Tag: 21700 Flashlight

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Acebeam E75 Review (Best Flashlight of 2023 so far!)

Subscribers to the channel may have noticed I have been slowing down in reviews a bit, and part of that’s being really selective in what I review. When I saw the Acebeam E75 announced, I knew I wanted to review it, well and let’s just say, I’m not disappointed. The size, LED’s (Nichia 519A available) and UI make this a win in my book, maybe the best of the year so far. Thanks to Acebeam for sending this to me to review, any sales or discounts that are available will be in the description below. 

 

Watch this review on YouTube: 

Get your own Acebeam E75 at https://acebeamflashlight.sjv.io/k0ZWO3

Save 10% by using code “Liq10”

 

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Packaging & Accessories

I will quickly go over the packaging and accessories that came with my light and then get to what you really want to know. It’s a nice full-color black box with the outline of the light on the front. The side gives a few highlights and the specs of your model, and the back more detailed stats. My light came with 2 spare orings, a charging cover, a generic lanyard, USB-A to C charging cable, and an Acebeam branded 5000mAh protected 15A 21700 li-ion battery, and the standard paperwork. 

 

Construction & Design

The light is currently being offered in aluminum, anodized in 4 colors, Black, Gray, Blue and Dark Green, and I have the dark green model here. Interestingly the photos on Acebeam’s website don’t show a blue model, but 2 shades of green instead, a grass green which is what I have and a teal green seems to be what they are calling blue. 

The light itself has a flat tail, with a very strong magnet and easily holds itself horizontally on painted slick surfaces. The tail cap has nice functional straight knurling. Internally there are springs on both ends and threads on the tail are square-cut. 

The body tube and head are integral and made of one piece of aluminum. The tube has spiral unidirectional knurling. It’s fairly smooth and could be a little more aggressive in my opinion. 4 large flats are milled in to break it up. 

The e-switch has a black aluminum cover, with a clear plastic ring surrounding it. Underneath there are the 4 LED power level indicators. These are multi-color but all behave the same. They are green when the power is greater than 20% remaining, turn red under 20% and blink red when under 10% remaining. One interesting thing to note is the 4 green power level LED’s around the button are always illuminated. This isn’t a big deal during most operations but is less than ideal when in moonlight mode. I have been told there is a revision where the LED indicator brightness will be less. 

The charging port is opposite the button and has a good-fitting silicone cover. I’ll talk more about it and the pocket clip more in their respective sections. 

The front bezel has moderate crenulations that are reasonably sharp. Mine is glued in place and I would guess made of steel. The lens is glass and AR coated, below it is the quad optic and in my case the 4 Nichia 519a LED’s. 

 

UI

The UI here is what I’ll call the standard flashlight UI. It’s one many other manufacturers use and is logical. From off, long press on the button to turn into firefly mode. A short click from firefly will shut it off, and a longer click from Firefly will turn it to low. When already on in the standard modes the longer click will allow it to cycle up through low, med1, med2, and high. Turbo is a double click and strobe is a triple click. Both Turbo and Strobe shortcuts work when the light is off too. To turn off from any mode it’s a simple short click. There is memory on the normal modes, and lockout that can be activated when the light is off by holding the button for 3 seconds, and the unlock is the same procedure. 

 

Retention

The lanyard attachment point on the E75 is on the tail cap, similar to a lot of other lights. It’s sufficient but nothing special. Let’s talk about the clip on this one though. It’s a little different design than I have seen on most other lights. It’s screwed on just under the charging port and runs most of the length of the body. It’s a dual-direction clip but neither is what I would say is great in my opinion. Both directions leave about 1” to 1.75” sticking out of your pocket both of which are more than I would like. With the diameter of this light and clip configuration for me, it’s not going to be an EDC in my front pocket. In a back pocket, it’s ok. There is no included holster which I would like for this size of the light, and something some of the competitor lights includes. 

 

Size & Weight

I measured the length of the e75 at 5.1”, the diameter of the head at 1.38”, and the diameter of the body at 1.04” on the flats. Weight with clip and battery 7.64oz, or 216.7g. Slightly heavier than the Olight Seeker 3 Pro at 7oz or 198.9g. 

 

Here are a few size comparisons with similar lights that I own. 

 

LED & Beam

The Acebeam E75 is available with 2 LED options, a cool white 6500k option that’s not specified officially producing a peak of 4500k, and a neutral white Nichia 519a option which is what I have here. On my Opple meter, I measured the Nichia 519a LED’s at 4701k tint and at a 98Ra (CRI). Both are excellent and my personal preference, there was nothing negative to measure with the DUV here either. PWM was not to be found here as it’s a constant current driver.

 

The beam shape coming out of the quad LED’s isn’t perfect. On my Nichia version, there is some flower petal effects going on, at about 5ft or further though these are very minimal and not something thats a big deal. What you do notice is that the spill isn’t round, but the center is fairly round. I would put this as more of a floody light than thrower, but not pure flood. 

 

Outputs

Here is an output chat, and it’s nice Acebeam includes measurements for both LED’s not something all manufacturers do these days. Moonlight through High I saw numbers that were reasonably close to the claimed numbers at the 30-second mark (FL1 standard). Turbo on my homemade TexasAce lumen tube read low, and this is a trend i’m seeing above 3000 lumens. It’s something I’m going to have to investigate further. 

 

Heat & Runtime

Runtimes came in at what was expected for the most part. You can see that turbo starts stepping down at the 1-minute mark over the next minute before being at the 1000-lumen mark. Heat peaks at the end of the first step down out at the 1:33:00 mark at 54C .Starting in turbo and running to exhaustion ends at 4:10:00 which is pretty solid. You get 93 minutes of runtime on high of around 1000 lumens. Skipping turbo and going straight to high doesn’t yield much more only about 7 more minutes in high and 18 more minutes in overall runtime. Medium 2 lasted a total of nearly 7 hours runtime. The lack of a rubber grip here does make it a little toasty if you heat peak temps but it’s only after running for 90 minutes continuously, assuming you are not spamming turbo.

 

Recharging

The E75 uses onboard USB-C recharging and I had no issues with any of the cables or charges I used. PD support was good. The included cell is a 15A cell model number IMR21700NP-500A, is a button top, long, and protected. I measured it at 75.29mm, and my longer battery from my brass E70 worked fine which is even longer. Most button-top cells should be fine here, but not the ones with dual pole contacts on one end. 

Charging time in my test took 3:10:00 from LVP at 3.009v to full at 4.134v. During this time charging speed hit a maximum of 2A with a pretty substantial ramp down beginning at the 2 hour mark. One note on the termination voltage. The 4.134v is when the lights voltage indicators went from red flashing to green solid. If you leave it plugged in it will trickle charge a bit closer to 4.2v. 

