I'll admit, I love LED flashlights - the pure, white light, the extended battery life, the look on the faces of my friends when they point the flashlight into their eyes upon examination... so when I read that Mag had released an LED flashlight, I immediately went in pursuit of one, and I'm finding it to be a mixed bag.

From a build quality standpoint, Mag still makes a solid product. The barrel and head are made from aluminum, rubber washers are used for a water resistant seal, and they can take being dropped off a workbench. One thing I'm wondering why they left out, however, was a hook for a lanyard - the bottom cap of this flashlight is flat.

One of the main things the Mag has going for it over other LED flashlight designs however is that the beam can be focused - and this is due to the deeper reflector design and the shape of the LED. Focusing the beam does increase its intensity - a bit, but nothing like the old incandescent Mag lites - I found myself using it about halfway between just on and fully focused, as it proved the most practical.

Now though, for the disappointing part: I own a 1-watt Luxeon-based LED flashlight (that cost approximately the same as the Mag), and a 5-watt LED flashlight from SureFire (which cost... considerably more). The Luxeon LED puts out approximately 20 lumens, and the SureFire puts out a blinding 100 lumens, so at 3-watts, it would be safe to assume that this Mag Lite would be about halfway between the two, right? Wrong. The beam is about the same intensity as the 1-watt Luxeon (which is pretty bright by itself); ever so slightly brighter when completely focused, but then the Luxeon spreads its light more smoothly than the Mag. The Mag has slightly longer full-output battery life due to the fact that it uses AA batteries instead of AAA's, but if you already have a good Luxeon or other high-output LED flashlight, I'd certainly say try to get a demo of one of these before you buy one. Don't get me wrong, it's definately a cut above the $10 ones you see in the waiting lines at shopping centers, but I'm wondering if Mag getting into the LED market now is too little, too late? 3 stars

I've owned 4 conventional (Krypton) bulb Maglites over the years and I've ran many, many sets of batteries through them, especially my 2 AA maglites. I'll just cut to the chase and say that they hit the ball out of the park with this LED version, it is fantastic. The following observations are with fresh batteries in all of the units:
- Brightness: The 2 AA LED version is significantly brighter than the 2 AA Krypton bulb version. In fact the 2 AA LED is nearly as bright as my 3D cell Krypton bulb maglite!
- Clarity: It's no secret that traditional bulb flashlights typically project uneven light patterns with super bright and super dark areas in the beam. I find this incredibly annoying and will have to play with the focus of the beam to find something usable. The LED version has this problem solved. The clarity and spread of the light is fantastic. I can flick it on to ANY setting and it's 10x better than the traditional (Krypton bulb) maglite in terms of clarity and beam focus. I can tell they worked a lot on this and they did a great job.
- Color: This is minor compared to the above, but the LED version puts out a cool white beam that is easy on the eye and it seems easier to pick up details. The conventional bulb version puts out a harsher more redish/ pink beam and after comparing the two back to back the LED version is much better.
- Battery life: Don't know yet. I hear the batteries should last longer and the circuitry keeps the light output up even as the batteries go down in charge. Time will tell.

I now plan to upgrade all my D Cell versions with the LED upgrade kit. I'm very pleased with this purchase. I've made some nasty reviews in the past, so this this positive review is saying something. :)

5 stars

I have been a fan of MAGLITE products for years. It's the quality of the machined aluminium cases. I had been thinking about upgrading some of my MAGLITEs to LED when this AA LED MAGLITE became available. It is slightly longer than the non LED AA MAGLITE. The LED is much brighter than the incandescent version and has much whiter light. In fact it is so bright in comparison that I think a 25% power mode or even variable power would be a good idea. It doesn't focus as well as the incandescent MAGLITE but it is still much brighter so this isn't really an issue. I think this product is extremely good value for the level of light output. I believe a LED conversion kit of similar quality would cost about as much. You can drop it and it still works. I have dropped mine twice by accident with no ill effect. I think MAGLITE have done a good job with LED technology. The LED AA MAGLITE is a big advance over the incandescent version and easily worth the extra money. There is also a 3xAA version which I am told is much brighter. I wanted one to keep in my pocket so I preferred the shorter version. The 3xAA may suite other people better. 5 stars

I need a small flashlight for work and have gone through many, many AA sized flashlights. I just noticed these 2AA LED Maglites in the stores and decided to try one out.

I wasn't sure how bright it would be because besides the 3 Watt label, Mag doesn't really state the brightness of the light. When I got home I was pleasantly surprised. This light is at least 5 times brighter than a regular 2AA Maglite and it is also brighter than any other (including LED) flashlights I have used.

And what matters more, compared to the regular bulb Maglites, the beam on the LED light focuses perfectly to an even circle. No more dark areas.

The one thing I miss is the little hole in the endcap which can be used for lanyards or keyrings. Also the LED version is a tad bit longer than the bulb version, but for the huge performance gain, I'll gladly have a slightly larger flashlight.

I can't comment on the battery usage yet, as I haven't had to change batteries yet, a good sign... And I am so glad that I don't have to worry about the little bulbs burning out every so often anymore.

I can highly recommend this light, it's well worth the money if you need a good flashlight. I do wish that the other colors were available as shown on Mag's website. Amazon or any other local stores just seem to have the black version. 5 stars

I have used MagLite flashlights of various sizes for 15 years and always found them to be very well-made, durable and dependable. I also have a 5 watt Surefire flashlight and a 1 watt LED flashlight that is similar in design to the Mini-Maglite. I have also used a MiniMaglite LED upgrade module (not made by MagLite) - which did not perform to my expectations.

I recently purchased the 3 watt LED Mini-Maglite and am very impressed with it. It is very bright - at least 3x as bright as the 1 watt MiniMag clone that I have. It is not as bright as my 5 watt Surefire tactical flashlight, but I wouldn't want it to be. 3 watts is great for a general purpose flashlight. In short, the Mini-Maglite LED has exceeded my expectations.

The only negative that I have is that it took so long for MagLite to make their LED flashlights available. Other LED flashlights have been available for several years and it was beginning to look like MagLite wasn't going to develop any LED products - I'm glad they did because this is a great little flashlight. 5 stars