Today I have a new large thrower style flashlight from Klarus, the new XT32 kit. This is a big flashlight, it produces 1,200 lumens and can throw over 1000M according to Klarus. Thanks to FlashlightZ.com(link is external) for sending this light out to me.
Full Photo Album: https://imgur.com/a/Q6j1h(link is external)
Video Review:
Construction
This light is made from aluminum alloy. It’s nicely machined with no machining marks. All edges have been broken by nice chamfers in most cases. Anodizing is smooth and semi gloss. Starting at the tail cap you have two mechanical buttons. One is a on and off which can be used for momentary and the other is a blad switch. There are recesses vut for both of these buttons creating very little area to allow such a tall light to tail stand. There is a hole for the included lanyard to mount to the tail cap if you wish. The tail cap itself has little grip for turning it, no knurling just some small areas milled out. If it was wet this could be difficult to remove. Inside are double golden colored springs that provide a good amount of resistance.
Looking at the threads on the body they are ACME cut and bare aluminum. It almost looks like there is a secondary inner tube but I learned my lesson not to pull on these. Below that is the removeable cegar grip accessory. Unfortunately this is just a little too loose for my liking and it spins with the tail cap screwed all the way in. It also has a small hole for the included lanyard. Further down the body you have an area that looks like a pocket clip would attach to it if one was included. I suppose you could put a tight fitting lanyard of sometype here or a mount but one isn’t included. Below that is a smooth short bit of the body. I am guessing this is for Klaruses Rifle mount even though the light’s tube diameter is 23.40mm and the rifle mount is for lights with a tube diameter of 25.4mm. Working my way to the front of the light there is a nice crosshatch knurling with some linear milled out ares that add some style and slight additional grip. This knurled area has two large flats, one with the label of the model and the relevant required markings and the other area being blank. This is just slightly off center of the side mount button.
Working my way to the head of the light the diameter increases as does the radicalness of the heatsinks. The side button is surrounded by a gear looking silver ring. The button itself is black and flat with a small indicator LED in the center.This is the battery level indicator. The head itself is large, it has mild crenelations on top. The reflector is under a large piece of anti reflective coated glass. The reflector is smooth and highly polished and the LED is nicely centered inside.
This light lacks a tripod adapter which I really like on larger lights. It’s a secure point to connect a more substantial lanyard and I find attaching it to a tripod or small gorillapod to be useful.
Lengths and Weights
This is a pretty tall light, I measured it’s height at just over 24cm, the head at it’s thickest is 64mm and at it’s narrowest is 23.22mm. Total weight with the included batteries is 358g. The light is rated for IPX8 water and dust resistance.
LED & Runtime
Cree XP-L Hi V3 LED with a maximum of 1200 lumen. It’s in a cool white that in my opinion isn’t too cool. I don’t notice an extreme Cree rainbow but I am not sensitive to this. The beam pattern is typical of a long distance thrower like this. At distances of shorter than 1 foot there is a donut in the beam. At a bit longer distances there is a very bright and intense center with a large but minimal spill and hard edges. At long distances the beam does give off a bit of a blueish tint but you don’t notice that in the intended target. Outputs go from low at 20 lumens, to medium at 100, to high at 400, and turbo at 1200. Since this is a thrower the important number is candella which is 250,000 in Turbo.
On the Left Olight M3XS-UT, On the Right the Klarus XT32
This light has the Klarus ITS or Intelligent Temperature Protection System, and my output and runtime graphs indicate this. What’s disappointing is the slow decline from 100% output pretty much instantly. Decline is slow and gradual but by 10 minutes it’s at about 95% output which is decent. At that 10 minute mark there is a saw tooth decline for the next 10 minutes as the light increases and decreases in brightness according to temperature finally stabilizing at about 70% output. The 55-110 minute range the active cooling and managing battery voltage is pretty active. I did notice this step down when I was filming my night shots on a cold night where it was about 14F out.
In my night shots the light performed as I thought it would. Very similar to my Olight M3XS-UT but with a beam I found to be more pleasing.
UI This light has two main modes. #1 being Tactical and #2 being Hunting. In tactical you have access to one touch strobe and one touch turbo, one touch Low, SOS and mode memory as well as lockout. In Hunting mode you have on etouch turbo, one touch low, no access to strobe on the tail switch, SOS, memory and lockout. The diagram does the job of explaining all the different modes and how to get to them. I won’t lie both are a bit complex. For me I liked hunting mode best because it had access to both turbo by using the round push button and low by using the bladed switch. You could bump up in modes with the blade switch if you held it down and then short clicked it. There is also the front switch which allows you to cycle through modes or double click for strobe.
