Review - Fenix PD32 flashlight

Our latest flashlight review here at SCI is a light from Fenix that has been out for a little while now. It has gone through several incremental upgrades along the way but the one that I've been carrying for a while is one of the more recent ones. The PD series is the high-output, compact series of lights from Fenix, in this case "PD" stands for "Power Delivery". The PD32 certainly does deliver in that area!

We'll start with the specifications and then the video will follow. I am going to apologize in advance. The light IS rather dirty, but that is what happens when it gets used on a daily basis!

Specifications

• Cree XP-G R5 LED with a lifespan of 50,000 hours
• Output/Runtime:
  • Turbo: 315 lumens/ 2 hours
  • High: 130 lumens/ 8 hours
  • Mid: 70 lumens/ 16 hours
  • Low: 9 lumens/ 200 hours
  • Strobe: 315 lumens
  • SOS: 130 lumens
• Beam Distance: 141 meters
• Impact Resistant: 1 meter
• Waterproof: IPX-8, underwater 2 meters
• Uses two 3v lithium CR123A batteries or one 18650 rechargeable Li-Ion battery
• 127mm (length) x 25.4mm (diameter)
• 61 gram weight (excluding batteries)
• Digitally regulated output – maintains constant brightness
• Reverse polarity protection – protects from improper battery installation
• Over heat protection to avoid high surface temperature
• Anti-roll, slip resistant battery design
• Tactical tail switch with momentary-on function
• Side mode switching button
• Made of durable aircraft-grade aluminum
• Premium type III hard-anodized anti-abrasive finish
• Toughened ultra-clear glass lens with anti-reflective coating
• Included Accessories: holster, lanyard, body clip, spare o-ring and rubber switch boot

As you can see from the dimensions, the PD32 is a nicely compact little light, with a rather decent bit out of output power. 

Output

The PD32 is using - like most modern LED lights - the Cree XP-G LED as its light source. The binning that Fenix uses would be considered a "Cool white", which is in this case an almost pure white with almost no blue in it. The reflector is machined aluminum with no orange peel texture. The small diameter of the light does in this case translate into a rather large hot-spot with a wide spill-beam, but for my own daily needs I find that more useful than the ultra-tight beams you may see on other lights, especially those that use an optic instead of a reflector. 

The excellent reflector and LED. The orange/red surround for the LED is part of the centering device which appears to be doing its job properly. Do pardon the lint, please. 

The hot-spot - despite being quite large - is nicely defined with a brief but smooth transition into the spill-beam. Color is even throughout the beam with no rings of yellow or any other color than white. Output levels are spaced nicely apart, although I wouldn't have been unhappy with an even lower Low setting. Perhaps 4-5 lumen, even. 

The strobe, as is typical from Fenix is appropriately annoying. Based on my other lights I'd gauge it as being right in the golden 12-15 hertz range. The SOS beacon is somewhat interesting in that it drops the output down to 130 lumen. That is in my opinion a fairly smart choice as it vastly extends effective runtime and thus boosts chances of being rescued in the case of an emergency. The lens is toughened UCL glass with an anti-reflective coating which is clearly evident by the purple tinge you get with reflections on the lens. 

I'm pretty happy with the output of this little light. 

Build Quality & Design

The PD32 is a pretty compact little light. A good quarter inch shorter than my Surefire C2 and quite a bit slimmer, it carries very easily. Type III anodizing throughout, the anodizing is thick and even with no bare spots or nicks. Machining is crisp, knurling is effective without being too abrasive. There are no sharp edges on the PD32, all of them have been broken just sufficiently to make the light comfortable in the hand. Two flat, smooth panels and two "fullers", break up the knurling on the center portion of the battery tube. 

The pocket clip is of the snap-on variety and thus can be rotated to a preferred position. It fits into a machined groove and is surprisingly solid. I applaud Fenix's decision to eschew the usual painted finish and instead going with what almost looks like a black nickel plating. It appears to be significantly more durable than the typical paint.

