Inova T4 review.... finally.

I purchased the Inova T4 light roughly a year ago to use at my job in a correctional facility. However, since purchasing this light I've found it useful in multiple ways. I've carried the light at work, at my job as a reserve police officer, while riding my motorcycle, and while hiking. To be totally honest, I wear this light on my belt anytime I feel that I may be out after dark.

Even on nights when I just go out to eat and watch a movie I carry it. Yes, its come in handy on several of those nights. It came in particularly handy one night not but a few weeks ago when I hit a deer on a dark highway during a trip home from the movies.

All this being said, how does it work?

I must first say that some would argue that NO flashlight is worth the price of this one. I argue that worth is a relative thing. There are lights that are pricier and that are cheaper but in the end, I'm happy so its worth it to me. The fact that the light is rechargeable, has a long run time on a single charge (I've found it to run for just short of two and a half hours), is incredibly bright for a small light, and has a long life LED bulb makes it a fantastic piece of kit to me.

The only real problem I have with this light is that when hiking, the light needs to be aimed out in front of you more as the focused beam from the TIROS optics lens gives a bit of the old "follow the bouncing ball" effect.



The new for 2007 T4 apparently comes with a brighter (5.5 watt vs. 4 watt) LED as well as a reflector and I would LOVE to get my hands on that version. I have to say though that its a minor issue and I still use it with little issue now that I'm used to it.

As I said before, the charger is small and takes up little room on my wall in a spare room.


Recharges are fast but depend on how long the light was used between said charges. An indicator LED shows whether it is charging or full. Blue indicates that its charging. Green indicates that it is fully charged. If the light does not come on or flashes, the flashlight needs to be jiggled to make a better connection between the two contacts and their counterparts on the charger base.


I understand that some have a lot of problems with this particular issue but its only happened to me once that I can recall.

The T4 is advertised as having a 300' effective range but I can attest that the actual throw on a dark night with adjusted eyes is much further than this. As with many small lights, in an urban setting with eyes adjusted to street lights and the like, the throw appears to be much less.

The light will take quite a bit of abuse. I've dropped mine a few times from pretty high distances onto concrete with no ill effect other than to leave a few small dings and scratches in the aluminum housing.

Inova claims the light to NOT be water/rain resistant due to the electrical connections of the rechare points. However, I can state that I've been stuck in some torrential downpours while on duty on the street and have yet to have a problem. I do keep o-rings at the back cap (for battery compartment) and around the lens lubed with silicone lube to help keep water out.

Weight could be an issue. There are definatly lower weight lights out there. I for one find the weight "comforting" in both a possible defensive use as well as making the light just plain feel substantial. Its not enough to be an issue with me when hiking but for a hard core packing enthusiast, well, you may want to look elsewhere when pinching weight down as low as possible.

I think this pretty much sums the light up. I'd like to be a bit more specific and well spoken in this review (the light deserves it after all) but I'm a little rusty. Hopefully my reviews will improve in a short while. LoL

I hope this review will help you to choose this wonderful little light the next time you are doing some shopping. I honestly don't believe you will be disappointed.