Hello, my name is Russ and I am addicted to quality Flashlights. I have dealt with this addiction since I was a child. While my addiction hasn't caused me to miss work or negatively affected my family, yet, I need to tone it down a bit.
With that said, I recently had the luxury of reviewing the Nextorch myTorch 3AAA Smart Torch Flashlight. Read on for the review.
Nextorch myTorch 3AAA Smart Torch LED Flashlight Review
The Packaging
First impressions are important. The Nextorch myTorch 3AAA didn't disappoint in this area. The product packaging is very nice and doesn't sport any Chinglish. The user manual is easy to understand and to the point. The box looks like it would be at home at an Apple store and includes the programmable flashlight, a USB cable, a link to download the Nextuner software, and a user manual.
The Design
The MyTorch 3AAA flashlight is a pleasure to hold. The unit is smooth while still maintaining good grip and texturing. In other words I am not bleeding after using the unit like some of my tactical flashlights which have too many sharp edges. The bezel and tail cap have raised edges which help keep the flashlight from rolling away on slanted surfaces.
The three AAA batteries are held together with a compact battery carrier. The battery carrier is marked with a + positive side and a "“ negative side.
On the tailcap of the flashlight is the green colored, glow-in-the-dark, mode switch. The switch is a bit rounded so you won't be tailstanding the flashlight. If you unscrew the bezel head a bit you will have access to the USB port. There is an o-ring at the base of the bezel head for waterproofing. The USB port is used for programming the flashlight (more on that later).
The Flashlight
The myTorch 3AAA has the Cree XP-E cool white emitter and a deep reflector for good light throw. The mode switch allows you to switch through your preprogrammed modes. You can either hard click or soft push the switch to cycle through these modes. The beam pattern and throw is excellent and has no distortions or artifacts. Quite nice.
The strobe is very bright and can be set from 0.5 Hz to 20 Hz in 0.5 Hz increments. You can also customize your own strobe to be an SOS alert if you have the time/energy. I wish there was a pre-programmed SOS option in the Nextuner software.
The Nextuner Software
The Nextorch myTorch Flashlights are the first PC programmable LED flashlights and come with software for flashlight tuning. The software, Nextuner, is available as a free download here and works with Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. With Nextuner you can customize the luminance (brightness), the frequency (strobe), and the signaling modes (called "customize").
After you are done customizing a mode you have to options to test, download, or save as.
The TEST setting is pretty cool and allows you to, while connected to your PC via USB, turn on the flashlight and actually see what your programmed mode will look like. Very helpful with programming the myTorch.
The DOWNLOAD setting actually pushes the settings to the myTorch 3AAA flashlight.
The SAVE AS feature allows you to name and save your programming files to your computer. This is very important because the software doesn't have the ability to read current settings on the flashlight. In other words, you will have to start over every time you program your flashlight if you didn't save your existing programming work. Save your work!
Overall the Nextorch myTorch 3AAA flashlight is a great programmable LED flashlight at a great price. No it isn't a tactical flashlight, no it isn't a 700 lumen light, However the MyTorch 3AAA is fairly priced, is programmable, waterproof, reliable, bright, etc, Currently the flashlight is available for under $40 online and YES I would recommend this flashlight to a friend.
MyTorch 3AAA Specs:
- LED: CREE XP-E R3 LED
- Battery: 3 x AAA
- Max Output: 150 Lumens
- Runtime: 330 minutes
- Beam Distance: 558 ft (170 meters)
- Peak Beam Intensity: 7225 cd
- Dimensions: 5.83" x 1.09" (148 mm x 27.6 mm) Head diameter- 1.42" (36 mm)
- Weight: 4.76 oz (136 g) (Battery excluded)
- Water Proof: 1m, Impact Resistant: 1m
- MSRP ~$50