Loop Gear LOOPDOT flashlight review – EDC flashlight with a pixel display and fidget dial

REVIEW – I have something a little unusual for you today. It’s a review of a flashlight that’s not like any flashlight that you’ve probably ever seen before. It’s designed to light your way and also amuse you. Is it good at either? Let’s find out.

︎ Jump to summary (pros/cons)
Price: $35.00
Where to buy: Loop Gear and Kickstarter

What is it?

The Loop Gear LOOPDOT is a small LED flashlight with a built-in color pixel display and a rotating bezel that changes modes and acts like a fidget toy.

What’s included?

• Loop Gear LOOPDOT flashlight
• Lanyard case
• Clip case
• Polishing cloth
• USB charging cable
• User manual

Tech Specs

Design and features

The Lopp Gear LOOPDOT flashlight is thumb-sized with the light on the top surface with the RGB matrix display below it.

The back has the brand name.

The casing is an anodized gunmetal grey, but the light is also going to be available in orange and potentially other colors.

It’s a slippery little guy, so I would advise using one of the included holders with the clip or lanyard.

The bottom edge has a USB-C charging port.

And the power button is at the top. There’s a tactile rotating dial around the LED that is used to select the mode and also adjust the light’s brightness level.

To turn on the light, you just press the top button once. It will start in the spotlight mode by default. Then you can press the top button again to turn on the light. By default, it will start in the moonlight mode, which is so dim that you might not even notice that it’s on. You can use the dial to increase and decrease the brightness. You can also double-press the top button to go to turbo brightness mode or triple press to go into Strobe mode where the light flashs. The dial can be used to adjust the brightness in that mode too.

To switch to the floodlight mode, you turn the dial after powering on the light. You’ll see the yellow icon on the display. In this mode, the “iris” around the light glows yellow and like before, the dial can be used to adjust the brightness level.

There’s also a game mode, which lets you play games. There’s a Digital Wooden Fish game – yeah, I have no idea what that is… There’s a timer mode that will let you do a countdown from 1 to 99 seconds and will flash the display when the time is up. There’s a rock paper scissors game where you shake the light to display either paper, scissors, or rock.

There’s also a dice mode and an animated mode. All these modes are cute but I don’t know how often anyone would use them.

Most people will use the LOOPDOT as a flashlight and it works as expected. I do wish that the back of the light were magnetic to provide some extra utility. Watch the video below to see what it looks like to use the light.

See it in action

Final thoughts

The Loop Gear LOOPDOT is a compact EDC flashlight with simple controls, quick brightness adjustment, and enough output for everyday tasks. The pixel display and mini games are there if you want them, but the core light works as expected. A magnetic tail would boost utility, but at $35, it delivers good value for a small, handy light that’s also fun to fidget with. If size, ease of use, and a little flair matter, the LOOPDOT gets the job done.

What I like about Loop Gear LOOPDOT flashlight

• Fidget factor
• Unique
• Easy to adjust brightness

What needs to be improved?

Price: $35.00
Where to buy: Loop Gear and Kickstarter
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Loop Gear. They did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.

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