 

Conclusion

My conclusion on the Acebeam e75 is that it’s my favorite light of 2023 that I have tested so far. For me the combination of the slightly warm, neutral, high CRI Nichia 519a LED’s, solid beam pattern, and 21700 battery provides a long runtime, and it’s available in green, one of my favorite colors. It’s got an easy UI too without any negatives, and no proxy sensor. This is a form factor I like too, and it’s a step up over the Olight Seeker 3 Pro which has the cool white LED, proxy sensor, and a UI I’m not hugely fond of. 

 

The clip on the E75 isn’t my favorite, and it’s not going to be a front-pocket EDC for that reason. It also doesn’t come with a holster which is unfortunate, but it does fit in the Olight Seeker 3 holsters. You could also argue it’s price might be a little high if you’re comparing it to something like the D4V2 which is a similar size and performance but if you’re comparing it to the Olight Seeker 3 Pro or Seeker 4 it’s in line with the competition. 

 

For me the pro’s outweigh the cons, and this ticks a lot of boxes for me for a general-purpose flashlight especially if you value high CRI, warm/neutral emitters like I do. It’s eays for me to recommend the E75. 

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Fenix TK20R V2.0 Review (3000 Lumens, SFT70 LED, 21700, USB-C)

Today I have one I am excited to bring you, it’s from a New brand on the Channel with Fenix and the TK20R V2. Through the years I have gotten a lot of questions on Fenix and what I thought of specific models and I and I just didn’t have the experience to answer, so I was excited when Fenix reached out to start working together. This is the first of 2 reviews for Fenix you will see in the coming weeks. 

 

The TK20R V2 is an updated light that’s using a Luminis SFT70 LED, producing 3000 lumens, has onboard USB-C charging of the 21700 battery. You can check out more at https://www.fenixlighting.com/ The light I was sent is preproduction, and actually has a Luminus SST70 LED, however that has been changed in the production light to a Luminis SFT70 LED. 

 

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Here is a link to the USB-C Cable I used in the video https://amzn.to/3Dwt0rA

 

Packaging & Accessories

I received a preproduction light, and final packaging was not ready at this time. Accessories that came with mine included a USB-A to C charging cable, the light, and the branded button top protected 21700 battery (ARB-L21-5000). Mine came with a velcro patch as well, not sure if this is normal or not. Other things that are expected to come with the production model include a lanyard, holster, 2 spare orings, user manual and warranty card.

 

Construction & Design

I am only going to hit the high points here, and let the photos and video do the rest of the talking. The light is made from T6061 aluminum and nicely anodized black. At the tail cap you have 2 protruding buttons, a larger round mechanical switch that takes a good amount of force to push, and then a smaller rectangle mode button. The light does not tail stand as a result.

The pocket clip only mounts on the rear of the light. The body tube has concentric ring knurling like texture on the body, this provides a good amount of grip and looks nice I think. 

The recharging port cover is worth noting here, instead of using silicone rubber covers like many manufactures do to seal the USB-C ports, Fenix’s solution on the TK20R V2 is to have a retained aluminum cover that twists one full revolution to reveal the port. It has orings at the top and bottom and lots of anodized threads, so it’s silky smooth. Also under this port cover is the battery level indicator and recharging status LED. This just makes sense to me and has nothing to catch, or get in the way like the silicone covers sometimes do. 

 

Internally there is a stiff spring at the front of the light as well as in the tail, threads are smooth, square cut and a bit dry. Up front the head is glued in place but the bezel is removable. There is a crenulated bezel made of aluminum protecting the AR glass lens, deep smooth reflector and nicely centered LED. 

 

Retention

Since this is a pre production prototype I don’t have the lanyard or holster that the light will ship with in it’s final form. What I can talk about is the pocket clip. It only attaches at the rear of the light and is relatively narrow for the lights size. It’s stiff and does a good job of retaining the light in my front pocket, with about 1” of the light sticking out. 

 

 

Size & Weight

I measured the length at 152mm, maximum diameter at the head at 34.1mm, minimum diameter in the body at 26mm. I measured the weight here with the battery and clip at 203.2g or 7.17oz so a little on the heavy side. The light is IPX8 water rated and drop resistant to 1.5M.

LED & Beam

The Fenix TK20R V2 is using the Luminis SFT70 LED in cool white. The light I was sent is preproduction, and actually has a Luminus SST70 LED, however that has been changed in the production light to a Luminis SFT70 LED. My Opple meter shows it as 6035k and 67 CRI when on in turbo. In lower lumen modes it warms up slightly to around 5600k and has a notably green tinge to the beam to my eye. The beam has a pronounced hot spot in the center and minimal spill with some tint shift noted. Parasitic Drain was measured at a very low 1.8uA. There was very minimal PWM here, it’s basically constant current. 

 

Below are the official outputs from Fenix. I will note the mode spacing is pretty good to the eye here. 

Official Total Outputs for the SFT70 verison

  • Turbo – 3000 Lumens
  • High – 1000 Lumens
  • Medium – 350 Lumens
  • Low – 150 Lumens
  • Eco – 30 Lumens
  • Strobe – 3000 Lumens

 

Heat & Runtime

For all of my runtime tests I used the included 5000mAh battery and measured the % of relative output change, not total output (lumens). Starting with Turbo it lasts for about 2:20 before reaching equilibrium. During this time the light peaks at about 45C. It runs at this equilibrium very steadily out to the 3 hour mark.

I ran the same test and compared turbo to high and to medium modes for total runtime. You can see in the graph that High in green had a few more stepdowns but ended up at a very similar total runtime as turbo. Medium is a very flat output curve out to 7:40:00 mark where it begins stepping down several times, eventually shutting off at 9:18:00 when LVP on the battery kicks in at 2.89v.

 

UI 

UI here is very simple. The light has 2 buttons on the rear tailcap of the light. There is the larger power button which Fenix is calling the Tactical switch, it’s a forward clicky switch with momentary, and then the smaller button which they are calling the function switch. You can half press the tactical switch to turn the light on in the last mode used before locking fully on. Once on you use the function switch to cycle through the 5 modes in a linear manner. The light does have memory mode. At anytime you can press and hold the function switch to get to strobe mode. 


Recharging

I already talked about how the recharging port works on the TK20R V2, it’s under the aluminum nut that unscrews from the base of the head. It’s nice robust design. Also inside that port is your LED battery status indicator and charge indicator. When recharging it starts as red, and goes green when charged. The light is not capable of being used when charged. It does support C to C charging but has no PD charging support.  

The light is powered by a Fenix branded button top, protected 21700 battery (ARB-L21-5000) with a capacity of 5000mAh. I tested the capacity with my Vapcell S4 Plus charger and came away with 4863mAh. I tried the light with an unprotected button top battery and had no issues. 

Charging itself using the onboard USB-C port and included battery from LVP at 2.89v to full at 4.226v took 2:38:00. The light has a soft start charging when the battery is low before it jumps up to about 3A at the very beginning, and it falls as the battery charges. So a bit of a different curve then what I typically see.

 

Final Thoughts

I am excited to see Fenix on the channel. It’s a brand that I can find locally at two different sporting goods stores, and a LGS, which I think can be appealing to many people if you need something of quality and don’t have the time to wait for an online order. Of course they can be found online as well. 

