Rovyvon A11

1lumen selects and reviews products personally. We may earn affiliate commissions through our links, which help support our testing.

RovyVon A11 review

RovyVon A11 specifications

Brand/modelRovyVon A11
CategoryKeychain flashlight
LEDCree XP-G3 (or Nichia 219C)
Max. Lumens650 lm
Max. Beam intensity / distance1,080 cd
Battery config.Built-in
Onboard chargingMicro-USB
Modes4
BlinkiesStrobe
ReflectorTIR optics
WaterproofIP65
Review dateJune 2022

Introduction:

RovyVon is back at it with another entry in their Aurora series: the A11. Like most of RovyVon’s lights, the A11 falls into the keychain or small EDC category featuring a built-in battery, USB charging, and a compact design. Rovyvon seems to have sparked a bit of revolution with their Aurora lights a few years back. Shortly after their introduction, several lights of a very similar form factor began to flood the market: Nitecore TIKI, Jetbeam Mini-One, Astrolux K2, Seeknite S11, etc. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? RovyVon must have been onto something.

The A11 model is a limited release, special model with some significance behind its release: expressing hope as the world attempts to climb its way out of the COVID pandemic. I could explain more, but I think RovyVon has done a great job in their explanation:

“The year 2020 was gone and it’s a special and tough year for almost all around the world due to the pandemic of COVID-19. In the new year of 2021, we sincerely hope the situation will get better and people go back to a normal life with freedom and healthy. For hope, we designed a special line based on the Titanium Aurora A4x to show wishes to the world in our way. We named it the Aurora A11 – Dawn in the dark, Rainbow after the rain, and Blue Sky. Limited 100 pcs of each color.

After a night there’s a dawn, after the rain there’s a rainbow, finally, we’ll see the blue sky and enjoy life. Keep going and keep going!  

For the product itself, the color was made by a special workshop to be unique and bright. The specs are almost the same as the Aurora A4x – CREE or Nichia LED for option, and 260mAh rechargeable battery, max output of 650 lumens or at least 90+ CRI with Nichia LED.”

Package quality.

The Rovyvon A11 arrived in a small, hard, zippered clamshell case. It has a nice carbon-fiber pattern on the outside with the Rovyvon logo silk-screened onto it. A red zipper accentuates the design. Pretty nice presentation! The inside has dense black foam on one side with a cutout for the light. The other half of the clamshell has a stretchy mesh pocket holding the accessories. In all, the package contained:

  • Rovyvon A11
  • Charging cable
  • Pocket clip
  • Keyring
  • Lanyard
  • Manual
  • Warranty card

Flashlight in use

Keychain lights are usually tiny, however, the Rovyvon A11 is particularly tiny. It’s even shorter than my shortest AAA light, the Olight i3E EOS, though it is a little bit wider. While the A11 is very smooth, its flattened sides prevent it from rolling around.  There is a single e-switch towards the head of the light. It’s a bit on the small side and appears to be made of metal and is coated in a layer of silicone, presumably for water resistance.

The A11 comes with three accessories which can be used depending on how you plan on using the light: a pocket clip, a keyring, and a lanyard. The lanyard is a pretty standard-issue design, though it is nicely decorated with the Rovyvon name and logo. The keyring is flat and strong and looks pretty nice as far as keyrings go. The clip is my favorite and is how I will likely use the A11 the most. There is a groove on each side of the light that the clip grips, and does so pretty firmly. The clip can be oriented either up or down, so if you want to clip this on your hat, you’re good to go. I also like that it’s fairly deep carry with just a small bit sticking up from your pocket when clipped there.

While my A11 didn’t come with them, the keyring hole has cutouts for tritium vials on both sides. With tritium vials going for 3-4 times their pre-pandemic prices, I can’t blame Rovyvon for that. But if you’re going to be using the A11 a lot or want it to be extra-showy, tritium is a great way to go. I have vials on some of my most used lights and I love extra beauty and function that they bring.

Being a keychain light, the Rovyvon A11 is best suited for small tasks. Though with a rating of 650 lumens, it’s no slouch either.  It’ll work well for navigating to your car or front door, around your house at night, or even a quick walk around the yard. I’m a bit irked at the “top” review on Amazon for the Rovyvon A11; that customer gave the A11 a 1-star review because it can’t stand up to their nightly hour-long dog walks. If you’re using a flashlight for hour-long dog walks every night, please don’t rely on the Rovyvon A11 (or any keychain light for that) – get a bigger light. Know your task and get a flashlight to match.

