Tag: LED Flashlight

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Thrunite Catapult V6 SST70 Review & Comparison (2836 Lumens, USB-C, 26650)

Today I have the newest Thrunite Catapult V6 with an interesting LED choice, the SST70 LED. Other updates include USB-C charging and it’s slightly longer in length. Thanks to Thrunite for sending this to me as well as providing a discount code which will be in the description below. Let’s get into that review.

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Pickup the Catapult V6 SST70 at https://amzn.to/3kYpBIL

Get 10% off with the coupon code catapultv6 until 3/13/2021 11:59pm PST.

 

Packaging & Accessories

Packaging is like similar Thrunite products I have reviewed, it comes in a sturdy brown paper box with minimal information on the outside with only the company name, address, model number and LED designator. In my case it was hand checked Cool White. Inside the light was encased in egg crate foam. Accessory wise the light includes a Thrunite branded 5000mAh button top 26650 battery,  2 extra Orings, an extra USB cover, extra inner button rubber, split ring, Thrunite branded Lanyard with split ring, a Holster, a USB-A to C charging cable and a holster. 

 

Construction

Construction of the Catapult V6 is on par with other recent Thrunite lights I have looked at such as the T2. It’s made of nicely machined aluminum and anodized in a black hard semi gloss coating. The tail caps on the Catapult V6 and TC20 look similar. Both are non magnetic and allow the light to tail stand. Each has a small hole for the included lanyard. Its one area where some will want a larger hole for paracord. There isn’t any knurling on the tail cap but I was able to get it off easily. Threads are square cut and lightly lubricated along with an Oring.

The body tube has a large diamond pattern milled around it. This is less deeply milled then the original V6 I have, and that’s not an improvement in my opinion. I prefer the deeper more grippy milling. The body tube is directional but doesn’t have any polarity markings on it for the battery. This light does come into 3 pieces the tail cap, body tube, and head. 

The head is fairly large. The light has a flat aluminum bezel that can be unscrewed with considerable effort according to others on budget light forums. The lens is large and anti reflective coated glass. The reflector is smooth and deep with the LED nicely centered on a large white PCB. It’s a slightly different reflector than what the original V6 had. The head has minimal milled out areas and is slightly shorter then the original V6.

The button is metal feeling and has a hole for an indicator LED underneath for charging status. It’s an electric switch and requires medium effort to use.The PSB charging port cover is the same as the previous V6, but the port inside is different. 

 

Size and Weight

I measured the length of the new Catapult at 137.3mm in length, 33mm on the body and 58mm at the head. Weight with the battery is 303.2g. 

In comparison to the old V6 Catapult the new light is 19.3g heavier, and 6.3mm longer. Diameters are the same. 

 

Retention

The new Catapult V6 comes with the same holster as before. It’s a pretty good holster, with minimal padding and a small Thrunite branding sewn in. It has a fixed belt strap on the back and Dring. 

 

Here is what it looks like in my hand as well.

 

LED & Beam

The previous V6 model of the Thrunite Catapult used the Cree XHP35 HI LED, but Cree discontinued this LED in the first half of 2020, in favor of the XHP35.2 LED series. Instead of going with this LED, Thrunite has chosen to go with the SST70 LED. On paper this is a little of an odd choice on a thrower style light. The SST70 is a domed LED which usually are usually better for more floody applications. So let’s see how it works here. 

 

The SST70 is in cool white only at the moment, but to my eye it’s not an obnoxiously cold cool white. Officially lumens are up, from 1700 in Turbo to 2836 on the new model. In practice this is kind of hard to see I notice it more in the spill with it being more intense then the older light. Candela is down from 140,650cd to 120,000cd and this is hard to see as well. The biggest difference is the hot spot size between the two lights. The new catapults hotspot is slightly larger when I compare the two. There is no PWM visible to the eye here, but my oscilloscope did detect a little bit in low mode only.

 

Heat & Runtime

Turbo on this light appears to have a timed step down at the 3 minute mark, where it steps down to 50% relative output for the next 30 minutes before stepping down to about 45% for most of the remaining 1:28:00 before rounding off and shutting off with LVP at 3.034V. Max heat I saw was at 26 minutes at 50.5C. 

When I compared this to the previous model Catapult V6 with the Cree XHP35 HI I can say the SST70 while making more light is a bit less efficient. They both have the same timed turbo step down at 3 minutes, while the previous model is able to sustain this a little better but remember it’s producing a bit less light. The result is about 30 minutes more runtime with the previous model and during this it’s producing a higher percentage of relative output, but keep in mind the new model light produces more light in all modes, so it’s actually brighter. 