As for the Fenix TK20R V2, It’s a pretty nice semi tactical light. The controls are easy to use, and strobe is easy to access if you want it. It has a useful beam that’s a good combination of flood and throw without making too many compromises. That said it is still cool white, and at lower tints the LED does have a pretty strong green tinge neither are my personal preference but at the higher end of the consumer market where this light is aimed won’t care like enthusiasts do. The USB Port cover design here is really nice, and I am surprised more lights don’t do something like this.

You can pickup this new release and other Fenix products at https://www.fenixlighting.com/ I will have a link in the description.

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Wurkkos TS21 Review (3200 Lumens, SST20 90+ CRI, 21700, USB-C)

Today I have a fun one that I think you will want to stick around and watch, with the Wurkkos TS21. This is a newish light that Wurkkos has come out with, it’s a compact design, has 3 emitters, runs off a standard 21700 battery, uses the Andruil 2 firmware, and has onboard USB-C charging. Wurkkos did send this to me to look at and review, and they have offered a 20% discount on Amazon which is in the description if you’re interested in picking one up. 

 

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Pickup the Wurkkos TS21 from Amazon and save with the coupons below, or from Wurkkos direct (no coupon)

Gray from Amazon https://amzn.to/3rxyEFD Use code X5KSZIQH to save 20%

Black from Amazon WARNING THIS IS RUNNING Anduril 1 Read the listing carefully https://amzn.to/3Jb3byH Use code 5SDBMRK8 to save 20%

More options from Wurkkos direct are at the end of the review.

 

Packaging & Accessories

Wurkkos has a pleasant but basic white box with orange ends that largely displays their name in the middle. On the side is a sticker telling you what model you have inside, body color as well as emitter choice. Inside the light was in bubble wrap and continued the 5000mAh 21700 battery, pocket clip, Lanyard, extra orings, a USB-A to C Charging cable, and literature. 

 

Construction & Design

The TS21 is made from aluminum and in anodized in a variety of colors. It’s currently available in Champagne (A metallic tan color), Metal Gray, Black, Red (What I have here), and a splatter camouflage. The anodizing here is god, but I have noticed my red isn’t super durable, this isn’t uncommon with aluminum anodizing because black is the most durable color available.

The tailcap is flat, and magnetic, not super strong but enough to hold the weight of the light. The lanyard hole is an eyelet and is a little sharp. The body tube is nicely scalloped and completely reversible. It has groves milled in to accept the pocket clip on either end. 

The head grows in side, and contains minimal heat syncing. The button press feels about what you would expect from an eswitch, but the button itself kind of rattles around some, not the best feeling in the world. There are LED indicators under the switch that are used to show the charge status, and act as a locator LED. They go Red, Blue, and Amber in color. At the front there is a stainless steel bezel with large but shallow crenulations, a glass lens and a triple TIR optic. Note this isn’t the standard size you have seen in other lights like the FW3A, etc, it’s slightly larger.

Thread are anodized, square cut and nicely lubricated from the factory. Internally, the front is just a button contact, out the rear there is a large gold coated spring, and the tail cap is magnetic. It’s just strong enough to hold the light on a painted metal surface with a slight amount of slippage. 

 

Retention

Retention options are the dual direction pocket clip, which allows you to put the light on a hat and run a makeshift headlamp, or use more traditionally as a pocket clip. It’s reasonably deep carry and will mount on the rear or front of the light. Your lanyard attachment points are either on the tailcap of the light, or on the pocket clip. As mentioned the mount on the tailcap is a little sharp and can be a hot spot for larger hands. Speaking of fit in the hands it’s pretty good, It’s a reasonably compact design and provides a modest amount of grip. 

 

Size & Weight

I measured the TS21 at 113.3mm (4.46”) in length, maximum diameter at the head at 28mm (1.1”) and minimum diameter on the body at 26.06mm (1.02”). Weight with the battery and clip installed came in at 158.7g or 5.10oz. The light is IPX water rated and here it is compared with a few similar style lights and the popular Wurkkos FC11. 

 

LED & Beam

The TS21 has 3 Luminus SST-20 Emitters, mine shipped with the 4000k tint but 5000k and 6000k are also available. These are behind a narrow TIR optic and it creates a very nice narrow semi floody beam. It’s a very practical and useful beam for a variety of tasks in my opinion. The bezel does interfere ever so slightly at short ranges with the very outside of the spill with the narrow optics here. With my not so scientific Opple meter I registered 3780k with 95 CRI. You have to take those CRI numbers with a grain of salt, but they are high enough to consider “high CRI” for me. It’s a pleasant warmer tint. 

Officially Wurkkos rates this as making 3500 lumens with 217M of throw. That may be a little optimistic with these specific warmer LED’s and I suspect they achieved this using the cooler tint LED’s that typically have a small performance advantage. This is a FET driving light and there is PWM here, it’s how ramping is achieved. It’s not noticeable to the eye for me but my equipment can pick it up. Personally I didn’t notice any whining during ramping. For me Turbo pulled 7.8A at the tailcap with the included battery, so you don’t need a particularly high drain battery for this light. See my night shots section of the video version of this review for a full demonstration of the beam and some comparison with other lights.

 

Heat & Runtime

So for my heat and runtime tests I used the included Wurkkos branded (standard non proprietary)  5000mAh flat top battery. I calibrated the light to a 60C and ran two rounds of tests. The graphs are using the FL1 standard so 100% of relative output is taken at the 30 second mark. First was my standard Turbo test, where I take the light to its absolute top output and just let it go. In doing this I saw the light almost immediately start stepping down at about 25 seconds it then ran at about 100% output for a minute and a half as heat peaked just under 50C. This makes me rethink my thermal calibration may need to be revisited. I won’t lie if I said I didn’t struggle with this a bit. Anyways output continues to decrease and it stabilizes between 30-45% of relative output for another nearly 4 hours. Total runtime down to 1% relative output was just shy of 5 hours.

I then ran a runtime which was the top of the default ramp curve. For this is was able to sustain 100% relative output for a little longer and the total output graph was pretty similar. Active thermal management shows itself in both modes well with the light increasing output as it cools even though the battery voltage is declining. This is something Andruil does well. LVP was measured at 2.994V. 

UI

The TS21 when it came out originally came with the Andruil 1.0 firmware by Toykeeper, but they are now shipping it with Andruil 2.0. This is my first light with Andruil 2.0 so it had a bit of a learning curve. I won’t pretend to be an Andruil expert, but I will say the diagram on how to navigate the light is absolutely critical to learning it and doing more advanced settings like setting the thermal calibration which I highly recommend doing. 

The light ships in Simple UI mode and this is a benefit of Anduril 2.0 as it’s your basic flashlight functions like turning on, increasing and decreasing brightness, battery check and lockout. It’s much easier to not end up in an advanced mode or get lost. Much better for more novice users or someone who wants something easier, that said it’s not calibrated so you can expect your runtimes to be less, especially at high outputs.

