Convoy is a personal favorite brand for single-cell mechanical switch lights. I’ve been comparing an s2+ with 18350 vs T3 with 14500, and T3 is my preference as a daily light.
So why is the T3 so great? It’s large for a 14500 but also durable and it has an elongated shape (21mm x 97mm) more similar to larger lights than the short s2+ (24mm x 84mm). Just like the s2+, it’s semi-custom in that the customer can choose from a few LEDs and in the case of the popular 519a choose a color temp from 2700k-5700k. Plus Convoy now offers these lights with MAO or in copper (coated for the T3) or titanium (linked) for more consumer choice direct from the factory.
The biggest downside of the T3 and the reason I keep trying to like short s2+ is the T3 driver. With a limit of 1.5 amps with a 14500, this is only 30% as powerful as the standard s2+ 5 amp driver. That’s still very useable with a 519a, but if it were bumped up to about 2.5 amps I think it would be even better. The driver itself has great reviews and regulates the output such that brightness does not immediately decrease with voltage. And for the DIY-capable, the driver is the same size as s2+’s so it has the potential to be just as powerful.
So far I have aluminum T3s in sst-20 deep red and 519a 3000k plus a broken 219b 3500k. Did I mention these start at $15??
Also a great light as a gift for kids. Being able to configure the light to a mode that limits its brightness is perfect.
Good point, especially with AA the light is rated at max 0.5 amps (from the perspective of the 3v LED I believe not the battery) and setting to one of the 50% modes results in a very low-power good quality light.
Not my use-case, but the versatility just adds to the value.