REVIEW – Most of my nights end the same way. I’m standing on the sidewalk outside my building while my old pup takes her time deciding which patch of grass deserves the honor. I’ve tripped over her more times than I want to admit, and my phone flashlight is a miserable tool for the job, since it means holding my phone at an awkward angle while also holding a leash while also not falling down. Armytek sent over two lights built for exactly this kind of unglamorous nightly task. The Elf C2 is a compact rechargeable flashlight that also straps to your head when you need both hands free, and the Zippy WR is a tiny clip light that’s basically its little sibling. The Elf C2 is the main event here, with the Zippy WR along for the ride as a genuinely useful extra.
The Elf C2 and Zippy WR were sent to me by Armytek at no cost. They had no editorial input and did not see this review before it published.
Photos and video by Gregory Morley.
The Basics
The Elf C2 is a right-angle flashlight that puts out up to 1,100 lumens, runs on a single rechargeable 18650 battery, and charges over USB-C instead of the annoying proprietary charging cradles some lights still insist on. Armytek sells it as a flashlight, and that’s how it spends most of its life in my hand, but it ships with an elastic headmount and a removable clip, so it converts to a headlamp any time the job needs both hands. It’s rated IP68, meaning it can go underwater and keep working, more waterproofing than my own opinions about the dark have ever required. The Zippy WR is a much smaller device, a clip-on light about the size of a car key that puts out a modest 120 lumens in white and 30 lumens in red, charges over Micro-USB rather than the Elf C2’s USB-C, and is built to live on a keychain or a jacket zipper rather than a headband.
What’s in the Box
Armytek Elf C2
- Elf C2 flashlight
- 18650 Li-Ion battery, 3,200 mAh, included
- Elastic headmount
- Removable stainless steel clip
- Spare O-rings
- USB-C charging cable
- User manual
Armytek Zippy WR Extended Set
- Zippy WR light
- Elastic headmount with rotating magnetic mount
- Removable steel clip
- User manual
By the Numbers
Armytek Elf C2
- Price: $65.00
- Max output: 1,100 lumens, 105 m beam distance
- Modes: 0.11 lumen Firefly (200 days runtime) up to 1,100 lumen Turbo (2 h 32 min, steps down to 650 lumens after 4 minutes to manage heat)
- Battery: 18650 Li-Ion, 3,200 mAh, included
- Charging: USB-C, water resistant port, about 4 h 30 min from empty on a 1 A or better adapter, button glows red while charging and green when it’s done
- Lamp mode: runs off any USB power source with the battery removed, in its three lowest modes only
- Build: Aircraft-grade aluminum, Type III hard anodizing
- Weight: 65 g without battery
- Waterproofing: IP68, safe to 10 m submersion
- Drop rating: 10 m
- Extras: Timer (2, 5 or 10 minutes), tailcap lock-out, magnetic tail
- Warranty: 10 years
Armytek Zippy WR Extended Set
- Price: $23.00
- Max output: 120 lumens white, 30 lumens red
- Beam distance: 12 m white, 6 m red
- Beam angle: 110 degrees, with a 60 degree hotspot
- Modes: Firefly, Main1, Main2, Main3 and Beacon in each color, from 0.1 lumen for 220 hours up to 120 lumens for 19 minutes
- Battery: Built-in Li-Pol, 100 mAh
- Charging: Micro-USB, water resistant socket, about 1 h 10 min from empty, indicator red while charging and green when it’s done
- Controls: One button. One click on or off, press and hold to cycle modes, two clicks to swap white and red. Remembers the last mode used
- Size: 59 x 25 x 9 mm
- Weight: 12 g
- Warranty: 5 years on the light, 12 months on the battery, mounts and connectors
Design & Build
The Elf C2 feels like it was built by people who have actually carried a light in the dark. It sits in the hand comfortably, the right-angle head points the beam where you are walking instead of wherever your wrist happens to be, and the aluminum body has enough heft to feel serious without turning into a brick in a jacket pocket. The stainless clip pops off cleanly if you’d rather run it handheld or clip it to a jacket, and there’s a magnet built into the tail end for sticking it to anything metal, which has already saved me from balancing it on a fence post while I dealt with a very insistent dog. Drop it into the elastic headmount and it becomes a headlamp that doesn’t pinch and doesn’t look like I strapped a soda can to my forehead, light enough that I forget it’s up there on a half hour walk. Armytek’s 10-year warranty says plenty about how confident the company is in its own hardware.
