LoopDot from LoopGear

[Grant Lamontagne]

Someone on the Facebook group recently posted this flashlight that had an LED screen on it and I thought that was something I needed to try.  After some searching (no one on FB ever responds when you ask them what something is- FB is such a cesspool, but that's a rant for another time) I managed to discover that the flashlight was called the LoopDot from a company called LoopGear.

It's about the same size as the Wuben W5 and the OLight OClip Pro/Ultra and slightly closer in form factor to the OLight.  It's also similarly priced- a little more expensive, but not significantly so.

Those of you who read the threads about the other lights know that I wasn't thrilled with the Wuben W5 as I found it a bit overly complex to operate.  As I said, you can't just drop the W5 in someone's hand an expect them to be able to operate it, largely because of the various stitches and dials and buttons and inverse dilithium matrices and so on.

Well.... the Wuben is child's play compared to the LoopDot.   

Here is the video operations manual, which I had to consult after being completely lost trying to read the instruction sheet.



That having been said, right out of the box I was able to make light come out of it.

After looking at the instruction sheet I was able to accidentally enter Turbo mode and blind myself.   

After watching the video several times, I can now operate the light with some effectiveness, going from the glow ring to the extremely bright light, and adjusting the brightness of each.  I can enter and exit Turbo mode, and I can also use the strobe.  I would recommend looking away from this light when entering either of those modes or you will regret it.   

But seeing stuff in the dark is only part of this flashlight's functions.  I mean, a flashlight that only makes things less dark?  That's so 2024.... 

This thing also has games and graphics and all kinds of other weird things thanks to it's afore mentioned LED screen, which is quite small so don't expect much.  It's actually smaller than a smart watch screen, but it (supposedly) has games on it and useful functions like a die mode (shake it and it rolls a virtual six sided die) and coin flip mode.  Shaking it in this mode flips a virtual coin that comes up with a Y or an N (yes or no) rather than the H or T (heads or tails) that you would expect from flipping a coin.

Apparently it does other things as well, and you have to use a combination of short clicks, long clicks or multiple clicks on the button, shakes or twisting the bezel around the LED to navigate the various functions.

I will use this thread to try and keep track of the various functions I discover and how to use them.

But getting back to the basics, this light has an anodized aluminum shell that seems just as sturdy as the OLight, but as it is more pill shaped, it can't be stood up.  It also doesn't appear to have a built in magnet like the W5 or OClip nor does it have a clip or lanyard ring, so unless you buy extra accessories like the carry keychain clip doodad, this one is going to just sit there.  You can't stand it up, you can't attach it to anything and you will only be able to aim it when it's actively in your hand.

It's IPX6 rated, so at least you don't have to worry about it getting wet when you get caught in the rain.  It's not rated for immersion, so don't expect to blind any fish on your next SCUBA outing.

It is USB rechargeable and has a USB-C port in the bottom, so at least it has that much going for it.

It's also available in multiple colors, and as usual I got the green version because I like green and I also like losing things in the woods.   

I'll have to get some photos of it tomorrow as the sun is already going down here and I won't be able to get a decent pic of it.

In the meantime, here is what I have figured out:

One quick press of the button turns on the light ring.  Then turning the bezel increases the intensity.

Another quick press turns the light off.

With the glow ring on, press and hold the button to switch to the central LED.  Press and hold again to switch back to the glow ring.  And, like the glow ring, when on the LED, turning the bezel increases the brightness, and a single, short click turns the light off.

In these basic modes, the LED screen flashes on briefly with a battery indicator to show what level the charge is at, and that's a function I really appreciate.

Are you still with me?

Good, because that's barely even started.

Two short presses on the button will turn on Turbo mode, and make sure the light is pointed away from you or anyone you care about because Turbo mode is blinding.  It should be called "smurf You Mode" because I'm pretty sure that is going to smurf someone like a mother smurfer if they are looking at it when it comes on.  Actually, I do know what it is like, because I was looking at the thing when I first discovered that a double click turns on "smurf You Mode" and I am sure smurf YOU was a lot nicer than what I actually said at the time.

Since that's obviously not damaging enough, three quick presses of the button enters into strobe mode, which alternates between smurf You mode and nothing very quickly, so in addition to burning out retinas it can also be remarkably disorienting.

Four quick presses enters into a sort of menu, and this is where you have to work to interpret some of the simple graphics on the screen.  Think back to the Atari 2600 days, because that's the kind of graphics you are going to be looking at, and if you don't remember the Atari 2600 and have lots of experience with it, don't bother with the LoopDot because you probably still have some hope in your life.

