Fenix UC52 Review
Summary
A perfect light for all situations. It’s at home in the car, on the trail, or in the home. The LCD readout is something that every flashlight needs. The light charges quickly, and last for months with light use. The light quality is very good, and fairly uniform.
A good quality flashlight is something everyone needs. They are useful when camping, power-outages, emergencies and just around the house. One of the biggest complaints I’ve had about flashlights is never knowing what kind of charge the battery has. This means I usually end of bringing an extra set of batteries every time I go out. The just released Fenix UC52 feature on board battery status. A digital display of the estimated run-time for the battery. Additionally, the light charges via micro-USB so if I need to quickly top it off I can do so from a solar panel, power pack, car charger, or phone charger.
The light is wrapped in a solid and ridged metal construction that fits very well in hand with it’s contoured shape. You can carry the flashlight with the lanyard, or the included holster.
A lanyard can be attached to the back of the flashlight to wraparound your wrist when walking with the flashlight in hand. The unique shape of the Fenix UC52 fits feels very comfortable when toting around or balanced in hand. The two flat sides make it easy to rest on an uneven surface without it rolling away.
Out of the Box
A standard nylon case, belt loop, D-ring, and Velcro closure holds the Fenix UC52. With the wrist strap on, it’s a little cumbersome to get in and out of the case, but still usable. Pushing buttons out of the box, revelied that the top button displays the current percent of battery remaining for a couple seconds and turns off. The bottom button did nothing until I held it down for a few second or so. Next pushing and holding both buttons displayed a lock icon in the LCD, and flashed the light a couple times. This seemed to lock the light from turning on. One really nice feature is that when the light is locked, if you push a button it flashes a couple times and displays the lock icon, to indicate the light is locked. I’ve used other lights that lock and you have no idea why it’s not turning on until you remember the secret button combination to unlock it. For the UC52, to unlock the light you hold both buttons together for a couple seconds, the light comes on and displays the run-time. I really like that feature.
Light Function
Once the light is on there are many functions, the top button will cycle from strobe to SOS. The bottom button cycles through 5 brightness settings. Run-time is from around 82 hours to 42 min depending on the setting. The throw is from 253 meters on high to 18 meters on low. Meets many FL 1 Standards for 3100 Lumens, 1 Meter drop, and 2 Meter submersion in water.
Below are the different brightness’s taken with the same aperture and exposure to get a feeling of the intensity between levels. The flashlight was pointed at a wall about 4 feet away.
Daily Use
This has become my go to light. It’s capable for all situations. The light isn’t so large it’s cumbersome, but packs enough power to meet long times between charging and high output in emergency use. Around the house and campsite I find myself using Level 1 and Level 2 as indicated on the LCD. Running temperatures stay low, there is plenty of light for small projects, and battery impact is minimal. On Level 5, the light does get pretty hot to the touch.
As an avid biker and explorer, it’s nice to have the option to light up the place with 3100 Lumans just for the fun of it. I tried mounting the light with a few different options when hiking and biking. With velcro straps, and two flat sides, the light is much more capiable of being mounted to a bike frame, or other surface. The light is well balanced, and stayed in place fairly well. With the larger batteries, the light wants to move around a bit, but could be used in a crunch as a bike light.
Aside from the weight of the larger batteries, the light feels comfortable in hand. When running the light on Level 5 (3100 Lumans) it gets pretty warm really quick.
Charging
Charging the light couldn’t be easier, a micro USB can be plugged into many sources and charged a lot faster that expected from a good power source.
- Max output of 3100 Lumens (Blinding)
- OLED Screen display battery run-time and mode
- Micro USB Charging
- Heavy duty construction
- 15 (82 hours) to 3100 (40 Minutes) Lumen Range
- Drop protection
- Waterproof up to two meters (IP68 Rated))
- 6″ x 1.7 ” x 1″
- 9.7 oz with battery
The UC52 by Fenix uses a XHP70 Cree LED light to deliver it’s maximum range of light output. The battery is a 7.2 V/3500mAh Li-ion battery that is sealed inside. Fenix also offers a 2 year free repair.
What’s included
- UC52 Flashlight
- Micro USB Charging Cable
- Instruction Manual
- Warranty Card
Head over to Fenix to see the entire line-up of Flashlights, Tactical Flashlights, Headlamps, Bike Lights and Lanterns.