The head looks almost exactly like the one on the original LM301 accept it's bezel isn't crenellated. It's anodized in a dark gray Type 2 anodizing. The lens is made of standard uncoated glass. Sandwiched between the lens and head is a GITD (glow in the dark) rubber o-ring which helps keep water out of the insides. Next is the aluminum textured reflector. As is clearly seen, the reflector and emitter are slightly misaligned. This is because the emitter's PCB has a slightly smaller diameter than the recessed area of he module it sits on. This allows for some play between them and thus the slight misalignment. Aside from that, everything in the head fits snugly. The reflector isn't threaded and drops into the head just like the LM301. The emitter module is threaded and screws in behind the reflector. The inside of the head isn't coated.

As with the head, the coating on the battery tube is very well done too. No blemishes or scratches to be found. Unlike the original LM301, the new LM301 has 4 flat surfaces machined onto the tube instead of 3. Also, it's body is about 1mm slimmer than the LM301. Even though there isn't any knurling, the flat faces do help with grip especially if you have your hands full holding a battery case or something. The threads on the front end of the battery tube are anodized for some reason, but the threads on the tail end aren't. Make sure that you have securely screwed down the head all to ensure electrical contact to the battery tube and complete the circuit. [Update 31 July, 2007: I have just been informed that this is a design feature which enables the light to work as a twist switch so that it can be turned on on high mode bypassing the low mode.] Also, there will be a slight gap between the head and battery tube. As with the Rex2.0, this isn't a fitting flaw. There has to be a gap to ensure that when fully tightened, the tube's end make contact first and not obstructed by the outer threads of the head. The threads on my sample had some machining dust left over which caused some grinding, a quick cleaning with a stiff bristled brush fixed that. The battery tube is slightly wider than other AA lights, however this does not mean the internal diameter is wider. It's walls are simply thicker. The good thing about this is that it makes the light's body tougher, but protected 14500 and perhaps some brands of thicker NiMH cells, may not fit. My AW protected 14500 could not fit in, but an UltraFire unprotected 14500 fits fine. Eneloop cells I used fit quite snugly and there's totally no battery rattle at all. Tried inserting a 2700mAh Sanyo NiMH cell, it fits pretty tight and will require some tapping when removing the battery. Also, for some reason the threads on my sample had thick yellow grease all over them. I would recommend cleaning out this thick grease and apply regular silicon grease instead.

The band of knurling on the tail cap is a rougher diamond texture instead of the checkered texture of the original LM301, it helps with grip during battery changes. The clicking mechanism is nicely stiff and tactile, similar to the LM301. At the end there're 2 wide slots for lanyards attachments. The black and orange switch caps protrude out from the tail cap and this makes the button easier to press but doesn't allow it to tail stand. You may replace these with the GITD cap which is flatter and allows the light to tail stand.

The beam profile from this light is excellent. There's no dark ring around the hotspot, just a smooth transition throughout, the misaligned reflector does make the hotspot slightly less defined on one side though. The color from it's U-bin emitter is a slightly warm white without any significant violet or yellow tinting. The ES which was reviewed earlier had a cooler tint. People who are very critical about their light's beam profile will be very happy with the LM301 SSC P4. There are 2 output levels which can be cycled through by clicking the tail cap button button. The spot is noticeably wider than most other single AA cell lights.

The operating modes are:
Off > Low > High

Either AA or 14500 cells can be used in this light. Using a 14500 cell boosts output by about 50%. However, the low mode is really not optimized to run on 14500 cells and actually gives lower output and runtime compared to high so it only makes sense to use the high mode on 14500 cells. The low mode is achieved via resistor in the switch module, so there's no high frequency pulsing effect as opposed to using a PWM controlled circuit. Performance on an AA cell is average, slightly less efficient than other AA lights such as the Fenix L1P CE. Please take note that the circuit seems to have been revised from the ES version reviewed earlier. Output with AA cells on high has been decreased in exchange for better runtime.

The Good - Great body construction and anodizing. Beam profile is very smooth. Simple and straight forward low/high output modes.

The Bad - Reflector is slightly misaligned. Output on AA cells isn't very bright. Protected 14500 cells will not fit.

The Relative - Tint is a slightly warm white. Uses a reverse push button. Having a simple 2 mode switch while many lights are starting to have 5 modes or more.

Head (front view).

Head (side view).

Head (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).