 

Your basic functions are ramping (Which can be switched to steps with 3 Clicks once on), double press to go to top of ram (Technically not turbo). In advanced mode you have the full range of features including all the blinking modes, changing the color of the auxiliary channel which on the TS21 is on the button, etc. You can see I somehow unintentionally turned my button LED to be on all the time in orange. You can of course go in and disable this. I think in time as I use Andruil 2 more I will like it but right now it’s a little confusing and not muscle memory yet. 

 

Recharging

Recharging is done via the onboard USB-C charging port built into the light. The silicone port cover here fits well but is rounded so it does help it roll on it’s side. A note on the battery here, it’s a flat top 21700 that’s non proprietary which is fantastic to see. The light supports charging via USB-C PD but doesn’t benefit from a speed increase as a result. 

Recharging from LVP at 2.994v to full at 4.17v took 2:53:00 at a maximum of 1.85A at the very beginning of charging, with the bulk of charging a bit lower then that. This is well under 1C for this battery and safe for long term use. 

 

Final Thoughts

Wurkkos has made their name in offering quality lights that appeal to enthusiasts at affordable prices and the TS21 is no different. It’s nice and compact, I don’t generally EDC a 21700 light because of it’s size but this is small and compact enough that I would if I was anticipating needing the output or runtime here. Because of that size though and this having 3 emitters it does build heat quickly and ramps down. This may be a slight disappointment if your not used to that, my advice would be to calibrate the light, raise that ceiling but also don’t run the light on the maximum output if you don’t need it. 

Multiple body color options from launch, LED Tint choices including warm, neutral tints, and high CRI are great to see at this price range. The number of manufactures that offer this keep declining and I think it’s an important feature. I hope consumers appreciate this complexity this adds to production and inventory with lots of additional SKU’s. 

 

Andruil is an enthusiasts UI for sure, it’s not super simple, but Andruil 2 with it’s separation of simple UI from Advanced UI improves this so it’s still a easy to use flashlight if you want it to be without all the complications, but those power features are there too if you want. Just make sure you have a diagram handy if you want to venture into the Advanced UI. 

So I can recommend this one both to new users, and enthusiasts. It’s a compact light with good performance, emitter tint options, high CRI, and body colors with onboard charging. This updated version I tested here today is a good way to try out Andruil 2 if you don’t have a light with it. With the coupons Wurkkos has provided I can get the light shipped to me for under $40 next day with a battery, which I think is a great deal. 

 

How to Purchase the TS21

Pickup the Wurkkos TS21 from Amazon and save with the coupons below, or from Wurkkos direct (no coupon)

 

Gray from Amazon https://amzn.to/3rxyEFD Use code X5KSZIQH to save 20%

Black from Amazon WARNING THIS IS RUNNING Anduril 1 Read the listing carefully https://amzn.to/3Jb3byH Use code 5SDBMRK8 to save 20%

 

All colors from Wurkkos https://wurkkos.com/products/wurkkos-ts21-new-color-metal-gray-and-champagne-with-anduril-20-21700-led-flashlight-3sst20-3500lm?VariantsId=10082

 

Blue Splatter from Wurkkos https://wurkkos.com/products/%E3%80%90pre-sale%E3%80%91wurkkos-new-ts21-with-anduril-20-nichia-219c-5000k-usb-c-rechargeable-21700-led-flashlight-with-power-bank-function-magnet-tail?VariantsId=10154

 

20350 Tube for the TS21 https://wurkkos.com/products/20350-short-tube-tube-work-for-wurkkos-hd20-ts21

 

Diffuser for the TS21 https://wurkkos.com/products/wurkkos-white-diffuser-for-ts21-soft-composite-materials-bright-indoor-reading-hiking-tent-lighting-with-malleability?VariantsId=10156

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Acebeam E70 Brass Review (95+ CRI, GT-FC40 LED, 21700)

Today I am taking a look at the Acebeam E70 in Brass. This is one of the many variants of the Acebeam E70 that have been made, in many different materials, a few colors, and with LED choices. The one I have here has a new special high CRI large format LED which I will talk about here later on in the review. Acebeam sent this one to me as a gift, but I decided I would do a review for you guys too as this one is pretty cool I think.

 

Watch this review on YouTube: 

https://youtu.be/fy3vVufv5WQ

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Pickup the Acebeam E70 at https://bit.ly/Acebeam 

 

Packaging and Accessories

A few notes on the versions of this light, you can go for a black anodized aluminum version, as well as Copper, Stainless Steel, a bead blasted or rainbow titanium and a polished brass which I have here. 

The packaging is a nice cardboard white box, with clear plastic window showing the light itself. In the case of the brass light it came sealed in a vacuum sealed bag, which I opened before I took pictures (a cardinal sin of flashlight reviewing). Acebeam sells this light with and without a battery, but everything else is included. A lanyard, manual, warranty card, and warning card, a Lanyard, extra orings, a felt drawstring bag, and a USB cable allowing you to use to charge the optional battery and use it as a powerbank.

 

Construction

Instead of covering everything on the design here I want to hit the highlights while you look at all the photos I have taken of the light. So somethings to note, the tail is flat so it tail stands well, on my version the electronic button in the rear is brass but this is normally stainless steel on the aluminum version.

The light uses a dual tube design, and they have chosen to mill out areas of the body tube to see the inner anodized aluminum blue tube. This creates a pretty unique look for a production light. It’s also a dirt trap, so probably not the light I would choose to go camping with but fun none the less. The body tube also has a place for 6 small tritium tubes milled, which isn’t seen commonly on production lights.

Threads are square cut and work well, although I had minor issues starting them on this light repeatedly. The head itself has holes drilled for style mainly and I like this look. The bezel is does unscrew and is quite sharp around the outer edges. The lens is mineral glass and the reflector has an orange peel. The internal connection points such as the springs are gold plated. 

 

Size & Weight

The E70 is a medium sized 21700 light, with length coming in at a measured 128mm in length, 30.2mm in diameter at the head. Weight with the battery was quite heavy on this brass model at 284.8g or 10.04oz. 

 

Retention

The light features a standard clip design with 2 screws, so your popular aftermarket clips will fit here. Kind of unique are the 3 predrilled locations for the clip. The stock clip is good but a little thin in my opinion for this lights weight. The front bezel is also pretty sharp, so I would personally think twice about EDCing this one inside a pants pocket, but it works great in a bag instead. 

LED & Beam

There are 3 LED options available in most but not all of the E70 varients. The base models use a Cree XHP 70.2 LED in either 5000k or 6500k at 70 CRI. Optionally on many but not all of the models there is a new Getian GT-FC40 LED at 4500k producing 95 CRI which is what I have. This required a driver change as well as this LED runs off of 12V instead of the 6V for the Cree. You take a decrease in performance though with the High CRI option at 2800 lumens instead of the 4000 the XHP 70.2 produces. 

