the original manufacturer is unknown. the flashlights are sold under several different brands: Brett, "Severe Cold", and various "fires" (uranusfire, supfire, vastfire, kcfire, walkefire, et cetera).
as I already had some bad experience with buying Li-Ion batteries on aliexpress I made a note to myself to never buy anything with a "fire" in the title, so the choice was between Brett and Cold.
I assume that the original manufacturer is Brett, because there is a shop called "BRETT Factory Direct Store" on aliexpress, also Brett seems to have a wider lineup of torches.
the difference between "A"-line (A10, A15, ...) and "C"-line (C10, C15, ... ) is ultraviolet LEDs (although not a "real" 365nm UV but still highlights objects a bit) in "A"-line vs blue LEDs in "C"-line. I do not know why one would need a blue light under water so I chose the "A"-line.
left to right: A11, A15, A10
heads close:
the contact plate has scratches, however there are no scratches outside — so it doesn't look like second hand lights, most likely a factory tests [*]:
[*] — some time later I found more deep scratches and a dent on A15 (but the flashlight did not leak in 2 test dives):
Goodman handles are garbage, do not buy them. Made of very soft alloy — very easy to overturn and break the thread inside the plank, and screw leaves a dent on the handle.
O-rings are greased well with somewhat thick grease.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A10
white light : 10x Cree XM-L2[*], seller claims 12000 lumen
red light: 4x Cree XP-E N3, seller claims 480 lumen
ultraviolet light: 4х (?), 390 nm
approximate price (light + handle + arm ball) — $79.68
US $65.2 22% OFF|Aliexpress.com : Buy Professional Diving Photography Tactical Flashlight Underwater 100m Scuba Video Light 15 XM L2 LED Camera Photography Flashlight from Reliable LED Flashlights suppliers on Shenzhen Brett Trading Company Store
[*] — there is a micro print in the corner of every LED, looks like "LMP"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A11
white: 6x "Cree XHP90"[*], seller claims 18000 Lm
red: 4x Cree XP-E N3, seller claims 480 Lm
violet: 4х (?), 390 nm
approx.price (light + handle + arm ball) — $82.80
US $65.2 22% OFF|Aliexpress.com : Buy Professional Diving Photography Tactical Flashlight Underwater 100m Scuba Video Light 15 XM L2 LED Camera Photography Flashlight from Reliable LED Flashlights suppliers on Shenzhen Brett Trading Company Store
[*] — there are no such LEDs on Cree website, Google says that it is a local Chinese noname LED called "9090". Close look on these LEDs:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A15
white: 15x Cree XM-L2[*], seller claims 20000 Lm
red: 6x Cree XP-E N3, seller claims 720 Lm
violet: 6х (?), 390 nm
approx.price (light + handle + arm ball) — $75.24
US $77.55 33% OFF|Aliexpress.com : Buy Diving LED flashlight underwater 100m photography fill light flashlight 15CREE XML2 white 18000Lumens with 6 *UV +6 *red light from Reliable flashlight underwater suppliers on Shenzhen Brett Trading Company Store
[*] — not a single LED has a micro print like on A10, also a dot in the bottom-right corner is larger than in A10 — high chance that these are different LED models (i.e. either A10 has not original Cree, or A15, or both of them have not Cree. I've contacted the seller on Aliexpress and he claims that these LEDs are identical, but the bottom plates are different because of different manufacturing batches).
all lights have the same weight. Without batteries:
light 375 gramm
light with arm ball 410 g
light with Goodman handle 460 g
(measurement error ±10 g)
approx. weight of flashlight with handle and batteries — 640 g.
I have compared these lights underwater with a brand name light with "honest" 7000 Lumen, and it feels like it is more bright than A10 (with declared 12000 Lm
), but darker than A15.
So highly likely A10 in reality has ~6000 Lm, A11 ~7000 Lm, and A15 ~8000 Lm, instead of declared 12000-20000.
this is a comparison on the surface (distance to the wall is 2.2m):
video: DSCF4525 - Streamable
(order: A10, A11, A15 white light high-med-low; A10, A11, 15 red light. blinking red light is me accidentally choosing "SOS" mode before turning the light off.)
A11 color temperature is more warm than A10 and A15 (it is very clear on the video, the very first moments of turning lights on, until the camera automatically adjusted the white balance). The description claims A11 temperature is 5000К, A10 — 6000К, A15 — 6500К, however A10 looks very like A15.
A15 in "mid" mode is as bright as A10 in "high" mode (which is somewhat clear - as A15 has 33% more LEDs), also A15 drains the battery faster: I used every light approximately the same time (just a few minutes under the water and a few more above the water), afterwards the batteries from A10 and A11 showed 4.10 Volt, and from A15 — 3.90 Volt.
However I did not measure the total runtime on full batteries, will update the topic once I have such possibility.
fun facts:
- contact plates are placed on the different level in every flashlight — in one light batteries protrude for 2mm from the body, in another — for just 0.5mm. In result the batteries with flat top have weak contact, and in one light (with 0.5mm) the batteries are even dangling freely. So the button-top batteries must be used, or the springs inside the flashlight body must be extended for 1-2mm.
[*]
- one bundle had Allen keys mixed up: inside the bag with the wide diameter screws was the small diameter key, and inside the bag with the narrow diameter screws was the large diameter key. Every handle (Goodman and armball) comes with its own screws bag so if I ordered only one handle type I would get the wrong Allen key.
- another bundle had a screw bag with three screws instead of two.
- despite all flashlights are different they have the same serial number (or model?) on the box.
