Nebo Twyst flashlight review

I saw an LED flashlight called the Twyst at a local parts store and liked the looks of it, so I did some research, liked what I saw and I bought one. I am a sucker for flashlights and radios; I don't think I can ever have too many of either.

Features that caught my eye, and why:

• The magnetic base
  I work on vehicles and in tight spaces a lot. Having a light that can be attached to a piece of steel comes in very handy when you're working in small, dark corners.
• Stabilizers on the base
  The fold-out legs turn the light into a stable lantern in all three modes. They will also keep the light from rolling when it's laid on its side.
• 3 light modes

  

  Picture from Nebo site

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Forward-facing flashlight: 3400 Lux (4 hours at full power, 40 at low power)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  Picture from Nebo site

  
  
  
  
  Work light: 110 Lumens. By twisting the front of the flashlight, you expose a ring of 27 LEDs. The work light turns on a third of these to light up a specific area. (13.5 hours at full power, 96 at low power)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  Picture from Nebo site

  
  
  
  
  
  Lantern: 250 Lumens. With the entire ring of LEDs on, you get a general lantern effect. (4 hours at full power, 60 at low power)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Fully dimmable
  By holding in the switch, you can dim the light output in all three modes. This is handy when you don't want to totally ruin your night vision, want to stretch the battery life, or just don't need to have a bright light. Being able to dim the lantern function is probably going to be the handiest for me.
• Uses AA batteries
  I get a lot of use out of AA batteries, and anything that doesn't require some odd (read: expensive) battery gets extra points in my book. I have lights that use C, D, Cr123A, and various other types of batteries, and they're often dead because the batteries are expensive and can be hard to find..

First impressions

Pros:

• This sucker is bright. Painful to the eyes, in a well-lit room, in all three modes, bright.
• Being made of machined aluminum, it's got some heft to it. I'd have to put it on a scale to be sure, but I'd guess that it weighs about as much as my 3xD-cell Maglite. It's not as long as the Maglite, but would still hurt to get hit with. (Yes, I carry a Maglite for use as a night-stick on occasion.)

Cons:

• The beam is not focusable. There are times when I like to be able to switch from spot- to flood-light when using a hand-held light. Looking for something in the grass at night requires a broad flood of light for a general sweep, with a spot-light being handy once you've narrowed down the search area.
• Weight. This is not something you're going to drop in your pocket and carry with you every day. I got it mainly for my vehicle and camping use, so it will be in a pack or bag rather than on my belt.

General Information:

• MSRP for the Twyst is $49.99, but I paid $40.00 for mine at the parts store. 
• Amazon has them at full MSRP (or more), so I would suggest looking around at your local auto parts stores to see if they have them.
• Nebo is a sporting goods/tool brand, part of the Alliance Sports Group, based out of Texas. The lights themselves are built in China. 
• The Twyst is new for 2015, so it may take a while for them to get them distributed widely.