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Packaging/First Impressions
The light came in a simple white cardboard box, that was put inside of that bubble-wrapped yellow packaging we all have come to love.
I'm going to say right away, this is the highest quality light under $60 I have ever owned, as a first impression and thinking about it now. LINK
Compared to the Spiderfire P7 and 4D Maglite:
The light is thinner, longer, and heavier. The knurling is deep; so I can get a very good grip on it. The Aurora has a tailcap with the exact same diameter as the middle, so you can grip the whole light from right behind the head perfectly (good for larger hands). That, combined with the deep knurling, makes it really comfortable to hold. I'm giving it a 10/10 for design!
The textured reflector seems to be good (beamshots below), o-rings are thick and very waterproof, it uses my favorite clicky (a gold button on the inside, instead of a spring that drills holes in your battery), the LED is centered, and the threads are perfect and smooth after some lubing. The printing on both sides is also sharp.
Performance
I would call this a mid-range light. It throws better than any other P7 light I have, but P7's are never made for throw. It's not designed to be a flood light either, but the sheer amount of brightness gives it a great spill as well. What I really love about this light is the warmer tint. Not so warm that it appears yellow, but just enough tint to make it pleasing to look at and give it a higher CRI.
I measured this on the DMM, and the LED is pulling 3.4 amps. A little bit on the higher side, but not too bad. This thing is BRIGHT. The light gets very warm after a few minutes on high, very hot after 10. In the summer you'll have to give it a break, in the winter it will be great and work as a nice hand warmer, too. BEAMSHOT TIME!!
Spiderfire left, Aurora right:
Stepped down:
I shouldn't have to do this, but just in case some non-flashaholics come along and read this:
Ceiling bounce test for overall output. NOTE - Spider wasn't working well then, it should be about the same as the Aurora. Maglite:
Spiderfire:
Aurora:
See a difference? That was when the Spider was being driven around 1.5A, for reference. Moving onto the great outdoors:
Location #1: Flood
These will be in order of apparent brightness.
Maglite focused for throw, then flood:
Spiderfire, low:
Aurora, low:
Spiderfire, high:
Aurora, high:
Location #2: throw
Sorry about the bush, and the blurriness on this one; it's hard to focus a camera on something that far away in pitch-black darkness.
Maglite, Flood then throw:
Spiderfire, low:
Aurora, low:
Spider, high:
Aurora, high:
Location #3: midrange
Where P7's excel
Control shot:
Sorry, no more controls. I forgot to take them while it was still day, lol. They might be up later.
Maglite, flood then throw:
Spiderfire, low:
Aurora, low:
Spiderfire, high:
Aurora, high:
Conclusion
Here's a quick summary:
Pros:
-Bright, and consistently bright
-Feels solid
-LED is centered
-Sharp printing
-I don't like flat heads, and the bezel on this one lets you know if the light is on when it's facing down
-Threads perfect after lube
-Really nice transition from hotspot to spill; no rings
-The general design and grip is fantastic
-Protruding clicky switch
-Deep knurling
-Dunk/splash proof
-Can I say, "feels solid" again? This thing is seriously the highest quality flashlight you can get from any DX brand light. There isn't a single flaw in the finish, and I've found that I prefer gray over tactical black.
Cons:
-LED pill won't unscrew
-The smallest bit of a donut in the beam, almost as if one die is brighter than the others. It's weird, but not very noticeable. You can see it if you stare at the white wall beamshot. I think a slightly more textured reflector would have been better.
-Some people prefer forward clicky, others like reverse. This is reverse.
-Gets hot. This is good, because it means good thermal contact, but bad, because too much heat is obviously not good for the P7.
-There is a lot of empty space around the reflector, which could have been used for more heatsinking. But then it might get too top heavy, so I'm not sure about this.
-It can't tailstand, but the easier to access switch more than makes up for it.
-No lanyard hole
Final thoughts:
Overall, a fantastic light and value. If you want the brightest you can get for $30, look no further! This doesn't get used much because I like my Spider better for several reasons: it's smaller, floodier, and it appears just as bright but is driven slightly less, so better runtimes. Although it's my secondary light of choice. Make sure you get the 2-mode though, because the 5-mode doesn't drive the LED nearly as well. Thanks for reading!