The beam is a hot round center with some tint shift a rosy corona out into the spill. At distances this is mostly a flood light with the orange peel reflector and the massive doamless LED. It’s more pleasant to use in my opinion then a mule style flood since it does have a bit of optic but it’s not a thrower. Quite nice for normal tasks. 

 

Heat and Runtimes

I did my runtime testing with the optional Acebeam branded 5000mAh battery. Output on the GT-FC40 LED in my light here is somewhere between 2500-3000 lumens in turbo, and step down came at 1 minute and seems timed. It then ran at 35% relative output for 90 minutes, stepping down a few more times for total output at a little over 2 hours. While this is producing a lot of light, it’s certainly not the most efficient LED or driver combination I have seen. It also produces a significant amount of heat, that builds over time with this light in a pretty linear fashion. You are going to want gloves or turn it down for sustained use, max heat was at 1:30:00 at a crazy 84.9C (185 F). 

 

UI

The UI here took me a few times to get used to, but the more I use it, it’s become a good UI that builds in an element of safety. To turn the light on you can double press the tail switch to turn the light on in low, the light does have memory so if it’s recent it will turn on in the last mode used excluding turbo. Once on, long press and hold to advance into the 4 available modes. Double press to turbo, triple to strobe. The light also has moon light mode which you can access from off by long pressing, as well as lockout. Lastly to turn off it’s a simple quick press to turn off. This seems to be a change over previous versions of the E70.

 

Recharging

Charging is not built into this light. Acebeam sells an optional 21700 battery for an additional cost that has a USB-C plug on it. Recharging this cell took  2:07:00 to charge. You can use standard cells inside the E70, but you need to use a longer cell, like something that’s protected or a tall button top. 

 

Conclusion

My conclusion on the Acebeam E70 is it’s a nice higher end model of production flashlight with a lot of nice features that have been well thought out. I love that Acebeam continues to offer LED tint choices, and on this model different versions of LED’s. For an application like this I will take the GT-FC40 LED every day over a XHP 70.2, especially when I can get a warmer tint and high CRI. 

 

The brass and copper versions of this light are quite heavy with a battery, so if you were planning to use this as an EDC I would get one of the lighter versions like Titanium or even the Aluminum which also happens to be the most economical. I like that they included a standard clip configuration here so if you want you can further customize the light. I wish they offered a smooth bezel in the box too, this would make EDC in a front pocket a more pleasant experience. That said this is a bigger light and not one you will probably find me EDCing in my pants pocket often as a result. I will use it often for going on walks, etc. 

I can recommend this one without reservations, especially with the GT-FC40 emitter, it’s got a wonderful tint in my opinion and produces enough lumens for most tasks. That said it does get quite hot, but this isn’t because of the LED choice itself. 

 

Pickup the Acebeam E70 at https://bit.ly/Acebeam

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Jetbeam RRT-M1X Review (LEP, Laser Flashlight, 1.32 Million Candella, 21700)

If you like thrower flashlights that reach a super far distance, this review is for you. Today I am looking at the Jetbeam RRT-M1X Raptor a LEP light, where the main LED has been replaced with a Laser Excited Phosphorus module producing a crazy amount of throw and a very tight compact beam. It also has Jetbeams rotary controls up front. Thanks to Jetbeam for sending this to me to look at and review.

 

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Packaging & Accessories

The light comes in a generic plastic case with a handle and sliding latches. It has as sticker thats placed on top. It’s not the level of packaging I expected for this price range of light. That said it does the job, and I would rather more be put into the light and less on the packaging. Inside the there is foam that works but isn’t cut specifically for this light. YOU get the light itself, a Jetbeam  JR51 5000mAh 21700 battery with onboard MicroUSB charging, lanyard, MicroUSB cable, 1 extra switch cover and 3 spare orings. 

 

Construction

The RRT-M1X Raptor is made from aluminum JetBeam’s popular gunmetal gray anodizing, I really enjoy this finish and it’s pretty durable as I found out during testing as my testing on accident. My light took a tumble from my jacket pocket about 1M onto concrete. It is a little scuffed up but not too bad. The design here is similar to the M1X WPRX it replaces. Starting at the tail you have a forward click mechanical switch and 2 tails where you can attach a lanyard. It will tail stand but it’s not very stable. There is minimal knurling on the tail and body tube that add some grip. Threads are square cut, nicely greased and anodized.

 

You do have a rubber tactical ring which is nice to allow you to cigar grip the light if you wish. The body tube has flats milled in for the labels and a little added grip. The body tube is also removable from the head, but not reversible. 

The head features the rotating ring controls, with a total of 5 detents that are just over 180 degrees in total movement. They feel ok, not super crisp but not mushy either. I like rotary control on a light like this, they are simple and they work great with gloves on which is important this time of year. There is some thinner heatsinks too.

The head has a cool design. It has some scallops out of it to save weight and reduce thermal mass and its a fun design. Then some non useful straight knurling for design. The bezel does unscrew and is lightly crenulated. I did minimal disassembly and the lens is glass, quite thick and antireflective. There an optic inside and it looks to be a magnifying lens of sorts.

 

Size and Weight

Overall length was 183mm, minimum diameter on the body was 26.6mm, maximum diameter was 61m. I measured the weight here at 334.9g. So it’s a little on the heavy side. Here are a few pictures of what it’s like compared with other flashlights. The light is IPX8 water rated. 

 

Emitter & Beam

So instead of an LED, the RRT-M1X uses a LEP or Laser Excited Phosphor. Jetbeam calls this the WP-T2 LED but it’s not an LED. LEP’s work by using a blue laser emitter on a layer of phosphor to create a “whitish” beam that is then sent through a convex lens. This is the second generation LEP light from Jetbeam and it’s a more compact system thats on a single board and much more compact then the previous systems. However it does still have a front heavy design.

The result is a beam that’s extremely concentrated. At 8ft it’s less than a 3 inch circle, it also has basically no spill like your traditional flashlight does. This concentrated beam does spread out a little at distance but it’s not much and my night shots show that. I did a comparison with the AceBeam L17 the furthest throwing 18650 light I have, on it’s own it’s quite focused but it makes the RRT-M1X look like a laser pointer. The tint here definitely has a greenish tint to it. There was no visible PWM to the eye or camera.

Jetbeam on the Left, Acebeam L17 on the Right

 

Acebeam L17 Beam Shot

 

Jetbeam RRT-M1X

 

I will throw up a stats photo here of the official stats. It’s important to note that LEP lights are not super bright in terms of lumens, only 480 lumens, but they are super intense. Jetbeam claims that it’s 1,322,500 candela. That’s higher then my meter goes up to so I was unable to verify but I can tell you it’s the most intense flashlight I own and throws the furthers. 

 

Heat & Runtime

Runtime here is good to look at. First off I expected that this light would produce more heat because of how intense it was but it doesn’t Maximum heat I saw was about 32C during testing, and that’s a regulated temp. It does seem to have a timed stepdown, to 50% relative output after 3 minutes. Compared with other LED based throwers I have this is good, given the other LED based throwers generally produce a lot more heat. 