The excellent pocket clip. It is a pleasure to see so many lights come out with well-designed pocket clips these days.

 The battery tube is amply sized and will accommodate even high-capacity protected 18650 cells. When used with CR123 batteries, there is only a minimal amount of rattle, despite there only being a spring at the tail-cap. 

The inside of the head. Note the lack of a spring for the contact . It IS nice to see a  raised metal contact like this, since it means the PD32 will work with flat-top 18650 cells. 

And speaking of the tail-cap, it is of a semi-guarded design. Two scallops cut into a surrounding ring with slots cut out for lanyard attachment. Wide enough you could use gutted paracord. The switch itself is a forward clicky with a relatively short and smooth travel, with a positive tactile click when fully depressed. 

Rubber switch boot is textured as is the usual fashion. It does protrude some past the tail-cap itself, and thus will not tailstand.

 For changing modes, the PD32 employs a button mounted on the side of the flashlight towards the head. This button also offers a positive, tactile click, but is an electronic switch, not a mechanical one. It is only active when the flashlight is turned on. A single press will switch to the next output level of which there are four. There are also two strobe-settings, "tactical" strobe and SOS, which are accessed by holding the mode switch button down. A one second press gives you the tactical strobe, and holding it down for an additional couple of seconds puts you into the SOS mode. The mode switch has a non-replaceable rubber cover over it with a raised design. 

Note the mode switch is covered with a grey rubber cap. Also of note is the anti-roll ring directly below the mode switch. I found this feature to be rather useless. 

All threading on the PD32 is of the square-cut and anodized type. I am a big fan of this feature so it is nice to see it on a relatively cheap light like the PD32. 

The quality of threading is outstanding. Very smooth and well-machined. Again, pardon the lint. 

The bezel is mildly crenelated, just enough to help you see that you left the light on if set down on a flat surface. It does not look aggressive and is unlikely to be mistaken for being "weapon-like".

There is a raised ring towards the front with several flat portions machined into it. This ring is ostensibly the anti-roll feature, but I find it to be of little value. The pocket clip does a far better job of preventing the light from rolling. 

What little laser etching there is, is crisp but subdued. The overall impression is very high-end tool-like. 

Accessories

The accessory bundle is pretty typical. Spare O-ring, switch boot, lanyard and a holster. The holster is alright, using decent quality webbing, but it is not overwhelming.

Conclusion

Overall I am rather fond of the little PD32. It has been my EDC light for several months now and has served without fail in that role. 

I will admit to not being particularly thrilled with the switch design for the mode switching. It's a little fiddly and the button can sometimes be hard to locate. I would like to see it be made more prominent. 

 I also find the strobe setting to be almost completely useless. If you need the tactical strobe, odds are it is somewhat of an emergency. Having to hold down the button for an entire second AFTER you've already turned on the light... Eh. Not a fan. A strobe - in order to be useful - needs to be immediately accessible. 

I also discovered that there does not appear to be a functional reverse-polarity protection, despite the listed specifications. When I accidentally inserted a cell wrong, the head of the light quickly became extremely warm. I caught on quickly but the positive contact inside the head was almost too hot to touch after just a few seconds. The light appeared to suffer no damage but the rapid build-up of heat was disturbing. I'd suggest being careful and simply assuming that there is no reverse-polarity protection. 

Other than those little beefs, it is an outstanding little light. Compact, light-weight, impeccable machining quality, outstanding performance. Also just as importantly, the price is extremely reasonable at less than 70 dollars. 

I will say that if you pick up a light like this, do yourself the favor and get some rechargeable batteries, notably the 18650 type cells, and a good charger. It will save you oodles of money in the long run and usually provides better run-time than the primary CR123 cells do. 

Recommended. 

Update: I recently handled a newer PD32 and discovered that Fenix seems to have updated the side switch some. The rubber cover is now slightly more prominent and the switch itself has a more positive click. Nice to see that Fenix pays attention to customer input.