LOOPGEAR Sk05 Pro II

The LOOPGEAR SK05 Pro II

Whats in the box

The light

Two 4000mAh 18650 batteries

USBC charging cable

Pocket clip and a set of screws to mount it

A small hex screw driver for the pocket clip screws

User manual

A small metal panel (installed on the light already with two more hex screws)

This last part is pretty cool. If you do not want the pocket clip on the light now there is a little metal branded panel that can cover up the empty space where the slip is mounted. 

Build quality and design 

Much like the previous version the SK05 Pro II is really well made and it even has some improvements. The light feels really solid and the machining lends to excellent grip and retention. It has the same glow part in the flood lens and I appreciate things like that. The pocket clip is solid and it sits nice and low in my pocket. There is now an added lanyard loop near the tail. The battery compartment lock is the same as the previous version and it works great. The charging port cover is now a small metal piece held down with a tiny magnet. This is a big improvement over the small rubber flaps and it makes it much easier to access. The switch in the center of the rotary dial is now a really cool copper color. The biggest improvement in my opinion is the rotary dial itself. The older one was very loose and had a rattle to it. There was a lot of extra play both horizontally and vertically that LoopGear has cleaned up in the second edition. This one feels much more solid and well made. Rotating it is easier and smoother too. 

UI and Usability

As far as UI goes it is very similar to the first generation. The rotary dial selects between lock, flood, spot, and side light. It is very easy to navigate and intuitive. There are a couple of things to not though in the second edition. Pushing the switch when locked makes the side light turn green, and while I love the look of the green, I used the red side light from lick as substitute for moonlight mode. A feature still sorely missed in this light. I found dim red much better for my “don’t wake up my wife while getting ready at 5:30am” test. Another is change is the lack of tint shifting in the side white light. The first edition let you cycle between cool white, a neutral white, and warm almost amber white. The side RGB lights have a bunch of modes that block or fade etc. those are fun but not super useful in my opinion. They can also all be lowered or increased in brightness and you can cycle colors or movement sped as well. TAnother change I noticed is the first edition would automatically lock no matter what mode you are in after some time and you would have to rotate the dial back to lock and then back to the desired selection for the light to turn on. This has gone away now. This I actually don’t like. While it does make it a bit annoying, I have little kids so added safety features such as an auto lock I appreciate. 

Another noticeable change is the speed when cycling brightness levels. The Pro II is noticeably faster, which is another improvement for me.

Other than those changes it is very similar to the first gen as far as UI goes. Like the first gen it is a great all around light. The fact that it is essentially three lights in one, comfortably packed into a pocket size power house, the strong magnet in the tail combined with replaceable cells, the pocket clip and easy UI just make this an all around great light to carry. 

Performance

On flood it is noticeably brighter. The same can be said in spot mode. The spot light mode has a much larger hotspot, which I chalk upon to the difference of the SST25 in the Pro II versus the SFT25R in the first version. The side light is the biggest improvement here. The new version has 38 high CRI LEDs and 22 RGB LEDs, up significantly from the first version. The side light does lack cycling white tint but the fixed tint is a very nice and useful high CRI light. Press and hold while unlocked turns both flood and spot on full blast. It is really bright. The combined beams really work well to light up my whole backyard with a dedicated hotspot. 

tl;dr

The SK05 Pro II is a great second edition of an already great light. Loopgear has made some noteworthy improvements such as the more solid rotary switch and upgraded charge port cover. The added brightness of the front emitters and the added LEDs on the side light are an improvement. The only thing I wound change would be a moonlight mode from lock and maybe the ability to change the color of the side light when locked.