The light came in a simple white cardboard box, that was put inside of that bubble-wrapped yellow packaging we all have come to love.
I'm going to say right away, this is the highest quality light under $60 I have ever owned, as a first impression and thinking about it now. LINK
Compared to the Spiderfire P7 and 4D Maglite:
The light is thinner, longer, and heavier. The knurling is deep; so I can get a very good grip on it. The Aurora has a tailcap with the exact same diameter as the middle, so you can grip the whole light from right behind the head perfectly (good for larger hands). That, combined with the deep knurling, makes it really comfortable to hold. I'm giving it a 10/10 for design!
The textured reflector seems to be good (beamshots below), o-rings are thick and very waterproof, it uses my favorite clicky (a gold button on the inside, instead of a spring that drills holes in your battery), the LED is centered, and the threads are perfect and smooth after some lubing. The printing on both sides is also sharp.
Performance
I would call this a mid-range light. It throws better than any other P7 light I have, but P7's are never made for throw. It's not designed to be a flood light either, but the sheer amount of brightness gives it a great spill as well. What I really love about this light is the warmer tint. Not so warm that it appears yellow, but just enough tint to make it pleasing to look at and give it a higher CRI.
I measured this on the DMM, and the LED is pulling 3.4 amps. A little bit on the higher side, but not too bad. This thing is BRIGHT. The light gets very warm after a few minutes on high, very hot after 10. In the summer you'll have to give it a break, in the winter it will be great and work as a nice hand warmer, too. BEAMSHOT TIME!!
Spiderfire left, Aurora right:
Stepped down:
I shouldn't have to do this, but just in case some non-flashaholics come along and read this:
Spiderfire:
Aurora:
See a difference? That was when the Spider was being driven around 1.5A, for reference. Moving onto the great outdoors:
Location #1: Flood
These will be in order of apparent brightness.
Maglite focused for throw, then flood:
Spiderfire, low:
Aurora, low:
Spiderfire, high:
Aurora, high:
Location #2: throw
Sorry about the bush, and the blurriness on this one; it's hard to focus a camera on something that far away in pitch-black darkness.
Maglite, Flood then throw:
Spiderfire, low:
Aurora, low:
Spider, high:
Aurora, high:
Location #3: midrange
Where P7's excel
Control shot:
Sorry, no more controls. I forgot to take them while it was still day, lol. They might be up later.
Maglite, flood then throw:
Spiderfire, low:
Aurora, low:
Spiderfire, high:
Aurora, high:
Conclusion
Here's a quick summary:
Pros:
-Bright, and consistently bright
-Feels solid
-LED is centered
-Sharp printing
-I don't like flat heads, and the bezel on this one lets you know if the light is on when it's facing down
-Threads perfect after lube
-Really nice transition from hotspot to spill; no rings
-The general design and grip is fantastic
-Protruding clicky switch
-Deep knurling
-Dunk/splash proof
-Can I say, "feels solid" again? This thing is seriously the highest quality flashlight you can get from any DX brand light. There isn't a single flaw in the finish, and I've found that I prefer gray over tactical black.
Cons:
-LED pill won't unscrew
-The smallest bit of a donut in the beam, almost as if one die is brighter than the others. It's weird, but not very noticeable. You can see it if you stare at the white wall beamshot. I think a slightly more textured reflector would have been better.
-Some people prefer forward clicky, others like reverse. This is reverse.
-Gets hot. This is good, because it means good thermal contact, but bad, because too much heat is obviously not good for the P7.
-There is a lot of empty space around the reflector, which could have been used for more heatsinking. But then it might get too top heavy, so I'm not sure about this.
-It can't tailstand, but the easier to access switch more than makes up for it.
-No lanyard hole
Final thoughts:
Overall, a fantastic light and value. If you want the brightest you can get for $30, look no further! This doesn't get used much because I like my Spider better for several reasons: it's smaller, floodier, and it appears just as bright but is driven slightly less, so better runtimes. Although it's my secondary light of choice. Make sure you get the 2-mode though, because the 5-mode doesn't drive the LED nearly as well. Thanks for reading!
Last edited:
