Bulletpoints: IMALENT LD70

Words by Ren Alcantara

Like many of you, I am constantly on the lookout for my perfect light. It’s not easy—there are so many variables that come into play, and many of them are conflicting. Size, brightness, burn time, UI—the “perfect” light needs to have a balance among all of these. It might be a fool’s errand, but occasionally, the search is rewarded with little gems. While far from perfect, I have to admit that the Imalent LD70 is one of those gems.

Let’s get one thing out of the way first though. I’ve seen this marketed as a keychain light, and while you could use this as such, it’s like saying any pizza is a solo pizza if you have the willpower. At about an inch around and just over three inches long, it’s a reasonably small light, though not small enough for me to consider it for keychain use.

The light is powered by an internal, non-removable 18350 cell which pushes a Cree XHP70 LED. That’s a firecracker of an LED, and can really pump out a lot of light. There are smaller 18350 lights particularly if you start frankensteining components together, but it’s not large, and in my collection, is only defeated in size by the CR123-powered lights.

The design of the LD70 strays far from the flashlight designs we’re used to seeing and handling. It’s slightly squared off, and has a more or less even diameter throughout the length of the tube. There’s a single electronic clicky switch at the very end of the tube, and a handy little OLED information display that delivers information on output, voltage, and lock status. Our unit, done in a fetching shade of blue, has cutouts in the outer shell so the black plastic underneath can contrast through. Overall, it’s a particularly high-tech-looking light that’s bound to start a few conversations.

This brings us to the first of the imperfections about the light. It has neither a pocket clip, nor provision for one. I know some of us prefer keeping it on a lanyard, and fortunately one is provided, but if you want a clip, you’re going to have to find something in the bin (we all have that bin) that fits, and make that work somehow. I really much prefer a clip than leaving it bouncing around at the bottom of my pocket, particularly since it’s a reasonably small light.

There’s also the matter of output. The lowest level, 20 lm, is still a little bright, and there’s no way to get any lower output modes. In close to absolute darkness, 20 lm is a lot more light than I would like, but better too much than not enough, I guess. Turbo mode pushes out an astonishing 4000 lumens (claimed) of light for about a minute, ,before dropping down to a reasonable 900 lumens. It’s crazy how much light (and heat) it puts out, so do be careful. It went into turbo once in my pocket when I made the mistake of leaving it unlocked, and there were wisps of smoke in the short time it took for me to notice.

The beam is extremely floody, making for a great work light, but the tradeoff is that the throw is quite short. I generally prefer throw over flood, but honestly, this little light is starting to change my mind about that somewhat. It’s a very usable beam pattern on the lower outputs, able to illuminate a large area with little effort, though at high output, I can’t think of very many uses for so much spread from a little pocket light.

The tail button is large, and easy to find and actuate with a thumb. It’s the only way to access the simple UI, which consists of a single press to switch on or off, holding to cycle through outputs, three presses for status, and four presses for locking the light. Two quick taps takes it to turbo as long as it is not locked. That’s really all there is to it.

Another handy feature is the small OLED display that lets you know whether the light is locked or not, and either the current output level or the battery’s state of charge. It sounds a little gimmicky on paper, but in practice works quite well, so you know just where you are in terms of your remaining juice.

Overall, it’s a great, handy light that is built solidly, and has a few extra features we’re not really used to seeing in lights at this range. It offers great performance for its size, and having 4000 lumens in the palm of your hand is something. It’s my current daily driver, and should stay so for a good while.

Again, it’s not perfect. It doesn’t throw very far, it’s got no clip, and it’s a little spartan in its features. But that’s made up for by its raw output, small size, and interesting looks. Seriously, get it in blue, and stare at it for an hour. In the end, it’s a series of compromises that doesn’t feel like a mediocre effort, which confusingly enough, is actually quite good. Will it end my quest for the perfect light? Probably not. But it’ll stay in my pocket every day for a while.