 

UI

UI is clear and simple to follow. From off a short press starts the light off in low, and short presses will cycle up in modes to medium and high. When the light is on in any mode double click to shortcut to turbo, double click again takes you to strobe. To access firefly long press from off. The light also has memory and will turn on in the last mode accessed except for firefly, turbo and strobe modes. This is unchanged from the previous model.

 

Recharging

The 2021 Catapult V6 has onboard recharging via USB-C which is nice to see. However it requires the use of a USB-A to USB-C cable (included). I did not have any luck with this light charging via USB-C to C cable or via USB-C PD. 

The total charge time from LVP at 3.034V to fully charged at 4.158V took 3:04:09 of the included 5000mAh 26650 battery. Max charge rate I saw was near 2A. The curve does look a little atypical, with a sudden drop to lower charging point as the battery reaches a certain capacity. 

 

Pro’s

  • A bit more general purpose with the increased spill and more lumens then the outgoing model
  • Good build quality from Thrunite
  • Complete packaged light.

 

Con’s

  • Only available with cool white right now.
  • A bit longer and heavier then the previous design
  • Milling in the body isn’t as deep or grippy.
  • USB-C charging requires a A to C cable, C to C or PD doesn’t work.

 

Conclusion

I am not ready to call the Catapult V6 SST70 an all new light. It’s largely the same light as the original V6 but with a different LED and other small tweaks to better optimize the design for this new LED, as well as update the light to USB-C charging while they are at it. 

 

As I mentioned before the LED that was being used in the C6 Catapult was discontinued and the SST70 was chosen in its place. I do commend Thrunite for doing a good job at optimizing the design with a slightly different reflector, slightly longer head design to adapt an LED that traditionally isn’t used for a thrower to a thrower light. The result is pretty close to the old V6 design in terms of throwing performance in the real world even though it doesn’t test quite as well via official numbers. The new light does have a bit more spill and slightly less throw distance but it’s not enough to really notice in my tests. Mode spacing could be a little closer in the lower modes but I have certainly seen worse. 

The Catapult V6 has been a permanent member of my collection and gets used a decent amount because I like the size, feel in my hand and performance despite being cool white. The revised model I reviewed here retains most of that despite growing in length slight and having a less aggressive milling on the body. The increase in lumens isn’t drastic but the increase in spill is kind of nice when using for general purpose tasks. If you don’t have a Catapult V6 in you collection I can recommend whichever model you can get you hands on.

Don’t forget Thrunite has offered an additional 10% discount for about a week after this video is published and you can find that in the description below as well as links to my Social Media profiles. 

 

Pickup the Catapult V6 SST70 at https://amzn.to/3kYpBIL

Get 10% off with the coupon code catapultv6 until 3/13/2021 11:59pm PST.

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Olight i5T Brass & OPen 2 Blue Reviews

Today I wanted to share with you 2 special editions that Olight is going to have for sale on their upcoming Valentine’s day Flash Sale tonight. The i5T in Brass, and the OPen2 in blue anodized aluminum. Now you have probably seen lots of gear influencer video’s in the past on other Olight sales, this isn’t one of those videos, but full disclosure Olight did send me these to help promote the sale, and provide an affiliate link which does help support the channel. I have been a long time Open2 and i5T user so let’s talk about the sale and get into the details about both items.

Link to the Olight Valentines Sale (Brass i5T & Blue OPen2) http://bit.ly/OlightLiquidRetro

Flash sale date: January 25 2021 8:00PM EST – To January 26 2021, 11:59PM EST

Open 2 Blue(Limited Edition), $44.96?MSRP?$59.95?
i5T EOS Brass(Limited Edition), $31.96?MSRP?$39.95?

35% OFF These bundles
1) Open 2 Blue + i5T EOS Brass, $64.94?MSRP?$99.90?
2) S1R II + Baton Pro, $100.69?MSRP?$154.90?
3) S1R II + S2R II, $87.69?MSRP?$134.90?
4) i5T OD Green + i5T PU, $42.84 (MSRP?$65.90)

Free Tiers:
1) Over $129 get a FREE i3T Black (MSRP: $19.95)
2) Over $199 get a FREE M1T Plus DT (MSRP: $59.95)
3) Over $299 get a FREE Seeker 2 (MSRP: $109.95)

 

 

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Klarus XT11 GT Pro Review (2000 Lumens, Cree XHP 35 HD, USB-C,18650)

Today I have a newer light from Klarus the XT11 GT Pro. This is an update to a light that Klarus has made previously. Klarus (Affiliate) sent this to me earlier in the year for review, and I appreciate their patience as it took me a little while to get to it. 