The first graphic that pops up looks to me like a bomb, but is allegedly a flashlight with a beam of light coming out of it.  That is an indicator that you are in flashlight mode.

The second graphic is a box with a Z in it, the third looks like one of the screens in the old Tron game on the Atari 2600 and the fourth looks a bit like a Snork if you remember what those were.

I think the Tron icon is the Settings menu, and the Snork is actually a padlock, which allows you to lock down the light, I guess to stop accidental turn ons or for longer term storage.

When it's locked, you just have to turn the dial until the whole lock changes color to unlock it.

That's handy, but it's different from how the lock works in other modes, but that's another problem for another time.

Z mode appears to be the game mode, and that allows you to enter into coin flipping mode and die mode, but I need to play with this more before I am going to record any of my results.

More as I figure it out, but at this point, I wouldn't recommend this light unless you really like things that are overly complicated and you don't have enough frustrations in life.

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

So, in order to post pics I take them with my phone, use Image Shrink to reduce them to 800x 600 for the forum, then upload them to Dropbox to post here

When creating the Dropbox folder to put them in, autocorrect tried to change the name to Poopdot and I very seriously considered just going with it.   

But here are the photos, hopefully in order.

Bomb/Flashlight mode

Z mode for games (?)

Tron mode for Settings (?)

Snork mode for lockdown.

More to follow.

Def

[Farmer X]

At this point, I wouldn't recommend this light unless you really like things that are overly complicated and you don't have enough frustrations in life.

Clearly, I ain't the intended market here. I expect a flashlight to produce...well, light...and do absolutely nothing else. An LED screen with gaming capability stuck into a flashlight just smacks of an answer to a question that no one asked. Since it's unnecessarily complicated and I have too many frustrations in life, this is an easy pass for me. The rechargeable battery (which I'm presuming is hard-wired) just adds insult to injury. Thanks for spending your money so we don't have to!

[IMR4198]

   Somehow that flashlight reminded me of a Samsung refrigerator ad that keeps on springing up on U-Toob breaks.  An AI powered fridge.  Has a little screen.  Talk to it with your cell phone.  I don't know if I could talk to a refrigerator.  What would I say?  "Hey.  Howzit goin?  Everything cool?"  I think it suggests recipes that you should try with the contents.  If I had one it would probably say I needed to buy more food.  And get rid of that old milk jug that is swelled up in the corner.  Pee-Yew. 
Best wishes.  G
 

[WhichDawg]

Yeah thanks for Guinea pigging it for us boss 
Very interesting and cool it can do so much but like stated not for me 

[Grant Lamontagne]

It's a neat toy indeed, and I think I am getting the hang of operating it, but the learning curve on it is steep.

One thing I do like about it is the relatively simple interface to get light to come out of the end of it.  To that end, it has the Wuben W5 beat, if for no other reason than you can press the button and light comes out.

Not much light mind you, but it does.

And, by rotating the bezel you can get more light, so it's easy to make the dark go away, but that is what a flashlight is for, and everything else is secondary.

If you want to do more, well then that's where things get a bit more complicated, and that's okay, but it has fulfilled the basic function (reasonably) successfully.

As for the rest, it's a series of ever deepening menus, but this thing is capable of doing quite a bit.

Press the button four times to get into one of the menus I showed above.  You use the bezel to scroll between them, and once you find the menu item you want, you click the button once and it takes you to the submenu.

From that Submenu, you find the mode you want.  To go back, you double click the button and it goes back to a previous menu.

And, I will admit there are some neat features, like the afore mentioned six sided die and the coin flip. 

I have also found a few more graphic modes that are neat.  One simulates a flame, and another has a graphic of water on it.  When you tilt the light to one side or the other, the virtual water tilts as well.  This could be handy as a not super accurate level, but I'd say it's more for fun than anything else.  It has to be at a pretty steep angle before the Atari 2600 style graphic registers any movement and I feel like all of us could easily eyeball something better.

It also has some other functions that could be useful, like a stopwatch and a timer, and one neat function I used to use a lot in the old days, a counter.  Each time you press the button it adds one.  I used these a lot when I worked in the bars to keep an accurate count of how many patrons were inside, and again when I was importing cars from Europe as I'd need to keep an accurate count of how many had been discharged from the vessel.  With 1500-2000 cars/day, it was easy to lose count.   

And, for nerds like me, there is also a Matrix mode, where you can have little green dots fall randomly from the top.  In case you want to visit other matrices, you can change the color and speed as well, just in case your particular universe doesn't have a phone booth, Delorean or time traveling hot tub.

