The Jetbeam TH20 Guardian is an updated version of the previous popular TH20 Tactical flashlight. It’s rated for 3980 lumens from a Cree XHP 70.2 LED and a 21700 battery. It features onboard USB-C charging and has a powerbank function. Thanks to Jetbeam for sending it to me to review.
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Packaging and Accessories
Packaging is standard Jetbeam hanging design with a nice photo of the light on the front and stats on the back. Inside accessories include the light, a 5100mAh 21700 battery, a belt holster, wrist lanyard, the USB-C OTG cable for charging and using as a powerbank, and then some nice spare red orings. Paperwork includes the manual, warranty card and COA.
Construction
The TH20 is a solid well built light all around. Starting at the tail cap it has 2 large square ears that protect the button and paddles well, and allow for a place for the lanyard to fit. The light will tail stand but it’s not very stable when doing so. The knurled areas on the tail and body are on the smoother side but the milled areas on the light and heatsync give you an area to lock into.
Threads on the inside are anodized, square cut, beefy and really smooth. Other manufactures take note, this is how it’s done. The tail cap has dual stiff springs, but the head only has a brass post, a little surprising for a tactical light. No issues with vibration though.
The head section has a section that looks like heatsyncs, I think it’s more style though, The front bezel seems to be glued in place, I can’t get to move, It’s short but has large crenulations allowing light to spill out. The antireflective coated glass underneath is thick and well protected. Under that is the deep orange peel reflector and the large Cree XHP 70.2 LED.
Size & Weight
I measured the overall length at 161mm. Maximum diameter on the head was 40.21mm and minimum diameter on the body was 29.5mm. The weight I measured with the battery, was 267.3g. This is a large light, no ways around that. See the photo below for some photos of similar 21700 sized lights.
Retention
This isn’t an EDC light to put in your front pants pockets, instead you have a holster option that the light comes with. It comes with a nylon holster, with a button belt loop and no Dring. The material here is nice but the stitching is all single stitch and it it’s not a premium feel.
LED & Beamshots
This light is using a Cree XHP70.2 LED in cool white. No tint data is given but it’s definitely cool white and has the characteristics of a XHP70.2 LED. So that means it has some beam distortion in the center, of a corona donut and then tint shift across the beam. It’s more a flood but the beam isn’t even, so I would call it on the floodier side of a typical flashlight beam. Definitely not a thrower.
The light has 4 solid on modes and then strobe.
- Turbo 3980 Lumens
- High 1500 Lumens
- Medium 350 Lumens
- Low 25 Lumens
No ratings are given for strobe but I would guess it’s equivalent to high or turbo.
Runtime & Heat
I am skeptical of the claimed 3980 lumens, at least that it can sustain it for any time. In my runtime graph here I see about 20 second before the light has stepped down. At this point it can sustain this mode for about 10 minutes before stepping down again due to thermal constraints with the maximum temp it sustained was 40.5C. Total runtime ended up at 2:26:00 but instead of shutting off the light ran for several more hours at basically moonlight mode. I stopped the test at 5:35:00. LVP kicked in at 2.946V.
UI
UI here is quite simple. You have a large mechanical button on the tail end of the light covered in a large silicone switch, it’s quite stiff, you won’t accidently press it, but it is loud. Next to it on both sides are metal paddles. When the light is off, the paddles give instant access to the strobe/sos mode of the light in a momentary manor. When you press the main button on the light the paddles give you mode options give you mode selections, with memory. The easiest way to lock the light out is mechanically by just turning the tail cap slightly.
Recharging
The TH20 offers charging via USB-C, but doesn’t support C to C charging. It features USB-A to USB-C which seems to be all most flashlights offer. Recharging the included the 21700 5100mAh battery from LVP to full took a total of 5 hours even, with peak charging rate 1.87A. The curve is a little abnormal but no big concerns with a battery this size. My one complaint is the LED light that gives the charging status is very close to the port, and combined with the port cover it can be hard to see depending on the cable you’re using. Charging stopped at 4.149V.
The light can also be used as a powerbank. It comes with a USB-C to USB-A Female adapter cable that can be used to charge your phone or other device from the light. It can also charge a device like my phone with just a USB-C to C cable. I did a discharge at 2A, but when doing this it didn’t seem to step down gracefully like I would expect or it could be my equipment, not many lights do the powerbank feature.
Pro’s
- I like the warm gray color of the anodizing
- Feels well made, and beefy, buttery threads.
- The battery bank feature is nice in a pinch.
Con’s
- Turbo is too short only lasting about 20 seconds.
- Definitely has some distortion in the beam from the lens and LED.
- It’s big, and on the expensive side.
- While it tail stands, it’s not stable when doing so.
Conclusion
I don’t have a ton of use for a light like this in my daily uses. It’s large, heavy and turbo is too short to be useful for me on my example. I do think the tail design is pretty decent for direct access to strobe in a tactical situation but 3 simple light modes plus turbo for your solid modes. I wish turbo lasted longer then 20 seconds, it would be useful in tactical and non tactical situations.
I love the color of the anodizing here, it’s gray brown anodizing, nice to see especially on a tactical light. The light is also very well built from what I can tell. Solid, and the rear switch takes quite a bit of pressure to push. If you need a solid well built tactical light thats in that middle ground between a flood and thrower then this fits that need, but isn’t going to be your best general purpose light in my opinion.
Take a look at the TH20 Guardian 2020 at BatteryJunction https://www.batteryjunction.com/jetbeam-th20-guardian-v2.html