The Price: $300

The Verdict: Simply put, the Torch flashlight is like carrying around a floodlight in your hand. It is easily the most powerful and semi-frightening flashlight I have ever seen. However, let's not kid ourselves into thinking that this a practical device. The only reason anyone should ever buy the Torch is to impress other nerds.

Last month I reviewed the 160 lumens Duracell Daylite and found it to be a good choice for anyone looking for a powerful, practical flashlight. It's not a fair comparison by any means, but analyzing the results from that test against the Torch gives you a good idea of how bright this thing really is.

In order to illustrate its power, Wicked Lasers has released several videos showing the Torch burning paper, lighting matches and frying eggs. These claims are true—as you can see from my own test illustrated in the video above. But the heat this thing gives off is not all fun and games for pyromaniacs. It also severely limits the usability of the flashlight. After a few minutes of use, the Torch becomes too hot to hold in your hand. According to the user's manual, it should only be used in 3 minute intervals with at least 2 minutes of "rest" in between.

As you might have guessed, the battery life for the Torch is almost nil. I'm not sure what the exact figures are, but I doubt that you could get more than 10 minutes of continuous use out of a full-power 30-minute charge. And, to be quite honest, the scary charging unit above is fairly unreliable. I found myself frequently resetting the magnets because it registered a full charge prematurely.

Obviously, I can't recommend something this expensive, impractical and, quite frankly, dangerous—but if you are willing to drop $300 on a gadget that will impress your friends for a minute or two, the Torch will definitely get the job done. [Wicked Lasers]

Suffice it to say, don't shine this in your eyes or you'll become blinder than Ray Charles in a closet. [Product Page via I4U]

The catch: The good news is that you can use this laser during your next board meeting without blinding your colleagues. The bad news is that you can use this laser during your next board meeting without blinding your colleagues. Here's a totally unfair comparison against a $380 Wicked Laser 95mW Nexus model, just to show you the difference in scale with the 5-9mW blue laser brightness of this $830 Aurora.


The Verdict Part II: We tried the Aurora outside at night, and we could barely make out the blue laser streak shooting for the sky. So unless you are a hardcore laser aficionado or have particular love for the color blue, we think you'll have more fun with brighter, deadlier lasers in different colors for the $479.99 to $1400 you would otherwise spend on an Aurora (DragonLaser's top 125mW green laser runs only $399.99). Then again, blue is so pretty...just as we'd always pictured our lightsaber... [dragonlasers]

I am not a laser expert, unless you count watching Real Genius five times as any sort of real world schooling. Sure, I've done my fair share of field-testing with a magnifying glass and the sun, but tagging a massive green dot on a building from 100 yards away is a different beast entirely. I'm just a simple guy who wanted to hold what may be the most powerful consumer laser in the world - and burn something with it.

For those who haven't seen their ads, Wicked Lasers makes very powerful handheld lasers. Their newest model, the Spyder II, is what we're looking at today. It's the newest model they have to offer and among their most powerful, which justifies the hefty waistline. This Spyder II is much bigger than the pen-sized Nexus model I was using for comparison, more along the lines of a flashlight. In fact, it's the perfect size to hold with two hands for lightsaber battles better grip. It looks dangerous, like a Mag-lite from the wrong side of the tracks and has excellent build quality with its anodized black aircraft-grade aluminum casing.

A texturized, rubber button on the back toggles the laser on and off, which proves to be a nice feature when you want to run the laser for an extended period of time. The spec sheet claimed 60 minutes of runtime from one of the two packaged rechargeable lithium ions.

The laser itself is sun bright. Seriously. I wore packed protective glasses for most of the testing, not only because of the danger of a directly reflected eye shot, but because looking into the laser's point of contact will leave spots in your eyes. While initially testing outdoors, the Spyder II was in no way intimidated by daylight, and appeared roughly 2-3 times brighter than the extremely bright Nexus model. (Note: for some reason while testing Spyder II, its laser stopped shooting brighter than the Nexus. I swapped the batteries, and still I don't know why, but I doubt that it's my imagination). In darker rooms, you can make out the beam of light, which almost sparks when contacting particles in the air. But enough with the glamour shots, you want to know how this bad boy performs.

Test 1
Leaf Burning
Results: SUCCESSBraving the arctic winter that is my backyard fire pit, I shot a dried leaf from about 2 feet away. Within 5 seconds there was a tiny plume of smoke, though I could never start a fire. Maybe such is the nature of lasers - to char instead of burn.

Test 2
Balloon
Results: SUCCESS
With the balloon about 4 feet away, I turned the laser on and then reached over to the camera to record. It was too late because the balloon had already popped. Then...well, just watch the video.

Test 3
Popcorn
Results: FAILURE
I've been thinking of new materials to test for a week before my epiphany: a laser popping a kernel of popcorn. I imagined such a video distributed to the masses as families huddled around their computers and corporate execs referenced the image for small talk during power lunches. Unfortunately, while the lighting effect was striking as the shell enveloped the light, after 5 minutes there was still no delicious snack. I touched the kernel, and while part of the shell was warm, it was not burning hot.

Test 4
My Hand
"Did you try it on yourself?"
"No!"
"..."
"Ok, I did."
"I knew you couldn't help it. And?"
This is just another day at the office for Gizmodo writers, risking life and limb for the Big Story. I didn't hold my hand long enough to smell charring flesh, but after about 7 seconds there was an odd sensation: not heat, but very light almost stinging feeling. The hand is fine, or it's red and filled with pus, so I'm not showing it here.

The Verdict
I enjoyed playing with the $1,700 Spyder II, and even as I type occasionally pick it up to watch a faint green beam of light shoot across the room. But I would probably never buy one for the reason that makes it great: the Spyder II is completely inappropriate for most purposes, sitting on a bubble between "gift for mom" and "seal the metal door shut before the Klingons get us" that my wallet can't justify. That being said, Wicked's newest laser is still an incredible product, and I can't wait to see what their next model can do. – Mark Wilson

Product Page [wicked lasers]

Those mad scientists over at Wicked Lasers provided some pictures of the process. For those sensitive to the graphic misuse of A/V equipment, parental discretion is advised.

Upgrades. – Mark Wilson

Making the Sonar [hacked gadgets]
Product Page

This laser pointer has a 405nm Blu-ray laser diode housed inside spacecraft grade 6061-T6 aluminum. These are the same laser diodes that caused the delay of the European PS3 launch because of shortages. You can own the Sonar Blu-ray laser for $2,000. – Travis Hudson

Product Page [Via I4U]

David over at OhGizmo did a detailed review of the WickedLasers Nexus, which one of our fair readers won not so long ago. The video's pretty long, but it shows off all the coolness you can do with a $369 laser, including cutting tape, lighting matches, and damaging the corneas of stray cats.

Product Page [WickedLasers]
OhGizmo Review: The Nexus Wicked Laser [OhGizmo]