Rovyvon A8x UV

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

Rovyvon A8x UV specifications

Brand/model	Rovyvon A8x UV
LED	Cree XP-G3
Max. Lumens	650 lm
Max. Beam intensity / distance	1,080 cd
Battery config.	Built-in
Onboard charging	Micro USB
Modes	4
Blinkies	Red Beacon, Red Flash
Reflector	TIR optics
Waterproof	IP66
Review date	June 2022

Rovyvon is back at it with another entry in their Aurora series: the A8x UV. Like most of Rovyvon’s lights, the A8x 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.

Package quality.

The Rovyvon A8x UV arrived in a small, nicely designed, cardboard box. The black carton contrasts with the clear plastic of the A8x. The front has a window to see the actual flashlight along with a few key specs. The rear features a more in-depth description. Inside the box, the A8x and its accessories are arranged in a sturdy, clear plastic tray. In all, the package contained:

• Rovyvon A8x UV
• Charging cable
• Pocket clip
• Keyring
• Manual
• Warranty card

Keychain lights are usually tiny, however, the Rovyvon A8x UV is particularly tiny. It’s just as short as my shortest AAA light, the Olight i3E EOS, though it is a little bit wider. While the A8x 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 A8x comes with a couple of accessories which can be used depending on how you plan on using the light: a pocket clip and a keyring. The keyring is flat and strong and looks pretty nice as far as keyrings go. The clip is my favorite carry method and is how I will likely use the A8x the most. There are three sets of grooves on each side of the light that the clip grips, and does so pretty firmly. The three sets give you three different placements for the clip. 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. Other Rovyvon Aurora lights I’ve reviewed lately included a lanyard. There’s no lanyard included with the A8x. That’s not a big deal for me as I’ve got tons of them laying around. Just be aware of it in case you’re wanting to use a lanyard that you’ll need to scrounge one from somewhere else.

Being a keychain light, the Rovyvon A8x UV 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. While this is rated at 650 lumens, keep in mind that it is a small light, so runtime isn’t as long as what you’d get with a larger light, and it isn’t going to maintain 650 lumens for very long. Know your task and get a flashlight to match. Oh, and the A8x also features auxiliary lights in red and 365 nm UV. The red is great for not ruining your night vision, while the UV is good for things like verifying currency.

Rovyvon uses a wide array of materials on their Aurora lights: polycarbonate, 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 A8x UV is one of the polycarbonate models. I think this might be my first polycarbonate flashlight. Yes, that means it’s essentially a fancy plastic. But Rovyvon didn’t choose polycarbonate just to be cheap – the ultra-clear material makes the A8x very lightweight and it allows for a single body material while being able to use it as a lens for the side-firing auxiliary lights. And it looks pretty sweet, being able to see all of the internals. The bezel of the A8x is stainless steel, which does a little bit to offset the light-weight polycarbonate. I always appreciate a nice stainless bezel for (1) its great looks, and (2) its toughness / drop protection.

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.

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: 7585K
• CRI: 75.4 Ra
• DUV: -0.0027

So… yeah, it’s definitely cold white. But at least the tint is neutral and the DUV actually registered as negative (slightly pinkish) though nearly perfectly on the BBL.

There are two different versions of the Rovyvon A8x, the difference being the Aux LEDs. One has amber, red, and blue LEDs.  The sample I have is the “UV” model which has UV, red, and neutral white aux LEDs. It’s great to have the option of a neutral white LED. It’s unfortunately not high CRI, but is pleasant nonetheless. I’ve found that the super floody, side-firing, neutral white LED is pretty handy for nighttime reading and low-light table-top illumination. Measurements for the white aux LED are:

• CCT: 3946K
• CRI: 65.4 Ra
• DUV: +0.0070

Dimensions: 

Dimension	Millimeters	Inches
Length	60.5	2.38
Head diameter	15.6	0.61
Body diameter	15.6	0.61

Weight: 

Weight	Grams	Oz.
With battery	14.8	0.52

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 flashlights, left to right: Sofirn C01, Jetbeam Jet-u, Rovyvon A8x UV, Olight i3E EOS, ThruNite Ti3 V2

Other popular keychain lights, left to right: Wuben G2, Rovyvon A8x UV, Olight iXV (an i1R 2 Pro special edition)

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 A8x UV.  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: Aux modes (UV / red)
• 4 clicks: Aux modes (side white LED)

From ON:

• Press and Hold: turn off
• 1 click: cycle through modes
• Double click: nothing
• 3 clicks: Aux modes
• 4 clicks: Aux modes (side white LED)

Mode memory:

• Yes, there is mode memory
• But… it only memorizes a mode when you’ve left it on in that mode for 3+ minutes
• The aux modes do not have mode memory

Shortcuts:

• To High: press and hold from Off (momentary High)

Low voltage warning:

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

Strobe/blinkies

• There is a Red Beacon and Red Flash in the Aux modes

Lock-out mode: 

• None

PWM

• Not visible, measured at 23.4 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
• The 3-click aux modes are: UV, Red (solid), Red Beacon, Red Flash
• The 4-click aux modes are: white (low) and white (high)

The Rovyvon A8x UV uses a built-in 330 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 0.35 amps (1.85 watts); finishing a full charge cycle in 1 hour flat. My USB meter showed that 259 mAh were transferred – a bit short of 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 A3 Pro. Rovyvon has commented that they will be moving towards USB-C and some of their newer lights are already using the standard.

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)

Mode	Specs	Lumens @turn on	Lumens @30 sec	Lumens @10 minutes
Moonlight	3 lm	2.1	2.1	–
Low	25 lm	24	24	24
Med	400 lm	331	260	79
High	650 lm	518 lm	302 lm	97

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 numbers clearly can’t be the ANSI 30-second ratings, because the brightness starts ramping down immediately.  My runtimes also seem to be a bit short of what Rovyvon has said.

Mode	Specified runtime	Measured runtime (ANSI)	Time till shut off
Moon	66 hr	–	–
Low	10 hr	6 hr 12 min	6 hr 21 min
Med	2 hr 31.5 min	1 hr 37 min	1 hr 59 min
High	1 hr 16.5 min	1 hr 15 min	1 hr 37 min

Throw numbers: Peak beam intensity 

Measured at 5 meters after 30 seconds unless otherwise noted

Mode	Specs	Candela measured	Meters	Yards
High @ 0 sec		2,350 cd	97	106
High @ 30 sec	1,080 cd	1,850 cd	86	94

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).

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

UV Testing

One of the features of the Rovyvon A8x UV is that one of the aux LEDs is UV. Rovyvon claims that the wavelength is 365 nm, but I have no way to verify that. In general, 365 nm is a very useful wavelength and can cause things to fluoresce better than other wavelengths, such as 395 nm which is very common. One limitation of the side-firing aux LED is that it doesn’t integrate a filter lens, which can really help eliminate visible light that could otherwise interfere with the black-light effect. This is pretty evident; when you illuminate the UV light, it causes the neutral white aux LED to fluoresce and generate even more visible light. This effect can clearly be seen in this example of lighting up the UV strip in a US $20 bill. The top light is the Rovyvon A8x UV, the bottom is the Wuben E19 UV which uses a black light filter lens.

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.