Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I don’t always trust the reviews. When the reviews are too good, I figure they might be ringers. I was skeptical & wondered how the quality would be. But this thing is solid. I’m very happy with this purchase. I’m probably going to buy one for my daughter to keep handy in her car, too. ***Update: I went ahead and had one shipped to her. 😊 There is an instruction fold out. But, I didn’t spend much time with it. The flashlight was easy to figure out. Each time you long press the power button, it toggles between 3 things: the torch, the side white light and the side flashing red light. Once one of these 3 is selected with a long press, each short press toggles between the different options for each light: 1) Torch has 3 options: Full Bright, Half Bright & Strobe 2) Side White Light has 2 options: Full Bright & Half Bright 3) Side Flashing Red Light has 2 options: Fast Flash or Slower Flash The lights are bright and work great. The construction is solid. And because of the solid construction, I have no doubt that the seat belt cutter and the window smasher will work well. My finger doesn’t even come close to being able to slide in to get cut. And I don’t think a child’s finger could fit either. The magnet is very strong. I briefly plugged in the USB connection both ways. Charging the flashlight was working. But I couldn’t tell how fast it was charging. **UPDATE There is a flashing red light next to the USB ports on the bottom of the flashlight (under the compass) to indicate that the flashlight is being charged. The red light stops flashing and stays on when the battery is fully charged. After It was full, I unplugged the charger. Then later, on two occasions, I plugged it in again. Both times the light stayed on with no flashing. So the battery didn’t leak any of the charge during non-use of the flashlight in that amount of time. It stayed fully charged. **A few days later...I have now tried this multiple times. The red light has not started blinking any of these times to indicate that it is charging. The flashlight apparently stays completely charged with non-use, at least for several days now. I also sampled charging my phone with the flashlight. That was working too. And, it went from 69 to 70 to 71% in fairly good time. I’m gonna try a solar charge. And if it changes my rating, I will update my review. **Update: I left the flashlight sitting on my bedroom window sill with the solar panel facing towards where the morning sun would be shining. There’s a green light that’s on when it is able to charge with sunlight. When I checked it in the afternoon, it wasn’t getting direct sun anymore and hadn’t for awhile. And the green light was still on to indicate that there’s enough sunlight to charge. No idea how fast it’s charging or when it’s full. But, the solar charging function seems to be working. And, it does not need direct sunlight. ***After letting the flashlight charge by sunlight on my window sill, I plugged it in to charge with usb. Light indicator next to the usb charge port reflected that it was already fully charged with the solar charging. I didn’t buy it for the compass. But, it works. It’s pretty much a standard, simple, manual compass. It would definitely come in handy if your other options (like a cell phone or a better quality compass) aren’t working. It moves towards north. But I usually have to juggle it abit to make sure it’s loose and moving freely. I think that’s pretty standard with a simple manual compass like that. I certainly wouldn’t want to be in a position where I’d need to rely on the compass. But, it does point to north and definitely would work in a pinch. But, again, I didn’t buy it for the compass. I was more interested in immediate type car emergency situations... being able to smash a window, cut a seatbelt, see in the dark and alert other traffic or maybe shine a beacon. And, I do feel confident having it handy for such emergency situations, God forbid. It will definitely be very handy to have for other situations too: car repairs, electrical outage, hiking, etc. Btw, it shipped quickly too, even using the free shipping option. It even arrived on Sunday, which I found odd. I think I’ve received a shipment on Sunday before. But, I thought that was a holiday thing. Pleasantly surprised. I skipped over the less expensive ones with the not-so-great reviews. I also avoided the ultra expensive choices. This one has more of what I was looking for anyway. I’m very happy with this purchase. I think you probably will be too. I hope my review helps.