Review - Element Elites

[Gish]

Hello all,

I received a bunch of Element Elites yesterday and thought i'd throw together a short review/overview of them.

I ordered all four lights. Red, Green, Blue, and the IR edition.

It comes in a very good package with the Elite itself, and a length of string to attach to the light to use as a lanyard if so desired. Each light is backed with hook velcro to allow attachment to gear.

The lights themselves are made up of a plastic holder marked with E-Lite on the front of the holder, a soft gel material that contains the embedded light, push button and battery all of which is contained in the "head" of the light.
The lights are removable from the plastic case is of so desired.

A nice feature included in the lights is that the PCB board for the lights is also colored coded for the appropriate light. Green/Red/Blue/Black(For IR)
The battery is embedded within the gel itself, but with a bit of surgery I think it's possible to replace it. They are CR 20323V batts

Left to Right - Green - Red - Blue - IR



The lights themselves are quite good with the gel providing a good dispersion of light.
Blue seems to be the brightest followed by Green then the Red one.






Comparison to a glowstick

When compared to a standard glowstick it appears to be fairly equivalent. The only difference is mainly in the pattern of light dispersion. Because the Vlite has a plastic backing it doesn't tend to light up as great of an area as the glowstick. However this could be a good thing for those wanting to use them as marking devices as it would make them more directional.





IR Edition
The IR edition is actually quite good in quality and performs as advertised. The IR case differs itself being in a black case as compared to the Green and tan of the colored lights.
The IR led used is not visible to the naked eye.
Downside of course is your not sure if it's on or off!

I shot a quick video of it viewed thru a D-300 NVG set. Apologize for the slight fuzziness, it was difficult to focus using my camera as I don't have a camera adapter for my set.
Element ELite IR Version - YouTube


VS a real S&S Vlite

I had the opportunity to borrow a real S&S Vlite from a friend and did a quick compare. His version was the on/off green so I compared it to the Green elite of course.
The overall dimensions of it are pretty near spot on. The silicon casing around the electronics is a little wider on the Elite as compared to the vlite
The silicon on the Vlite is of a more dense material and is slightly thinner width wise then the Elite but very barely noticable.
The push button system on the Vlite is silent while the Elite has a very minor audible click.

REAL LEFT ELITE RIGHT



Power
The real vlite is definitely has a more powerful led inside of it as it shines all the way thru it's silicon casing to the very end.

VLITE LEFT - ELITE RIGHT





VLITE LEFT - ELITE RIGHT



For the value and purpose of these though the Elite holds it's own for sure

So overall these are good investment and alternative to carrying around a bunch of glowsticks for personal marking. They advertise having a 140Hr plus lifespan so we will see.

Pros
- Lightweight
- Easy to put on gear
- As bright as a regular glowstick
- Inexpensive as compared to the real deal

Cons
- Potential for short battery life (We shall see)
- No easy way to replace the battery really

[Shirley]

Not bad, but the lights seems not as bright compared to a real one.

[Gish]

I wish I had a real one to compare, i've asked around the local club to see if anyone has one and if I can find one will compare.

[Karma_]

Cleric has some. I think Steve bought one from him.

[Beowulfe]

I did.

[Gish]

Updated - Managed to borrow a real Vlite so I did a quick compare.

I still think for $15/pop these new elements do a very good job vs the $40 real version.

[Conker]

They make great party lights. Like flashing lightsticks. That you can power off/down whenever you want.

Seriously it's cool. And thanks to the velcro, it'll stick to whatever clothes you wear, so when you get too drunk, 99% chances that it'll still be there when you get your faculties back.

Yeeeeaah sorry, had to try it LOL

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More on topic... the TMC ones are supposed to be better (the Element ones being too large and less bright).