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Q: How did the tool function as far as saving you time?
A: The flashlight is very handy to use and is a great size. It’s not so small that you can misplace it, but not so large that it’s too big and heavy to use. It comes with a charging dock that it can be stored in so that it’s always ready to go.
Q: What kind of setup was involved before using the product?
A: There is no setup involved. You simply take the flashlight out of the box that it comes in, and you’re ready to go. There is a rubber protective ring that can be installed onto the front of the flashlight if you want to.
Q: How easy was it to use?
A: It’s actually very easy to use, which it should be since it is a flashlight. You push the button switch to turn it on. You can hold the button down to switch between low, medium, and maximum brightness. It has another feature that hopefully won’t be needed in the shop. If you push the button twice, it has a very bright strobe feature.
Q: How was its packaging? Did it come with any accessories?
A: The packaging is actually very nice. It comes well-protected in a heavy duty box. Included in the box are a charging dock with mounting screws, a 110V charging adaptor that plugs into the charging dock, and a 12V car charging adaptor that plugs into the charging dock.
Q: Was there a manual included?
A: There was a manual included, that was very thorough, and in multiple languages. It did a good job of explaining the various functions available with different button push combinations.
Q: What features did you like?
A: This is a very well-built, very solid flashlight. It fits in the hand very nicely and has a serrated barrel for a non-slip grip. As stated in the name, this is a Color-Rite flashlight. That means that the light color that it puts out makes everything in the path of the beam appear in its true color. This not only works well for identifying paint color but is excellent for identifying wire color and those pesky small tracer and stripe colors on wiring. It also has a pretty good battery life – 1.5 hours on high, 2.5 hours on medium, five hours on low, and three hours on strobe.
Q: What features didn’t you like?
A: My biggest complaint so far is how difficult it is to get the flashlight into the charging dock. If the dock is securely fastened to a bench or toolbox, and you slide the light in from the top, it is doable. If you don’t have the dock fastened down or try to snap the flashlight straight into the dock, it’s fairly difficult to get in. Once it’s in though, it definitely stays in place.
Q: What types of jobs/repairs did you use this tool for?
A: I used the flashlight for working under the hood, under the vehicle, and under the dash. It has plenty of light for any of those situations and definitely shows everything in its true color. The information sheet said that the beam distance is 265m, so naturally, I had to try it out. My house sits back from the street a little way, and so does my neighbor’s house across the street. I could shine the flashlight through my front window, across the street, and see a very bright well defined beam on the front of my neighbor’s house. I don’t know if I was 265m away, but it was a very impressive beam of light at that distance.
Q: Have you used a previous version of this tool?
A: I have used many different flashlights. This is definitely the heftiest and nicest feeling one of this size that I have used. It is also probably the highest-powered one of this size that I’ve used, but being Color-Rite, it’s not a harsh light that’s hard on your eyes.
Q: Is there any way you could think to improve or add to this tool?
A: If there was a way to make it easier to put into the charging dock but yet still be solid and maintain good contact for charging it would be a nice improvement.
Q: Is there anything you had questions or concerns about in regard to the tool?
A: I did wonder how to activate the strobe feature, but it was well explained once I looked at the directions that were included.
Q: On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate this tool overall? Why?
A: Probably a nine. It’s a great flashlight with lots of features and included accessories for charging. It’s just difficult to get into the charging dock unless it’s securely mounted onto something.