 

Total runtime starting on high with the included fully charged 5000mAh battery was 4:42:00 with several stepdowns along the way. When the light shut off I measured LVP at 2.974v. You don’t need a high output battery for this light either with the maximum amperage requirement I measured under 3A. So since this light is using a non proprietary button top protected battery (Long in length) you can choose based off of capacity rather then performance. 

 

UI

The UI here is simple with the rotary switch at the front. It’s 5 position switch with detents at every point, total rotation is just over 180 degrees. Starting from the left most detent and working clockwise you have low, medium, high, strobe, SOS. The switch at the rear is a your on and off control without a momentary mode as it’s a forward clicky switch. 

 

Recharging

Recharging here is accomplished with the included Jetbeam 5000mAh 21700 battery. The battery itself has microUSB built into it, with a small LED at the positive side. Red when charging, green when charged. I would have loved to see USB-C instead here, especially on a premium light. It took a lengthy 7:13:29 to fully charge this battery which is quite slow, the fastest charge rate I saw was .75A, and it only decreased from there for the remaining 6 hours. Fully charged the battery measured 4.206V. 

 

My recommendation would be to use your own charger like the Vapcell S4 Plus or Xtar VC4SL and charge at a more reasonable rate. This battery can very safely handle a 2A charge rate and that will cut the charge time to more than half. I tested the capacity of this battery with my VapCell S4 Plus charger at 4785mAh. 

 

Pro’s

  • Seems durable after a 1M drop onto concrete (Accident)
  • Crazy amount of throw, super focused beam
  • Love the Rotary interface, it’s easy, simple and works.

 

Con’s

  • LEP lights in general are more expensive then your typical flashlight. This is no different but the performance is unparalleled when compared with LED lights. 
  • Supplied battery charges extremely slow, use an external charger instead of the onboard MicroUSB on the cell.
  • Non proprietary battery, low amperage requirement.

 

Conclusion

I am so glad I was able to try out a LEP light. I have been wanting to try one since I first learned about the technology. They are super fun to play with but from a practical perspective, they are pretty specialized. This isn’t the brightest flashlight I have (Lumens) but it is the most intense (candella). The result is a light with a super compact, tight beam that really goes the distance without having the usual size or weight of most of your ultra thrower LED based lights.

 

I have a few doubts on if it is capable of throwing what it says (2300 meters) in the real world of if this is more of a “lab” number. What I can tell you is that it outperforms any of the LED flashlights that I have in putting light on target at a distance as long as you can deal with a small hot spot. Think of it like a fat tip laser pointer almost instead of a fine point. It basically has no spill at all, either at a distance or up close. 

 

So for very specialized tasks, maybe hunting (With a colored filter), search and rescue at a distance, or signaling a LEP makes a lot of sense. I don’t think this is the best option for hiking or camping, or power outages though. So I can recommend the Jetbeam RRT-M1X Raptor for you to tip your tow into the world of LEP lights. 

So do you guys have a LEP light yet, if so let me know in the comments what you use yours for as I would love to get this thing out in more scenarios.

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Thrunite TT20 Review (2526 Lumens, SST70 LED, USB-C, 21700, Tactical?)

Today I have Thrunite’s newest model, the TT20. It produces 2526 lumens from a Luminus SST70 LED, a 21700 battery. It has onboard USB-C charging and has a rear tactical switch. It’s available in 2 color bodies too. Thanks to Thrunite for sending this to me to look at and review. 

 

Get the Thrunite TT20 for $55.96 (20% off) until October 31st by clicking coupon checkbox on the product page at Amazon.

Red TT20 https://amzn.to/2T2DHvx

Black TT20 https://amzn.to/356sIa6

 

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Packaging & Accessories

The TT20 is using Thrunites standard heavy but minimal cardboard box. It’s lacking information like normal but that’s fine since it’s designed for online direct to consumer sales. Inside you get the flashlight itself, along with the proprietary 5000mAh 21700 battery, a basic holster, and a USB-A to C cable. The extras bag includes 2 Orings, a spare rubber tail boot, extra orings, 2 spare USB Charging port covers, and a branded lanyard. 

Construction

The Thrunite TT20 is available in 2 colors currently, a standard black and a Red “Outsider” edition that I have here. It’s a really nice rich vibrant red, I always like seeing lights in different colors. This version replaces the TT20 model number engraving with the Outsider’s logo. (Youtuber).

Thrunite added a large mechanical tail switch on this light making it “tactical” It’s cover is grippy and you can connect the lanyard at either side of the tail switch. It has some straight knurling for trip to help remove the tail cap. Inside the center contact is slightly spring loaded.

Threads are anodized and square cut. The battery compartment has very tight tolerances with the battery, when inserting the battery it’s cushioned by a layer of air escaping, normally you don’t see these types of tolerances in production lights. It doesn’t suffer the problem of the USB port cover popping off either which you sometimes see when inserting batteries in lights. The surface of the light has a fairly tame grip level for a tactical light, it’s a similar milled pattern to what the TC15 and T2 have. The 2 way clip is reversible on either end of the light, I have switched mine from where it came preinstalled. 

The head of the light is pretty plain, and glued to the body of the light at the front. You have an anti roll ring at the front. The e-switchis similar in shape and design to other Thrunites but this time black anodized and seems to stick out slightly more.It’s still got the LED indicator underneath for battery power levels. The battery charging port is opposite, and it has a fairly large silicon cover. The little pull tab can get in the way causing the flap to open unintentionally. The front of the light has a scalloped bezel that’s non tactical but allows light to escape when standing on the head. The lens is anti reflective coated, and underneath is a deep smooth reflector and the LED is nicely centered. The light is IPX8 water rated and had no issues with time in a bucket of water.

 

Size & Weight

I measured the length at 136mm, max diameter at 29mm, minimum diameter at 26.5mm. Weight with the battery and clip installed is 181.1g. For me I find it fits in the hand pretty well and it’s a decent size for a 21700. Not the smallest light in it’s class but not the largest either. 

 

Comparison

The Olight M2R Pro is the most obvious light I have as a competitor. It also is a 21700 battery, tactical tail switch with front button, and a similar overall size. Weight wise it’s within 1 gram. I think the Olight is a bit more tactical, with the more aggressive bezel, more aggressive body section grip, it’s more focused beam, and the 2 stage tail switch. Clip wise I have to give the advantage to Olight but the TT20 is good too. See the pictures below for how it compares to the Thrunite T2 and TC15.

 

Retention

The TT20 comes with a lanyard that you can attach onto the tail cap if you wish. This is approaching the size of light where I start to use lanyards, but for now I will leave it off. It also comes with a holster, it does the job but is fairly basic, with just a D-ring and belt loop. This is one area where the Olight M2R Pro’s holster is clearly better.