Build Quality, and Warranty

Rovyvon uses a wide array of materials on their Aurora lights: polymer, GITD, aluminum, stainless, titanium, and copper (whew, did I miss anything?). So no matter what body material you’re looking for, Rovyvon has you covered. The A11 is one of the titanium models. I love titanium for its light-weight nature and toughness. Titanium isn’t great for heat dissipation, but the A11 doesn’t generate enough heat for that to be much of a concern.

The A11 shares almost everything with the A4x model. Where it departs is the A4x uses a black PVD coating on the titanium.  The A11 features three choices of unique finishes: Dawn in the Dark, Rainbow after the Rain, and Blue Sky. Those all look pretty cool; this particular sample is the Blue Sky coating. It’s sharp!  And the stainless clip pairs well with the blue swirl & stars pattern.

Warranty:

  • Within 2 years of purchase, we will replace or repair it as long as the product is not working anymore because of the factory defects. This does not include obvious user wear or extreme damage.
  • After 2 years of purchase, if your product(s) got a defective or issues, we’ll offer a discount for purchasing new product(s) at a same or similar value.

LED, Lens, Bezel, Beam, and Reflector

Rovyvon frequently provides emitter choices on their lights. I won’t say they are always my favorite LEDs, but there’s usually a cool-white low-CRI option and a neutral-white high-CRI option. You’re never going to make everyone happy, but I really appreciate the attempt. The version I have on hand is the cool-white option with a Cree XP-G3 LED. The LED sits underneath a pretty narrow-focused TIR optic. The optic does a decent job of masking the tint-shift that we usually see with the XP-G3. It’s not perfect, but it’s not bothersome. The LED itself is a cooler temperature than what I would prefer, but that is just my personal preference. 

The measurements from my Opple Light Master say:

  • CCT: 6778K
  • CRI: 72.3 Ra
  • DUV: +0.0020

Dimensions and size comparison

Dimensions: 

DimensionMillimetersInches
Length57.4 mm2.26
Head diameter15.5 mm0.61
Body diameter15.5 mm0.61

Weight

WeightGramsOz.
With battery23 g0.81

Flashlight size comparison with its competition

Rovyvon lights, left to right: RovyVon E3 Pro, Rovyvon A3 Pro,  Rovyvon A11, Rovyvon A8x UV

With AAA keychain lights, left to right: Astrolux A01, Sofirn C01, Jetbeam Jet-u, Rovyvon A11, Olight i3E EOS, Skilhunt E3A, ThruNite Ti3 V2

Blue keychain lights, left to right: Wuben G2, Rovyvon A11, Olight iXV (an i1R 2 Pro special edition)

Driver & User Interface:

Keychain lights with e-switches tend to have UI’s that are a bit out of the ordinary when compared to full-sized flashlights. But that’s for a good reason. The goal is to prevent the light from accidentally turning on, but still keeping it quick and easy to turn on when you want to without needing to lock and unlock it all of the time. I would say that Rovyon did a pretty good job with the UI in the A11. It’s not exactly how I would design it, but it works.

Available modes: Moonlight, Low, Med, High

From OFF:

  • Press and Hold: momentary High
  • Single click: nothing
  • Double click: turn on (mode memory)
  • 3 clicks: Strobe

From ON:

  • Press and Hold: turn off
  • 1 click: cycle through modes
  • Double click: nothing
  • 3 clicks: Strobe

Mode memory:

  • Yes, there is mode memory (not for Strobe)
  • But… it only memorizes a mode when you’ve left it on in that mode for 3+ minutes

Shortcuts:

  • To High: press and hold from Off (momentary High)
  • To Strobe: triple click (from Off or On)

Low voltage warning:

  • The indicator LED under the switch glows red when the battery is running low

Strobe/blinkies

  • Triple click from Off or On

Lock-out mode: 

  • None

PWM

  • Not visible, measured at 62.7 kHz in all modes except High

Additional info on the UI: 

  • I would have really liked a Moonlight shortcut. Other than that, I can live with this for a keychain light

Batteries & Charging

The Rovyvon A11 uses a built-in 260 mAh lithium-polymer (LiPo) battery. It is not user accessible nor serviceable. If you manage to wear out your battery, reach out to Rovyvon if it’s within the warranty period.

