I have owned the Braun light bar for about two years now and had severely abused it on the original battery, gifted one to my nephew in the navy and he was really impressed with the performance. Just got the icon light bar and got a two year warranty on it to test how durable it is.
I like how the Icon brand folds! That would be handy! 🙂👍 I guess I'm an idiot, I've had the Braun for over 2 years and honestly had no idea it swiveled until now! 🤣 Great job with the comparison. Take care 🔧🔩
Really no complaint with the Braun. It's very bright, price is awesone when on sale...I have 3, and extremely durable, I've dropped them quite a few times and still shining. 🌟
Thanks for making this, I was going to pick up the icon version but now I know you can’t change the battery and it doesn’t fold in the direction that I would prefer.
I bought my braun light the month they were in stores , I have abused the heck out of it ,I’ve dropped it and chipped some plastic and it’s still going , although the hinge is going out , Im impressed
This is the first time I've seen the Icon light. Been using the crap out of 2 of the Braun folding lights since 2019. Been great except the slightly older of the 2 would sometimes flicker. Found RU-vid vids explaining the ground wire on the board being crappy, and showing how to remedy it. Did that and all was well for the last 8 months until the button recently began intermittently not clicking. When the click goes away, the button becomes ultra sensitive to the lightest touch, causing it to act like it's being pressed. Very annoying, but that could be my fault, so I won't blame Braun. Once I got about 1 min into this vid, I was thinking this Icon must be a replacement for the Braun folding light, and I was all ready to buy one. I especially like that it folds all the way flat. But then I saw that it doesn't have a replaceable battery (at least, not within 15 seconds like the Braun). I have many 3400mAh Panasonic 18650s and a charger that does 6 of them at a time, and to not be able to use for quickly swapping to a 100% freshy on the fly is unfortunately an absolute deal-breaker.
Yea I'm not sure why they went that route with the battery on the icon. Taking it apart and getting to the battery is easy but the 18650 has wires spot welded onto the battery.
@@MotorCityMetalArt I think they want professionals to buy two, keeping one on the charger while the other light's in use. Well, they lost me right there. A replaceable battery that doesn't make the whole unit disposable when it dies someday is one feature that sold me on the HF "Braun" light in the first place.
I think I'mma just get both the Icon and the new Braun folding light. I like that the Icon is a little bit smaller and getting the Braun as a back up as I already have the old Braun light but the new one folds all the way down.
So close harbor freight. 2 killers for me I want to use it as a desk like but on steel columns (so reverse the side the led is on) and I want to be able to swap the battery like the Braun. But i love the food flat feature to fit in a 12” too bag easier without worrying about it getting damaged
No idea about the braun, but the icon is awesome. The magnet is so strong you can stick it to a nail hanging off the wall. Its like a portable light fixture its so bright
Bro this Icon is literally a clone of the Unilite IL-950r check it out you gonna be shocked ! The nerve on Icon man ! They made a clone of the Knipex plier wrench and now Unilite , unreal 😳
Good catch. Just checked it out. That light is exactly the same. But the icon is cheaper. Harbor freight is doing the same stuff matco does. Just rebrands things and hits a different price point
ICON steals whatever the other guy is doing just enough to avoid getting sued. They stamp their hand tools and package them almost precisely like snap-on and find it funny.
I have 5 of the Braun lights that are all about 4 years old. 4 out of 5 have defective switches and you have to hit bottom of base to get light to come on. Once light is on they start to flicker and get dull lighting. I have also replaced batteries in all 5 lights. I use for work HVAC contractor and the one that works is still awesome. I just carry 5 fully charged spare batteries at all times. I purchased a stand alone battery charger that plugs into 115 volt outlet and holds 3 - 18650 batteries.
