The Thrunite Archer 1A V3 is a very nice example of a well-done AA flashlight. It has great outputs off a 14500 battery, has all the features I like in my EDC lights, and has an easy to use UI. If you want a simple AA light, this seems to be a solid choice. It's not the most compact in the world, but other than that, I have no major complaints. It's been a great light!
There's nothing about the design that stands out to me. That works for me since I don't need flashy things in my carry anyways. I wish it came in more colors but Thrunite has never been a company that offers that unfortunately. It makes no sense to only produce black flashlights which are next to impossible to find in the dark. There's some good knurling in the middle and near the end of the light that provide some extra grip. I love that it's got the hexagonal ring where the side button is. This makes it harder for the light to keep rolling when you set it down. I also like seeing the crenulated bezel, as most of my lights lack one. Quality wise, it's been great. For a AA/14500 light, it's not as compact as it could be. It'd probably be manageable for you dudes with actual pockets. For me, it'd have to be a bag light or one that goes in my EDC pouch. Other AA lights I've compared it to are at least half an inch shorter. I have ended up appreciating the extra length since it gives you more to grip onto. I was surprised to see that it can tailstand too.
The 1A V3 has five modes: firefly (0.1 lumens for 17 days), low (17 lumens for 22 hours), medium (75 lumens for 5 hours), high (200 lumens for 115 minutes), and a strobe. If you run it on a 14500 battery instead of a normal AA, you're going to get higher outputs. I'm not sure exactly how much brighter the light is on the 14500, but it at least seems to be 300 lumens on high. Even the 200 lumens is more than enough for my basic EDC tasks. I've never once felt that the light is too dim for me. The modes are all pretty good number wise and make sense for the light. I normally do prefer a low mode of around 5-10 lumens, yet the 17 lumens is still fine for when I need a little bit of light quickly. The beam is a nice tint and has a hotspot with a decent amount of flood. You can get these lights in either a cool white or neutral white version. I've had no problems with any of the runtimes either. The battery hasn't died through my typical EDC usage in the past month and a half or so.
I've never tried a side activation switch for the modes before and wasn't sure how I'd end up liking it. It's been great! It feels more natural to switch the modes on the side than at the end. I would definitely like to find some sort of colorful side switch light for my collection. To turn the light on/off, you can only use the rear clicky. I've never had any problems with this light accidentally turning on. It takes a decent bit of force to click the button. You can do momentary on as well by half pressing the rear clicky. I was so excited to see that feature on this flashlight! For the mode switching, the side switch works great. You do have to individually click for each mode, which I know some people don't like to do. However, the other awesome feature of this light is mode memory. That means you can just leave it in whatever mode you use the most so you don't have to click through all the modes every time. I hope momentary on and mode memory become standards on all new flashlights. They make your EDC light that much easier to use. The clicky does have a rubberized texture to it which helps differentiate it from the rest of the body. Also to access the strobe, you have to hold down on the side switch to start the strobe. Then when you're done, just press once to go back to the mode you were on. I personally think strobes are worthless, so I was happy to see that you couldn't access it through any of the clicking between the main modes. I love seeing a simple UI without any of the overly complicated press and holds/triple and quadruple clicks.
This light does come with a clip I believe. I've had this one on loan and haven't missed having a clip. As I'm sure you all have heard me say countless times before, I can't ever clip lights to my miniscule pockets anyways. I mentioned earlier that it's a little longer than most other AA lights, so be forewarned if you're looking for something that's more pocketable.
These go for about $30 which is a great deal for what you're getting. It's a solid quality light with good enough outputs for most EDC tasks. If it came in a color other than black, I would've picked one up in a heartbeat.
All in all, I would recommend this light. Thrunite makes a lot of great flashlights for EDC. If this one isn't quite the one for you, they have plenty of other options to choose from. My only minor complaints are the lack of color options and the longer length. As far as function and performance go, you really can't go wrong with the Archer 1A V3. The mode memory, momentary on, and the fact that it's a clicky are some of my highlights/what I liked the most. I've enjoyed trying it out for sure. I see why people like these so much. Thanks for looking!