Electronic lockout is available but only for the sie switch. You press and hold for 5 seconds to lock and to unlock you press any switch quickly 3 times. The LED located in the side switch is a power indicator for the first 5 seconds of power on and goes from Green to orange, to red and to flashing red. This only works when using 18650 batteries.
Charger & Batteries
Included in the kit are 2 Klarus 2600mah batteries that are button top protected cells. These appear to be the same that was in my ST10 I reviewed a few weeks ago. I have no complaints other then I wish the capacity would be larger. This light has a working voltage of 5V to 12.8V so CR123A will work but 4× 18350 will not work.
I charged the included Klarus branded 2600mah batteries with the included Klarus charger. The terminal voltage after a full charge was 4.14V on both cells and this is well within spec. Charging speed is listed at 0.5A or 1A. I tested with 2 18650’s that needed a full charge and was only able to get about 0.85A out of it during charging. This charger also acts as a powerbank with charger 18650’s. You can have an 18650 (or smaller batteries like a 14500) in either bay or together to act as the powerbank. The manual really doesn’t tell about the charger, it would be nice if it included it’s own manual. According to the outside it’s capable of 1A discharge and I got pretty close to that during testing.
Packaging and Accessories
This light comes in a nice and compact box given its size. It’s a magnetic closure heavy duty cardboard and unfolds nicely but off balance. Inside is the light protected in foam. The batteries were preinstalled but did have a plastic separator that needed removal prior to use. It also included extra orings, and a Klarus branded charger that doubles as a powerbank.To see how those preform see above. It also included a small lanyard which is a bit disappointing. What I don’t like is the thin plastic reinforced connection that is the part that actually attaches to the light. For a light of this size and weight I was wishing for something more substantial. If it had a place for a tripod mount this would be an easy fix but instead I think I will have to create something with paracord and a slipping knot. It includes a short belt adapter that fits the head. This works but I think would be a bit awkward to actually use for a longer amount of time like during a hike.
Klarus sells some additional accessories listed on their website such as a tape switch and rifle mount, and colored filters to fit over the front of the light to complete the hunting package.
Comparisons
The Klarus XT32 is very comparable to the Olight M3XS-UT I reviewed several months ago. Both throw over 1000 meters with nice tight beams. The biggest difference between them is the LED being used and the controls. The Olight M3XS-UT uses a dedomed Cree XP-L that really creates a green cast to the light that is personally undesirable. The Klarus XT32 uses a Cree XP-L HI V3 LED that although it’s a bit too cool for my taste in tint it’s still better than the green cast of the Olight. I also like the tail switches and two different modes on the Klarus and the tail switch is better for tactical or hunting use. The front switch work fine for everyday use and I prefer the Olight shortcuts.
On the Left Olight M3XS-UT, On the Right the Klarus XT32
Pro’s
- Seems to throw as well as my other 1000m thrower but with a better tint.
- No ugly tint shifts or oddities in the beam pattern.
- I like the two button tail cap button configuration and that Hunting mode removes strobe from the tail.
- I like how you can lock the front button while still having access to the rear.
- Well built and durable. The dual springs should let it hold up if mounted on a rifle.
- It’s nice the built in kit contains a charger that has extra power bank features from both cells but it doesn’t have a wall outlet. It requires a MicroUSB input.
Con’s
- No tripod adapter
- I wish the tactical ring on end of the light had a tighter fit so it wouldn’t rattle or spin.
- Slower charger when charging 2 batteries at a time.
- I wish it had larger capacity batteries. 2600mah in 2018 for a higher end models doesn’t cut it in my opinion.
- Klarus again rated it’s lights using larger 3500mah batteries then what it shipped the light with smaller 2600mah cells.
I like this thrower, as mentioned the tint is a nice change over what I had on my Olight. Performance and throw works very similar to the Olight and I have no doubt it will reach that 1000m claim. I like the dual tail buttons and how they are used in the Hunting UI. I wish it was drilled and tapped to take advantage of a tripod adapter. Since hunting is one of the main uses for this light I would prefer they would have included the tape switch over the charger. That said the included charger although a little slower then speced works well and the dual USB powerbank feature is nice. If you are looking for a new hunting light to really cover long distances and the weight is ok with you this is definitely a light you should look at and consider. I will have a link in the description box below on where you can pick up this light on Flashlightz.com