It also has what I can only think of as Spin The Bottle Mode, where you can shake it and it will randomly point in one of eight directions, so I may have to sneak a bottle from the old lady's liquor cabinet and get a bunch of friends over for a slumber party to accurately test it.   

But, if all you want is a light to make things less dark, then there are much better options for a lot less money. 

If you want something functional that also does some cool extra things, you could do a lot worse than this, and as I said, some of the things it does might actually be useful to have at some point. 

Def

[AzteCypher]

Clearly, I ain't the intended market here. I expect a flashlight to produce...well, light...and do absolutely nothing else.

Same.  It's in the name flash"light".  Seems like LoopDot missed the memo.   

I'll admit that it's a cool toy though.

[Sos24]

Nice review.  I do know what you mean by the complexity of UIs.  I have a couple that are not intuitive and can be frustrating. 

I think the clip form factor has become really popular.  The simplicity of the OClip.  Wurkkos HD03 is a similar form factor that is not as basic the OClip but still fairly east to operate.  Lumitop has also come out with one but I have not tried that one.


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[Antti Lammi]

That looks one of those flashlight that cannot remeber what does what, thats why i carry mostly my Led Lenser P3R just because it has only 2 modes turbo and regular

[Grant Lamontagne]

Somehow I missed this one but apparently David Bowen has already reviewed this light:  https://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,94218.0.html

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

I decided to carry the LoopDot this evening while visiting with Megan's family.  I just dropped it in my pocket before we left.

Now, just over an hour later I reached into my pocket for something else and there's something HOT in there!   

I thought that I must have lied a lot because my pants felt like they were on fire!

I see why this thing has a lock out function now.... 

I have no idea how long it was on for.

Def

[pfrsantos]

I decided to carry the LoopDot this evening while visiting with Megan's family.  I just dropped it in my pocket before we left.

Now, just over an hour later I reached into my pocket for something else and there's something HOT in there!   

I thought that I must have lied a lot because my pants felt like they were on fire!

I see why this thing has a lock out function now.... 

I have no idea how long it was on for.

Def

 

[Sos24]

That is one way of keeping warm.

I had one of those supercharged 1000+ lights come on in my pocket once.  Noticed it when my leg started feeling hot.  Lockout is the way to go.

[Grant Lamontagne]

It's always a balancing act of making the switch easy to access, but not easy to access accidentally.

I don't like lockouts on lights for the same reason I don't like extra fiddly smurf on them- I see flashlights as an emergency device and they need to be activated quickly and easily without extra screwing around.  If you can't put it in someone's hands in a crisis and get light without having to explain it, it's a fail IMHO.

Given how many lights on the market that go that way, maybe I am in the wrong.

Def

[Antti Lammi]

I prefer flashlight to have only 2 options like on my LL P3R it only have 2 modes low and high. on my headlamp i have options to adjust light mode with pressing button also if i shortly press it activates turbo mode

[Chako]

I am looking at flashlights right now for a sheath I recently bought and stumbled across this one online. I do like toys and bought one out of curiosity. I just ordered it on Amazon. Then I did a little more reading and thought it was odd that no clip came with it. I found Loopgear's website and bought the clip for it. After all of that, I figured I should check these forums and here I am.

I was also unaware of David's review, but that is because I tend to bypass the website's main page. I guess I would have known about this device sooner.

I am very curious about this one. I did read the flashlight functions are rather simple compared to the Wuben G5.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Honestly I don't much care for the G5 or the LoopDot.

The G5 I find a bit too overly complex, and the LoopDot just fails so badly compared to many other things in the same price range.

Sure the fancy features can be kind of fun, but there is a major learning curve with it- about the only good thing about it IMHO is that you don't need a degree to make light come out of it.

To me, the most important thing a flashlight can do is emit light. I know that sounds stupid, but with flashlights trying to offer many features, that function seems to get forgotten, and the G5 falls into that category.

Every time I get a new light I hand it to someone and say "Turn this on."

If they can't make light come out in the first five to ten seconds, the light fails.

At least with the LoopDot all of the extra features are secondary to getting light to come out of it.

That having been said, the LoopDot suffers in comparison to the G5 and the OClips because it doesn't have a clip, a magnet or a flat side to rest it on unless you want it pointed straight up or buy extra bits and pieces to make it work like the others.

David just reviewed another one I was interested in:

https://multitool.org/flashlights/godgya-torcheye-x1

While I don't golf and have no interest in the golf swing function, I do like the idea of a laser measuring device. I mean, I have one, but it's somewhat larger and only does laser measuring.  Having it in a smaller package and merged with a flashlight seems like a great idea for EDC.  This is Multitool.org after all, the home of multi function devices!

