The Nexus series from Wicked Lasers is one of the most powerful pen-style lasers you can buy. With an average of 95mW output, this unit is allmost 20 times more powerful than your typical green pointer. Indeed, this isn’t a pointer nor is it a toy. Proper eye wear must be worn at all times while using this device. (I use the Laser Shades from WL and they work great for this laser.)

The best part of such a powerful laser is that the beam is visible in mid air. Below is a simple video I created to show off some of the special effects possible with such a laser. No smoke was used - only a dark apartment and a Canon digital camera were used to produce this video (and an open-loop scanner.)

The quality of these lasers is second to none. While I would suggest against dropping this unit, it does feel “sturdy” and quite a bit heaver than your standard greenie-pointers.

Lastly, the battery life is better than one might expect. This unit, and all similar lasers, do eat batteries. They all need to power a significantly higher output “pump” diode which is the reason why battery life is limited. If you intend on burning things, the best time to do this is within the first 10 minutes of inserting fresh batteries. After that, the output does drop - but the beam isn’t visually much dimmer. So, if you want to use it for beam effects, this won’t be a significant issue.

As far as lasers in this range go, I like my Nexus. Just turn it on outdoors and you will have an instant crowd. (Just be smart about it - not near airports, don’t point it at people, and don’t use it to harass people or animals.)