 

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Construction

The XT11GT Pro is made from aluminum and is anodized in a smooth medium gloss black anodizing. Visually it’s different then the standard XT11GT. It features the same tactical tail cap, with the large center button being a mechanical switch with a grippy silicon cover and the paddle on the side to allow for mode selection. The paddle was upgraded to aluminum here for incredibility. The clip is a clip on, non fixed and rotates around the body of the light. It’s not deep carry with it leaving about 32mm exposed from a pocket. 

The body is milled with small horizontal lines going around the body of the light and then it has small relieves milled in. It’s a nice change from traditional knurling and provides a good amount of grip. The threads are nice and square cut and it’s a dual wall construction. The head and body tube appear to be once piece. As we get to the head of the light it grows in size, It’s got a built in anti roll ring that adds some style and nicely disguises the USB charging port cover. This is definitely one of the better designs I have seen for this. 

The bezel is a little aggressive and the outer edges have some sharper sides. It’s a gunmetal color and stainless steel I believe. It’s easily unscrewed by hand. Inside is a anti reflective coated glass lens, a fairly deep smooth reflector 

 

Size and Weight

I measured the length at 139mm, minimum diameter on the body at 25mm, maximum diameter on the head at 35mm. Weight with the included battery and clip was 169.2g. 

For an 18650 light it’s a little on the long side, but that’s not unexpected with the deeper reflector. Here are some comparison shots with the light and some others.

 

Retention

Your 2 Retention methods on this light is with the included pocket clip. Unfortunately this isn’t deep carry carry with about 32mm of the light exposed if you do decide to use the clip. With the size of this light that’s ok, as I think it’s more of a bag or coat light myself. The included holster does the job pretty well too, no complaints there. 

 

LED & Beamshots

The XT11 GT Pro is using the Cree XHP 35 HD LED in cool white at 6500k. This is an interesting choice of LED”s since it’s officially been discontinued by Cree. That said plenty of existing stock still exists and Klarus must feel like they have enough to meet the expected demand of this light. The beam it’s self is a good all arounder. The deep smoother reflector means the light has a fairly small hotspot and it throws pretty well but there is also spill to allow for short and medium range light. So a good all around beam. 

The light will run on 18650 batteries which is how I will use it, but it will also run on 2x CR123a batteries which is nice as a backup. As a result the working voltage is 2.8V to 6.4V/ No PWM was observed. 

 

Runtime & Heat

I measured runtime with the included 3100mAh battery. Turbo runtime was 50 seconds before stepping down to 90% and then it ran for another 2 minutes 10 seconds before settling at 30% relative output where it ran for an additional 1:37:00. Total runtime was 2 hours. Max Heat I saw was 42C at 1:35. 

 

UI

Like many of Klarus recent lights this has 2 modes of operation, a Tactical and a Outdoor setting. The tactical mode allows the main button on the rear of the light to go to turbo, and the paddle to be a shortcut for strobe that you can lock on by holding for 2 seconds.

I primarily tested the light in it’s outdoors setting though. When in this setting the primary button on the rear is a shortcut to turbo both as momentary or locked on. Once on you can use the paddle to decrease the modes from turbo, high, Medium, and low. You can also use the paddle when the light is off to start in moonlight mode and then increase in output for each push. It’s a system that works better then I expected and is pretty intuitive once you use and get it.  

 

Recharging

One of the updates the XT11 GT Pro has is USB-C charging. Unfortunately it doesn’t support USB-C to C or USB-C PD charging. So you need to use the supplied (or similar) USB-A to USB-C cable to charge the light. The port cover here is nicely shaped and fits well into the side of the head. It’s one of the better executions I have seen of this in 2020. 

I charged the included 3100mAh battery from LVP to full in a total time of 3:23:10. It wasn’t the fastest charging rate, as the maximum I saw was right at 1A. There is a small LED indicator light built into the side of the light to act as a battery charge state indicator. Green is anything more then 70%, orange is between 30-70%, and red is less then 30%, red flashing is less then 10%. 

Packaging

My light is a super early production light (Serial number 17), and doesn’t have a box so I can’t comment on that. I can tell you the accessories it came with. My light came with a 3100mAh button top protected IMR 18650 battery, a Klarus branded lanyard and a USB-A to USB-C charging cable. It also came with a nylon, Klarus branded holster. It has a Dring and velcro belt loop. It seems to be solidly made. 

 

Pro

  • I like the outdoor UI setting here once you get the hang of it but it’s a little different.
  • Nice size in the hand for an all around light if you want your buttons on the rear.


