Tactical Flashlight… with a TWIST?
Mode changing with a twist of the head? That’s one of a few unique features that you’ll come across with the Armytek Doberman Pro. Surprisingly, this is one of my favourite tactical flashlights to HOLD and OPERATE! Find out why in this video.
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https://www.armytek.com/flashlights/models/dobermann/armytek-dobermann-pro-magnet-usb/
This light was sent to me as a sample by Armytek for the purposes of review. I have not held back on any issues with this light. All opinions are my own.
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Armytek Doberman Pro Review
General thoughts after a week of usage/size comparison/practicality/interesting things:
• The first thing I noticed is how light it is. Considering it’s on the larger end of tactical lights. Because it has a larger bezel, some of you may find it uncomfortable to pocket if you’re wearing jeans but Armytek also includes a nice holster. The light looks and feels premium.
Overall Construction, LED, lens, bezel, and reflector
• I love the anodization of this light. I don’t think I have another light with a similar coating. It’s completely matt black, and extremely grippy. So much so that no knurling is required for a firm grip. It’s probably my favorite finish on all of my flashlights. It just looks so cool and reflects minimal light. It does pick up a bit of dust though.
• Machining is perfect, with no imperfections. Anti-roll cutouts on the head.
• The switch is very quiet when fully pressed, with just a dull click. Feels firm but with some ‘spring’ to it also. It doubles as the magnetic charging terminal. I like that you can also charge the battery separately, and it takes non-proprietary cells. See, you can have magnetic charging with no caveats!
• The light comes with a steel clip coating in black paint. It’s a short clip and designed so the tactical ring and tail cap are easily accessible from your pocket. No deep carry, sorry. The tactical ring is a useful addition but I’ve been nicer machined ones out there. It’s still functional, durable, and does the job.
• Unknown LED – it has a quad die configuration with a slight separation between each die. No dome. Sits behind a smooth reflector/white gasket. Bezel is crenulated, darkened, and appears to be made of stainless steel.
UI – modes
• UI is odd and unique at the same time. Initially, I couldn’t decide whether I liked it or not. But after using it for some time, I’ve realized that the unscrewable head essentially functions as another mode switch. It’s still complicated to work out and took me a bit of time to work out with the instruction manual. The translation wasn’t clear.
• There are two main types of operation you can use. Hunting/Tactical. The main difference is that hunting allows you to access various additional sub-modes, including LMH and Strobe. Tactical only allows you to access Turbo/Medium and a bright/weak strobe. This is for simplicity of use. Switching between hunting/tactical requires you to turn the light on and unscrew and screw the head together 10 times. A single blink indicates a successful switch.
• Hunting mode:
○ Tighten head and switch on for turbo (half press for momentary, full press for on).
○ Additional modes: unscrew the head slightly and half press quickly or turn off/on quickly to cycle between LMH.
○ Strobe 2 can be added by half-pressing the light on and off 20 times, fully clicking on the 20th click.
• Tactical mode:
○ Tighten head and switch on for turbo (half press for momentary, full press for on). Unscrew the head slightly to access medium mode. Repeat to cycle back to turbo.
○ Strobe: From off, unscrew head slightly then switch on. Unscrew the head slightly and screw back to switch to weaker strobe mode.
• I think it’s strange that there are two strobe modes, one is enough. But you can just leave it on the main strobe mode which is what I do. The unscrewing and screwing of the head is a bit fiddly and I wonder why not just use a second switch instead? I’m not too worried about the wear on the threads as they’re lubricated well and you only need to unscrew it 1/8 of a to switch modes.
Performance – total output, beam profile, longevity, practicality
• Ceiling bounce test, CCT, CRI.
• The beam is on the cooler end and I noticed up close that there is a darker spot in the center. This is not apparent outside at longer ranges.
Considerations
• Slightly darker spot in the center of the beam – it’s only noticeable closer up on a white wall.
• The rubber ring grip could be machined better.
• Larger head, could be tricky to pocket. decent throw. I wonder if I can swap in an SFT40 or Osram W2?
I’d prefer a second switch on the head for mode switching instead of unscrewing and screwing it back in. However, the advantage is that there’s zero chance of accidental activation.
