Keychain lamp review – These little USB sticks are flashlights for your EDC

REVIEW – At first glance, you might think that I’m holding a bunch of USB drives. But you’d be wrong. What I’m holding are USB flashlights in their most minimal and basic form. Let’s take a quick look at these tiny EDC lights.

What is it?

Flashlights in the form of a USB stick.

Design and features

I am obsessed with EDC items. But I prefer unusual items. That’s why these flashlights (I use that term a bit loosely, as you’ll come to find out soon) caught my eye and I had to order them. I ended up with two types from two different companies.  

If you look closely, you’ll see they have an exposed circuit board with 2 or 6 LEDs and pins for a USB-A port. The 6 LED version is from Yitee and the 2 LED version is from HiLetgo.

These flashlights have no power source of their own, but as soon as you plug them into a power source like a USB power bank, a USB port on your computer, or a USB power adapter, they will light up. The 6 LED version even has a touch control so you can tap the back quickly to turn it on/off, or tap and hold to dim to the desired brightness. Unfortunately, I have a hard time getting that feature to work. It’s probably the same reason that I always have issues with fingerprint readers on phones and TouchID on my MacBook. 

Using these flashlights is easy as long as you can find a power source. I tested them using a Baseus PowerCombo charger and a Benks power bank (see video below). It’s cool that it doesn’t matter which way you plug them in. Either side works for both versions.

I plugged it in, tapped the back, and wow, that’s a bright light. So bright that I saw spots for a while after I pulled it out.

Here’s the 2 LED version. It’s crazy bright too. Note that the 2 LED version does not have any type of power control.

See them in action

What I like about the USB Keychain lamps

• Unusual
• Bright
• Inexpensive

What needs to be improved?

• Physical power button instead of touch control

Final thoughts

I realize that these “flashlights” aren’t super useful because you have to find a power source. However, if you regularly carry around a power bank with USB-A ports, you could use one as a pseudo candle in a pinch. In the end, I just like EDC gear and thought they would be fun to test. Would this type of flashlight be useful to you? Let’s talk about it in the comments below.

Update 10/16/24

Since I posted this review last night, Amazon/JacobsParts has changed the link to the 6 LED version of the flashlight. They had stock last night but today the link I was using goes to a completely different version. I did some searching and found a different company (Yitee) that has the same flashlight, so I’m updating the links. The only issue is that the price is higher. 

Price: $15.99 for the 6 LED version (5/pc), $6.79 HiLetGo 2 LED version (5/pc
Where to buy: Amazon (6 LED version) and Amazon (2 LED version)
Source: I purchased the sample for this review with my own money.