Beam and Modes
Turbo mode at 1,100 lumens is genuinely bright, the kind of bright that makes my block look like a stadium parking lot, though Armytek is honest that it steps down to 650 lumens after about four minutes so the thing doesn’t cook itself. That’s the right tradeoff. I haven’t needed Turbo more than a handful of times, mostly to check whether something moving in the bushes was a raccoon or just my imagination. The lower modes are where I actually live day to day, and the Firefly mode at 0.11 lumens sipping power for up to 200 days on a charge means I can leave it on low as a marker light without worrying I’ll kill the battery overnight.
Two features the spec sheet doesn’t advertise have turned out to matter more than the headline lumen count. There’s a timer that shuts the light off after two, five, or ten minutes, which works the way a sleep timer does on a TV. I set it, put the light down, and it takes care of switching itself off instead of burning through a charge because I wandered away and forgot about it. And there’s a lock-out that stops the button waking up against everything else in a bag. Both work the same way, by unscrewing the tailcap a quarter turn.
Charging and Everyday Use
USB-C charging sounds like a small thing until you own three other gadgets that also charge over USB-C and realize you no longer need a dedicated cable just for your flashlight. A dead battery takes about four and a half hours to fill, and the button itself glows red while it’s charging and green when it’s finished, so I can check it from across the room. The port is sealed well enough that I haven’t worried about it during damp mornings. The Elf C2 will also work as a plug-in lamp off any USB power source with the battery taken out, though only in its three lowest modes, and that flexibility earned its keep once during a power blip that had me digging through a drawer for candles before I remembered I owned a light that could just sit on the counter and work.
The Zippy WR, a Smaller Sidekick
The Zippy WR has a different job than the Elf C2. It’s a keychain-sized light that puts out 120 lumens in white and 30 lumens in red, runs on a built-in 100 mAh battery, and charges over Micro-USB rather than the Elf C2’s USB-C cable. Each color runs four steady levels, from a 0.1 lumen Firefly up to the full 120, and both add a Beacon mode that flashes. Two clicks swaps white for red from any state, and it comes back on in whatever mode you left it in. The red mode earns its keep on the specific job of not blinding myself or my neighbors at eleven at night, and the whole thing is small enough that it lives on my keys now instead of in a drawer, the only real test that matters for a gadget this size. At $23.00 it’s priced like a stocking stuffer, but it’s become the light I grab most often for the thirty-second version of the same task the Elf C2 handles for longer outings.
What Could Be Better
The Elf C2’s headband, while comfortable, is a fairly plain elastic strap compared to the more padded, adjustable rigs on dedicated headlamps, so if you have a large head or wear it over a hat regularly, try it on before committing. The Zippy WR’s red mode beam distance tops out at about 6 meters, plenty for a parking lot or a tent but not something you’d want to rely on for a real trail at night. Neither issue has stopped me from using both lights constantly, but they’re the honest nitpicks.
Watch the Review
Quick Questions
Q: Is the Elf C2 a flashlight or a headlamp?
A: Both, and Armytek sells it as a flashlight. It’s a right-angle light that runs handheld, clips to a pocket, or sticks to anything metal with the magnet in its tail. The elastic headmount in the box turns it into a headlamp when you need both hands, which is how I use it most on late night dog walks.
Q: How long does the Elf C2 actually run on a charge?
A: It depends entirely on the mode. Turbo at 1,100 lumens is rated 2 hours 32 minutes, though it steps down to 650 lumens after about four minutes to manage heat. At the other end, Firefly at 0.11 lumens is rated 200 days. A dead battery refills over USB-C in about four and a half hours.
Q: Do the Elf C2 and Zippy WR share a charging cable?
A: No, and it’s the most annoying thing about owning both. The Elf C2 charges over USB-C and the Zippy WR charges over Micro-USB, so you need two cables.
Q: Is the Zippy WR bright enough to be useful on its own?
A: For close work, yes. It puts out 120 lumens in white with a 12 meter beam, which covers a keyhole, the inside of a bag, or a few steps of sidewalk. The red mode at 30 lumens and 6 meters is there to protect your night vision, not to light a trail.
Final Thoughts
Between the two, the Elf C2 is doing the real work. It’s a bright, well-built, properly waterproof flashlight with a 10-year warranty and USB-C charging that makes it easy to keep topped off alongside everything else I own, and the fact that it converts to a headlamp at no extra cost is what makes it the one I actually reach for. The Zippy WR turned out to be more than a footnote, a legitimately useful little light that earned a permanent spot on my keychain.
Price: $65.00 (Elf C2), $23.00 (Zippy WR)
Where to buy: Armytek or Amazon
What I like: Bright, well-built flashlight that converts to a headlamp, with USB-C charging and a 10-year warranty, plus a surprisingly useful little companion light
What I don’t: The Elf C2’s headband is fairly basic, and the Zippy WR’s red beam distance is short
Buy the Elf C2 direct from Armytek
Buy the Zippy WR direct from Armytek
