Fenix UC02 Thoughts

Over the years, I've tried a few Fenix flashlights but none of them ever seem to stick around. That's going to be the case with this UC02. I was mainly interested in this light because of the fact that it's USB rechargeable. It's a good option if you're looking for a keychain light.

The micro USB rechargeable aspect is extremely convenient. I'd much rather charge my flashlights then have to buy new batteries all the time. I've started switching all my lights to USB rechargeable ones and buying rechargeable AA/AAA batteries for the rest. It's a huge cost saving and much better for the environment. There's an LED indicator that glows red when the light is charging and then switches to green when it's done. It doesn't take more than an hour to charge from when it's dead. It doesn't come with a charger but most of us already own several anyways.

The tiny size would make it perfect to throw on a keychain. It comes in just under 2" at 1.7" long. I wouldn't want to carry it on its own for fear that I'd lose it. You can manage to use it one-handed, though having it on your keys could give you some more to grip onto. The machining does help give you some extra grip as well. It's got an aluminum body and is great quality. I've had quality issues with Fenixs in the past, so I was surprised to have no issues with this one.

It's a twisty light where twisting it all the way gets you the high mode (130 lumens for 25 minutes) and twisting it until it turns on gets you the low mode (10 lumens for 3 hours and 50 minutes). Those are good outputs for this small of a light. The beam is more of a hotspot with a whitish tint to it. I've been impressed with the performance and would feel confident in having this as my main option. 130 lumens is more than enough light for my EDC tasks. I hated the UI at first since I'm so used to having to twist on/off to switch the modes for twisty lights. With this light, twisting it all the way for high and partially for low makes a lot of sense. There's an audible click once you switch modes which helps distinguish between them if you somehow couldn't notice the difference in the output itself.

As you can see, the whole light can come apart. The biggest annoyance with that is when charging, the head of the light will be loose while the body is plugged in. This means there's a potential to lose half of the light if the head rolls away somewhere while you're charging the other half. A lot of USB rechargeable lights use this type of design which makes no sense to me. I'd rather see companies make it so the head only unscrews to the point where the USB port is exposed. The UCO2 uses a 10180 battery which I'm sure you can also buy if you'd like extras for some reason.

Price wise, these go for about $25 which is fair for what you're getting. A 130 lumen light that is this compact is well worth that price. They come in a few different colors, like blue, black and various stainless steel ones. Of course the purple is my favorite!

I do like the light's performance and size, though I hate the fact that you have to detach the body and head to charge it. It's a good value for what you're getting and is definitely one of the better keychain sized lights I've tried. Thanks for looking!