The head of the P3D CE houses an XR-E emitter and focused by a smooth aluminum reflector. Emitter and reflector are slightly misaligned, which causes the beam to be slightly skewed to one side. The lens used is made or hardened AR coated glass for increased light transmission as compared to regular uncoated glass. The Type 3 coating is a little smooth for my taste, sometimes makes it slightly difficult to twist for single handed changing of operating modes. The long hexagonal barrel does help a little. The emitter module is sealed inside the head and is not easily disassembled.

They body of the P3D CE is pretty compact when compared to other 2x CR123 powered lights out there. It will still easily fit into any shirt or pants pocket without being too obvious, but more suited to be carried in the supplied elastic holster. The entire light is coated in Type 3 anodizing. One thing to note is that the coating on the current line of Fenix lights is smoother and more shiny compared to the earlier LxP series of lights. Anodizing is extremely well finished, clean and smooth, without any marks or scratches. The aluminum body of the P3D CE is not as thick as the AA powered Fenix lights, because the CR123 cells it runs on have a wider diameter than AA cells. I doubt this would make the light any less rugged though. Inside the body is all nice and cleanly machined. The threads on this light are almost perfect. They are very smooth and free from accidental cross-threading, you won't need to turn them counter-clockwise to get the threads to align. Throughout the entire testing phase of this light, I did not experience any sign of cross-threading. Take note that UltraFire's gray protected 16340 cells with button tops are a little too long for the P3D, the tail cap will not be able to fully screw down, and part of the rubber o-ring will be exposed.

The tail cap houses a reverse push button. The rubber cap over the switch is smooth and doesn't have any texture on it. I really like the response of the switch, it's not too soft or too stiff and it has really short travel. This could be a bad characteristic if your carry this light in your pocket though since the switch is much easier to turn on. There's a thin band of checked texture around the tail cap which helps a little when unscrewing the tail cap. The "-" contact spring is gold plated and all the rubber o-ring came very well lubricated. Lastly, there are two holes and a notch for attaching straps or key ring while still allowing the light to tail stand.

Construction difference between PLJ Q2 and regular P3D.

1. Only difference is that the PLJ version has the text "PLJ Q2" engraved on one face of the hexagonal battery tube.

The P3D CE has 6 modes in total, separated into 2 sets according to the position of the bezel. Cycling through modes in either set is done by half-pressing the push button, sort of like how the auto focus works on a digital camera.

General Mode (loosened bezel)
Off > Low > Medium > High > S.O.S.

Turbo Mode (tightened bezel)
Off > Turbo > Strobe

All the different levels on the P3D CE are controlled by true constant current regulation. This means that you will not experience any high frequency pulsing, unlike the C-LE for example which uses PWM to achieve lower output levels. My P3D CE sample has a warm yellow tint on the low and medium modes, but it shifts to a whiter tint on the higher levels. The dark ring around the hotspot is present, just like is most other XR-E based lights but not very obvious or distracting. When used at 1 meter or more, you won't even notice it.

Overall output is very good. On turbo mode the P3D CE is very bright. Runtime is also very good, the regulation circuit works very well as can be seen from the runtime graphs below. Take note that the output level actually increases slightly towards the end of the battery life when running on CR123 cells. Unlike the previous models of Fenix lights, the P3D is design to run perfectly well on 16340 cells, even when fresh off the charger at 4.2V each. Functionality on all output levels are retained.

New to this model is the low battery warning. This light will start to blink at a high frequency once the battery voltage is no longer able to efficiently maintain the current output level. This doesn't mean you should throw out you cells, simply switch to the next lower output level. Obviously this doesn't apply when you're already on low mode.

Output difference between PLJ Q2 and regular P3D.

1. The most obvious would be the increase in output of about 14% on turbo, 17% on high, 34% on medium and 231% on low. Also it's whiter tint because it uses an emitter with a WD bin tint.

2. Turbo mode maintains regulation slightly longer on the PLJ edition, but low mode is slightly shorter.

The Good - Versatile functionality in a compact size. Bright output with excellent runtime and regulation. New circuit design now properly supports the use of rechargeable 3.7V Li-Ion cells, so all modes work perfectly with them.

The Bad - Smoothly finished head makes it slightly hard to switch modes, especially with greasy hands.

The Relative - Peculiar behavior of the regulating circuit causes output to increase as the battery voltage drops on medium and low modes. The dark ring which is commonly associated with XR-E lights it present in the P2D CE as well, but only appears within about a meter. It really doesn't affect practical usage at all. Uses a reverse push button.

Head module (front view).

Head module (side view).

Head module (rear view).

Battery tube (front view).

Battery tube (side view).

Battery tube (rear view).

Tail cap (front view).

Tail cap (side view).

Tail cap (rear view).