*Nice, i bought a pack of 18650 batteries on amazon to keep as back ups, braun really does it for me its super bright and the magnet is awesome, comes in super handy*
there's a conductive Dielectric grease called no-ox. it's cheap on Amazon. just brush some of the battery, just don't short it, you will get a slow drain, but it fucked all my issues with the flicker and cutting off. turns out it's just a bad connection to the battery
I bought the newer Braun about a month ago, it folds all the way in half and has USB-C now also. I just bought the icon one today, because my Braun one broke at the plastic hinge. Eventually I will warranty it so I’ll have 2 but that’ll have to wait until my next work half.
I have a couple of these type of lights. Neither that you show here would work for well for me. I like them to fold in half as the Icon, but it also needs to shine down to the surface where it is attached. Thanks for the review.
I’ve owned 2 brauns for a couple years. They’ve been covered in grease, dropped and kicked. I recently bought the Icon. I prefer the brauns so far. I like being able to reach over and tilt the head either way while the Braun is stuck to whatever. So far I don’t think the icon is worth the extra 10-20 bucks.
@@1stattempts775 I was browsing harbor freight online, Braun has a new model. More lumens and folds down like the icon but appears to fold both ways. Also now usb-c. And guess what……..it’s $29 just like the old Braun when not on sale. I will definitely buy the first one I see.
Me too. I’ve got a large collection of flashlights, and the ones that have onboard charging use USB-C. I’d have to dig out a cable to charge it like that. I just keep some spare cells in my tool box. And I usually leave it on and walk away for a while. So I change them regularly. Not being able to change the battery in the Icon easily is a downgrade imo.
Stuck at a crossroads on this one. Have had the braun that comes with the interchangeable heads for close to a year now. I’m a mechanic so you can imagine how much abuse it gets. Was looking into the icon one for the brightness and battery life. But man that swivel goin one way is a major bummer. Also i always said man if this thing could have the battery changed out it would be the ultimate light. Now that you have enlightened me (pun intended) I’m probably going to stick with the braun. But def need to purchase a fresh one because I do have the infamous flickering and random shutoff when she gets tapped but other than that she kept me out of the dark
there's a conductive Dielectric grease called on-ox. just be careful with it so you don't cause a short but if you brush on a little bit on both ends of the battery, the flicker and stuff all stops. it's just a crappie battery connection.
I really liked the Braun until mine broke at the joint. I also have the replaceable head model but never use it since I also have 2 Astro's. The Icon looks interesting just on the size.
Thanks to your video, I got the Braun today with coupon. The current generation claims 500 lumen, and the head not only swivel, it folds also. If it hadn't folded, I would of gotten the ICON for easier storage. I might just get another one, for the truck.
Appreciate the early review. Seems like a solid choice, the icon. Did you know this was releasing or just saw it at harbor freight randomly? thinking of calling my HB to see if its in stock.
I'm always checking the new products page on their site. If I see something that is interesting I'll usually pick it up and do a video on it. Thanks for watching.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to get my hands on that one yet. I will as soon as I see it. I did pick this up from Lowes recently. www.lowes.com/pd/Wiha-Wiha-32-Piece-Terminator-Blue-Impact-Bit-Set-with-1-4-in-Ratchet/5000289431 Really liking it and the bits are impact rated
Ohh man I was def excited about the folding head on the icon but maaaaaan not being able to swivel in every direction is kind of a bummer, so I think I’ll stick to brauns for now. I’ve abused about 4 of them lol hope they don’t get taken off the shelf for this
If you are so lazy to be only willing to use the swivel function and not be willing to simple turn the whole flashlight (AKA swivel) well good luck to you in life is going to be a bumpy road haha jk but for real the swivel function is useless on a round flashlight in my personal opinion but to each their own.