Towards the tail end of the light is a small USB cover that hides a Micro-USB port. It charged at 0.36 amps (1.88 watts); finishing a full charge cycle in 1 hour and 14 minutes. My USB meter showed that 257 mAh were transferred – very close to spec. While charging, the indicator LED “breathes” blue. It then switches to solid blue when it is done charging.

You might be asking yourself, “Micro-USB? Really?” Yes. And I’ve kinda sworn myself off from buying any more lights with Micro-USB because USB-C is clearly the future of charging (for a while, at least). The thing is, it’s not like I don’t still have 100 other devices around my house that are still Micro-USB. And it works just fine, especially for a low charge rate like the A11.  Rovyvon has commented that they will be moving towards USB-C and some of their newer lights are already using the standard.

Performance test

Lux was measured by a UNI-T UT383 BT at 5 meters. Lumens were measured in a homemade lumen tube using a TSL2591 sensor, calibrated with a Maukka calibration light. The temperature was monitored with a MLX90614 IR temperature sensor.

Lumen measurements (for each mode)

ModeSpecs@turn on30 sec10 minutes
Moonlight22.1 lm2.0 lm-*
Low2016 lm16 lm16 lm
Med360287 lm223 lm82 lm
High650582 lm251 lm101 lm

Parasitic drain:

  • N/A (can’t measure due to internal battery)

Runtime graph

In general, my measurements are a bit lower than what Rovyvon has them spec’ed at.  And their number clearly can’t be the ANSI 30-second ratings, because the brightness starts ramping down immediately.

ModeSpecifiedMeasured runtime (ANSI)Time till shut off
Moon30 hr
Low8 hr9 hr 46 min9 hr 52 min
Med1 hr 37 min1 hr 25 min1 hr 49 min
High1 hr 17 min1 hr 10 min1 hr 38 min

Throw numbers: Peak beam intensity 

Measured at 5 meters after 30 seconds unless otherwise noted

ModeSpecifiedCandela measured MetersYards
High @ 0 sec2,950109119
High @ 30 sec1,080 cd2,275 cd95104

Extra info: Peak beam distance according to ANSI FL1 standards: The calculated value of distance in meters at which the flashlight produce a light intensity of 0.25 lux. (0.25 lux is about the brightness of a full moon shining on an object).

Beamshots

Beam shots of the building are taken at 15 m (16 yd) using a Pixel 6 set to ISO 200 with 1/10 second exposure time.

  • Rovyvon A11
  • Rovyvon A3 Pro
  • Rovyvon A8x UV
  • Rovyvon E3 Pro
  • Wuben G2

Disclaimer: This flashlight was sent to me for review at no cost by RovyVon. I have not been paid to review, nor have I been holding back on problems or defects.

Final Verdict

Pros

  1. Beautiful special edition design
  2. Titanium construction
  3. Very compact
  4. Deep carry clip
  5. USB charging

Cons

  1. Charging is Micro-USB
  2. Misses lumen specs
  3. No shortcut to Moonlight mode

Explanation on star ratings:

1: Avoid: my phone flashlight would be a better choice – 2: Poor: significant defect or issues; almost unusable – 3: Average: some defects or issues; but still usable 4: Good: recommended (minor issues) – 5: Great: highly recommended

Reviewer Gabriel
Author: Gabriel

4 stars: ★★★★

I’ve long been a fan of the Rovyvon Aurora series. They made a pretty big splash a few years ago and have been imitated often, but there’s nothing like an original. The Aurora lights are very compact with a decent e-switch UI that makes them good for both pocket and keyring carry.  Having nearly 600 lumens at your disposal from a light barely bigger than a AA battery? 

Impressive. The Micro-USB charging is admittedly a downer, but still commonplace and quite functional. This Rovyvon Aurora A11 model with its tough titanium build, unique hope-inspiring designs, and all-around awesomeness is a great keychain-light choice.

Buy your RovyVon A11 here:

1lumen selects and reviews products personally. We may earn affiliate commissions through our links, which help support our testing.