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- Apr 6, 2002
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- 1,356
I recently bought a CMG Infinity Ultra flashlight. This is a 1-LED light that runs on one AA battery and is the second generation of this model. Here is an initial review. I will use the Arc AAA flashlight as a basis for comparison, since many people are familiar with it.
My first impression was how big the Infinity is. It is 3.25" (83mm) long and 2.5" (64mm) in circumference. By contrast, the Arc is about 2.75" (70mm) long and 1.5" (38mm) in circumference. The Infinity has a nice, dark green anodized coating. The smooth part seems reasonably scratch-resistant, but the textured part is very easily scratched. Time will tell how well it wears. The coating on my Arc is almost completely gone just from daily carry. The Infinity has an O-ring for water resistance, as does the Arc. The Infinity comes with a removable pocket clip and neck lanyard.
One of the things that made the Infinity appealing to me is that it uses AA batteries. I tried to standardize on this size of battery, and all of my other lights - NightBuster 8x, Ergo EternaLight, and Krill light - use AAs. I made exceptions for the Photon and Arc, but it would be nice to be able to lay in a stock of one battery size and use them for everything. With a battery inserted, the Infinity rattles quite a bit. This doesn't bother me, but could be a minor annoyance for some. When turning the light off, the head has to be given a 1/4 turn to make sure that it is off. The Arc has no battery rattle and just needs a slight turn to be reliably on or off.
I tested the Infinity with an Energizer alkaline battery and the Arc with a Duracell alkaline battery, since those are what I had available. I don't have a lightmeter, so I just put the lights in a dark room and observed them in between doing chores.
In a side-by-side illumination comparison, the Infinity has a slightly brighter center and a larger diameter than the Arc. The Energizer kept the Infinity shining for about 12 hours with minimal lose of brightness. The brightness tapered off slowly between 12 and 16 hours. At 16 hours, it was still bright enough to illuminate a tent or follow a trail. I fell asleep then, and when I got up, the light had been on for 24 hours. It still had a bright center that could be used as a spotlight for close objects. However, the peripheral brightness was greatly reduced and would not be useful for area illumination.
The Arc has a "sun/moon" mode, where it remains at maximum brightness for a period of time, then switches to minimum brightness to preserve the battery. I got 5.5 hours in sun mode and at least another 10 hours in moon mode. However, the moon mode is only enough for reading a map or possibly fixing gear, but useless beyond a few inches.
To sum up, both lights seem equally durable, with the Arc having slightly better fit and finish. The Infinity is noticably brighter, but I don't think that there is enough difference to use as a criterion for choosing one light over the other. The Infinity provides significantly more battery life at higher levels of illumination. The price for the extra battery life is the larger size. The Infinity stretches the limit of what is convenient to slip into a front pocket with other items like keys.
I use my EDC light occasionally at work, briefly each day to illuminate my mailbox keyhole and front door, and for other everyday conveniences. So, the extra battery life does not outweigh the considerably larger size for me. For now, I will continue with the Arc as my EDC, rotating with the Infinity sometimes for variety and more testing. If a person uses their light extensively, the battery life could become a factor for them. In that case, the Infinity would be a good choice. Another situation where the Infinity would make sense is if your primary light also uses AAs. If your primary light is damaged, you could use the batteries in the Infinity.
My first impression was how big the Infinity is. It is 3.25" (83mm) long and 2.5" (64mm) in circumference. By contrast, the Arc is about 2.75" (70mm) long and 1.5" (38mm) in circumference. The Infinity has a nice, dark green anodized coating. The smooth part seems reasonably scratch-resistant, but the textured part is very easily scratched. Time will tell how well it wears. The coating on my Arc is almost completely gone just from daily carry. The Infinity has an O-ring for water resistance, as does the Arc. The Infinity comes with a removable pocket clip and neck lanyard.
One of the things that made the Infinity appealing to me is that it uses AA batteries. I tried to standardize on this size of battery, and all of my other lights - NightBuster 8x, Ergo EternaLight, and Krill light - use AAs. I made exceptions for the Photon and Arc, but it would be nice to be able to lay in a stock of one battery size and use them for everything. With a battery inserted, the Infinity rattles quite a bit. This doesn't bother me, but could be a minor annoyance for some. When turning the light off, the head has to be given a 1/4 turn to make sure that it is off. The Arc has no battery rattle and just needs a slight turn to be reliably on or off.
I tested the Infinity with an Energizer alkaline battery and the Arc with a Duracell alkaline battery, since those are what I had available. I don't have a lightmeter, so I just put the lights in a dark room and observed them in between doing chores.
In a side-by-side illumination comparison, the Infinity has a slightly brighter center and a larger diameter than the Arc. The Energizer kept the Infinity shining for about 12 hours with minimal lose of brightness. The brightness tapered off slowly between 12 and 16 hours. At 16 hours, it was still bright enough to illuminate a tent or follow a trail. I fell asleep then, and when I got up, the light had been on for 24 hours. It still had a bright center that could be used as a spotlight for close objects. However, the peripheral brightness was greatly reduced and would not be useful for area illumination.
The Arc has a "sun/moon" mode, where it remains at maximum brightness for a period of time, then switches to minimum brightness to preserve the battery. I got 5.5 hours in sun mode and at least another 10 hours in moon mode. However, the moon mode is only enough for reading a map or possibly fixing gear, but useless beyond a few inches.
To sum up, both lights seem equally durable, with the Arc having slightly better fit and finish. The Infinity is noticably brighter, but I don't think that there is enough difference to use as a criterion for choosing one light over the other. The Infinity provides significantly more battery life at higher levels of illumination. The price for the extra battery life is the larger size. The Infinity stretches the limit of what is convenient to slip into a front pocket with other items like keys.
I use my EDC light occasionally at work, briefly each day to illuminate my mailbox keyhole and front door, and for other everyday conveniences. So, the extra battery life does not outweigh the considerably larger size for me. For now, I will continue with the Arc as my EDC, rotating with the Infinity sometimes for variety and more testing. If a person uses their light extensively, the battery life could become a factor for them. In that case, the Infinity would be a good choice. Another situation where the Infinity would make sense is if your primary light also uses AAs. If your primary light is damaged, you could use the batteries in the Infinity.
