When it comes to electric gadgets, a flashlight is just about as basic as you can get. But Glowstone has attempted to create a flashlight that's anything but basic, with its high-powered versatility making it handy for all sorts of applications, from camping, to the garage, to pulling double duty as a bicycle light.
The Glowstone Flashlight is designed to be the flashlight you can take anywhere, for when your smartphone flash isn't getting the job done. In Boost mode it can pump out 900 lumens, which is just a little less than what the average car headlight, or 65-watt incandescent globe puts out. So it's bright.
It's also compact and rugged. Its case measures 68 x 51 x 13 mm (2.6 x 2 x 0.5 in), and it's built from silicone with 60 Shore hardness. That means you can drop it from most heights, drive over it, throw it against walls, or stomp on it to your heart's content. It's also IP69X rated and can be used up to 30 m (100 ft) underwater.
It charges wirelessly on a Qi charging pad – the same sort most phones use – so there's no ports to let dust or moisture in, and the battery will last up to 32 hours of low-intensity use, or one hour if you're cranking the thing at full bore.
As a pocket flashlight, it looks beaut. But its card-like form factor opens up some funky use cases that make it much more of a multifunction machine. Optioning up, you can go for a range of accessories like mini tripods, suction mounts, hooks, clamps, clips, head straps, belt clips and GoPro mounts to turn it into anything from a garage work light to a hanging light, a head torch or something more akin to your regular, gripped torch.
Or indeed a set of bike lights – one at the front and one behind, with the rear one covered by a red translucent screen.
It seems to us a simple and nifty unit, with nine modes, three brightness settings and a weight (75 g/2.6 oz) that's about half that of a small smartphone. We can see how people would want to have one or two around.
But it's not cheap. The minimum pledge level of £22 (US$28) gets you the Flashlight only, no charge pad included. Move up to the multitool pack and you're looking at £56 (US$71), and you can expect to pay the same for a double-light pack with the bicycle mounts. The Kickstarter campaign has easily surpassed its goal and if everything goes to plan deliveries will start in March 2019.
See the Glowstone Flashlight get soundly abused in the pitch video below.
Source: Glowstone