 

The pocket clip on the TT20 is dual direction and pretty good. It allows for a fairly deep carry in the pocket with only about 10mm of the light sticking out of the pocket. The clip is mountable on the front of the body tube or the rear. I suspect most people will rear mount it like I have it here. It’s a non captured clip so it does rotate around the body of the light. The TT20 will fit on a hat if you want it to but with the 21700 battery it’s heavier then I normally want to do with a strap on clip.

LED & Beamshots

The TT20 is using the Luminus SST70 LED in cool white. This is my first light with this LED as it’s fairly new and new to the flashlight market as well. It’s an XM Size LED, Quad die LED so it would be a replacement for a Cree XHP50, but it’s physically smaller, more like and XHP35. With it installed here in the TT20 there is a small donut in the beam at distances less then 3”. At low powers, I get a bit of green/yellow in the beam, but these go away at moderate power levels and the beam is a cool but not cold tint. There is a moderate hot center and the spill is moderate. There is a small ring at the outer edges of the spill.

This gets a bit into the UI of the light but during ramping it’s not a smooth ramp. It seems as if there are a ton of small fixed steps as it’s increasing or decreasing in brightness instead of a nice and smooth ramp like you have on most lights with ramping. Once you stop it’s even and I don’t notice any PWM to my eyes or camera. My scope says there is a tiny bit, so no concerns. 

Working voltage is 2.7V-4.2V which means you are only using the “proprietary” 21700 that the light comes with. FIrefly is measured at 0.5 lumens, infinity low starts at 31 lumens up to 1468. Strobe is 1294 lumens and Turbo is 2526.

 

Heat & Runtime

I did my runtime tests with the included battery at room temps of around 73F, non cooled. Turbo on the light lasts for 1:15 before it starts stepping down and it’s stable again at the 3 minute mark at around 23% relative output. I saw peak temps at 1:30 of 52C. The light was able to hold this 23% relative output for a long time, 3:30:00, total runtime was 3:36:00. LVP was measured at 2.849V. The standout for me is if you just skip turbo and run the light in infinite high, it’s around 1300 lumens and the light is able to hold this for a little over an hour (75 min).

When I compare the runtimes to the Olight M2R Pro, the Olight is able to withstand it’s turbo output slightly longer at about 5 minutes (while stepping down), and it’s bulk of the runtime was closer to 38% but for a shorter 2:33:00 and a total runtime of 3:15:00. 

 

UI

The UI on the TT20 is different for a tactical light. It’s ramping with the use of the front button. It starts on low and if you long press from off the light comes on in firefly mode. Once on in normal mode you can press and hold and the light will begin it’s ramp up, as mentioned the ramp isn’t very smooth or fast. A full ramp from low to high takes 5.44 seconds which is a long time in my opinion. The light flashes at both ends 3 times and you can ramp in a loop low to high then ramping back down to low. It’s harder to start the light out in low especially if coming from moonlight mode. Double click on the front switch to jump to Turbo or use the tail switch to go to turbo at any time. Triple click the front button to get into strobe. There is memory as well for modes other than Turbo. When using turbo from the tail switch you can’t adjust the mode.

 

The light does have electronic lockout mode, if you are a subscriber here you know I rarely if ever use lockout through the UI. Thankfully mechanical lockout is an option by just breaking contact with the tail. This will prevent the tail from working but the E-Switch will still work thanks to that proprietary battery. The light basically has 2 physical paths for current to flow. I find myself sometimes turning on electronic lockout accidentally here if I press to long to get to firefly mode.

 

Charging

The TT20 has a onboard USB-C port for charging. It’s only compatible with USB-A to C, and not full C-C or USB-C PD unfortunately. Total charge time was 3:03 which is pretty good. Max charge speed I saw was 2.1A. The curve here is different from I typically see but it did decline as the battery charged. The battery measured as full at 4.199V.

The battery will charge in some external chargers too if you have a large or pointy contact to make it over the plastic spacer on the battery. Alternatively if you have a charger that accepts long cells like the VapCell S4 Plus I recently reviewed, then a 1mm rare earth magnet will work as a spacer if needed. With the S4 I don’t need a spacer it turns out.

As mentioned before the 5000mAh 21700 battery here is proprietary since it has both the positive and negative contact on the traditional positive end of the light, and it has small plastic spacer here. The battery is interchangeable with the Thrunite T2 and Olight 21700’s like what’s on the M2R Pro. The Olight battery will run in the Thrunite TT20, but not the other way around. This is done to reduce the lights diameter, so it can run without an inner tube, so the E switch and tail switch can both operate. 

 

Pro’s

  • Body Color options, but I wish these were not cobranded. 
  • Better value and longer overall runtime then the main competition.
  • It can sustain a high percentage of infinite high for quite a while.
  • New SST70 LED that I think we will be seeing a lot more from manufactures, hopefully in Neutral white soon. 

 

Con’s

  • The red anodizing is a great color but doesn’t seem to be as durable as black.
  • Ramping isn’t steady and suffers noticeable PWM during the ramp. It’s also slow.
  • The UI here isn’t my favorite, it’s a clumsy mix of what I will call Everyday tactical.

 

Conclusion

My conclusion I come away with this light is, is it really tactical? The inclusion of the ramping suggests to me it’s more for general everyday use, with the tail cap being the more tactical feature since it allows you to go to full turbo instantly, but when using the tail option you can’t adjust the mode and it’s only turbo. I like how with the Olight M2R Pro, the tail switch is 2 mode, so it’s easy to get to but you have the option of if you want full power or not. 

To me the TT20  more everyday tactical than full on tactical. The beam to me is more everyday than tactical too with it being less focused and more flood then the M2R Pro. That said the TT20 is a nice value compared to many othe the other 21700 lights in the price category. It’s nicely made and carries better than I expected in the pocket. The runtime on infinite high is great too, It’s easily able to sustain over 1000 lumens for over an hour. In my opinion I can recommend the TT20 for general use if you’re OK with the UI and slow ramps but I probably wouldn’t recommend it for a true tactical operator type situation.

Get the Thrunite TT20 for $55.96 (20% off) until October 31st by clicking coupon checkbox on the product page at Amazon.

Red TT20 https://amzn.to/2T2DHvx

Black TT20 https://amzn.to/356sIa6

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Reylight Quad Dawn Maratac (21700, 4000 Lumens, Cree XPL-Hi, 5000k)

Today I have the new Reylight Quad Emitter Dawn flashlight by Maratac. It’s a CountyComm exclusive light producing 3200 lumens out of 4 Cree XPL-HI LED’s in 5000k and can be powered from a 21700 or 18650 battery. It’s got this really nice dimpled style texture on the body all done in this grey type 3 anodized body. Let’s take a deep dive on this light and show what it’s capable of. 