Def

[Chako]

I feel I will have the same opinion overall. I just found the front multi panel very interesting. The G5 is overly complex and too small for my large fingers. The Wuben X4 is much much better, and weirdly much easier to use. It has a nice weight and shape that stands up vertical on my computer desk. In moon mode, the rear switch is perfect to throw enough light without being harsh on the eyes. Yes, I am really appreciating the X4. I just ordered a Yemao YM-M28 because it was cheap and after the X4, I find I am now more partial to boxy flashlights over the traditional round bodies.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I feel I will have the same opinion overall. I just found the front multi panel very interesting. The G5 is overly complex and too small for my large fingers. The Wuben X4 is much much better, and weirdly much easier to use. It has a nice weight and shape that stands up vertical on my computer desk. In moon mode, the rear switch is perfect to throw enough light without being harsh on the eyes. Yes, I am really appreciating the X4. I just ordered a Yemao YM-M28 because it was cheap and after the X4, I find I am now more partial to boxy flashlights over the traditional round bodies.

Yeah I am absolutely preferring this form factor, and I also was lulled into buying the LoopDot by the fancy screen!  Someone had posted it in the FB group and I thought I MUST HAVE IT!

It is neat, but I am rather disappointed by its inability to be laid down and used or stuck to something.

Def

[Chako]

<---- is known to be part crow loving shinny baubles. 

Yeah I definitely know my own failings. 

[Chako]

Ok, well I got the clip and coin first. The flashlight should arrive in a couple more days.

The clip and case is very small. I thought the LoopDot would be bigger LOL! The case is probably a necessity just to be able to hold it. Included is a lanyard. Also purchased from their website is a lovely coin.

PXL_20260418_211600728A by Chako, on Flickr

PXL_20260418_211643793A by Chako, on Flickr

PXL_20260418_211710332A by Chako, on Flickr

[Grant Lamontagne]

Yes.

It is small.

Much smaller than you think it is. 

Def

[Chako]

Much smaller then I thought.

PXL_20260420_165036426A by Chako, on Flickr

PXL_20260420_165117045A by Chako, on Flickr

PXL_20260420_165203127A by Chako, on Flickr

PXL_20260420_165233264A by Chako, on Flickr

PXL_20260420_165249058A by Chako, on Flickr

PXL_20260420_165528640A by Chako, on Flickr

PXL_20260420_165608042A by Chako, on Flickr

I did not read the included instruction booklet. What I did manage to do is press the button 3 times to get a really bright flashing light directly into my eyes as I looked at the front trying to activate the front display. I figured iot was after 4 presses lol. This flashlight is small. The fact you need to buy the clip extra is a shame as it is a necessity for this guy.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Yeah, I doubt many people who bought this light haven't fallen for the flashing light directly in the old eyeballs trick.

I really feel like they should have maybe put the screen on the opposite side from the ultra bright LED.  If you use this light often you will get used to it's foibles.  If you don't, you will misremember things and blind yourself whenever you pick it up.

Don't ask how I know that.

Def

[Chako]

It is a neat concept but lacks in so many ways.

1. Should be larger.
2. Why is it shaped like a bean?
3. Should come with the clip and lanyard.
4. Somewhat complicated interface to access the front LED panel.
5. Yes, I am a crow and am attracted to shiny things...but once in hand, you can't help but think it looked way cooler on screen then once you have it in hand.
6. I played a game of catching a ball in a bucket, and said to self...why?

[Grant Lamontagne]

It is a neat concept but lacks in so many ways.

1. Should be larger.
2. Why is it shaped like a bean?
3. Should come with the clip and lanyard.
4. Somewhat complicated interface to access the front LED panel.
5. Yes, I am a crow and am attracted to shiny things...but once in hand, you can't help but think it looked way cooler on screen then once you have it in hand.
6. I played a game of catching a ball in a bucket, and said to self...why?

1- I agree completely.
2- So you will have to buy accessories to make it functional.
3- Then they wouldn't be able to entice you to spend more money on accessories.
4- I agree.
5- If we get a few more of us we can have a murder.
6- Its a nice idea to show people that you can, but in the end, why would you?

I do like some of the functions. If I could figure out the counter I'd probably like that, and I do like the coin flip.

Def

[Chako]

This is insane but I think I just found my perfect use of the LoopDot. With the accessory clip that really should not be an accessory, I have attached it to my housecoat belt. This way I have direct light when I need it, and its diminutive size really works here as I do not even notice it clipped there.

PXL_20260425_044843839A by Chako, on Flickr