[*] — later I found out that the "C"-line description has explicitly stated it:
P.S. I'm selling A10 and A11 in Thailand, at Phuket or Samui (can come to Krabi or Surat Thani). Price of one light without the batteries: 4000 THB, and with cool Panasonic batteries: 5000 THB.
as I already had some bad experience with buying Li-Ion batteries on aliexpress I made a note to myself to never buy anything with a "fire" in the title, so the choice was between Brett and Cold.
I assume that the original manufacturer is Brett, because there is a shop called "BRETT Factory Direct Store" on aliexpress, also Brett seems to have a wider lineup of torches.
the difference between "A"-line (A10, A15, ...) and "C"-line (C10, C15, ... ) is ultraviolet LEDs (although not a "real" 365nm UV but still highlights objects a bit) in "A"-line vs blue LEDs in "C"-line. I do not know why one would need a blue light under water so I chose the "A"-line.
left to right: A11, A15, A10
heads close:
the contact plate has scratches, however there are no scratches outside — so it doesn't look like second hand lights, most likely a factory tests [*]:
[*] — some time later I found more deep scratches and a dent on A15 (but the flashlight did not leak in 2 test dives):
Goodman handles are garbage, do not buy them. Made of very soft alloy — very easy to overturn and break the thread inside the plank, and screw leaves a dent on the handle.
O-rings are greased well with somewhat thick grease.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A10
white light : 10x Cree XM-L2[*], seller claims 12000 lumen
red light: 4x Cree XP-E N3, seller claims 480 lumen
ultraviolet light: 4х (?), 390 nm
approximate price (light + handle + arm ball) — $79.68
US $65.2 22% OFF|Aliexpress.com : Buy Professional Diving Photography Tactical Flashlight Underwater 100m Scuba Video Light 15 XM L2 LED Camera Photography Flashlight from Reliable LED Flashlights suppliers on Shenzhen Brett Trading Company Store
[*] — there is a micro print in the corner of every LED, looks like "LMP"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A11
white: 6x "Cree XHP90"[*], seller claims 18000 Lm
red: 4x Cree XP-E N3, seller claims 480 Lm
violet: 4х (?), 390 nm
approx.price (light + handle + arm ball) — $82.80
US $65.2 22% OFF|Aliexpress.com : Buy Professional Diving Photography Tactical Flashlight Underwater 100m Scuba Video Light 15 XM L2 LED Camera Photography Flashlight from Reliable LED Flashlights suppliers on Shenzhen Brett Trading Company Store
[*] — there are no such LEDs on Cree website, Google says that it is a local Chinese noname LED called "9090". Close look on these LEDs:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A15
white: 15x Cree XM-L2[*], seller claims 20000 Lm
red: 6x Cree XP-E N3, seller claims 720 Lm
violet: 6х (?), 390 nm
approx.price (light + handle + arm ball) — $75.24
US $77.55 33% OFF|Aliexpress.com : Buy Diving LED flashlight underwater 100m photography fill light flashlight 15CREE XML2 white 18000Lumens with 6 *UV +6 *red light from Reliable flashlight underwater suppliers on Shenzhen Brett Trading Company Store
[*] — not a single LED has a micro print like on A10, also a dot in the bottom-right corner is larger than in A10 — high chance that these are different LED models (i.e. either A10 has not original Cree, or A15, or both of them have not Cree. I've contacted the seller on Aliexpress and he claims that these LEDs are identical, but the bottom plates are different because of different manufacturing batches).
all lights have the same weight. Without batteries:
light 375 gramm
light with arm ball 410 g
light with Goodman handle 460 g
(measurement error ±10 g)
approx. weight of flashlight with handle and batteries — 640 g.
I have compared these lights underwater with a brand name light with "honest" 7000 Lumen, and it feels like it is more bright than A10 (with declared 12000 Lm
), but darker than A15.So highly likely A10 in reality has ~6000 Lm, A11 ~7000 Lm, and A15 ~8000 Lm, instead of declared 12000-20000.
this is a comparison on the surface (distance to the wall is 2.2m):
video: DSCF4525 - Streamable
(order: A10, A11, A15 white light high-med-low; A10, A11, 15 red light. blinking red light is me accidentally choosing "SOS" mode before turning the light off.)
A11 color temperature is more warm than A10 and A15 (it is very clear on the video, the very first moments of turning lights on, until the camera automatically adjusted the white balance). The description claims A11 temperature is 5000К, A10 — 6000К, A15 — 6500К, however A10 looks very like A15.
A15 in "mid" mode is as bright as A10 in "high" mode (which is somewhat clear - as A15 has 33% more LEDs), also A15 drains the battery faster: I used every light approximately the same time (just a few minutes under the water and a few more above the water), afterwards the batteries from A10 and A11 showed 4.10 Volt, and from A15 — 3.90 Volt.
However I did not measure the total runtime on full batteries, will update the topic once I have such possibility.
fun facts:
- contact plates are placed on the different level in every flashlight — in one light batteries protrude for 2mm from the body, in another — for just 0.5mm. In result the batteries with flat top have weak contact, and in one light (with 0.5mm) the batteries are even dangling freely. So the button-top batteries must be used, or the springs inside the flashlight body must be extended for 1-2mm.
[*]
- one bundle had Allen keys mixed up: inside the bag with the wide diameter screws was the small diameter key, and inside the bag with the narrow diameter screws was the large diameter key. Every handle (Goodman and armball) comes with its own screws bag so if I ordered only one handle type I would get the wrong Allen key.
- another bundle had a screw bag with three screws instead of two.
- despite all flashlights are different they have the same serial number (or model?) on the box.
[*] — later I found out that the "C"-line description has explicitly stated it:
P.S. I'm selling A10 and A11 in Thailand, at Phuket or Samui (can come to Krabi or Surat Thani). Price of one light without the batteries: 4000 THB, and with cool Panasonic batteries: 5000 THB.
