SureFireTitan Ultra-Compact LED Keychain Light Series

This review is for the 125/15 lumen model.I have many SureFire lights. I think some of them are a bit overpriced, but then again I've never had one fail, not one. I have several cheap-o keychain lights, and they get destroyed by me doing stomething like throwing my keys to someone. So I decided to spend the money and try a SureFire Titan.Quality is excellent. Threads are fully formed, the head turns super smooth. Beam is flawless, good color, centered. Run time is as advertised when using the included SureFire rechargeable battery. I measured 140 lumens on high for a 15 second duration, 100 lumens after 2 minutes; and 18 lumens on low. My lightbox measurements probably are not terribly accurate, but the numbers tell me that the output is correctly advertised.I wasn't sure how I felt about a twist-on type switch, but I got used it pretty quickly. It's easy to use with one hand. Keep in mind a twisty means no worrying about a failed switch. One thing that makes a difference is actually having it on your keychain - the ring and keys give you something to grip, and that really helps. Holding the light bare is not as easy. I have not had any problem with flicker, or accidental on / off. The delay to switch from low to high is good, similar to their other lights like the G2X, about 1 second.It's a bit big on a keychain to be honest, but I'm going to keep it on there to see if I get used to it. I don't like the way it fits in some pants pockets, especially with all the other junk on my keychain, but if it functions well, I'll take that in trade.I bought a pack of Eneloop Pro AAA rechargeables. They are rated at 950 mAH, compared to the included battery at 750 mAH. Run time on High with the Eneloop measured about 1h15m, and on Low it measured a good 12 hours! For reference the rated times are 1.0h and 8.0h.I did not have a chance to measure run times on plain old alkalines, but one thing to note is that AAAs are everywhere - TV remotes at home, projector remotes at the office, and in every store, even a hole-in-the-wall roadside shop. This is huge, because in an emergency you can always find a power source.From a practical perspective, I can easily walk around at night on the Low setting. Not sure why some people say it is not bright enough. There's enough light on High to light up a room. Outdoors, I can easily see things at 25 yards on Low; on High I get a good view out to 50 yards. I think that is pretty good, especially for tiny light with a broad beam.One thing I did is *sparingly* apply dielectric grease to the terminals, and clean the threads and apply the same grease there. I've had this about a month, we'll see how it holds up.

I wanted a new keychain light (for my car keychain). I have used the Fenix E99 Ti for years. Tiny. Works on one AAA battery. 100 lumens max output (single output). I wanted a stronger light. 100 lumens simply doesn't do it for me. I found two formidable choices: Surefire Titan Plus and Surefire Sidekick. I ordered both Surefires so I could compare them. Be advised that if you decide also to order both, they are both packaged in *blister packages* that you have to cut open. Amazon likes to receive returns in original packaging. So learn from my experience. A very important factor for me was the form factor. I wanted a very small light that is also very bright. Both the Titan Plus and Sidekick are 300 lumen max brightness. But they both also have three variable lumen levels. Sidekick: 300 lumen, 60 lumen, 5 lumen. Titan Plus: 300, 75, 15. What stuck out to me was the 5 lumen minimum output of the Sidekick. That's really low, and kind of like, what's the point? The Titan Plus is a good half inch longer than my Fenix E99 Ti. That was a concern. When I received the Titan Plus, I put it on my keychain. The length is no longer than my car key fob. That's good. The Sidekick basically looks like a key fob, with a similar size. Kind of bulky. Frankly, I want only one "fob" on my keychain, and I want my flashlight to look like a flashlight. And it being Surefire (the best flashlight brand available) I wanted to be proud to hang it on my keychain. I ended up keeping the Titan Plus and returning the Sidekick. The difference in brightness between my Fenix E99 Ti and the Surefire Titan Plus is remarkable. The Surefire is very, very bright for a keychain light. You adjust the brightness (300, 75, 15) by turning the head on, then off quickly, then on again, then off again and on again ..... basically to cycle through the brightness settings. I don't like that kind of mechanism. I would much rather have a dedicated button to cycle through the brightness levels. But I know if Surefire tried to design and integrate such a button on the Titan Plus, that would necessarily increase the size of the light. So I can live with the mechanism as-is. The Titan Plus is sturdy and durable. All metal construction. It has a good heft to it. The Sidekick feels like, well, a key fob (made of plastic). The overall build quality of the Titan Plus gives me more confidence. Nonetheless, I don't doubt for one second that the quality of the Sidekick is impeccable because it's made by Surefire. The Titan Plus runs on one AAA battery. They include a rechargeable AAA NIMH Eneloop in the light. I don't have have a AAA charger. I'll have to consider buying a charger, or I might just keep good AAA batteries on hand. The Sidekick is rechargeable with an included USB cable. The choice of power supply between AAA and USB-rechargeable comes down to buyer preference. Do you want to keep AAA batteries on hand, or do you want to have a USB power supply on hand? Both have their pros and cons. One thing to consider is how many times a rechargeable battery can be charged/discharged before you have to finally replace the battery. With AAA battery power, you just buy batteris. But bottom line, with both max outputs being equal, because of the size and shape and form factor and all-metal construction of the Titan Plus, I am choosing the Titan Plus as my new keychain light. I'm very happy with it. Is it costly for a keychain light? Yes, sure. But it's Surefire. And If you want the best, then you have to pay for it.