 

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CountyComm is giving my viewers 10% off their order of this light by using the code “LiquidRetro” at checkout. Check it out here if you are interested https://bit.ly/2SqBcTo

 

Packaging and Accessories

The Reylight Maratac Quad Dawn packaging is very simple. It ships in an orange hard plastic case with foam inside, some extra orings, and a plastic spacer for running an 18650 if you want to. The case is nice to store the light in but great to put other stuff in too. CountyComm is shipping these with a Samsung 40T 21700 battery but no charger. No manual is included but it’s a pretty simple 4 mode interface so you don’t need one. 

 

Construction

The light is made from 6061 aluminum and type 3 hard anodized in a gray matt finish. Starting at the tail switch, it’s a recessed textured rubber boot with a mechanical switch underneath. It has a satisfying feel and sound too it. The clip attaches at the edge of the light, using 2 purple anodized titanium screws and a titanium clip. I will talk more about the clip in the retention section. The only branding is opposite the clip, and it has the Maratac logo and the serial of the light. This minimal branding is great! 

 

The body and tail are a one piece design. I really like the almost golf ball like dimpling on the body of the light. CC says this increases the gripping surface by upto 300% over standard knurling, I don’t know how they come up with this calculation but I just like the feel in my hand and different look to most other lights on the market, and it won’t tear up your pocket insides. The head grows in diameter and has 4 tear drop shapes milled into it the length of the head. It’s a design feature that is common on many other ReyLight designs, like the LAN, and Gemini. 

 

At the front the bezel is raw aluminum to provide some contrast and when standing on the head it allows light to leak out letting you know if it’s on or not. The lens is sapphire, which is great for scratch resistance. Below that is the quad carillo style optic and LED’s. There is a green glow gasket underneath, it’s reasonably bright but definitely not turbo glow. 

 

 

 

Size and Weight

I measured the light at an overall length of 121.78mm, a minimum diameter of 25.5mm on the body and a maximum diameter on the head at 28.2mm. Weight with my 21700 battery is 140.1g. With a 30Q and spacer the weight was 127.6g.

The light is narrow for a 21700 and quad emitter light. Here are a few comparisons to similar quads or 21700 lights. 

 

Retention

For retention this light has the same pattern Reylight has used on the Dawn and Gemini flashlights. It’s a wide paddle clip that has the popular Steel Flame spacing for the screw holes, so you can upgrade to a skull clip if you like. The stock clip is 1.2mm Thick and quite stiff. It’s a bit of a challenge to get it to clip to my pants pockets. That said it’s very secure and isn’t going to go anywhere once clipped. I like how this light feels in my hand, it’s the perfect size for me and that dimpled texture gives a nice grip.

LED & Beam Shots

The Reylight Quad Dawn by Maratac is using Cree XPL-Hi LED’s in 5000k tint so it fits that classic neutral white tint, but to me it seems on the cool side of 5000k. My preferences in recent years has opted to the warmer emitters but this is nice too. The optic is all flood, and it’s pretty even with no real distortions, not something you see on all quads. The beam has a broad center with a slight corona, and the overall shape is slightly square at short ranges. 

Quad Dawn Beam Shot 

Reylight Krystal Beam Shot 

 

The middle 2 modes exhibit some PWM, It’s not bad and my eye or camera can’t see it but my scope can. See the example below. 

 

 

Heat and Runtime

The Reylight Quad Dawn by Maratac has quoted outputs of 2 lumens, 250 lumens, 1400 lumens and 3200 lumens. I did my runtime test with an Xtar High Drain (42A) 4200mAh 21700 battery because that’s what I had two of. I did a complete runtime in Turbo, which isn’t recommended because of the extreme heat, but it’s how I test all my lights in the brightest possible mode and see where they go from there. On this light it starts stepping down pretty soon after and a 0:2:25 it’s down to 50% relative output. From here it holds itself for an hour  before stepping down again and ending at around the 1:15:00 mark. During this time the light gets super hot, a whopping 78.9C (174F). This is dangerously hot, for both the battery and your skin. Again this isn’t recommended, CountyComm recommends only using “turbo” for 90 seconds and when you do that the light steps down much less and remains a warm but reasonable temp of less then 60C. I tested High only mode and fell a little short of the 2 hour quoted runtime but my battery is also 800mAh short of what the light ships with so I expect it to hit that without issue. 

 

UI

The UI here is super simple, it’s a 4 mode flashlight, with moonlight, low, high and turbo. Mode spacing varies quite a bit, between 2, 250, 1400, and 3200 lumens. The mechanical button can accept half presses while on to advance the modes and then a full press to lock in on. There are no flashing modes on this light, which I am cool with. The light doesn’t have memory mode.

 

Pro’s

  • I love the golf ball style dimpled texture on the body, it’s different and functional. Nice grey anodizing here too.
  • Surprisingly light and small for a 21700 quad light.
  • No stepdowns due to thermals mean it stays bright for as long as possible but gets extremely hot.
  • Simple 4 mode interface, no strobe.

 

Con’s

  • In continuous output in maximum output this gets super hot, Up to 78.4C in uncooled runtime tests. This is too hot to hold safely, so run the light only as bright as you need or can stand.
  • The pocket clip is super stiff, it takes effort to clip onto your pocket.
  • Some rattle with the 18650 adapter but that is to be expected.

 

Conclusion

The full name of the light (Reylight Quad Emitter Dawn Custom Maratac LED Flashlight + Glow Afterburner) is lunacy, but the quality of the light makes up for it. For a 21700 sized light it was smaller than I thought it would be. The slimness of the tube really helps.

 

It’s not something I will carry often in my front pockets for EDC for office tasks but you could carry it pretty easily in a larger pocket or back pocket if you wanted. It’s not too big in a front pocket either if you wanted. For me it fits great in the hand and that is only made better with the dimples for grip. It’s a great walking the dog type of light, high at 1400 lumens and the floody beam is more then you need, and with 2+ hours of runtime it is plenty for most people. One more mode between low at 250 lumens and high at 1400 lumens would make it a little more useful I think.

That said on Turbo for continuous use this light is dangerously hot, 78.9C (174F) is burn you hot, that said you I only saw this at the 31 minute mark and I don’t think you will see it in the real world because a sane person would shut the light off or turn it way down as you wouldn’t be able to hold it. I don’t recommend running your light in turbo for so long because it’s not good for the battery either. 

Overall this is a nice light at a fair price. I enjoy it and am glad I have one. It’s easy to recommend and is a nice size too. Remember these are limited to only 500 lights and are only being sold through CountyComm, so check the description below for a link to their website to pick one up if your interested. 

CountyComm is giving my viewers 10% off their order of this light by using the code “LiquidRetro” at checkout. Check it out here if you are interested https://bit.ly/2SqBcTo

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Thrunite T2 vs Seeker 2 Pro Comparison

See my full reviews of these two lights below.

Thrunite T2 https://youtu.be/5Apvie0OZRg

Olight Seeker 2 Pro https://youtu.be/O3x90cZEMhw

 

Pick up these two lights

Thrunite T2 Neutral White https://amzn.to/3jVEcUm

Cool White https://amzn.to/30gZeVE

Olight Seeker 2 Pro https://amzn.to/2JqRgRR