Jeff reviewed the Nebo Redline LED flashlight for us a while back. Since then, we’ve heard a few accounts of the hugely popular flashlights dimming after a few months or even a few weeks of casual use. A few users told us about this in the review’s comments section, and I have also received a few direct emails about the matter.
The problem: Nebo Redline flashlights losing their power or dimming a couple of months down the line. Users report that fresh batteries do not improve the condition and that they are unable to restore their flashlights to factory-fresh brightness.
I reached out to a representative at Nebo Tools, and they told me that they haven’t really heard about that issue before, at least not where new batteries didn’t help things. If dimming occurs, they would ordinarily consider it an LED issue, in which case they would replace the unit.
In light of Nebo’s response, it looks like this is not a widespread issue. If you own a Nebo Redline and think that its performance has degraded even when using fresh batteries, contact the company, and I’m sure they will be happy to help you out.
Check prices or buy one now via Amazon - and don’t forget to take a look at our Nebo Redline Review. There are also quite a number of helpful independent user reviews over at Amazon’s product page as well.
Is anyone really surprised that these Chinese-made flashlights are failing? This is what happens when you buy junk thinking you’re getting a bargain. Poney up for quality tools and you will only buy once.
To be fair, quite a few flashlights are coming out of China and Taiwan these days, and some of them are really, really well made. While personally on the fence about these Nebo Redlines, I have never had any issues with the one I purchased, and am reasonably satisfied with its quality. As mentioned, there are reports of issues, but they’re not very widespread.
The Redline is very decent for the money, and while I would probably not want to rely on it in life-or-death situations, it’s great for casual usage.
Good to know that Nebo will stand behind the product. I picked one of these up a few weeks ago, and so far (even though it hasn’t seen extensive use), I am very happy with the features, and output.
I have used the Nebo Redline for about 8 months with very heavy use. sometimes 45 min at a time on the high power setting. Change batt. weekly but now the dimming bug has taken it toll. The light it puts out looks like I’m using a stock mini mag. Thanks for the info I will contact the company.
I have two Nebo Redlines and both of them have been hit with the Dimming bug fairly soon after I bought them.
Maybe it’s a bad batch of LED modules, in which case your best bet is still to contact the manufacturer.
If the issue were widespread, I would think that many more negative reviews would start popping up on Amazon and elsewhere.
Still, the frequency at which we’re hearing about this is somewhat concerning.
My first one started dimming and I was gave a new one.Now the new one is doing the same. I bought it at a hardware store 25 miles away. I can’t keep driving that far to exchange it. I found that Batteries Plus just a few blocks away also carries them but I didn’t buy it from them. Can I get help with this!
Yes the dimming issue is a problem, I was somewhat impressed when i first bought the light, I bought ten more for co-workers that liked it as well but when I announced a problem with dimming, so did they. several of the ones i bought started to dim within a few weeks of light use.
I have the same problem. The light used to be nice and white, now it’s more yellow, and that’s with fresh batteries.
Thanks for the forum. I’m glad I’m not just imagining things.
Received my Redline SE 5615 and was very impressed with the brightness and how white the light was. I used it on my job for a total of about 10 hours, two sets of batteries. I’ve had it less than two weeks and now it’s very dim even with new batteries and the light it puts out is no longer white, it’s more of a sky blue, very dim. I was hoping the dimming problem had been addressed with the new model. I loved the light when I received it, the features, batteries size, spot to flood, different power setting were all perfect for my needs, too bad it didn’t hold up. I’m afraid to try another one. I’m now looking for another brand.