The Photon Micro-Light 3 is the latest version of the wonderful Photon Micro-Light, a tiny, lightweight, extremely bright, long-lasting flashlight that fits on a keychain. About an inch-and-a-half long by an inch wide and a quarter-inch thick, this flashlight weighs about the same as a quarter and hardly adds any bulk to your key ring.

If you haven't gotten one yet, I strongly recommend getting one for yourself and your family. A flashlight is a handy thing to have and everyone should carry one with them--especially women. Having it on your keychain is especially handy if your car is parked in a dark area or if you come home at night and the porchlight is off.

The Photon Micro-Light is so small that it's really easy to have it with you all the time. I've bought at least half a dozen and given them to friends and family.

The big question is which one to get? Photon makes three: the original Photon Micro-Light, the Photon Micro-Light II and the new Photon Micro-Light 3. The bodies of the three flashlights are almost identical. They all have a sturdy black plastic case with a little light bulb sticking out of one end.

The original Photon Micro-Light is turned on by squeezing the flashlight. Stop squeezing and the light goes off. It's the cheapest of the three.

The Photon Micro-Light II (my favorite) is also turned on by squeezing. Stop squeezing and the light goes off. Plus, it has a tiny switch (perfectly placed where the tip of your thumb would be) that can be used to switch the light on or off. This is handy if you need the light on continuously but don't want to keep squeezing it or if you want it to stay lit but want to be able to put it down. This flashlight costs more than the original, but it's worth it.

The Photon Micro-Light 3 doesn't have a switch. Squeeze the front and the light goes on. Stop squeezing and the light goes off. Squeeze the back and it acts like a switch, causing the light to stay lit. Squeeze the back in a different way and you can cycle through the different light settings (high bright, medium bright, low bright, fast strobe, medium strobe, slow strobe). The website says that there is an auto-shut off setting. It's a lot more expensive than the Photon Micro-Light II.

(update:) There is also a Covert Photon 3 (which has a hood over part of the bulb and useful if you want to be more discreet, such as reading a program in a theatre) and a Crystal Photon 3, which can have crystal-like extensions put over the bulb for increased visibility. I haven't tried any of these.

Since we liked the Photon Micro-Light II so much, we got a Micro-Light 3 with a white beam. The light was bright, with a faint bluish tinge. The flashlight was a little more complicated to set up than previous ones because the Micro-Light 3 is shipped disabled (you have to open it up and remove the safety tab to get it to work), but we got it working, put it on a keyring, threw away the packaging and thought we were set. Not quite.

The different light settings seem like a good idea, but we've found them to be overly complicated. They are accessed by pressing the back of the flashlight and we often find that the light will unintentionally go into a strobe mode when we intended only to turn it on. The first time it happened, we didn't have the instructions, so we had to hunt for the website to find out how to get it back to normal. We tend to avoid changing the settings, so we haven't mastered how to control them. When the flashlight goes into strobe mode, we end up desperately fussing with it to get it to stop flashing. Since pressing on it will switch it on, we've often found it turned on just from being in a pocket. I'm not sure if ours has the auto-shut off feature. We've gone through 2 batteries and we've only had the flashlight a couple months.

If you have a strong need for a strobe light or want to be able to switch from a bright beam to a lower beam, and are willing to practice with the different settings, then you might like the Micro Light 3--especially if you don't plan on stuffing it into your jeans or a cluttered purse. The strobe can be useful if you plan on having it dangle from your dog's collar or the back of your bicycle.

If you just want a simple flashlight to put on your keychain, then I recommend the Micro-Light II, which I'd give 5 stars. I give the Micro-Light 3 only 3. It's a cool flashlight, but I think it's too complicated and expensive.

If you are planning on buying a Micro-Light, then another thing to be aware of is that the beam is available in many different colors. I recommend getting the plain white light. The colored lights look really cool. Colors like blue or red are supposed to be easier on the eyes if you are trying to use them to read, but I've found a white light to be more useful. We've tried a red one and blue one and they are great for lighting up a path, but less convenient if you need to be able to distinguish color.

Photon recently came out with purple-beam versions, which can create a black-light effect--but I would hesitate to get these. Black lights emit some UV light, and there is some speculation that UV light might contribute to eye diseases like macular degeneration.

The micro-lights come with a lifetime guarantee. They use lithium batteries that are replaceable and long-lasting. The life of the battery depends on the color of the beam. The website says that for Micro-Lights I and II, batteries for blue and white lights should last 12-14 hours (red and yellow lights could go up to 120 hours). It doesn't list an estimated battery life for the Micro-Light 3. Go to www.photonlight.com to find out more.

There are some other brands of mini-keychain lights that are cheaper, but I haven't bought any of those. I prefer the look and feel of the Photon ones.

Recommended: No