Ive owned a few of the braun lights HF carries. All of them have really been a disappointment once they had some miles on them. ESPECIALLY the braun under hood light. I actually like the light, but it has never really held a charge good since I owned it, and I am going to replace the cheap 18650's (I assume) are inside with some quality ones to see if that helps. That being said, the switches on all the brauns are garbage and get finicky or just break after a few weeks of constant use
It does have an 18650 and it is replaceable unfortunately you have to take apart the light cut the wires and either spot weld or solder them back on. Definitely not convenient compared to the Braun lol
Why did they put the large light panel on that side of the icon light? I’ve got multiple Braun ones, and with how I use them, the large side would be mostly useless to me. I don’t usually hang the light. I stick it to something and make it stand up, and point the light downwards. The icon light requires you to hang it to get light downward. With the rotating head on the Braun, you can do either. That plus not being able to swap out the battery on the fly kinda makes me just want to get two more Braun lights instead of this one. As far as brightness goes, you won’t notice 800 lumens being that much brighter than 390 lumens. With how light output works, you usually need 4 times the lumens for a light to look twice as bright.
@@MotorCityMetalArt it’s like they made it as a hand held light for its primary function, and a work light as it’s secondary function. Maybe good for people like painters, carpenters, etc that need to light up a wall. Bit for mechanic work, it seems like a bad design.
@@MotorCityMetalArt I just went down to HF and picked one of these up. I’ve built a few flashlights and also modified some. Looking at it, I was pretty sure I could rotate the flat part the light strips are in. Took me about 30 minutes, but I got it. There are two nubs that I had to remove from the black hinge pieces that hold the light bar in. But some little needle nose pliers pulled them out. You may not have to, but my holes wouldn’t all line up when I rotated it if I left it on the nubs. They’re there to align it. There are 4 holes in me metal part holding the light strip. Two on each side. One for the screw and one for the nub on each side. Pay attention to which way you rotate the light strip. My wires were already twisted one rotation, so going back made them untwisted. Going the other way made them too taught and the light wouldn’t close all the way.
Many people like me use it as a regular flashlight so I don't have to deal with folding it every time i use it. You can also take some screws out and rotate that bar 180 degree.
I saw the same style light that uses a magnetic wireless charging base. VERY nice and if this used it I'd certainly buy one or two. What's the big advantage of USB C ???
I haven’t owned the brain one but I do have the icon one and idk if it’s better or not but for the price I ducking love the icon one. It feels good and lights up really good. It also feels really durable but time will tell
@@MotorCityMetalArt it’s weird when I bought mine they wanted 9 bucks for basically a 1 month warranty which I’ve bought a lot of icon and they never asked that so I’m wondering why this isn’t lifetime warranty
If it's a lifetime warranty then that bets the Braun as a 3 year warranty is extra which makes these close in price. The button on my Brauns are always accidently getting bumped and turned on as the button sticks out. How touchy is the ICON button?
The Icon light uses a 18650 battery with a proprietary connector. You can't swap in a std. 18650 unless you solder on the pigtail/connector. (I wouldn't recommend soldered onto Lithium batteries.) The other problem with the Icon is you cannot aim the large light panel downward. (only the smaller mini panel can be pointed downward). For most of my usage I prefer downward pointed light but YMMV. I'd recommend the new Braun 500. IMHO it's a better light and cheaper.
Hf sells a Braun slim light 500 lumens that folds in half. I have both. I replaced my batteries with quality batteries and I carry extras when on the job. My light last easy 4 hours on my batteries.
I just bought the icon folding light. The USB just falls out and doesn't hold tight, it also does not even show if it is actually charging or not. I am not impressed with this so far. I think I will have to take it back and exchange it.
For sure. When the Braun isn't on sale and is $29.99 I think that's to high of a price for it. That Braun light is properly priced at 19.99 in my opinion
LOL Snap On will sell you a slightly smaller and less bright exact version of this light for about $90 and no warranty! I bought this Icon with the 2 year exchange warranty for about $53 🤣🤣
@@MotorCityMetalArt If you let grease and oil go into the usb port. You'll be making another trip to harbor freight. You lose! Don't try to win. Your excuses are lame!🤣
BRAUN is trash! Their LED lights don't last and mostly start to flicker even after the first week of use. Got excited when i saw that ICON came out with their own version at a higher quality when i went to the store yesterday. A must buy the next time there's a sale/coupon!
