping time was not typical and I do not hold the delays against them whatsoever. Once the order had shipped and I was subsequently given a tracking number, and it took just 3 days for the laser to arrive from China on my doorstep in rural Ohio via Fedex. The goggles I ordered with it were shipped separately 2-3 days after the laser arrived, and the goggles arrived at my house a total of 6 days after the laser. Note that I was fully expecting the goggles to arrive with the laser and only after emailing customer service thinking they forgot them was I informed that they would arrive separately.
As far as all the customs seizing bullshit you occasionally hear about... I dealt with none of that whatsoever .
Customer Service
I exchanged many emails with the company’s excellent customer service rep, Mr. Gray. While it is apparent to me that English is not his first language, he was courteous, knowledgeable and replied quickly - within hours usually.
What’s in the Box
All the laser components were superbly wrapped and secured. If I chucked that box out of a second story window on concrete I’d trust everything in it to be fine.
All Box Contents:
- The laser itself (business end and dual battery extensions were wrapped separately)
- Short lanyard with key ring that oddly could not be attached to the laser’s lens cap
- Microfiber cloth
- Two small magnets for placement between batteries with flat tops (I need them)
- 18650 compatibility sleeves (also handy if you choose to use 18650’s instead of 26650’s like me)
- Quality Assurance Card
Again, the goggles were shipped separately. They arrived in a little box with bubble wrap inside of another nice little padded glasses case wrapped in cellophane with a microfiber cloth. Despite Mr. Gray having said via email that I would be receiving “OD3” goggles, what I actually read on the goggles themselves was “OD5+” which I was pleasantly surprised by. They make the dot look harmless even on a white wall and I have zero concerns about my eye’s safety while wearing them. If I took a direct hit to the eyes with these goggles on I’m certain my eyes would be alright.
Craftsmanship
The (steel?) host is a work of art. The machining and finish are top notch. What you see in the pictures is what you get. All the threads for all the components (lens cap, tail cap, battery extensions) operate smoothly. Maybe they could have incorporated some rubber grommets in the design to make the final turns feel tighter and reduce risk of damaging the threads from overturning, but I’m getting into nit-picks here.
The rubberized tail power activation switch is tactile and stiff - an A+. The metal momentary on/off and toggle buttons are... utilitarian. They can spin around in their housings and can wiggle around just a little when you rub your finger over them. The momentary switch audibly and visibly slides out when the laser is tilted upside down, but of course does not fall out or anything. It's somewhat jarring in comparison to the rest of the device’s rigidness. The underlying switches beneath these buttons fortunately are superb and provide a satisfying, audible, and very tactile click when pressed and depressed. To reiterate, the switches under the buttons function well and feel good to press but the button “covers” aren’t great.
The rotating focus mechanism is, as others have said, a little too easy to rotate. I once heard another guy say in his video review for the PL-E Pro that he could probably “blow it” out of focus which is absolutely NOT true (for mine anyway), but it could certainly do with having a bit more resistance. It’s a very functional focusing mechanism that allows for the tiniest of adjustments an I doubt I’ll ever have issues with it being easy to rotate. I think it goes without saying, but it does allow you to focus the beam to the tiniest little slit - perfect for burning.
Using the included 18650 battery sleeves (with 18650’s inserted), there is a little of what I call “battery wobbling” inside the device you can feel and barely hear hear if you shake it, but it is only noticeable if you shake the device and nobody should be shaking this thing under normal use.
The plastic goggles do their job well as I said. They are made with a quality plastic that has a nice amount of flex that should keep them from snapping from minor mishandling. I am fortunately able to wear my wayfarer seeing glasses in front of the goggles due to how very close the goggles are to my face. It’s not exactly comfortable, but not a hassle either.
Performance
The power graph below provided by Mr. Gray per my request shows the laser’s output graphed in mW over seconds. Looks like it’s about 1650mw, so it’s a little over-spec which is welcome and consistent with what I’ve read around here. Beam divergence is… well I don’t have anything to compare it to and I don’t really care enough to measure it, frankly. The laser doesn't output a culminated circular beam but rather a solid rectangular beam. I understand this is totally normal for direct diode lasers. There isn’t a distracting amount of beam “splash”. From what I’ve seen around the web and in comparison to my two <5mW lasers, my device has an exceptionally clean "dot", I assume due to clean and high quality optics.
Mr. Gray informed me via email that the laser’s duty cycle is 3 minutes on and 1 minute off. I was hoping for something like 10 minutes on and 1 minute off given all the space this thing has for a heat sink. I'm not impressed in this regard. The 3W 445nm Sanwu Challenger II at less than half the weight and nearly double the output has an unlimited duty cycle (granted it does cost $90 more right now).
Form Factor
While it should not come as a surprise to any purchaser as it's expressed on the store page, this thing is beyond long (relative to most other hosts from other sellers) at 14.5 inches and very wide at 1.5 inches. I find the device’s incredible mass to be endearing, but some may find it excessive.
Final Thoughts
The JetLasers PL-E Pro 1.6W 445nm is a high quality handheld laser with a lot of functionality for a very reasonable price.
JetLasers as a seller has proven that they sell what they advertise, and that their customer service knows how to take care of buyers. For anybody like me that gets anxious about buying from Chinese companies, rest assured these guys are legit.
Have questions?
I'll gladly answer any questions I can about the device or my experience with JetLasers as a seller. I don't mind if this post is years old by the time you ask.
Video
Pictures
This was taken later in the morning than the video and was not edited in any way beyond lowering the resolution.
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