Cons

  • Seems expensive
  • Cool white only
  • No true moon light mode, lowest is 10 lumen output
  • No USB-C to C compatibility and slow charging

 

Conclusion

My conclusion for the Klarus XT11GT Pro is that it’s a good all around light general purpose light. The 2 UI modes allow you to use it tactically if you want or use it in the outdoor mode which is more appropriate for everyday uses like power outages and camping. The beam is useful with enough throw and spill to do both jobs pretty well. What I don’t care for is the asking price I am seeing at the time of filming. It’s high in my opinion currently. Around $50-60 would make it a good value but at nearly double that I would struggle to pay full price. So if you’re interested I would watch for a sale or coupon. 

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Nitecore MH12S Review (1800 Lumens, USB-C PD, 21700)

Today I have the Nitecore MH12S, this is a new model in a long light of MH series lights from Nitecore. It’s marketed as multitask hybrid series light. It produces 1800 lumens, contains a 21700 battery that’s included and is USB-C PD rechargeable. Nitecore did provide this light to me to review.

 

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Packaging & Accessories

The MH12 comes in a typical Nitecore retail package in the trademark black and yellow color scheme. Something that’s a little different is it doesn’t have the typical runtime chart on the back, only a long list of features, and on the side a list of use cases and accessories. Accessories included with the light itself is a 5000 Nitecore (non proprietary) button top 21700 battery, a 18650/CR123 Battery magazine, tactical holster, USB-A to C charging cable, lanyard, 2 spare o’rings, and a pocket clip, along with your normal paperwork. 

Construction

The MH12s is made from aluminum and anodized black. Machining & fit and finish are good, with no obvious problems detected. At the tail cap there is a quiet tall mechanical switch that protrudes and it takes some effort to actuate. The lanyard attachment point is on the rear tail cap and decent sized hole. Inside there is stiff springs at either end, and threads are anodized, fine and well lubricated. 

 

The body tube has minimal knurling but does have some on each end, you have 3 areas in the middle for the clip or tactical finger loop (not included) should you want. The body tube is glued to the head. There is a minimal anti roll ring at the front, it’ has limited effectiveness with anything but a flat surface.

The button (eswitch) on the head is aluminum as well, with a hole in the middle for power indication status, the button is relatively small and hard to find at night by feel alone, especially with gloves. There is minimal fins for heat dissipation. Opposite the button there is the USB-C charging port, the silicon cover here is well integrated and stays put without trouble. 

Up at the front there is a minimal bezel that does allow light to escape when standing on its head, it protects the anti reflective coated glass lens, and smooth bezel underneath. 

 

Size and Weight

I measured the overall length at 141mm, max diameter on the head at 29.5mm, minimum diameter on the body at 25.5mm. Weight with the included battery was 149.2g. The light is IP68 water rated and submersible to 2M along with the standard 1M of impact resistance.

It’s a long long light but within 5mm of the Thrunite TT20 and Olight M2R Pro, but narrower then both. 

 

Retention

The MH12S has quite a few retention options. It comes with a pocket clip, lanyard and a tactical hostler but is also compatible with a tactical ring that Nitecore offers separately. The pocket clip can attach facing either direction on any of the 3 ribs in the middle of the light. It’s not a deep carry clip as a good ¾ of an inch sticks op out of your pocket when put in the lowest position. My clip was slightly out of spec and doesn’t make contact with the body of the light. A little modification with some pliers should improve this situation but is a little disappointing to see on a brand new light. 

You also get a plastic belt holster that the light can be pushed into. You can put it in heads up or heads down, and it’s a tight fit. If done correctly at allows you to mount to access both the side buttons and top button from the holster. The lanyard attachment point should you choose to use that is on the tailcap. 

LED & Runtime

The light features a Luminis SST-40 W LED in cool white at 6500k. The good news here is that it’s not as blue as some older Nitecore lights which I appreciate. On ultralow and low power modes I get a slight green tinge but this disappears at higher power levels. The beam itself is small defined hotspot in the center and a large spill of less light. True to it’s name this is a nice all around beam, good for walking the dog, hiking, or more tactical uses if you wish. 

There are a handful of battery options here, the light comes with Nitecore 5000mAh 21700 battery, which will be most users primary cell, but with the battery magazine (Spacer) the light comes with it will also run 18650 and 2x CR123A batteries or RCR123. A battery capable of 8A discharge or more is needed to be able to access Turbo’s 1800 lumens or you will be limited to High’s 1050 instead. No PWM was present in this light, and I did verify this with my oscilloscope. 

 

Official outputs are listed as the following. 

  • Turbo – 1800 Lumens
  • High – 1050 Lumens
  • Mid – 300 Lumens
  • Low -50 Lumens
  • Ultra Low – 1 Lumen
  • Strobe/Beacon/SOS – 1800 Lumens

 

Heat & Runtime

I did my runtime and heat tests with the included 5000mAh Nitecore battery in uncooled conditions (More realistic). Turbo had a pretty quick step down from the 1800 lumens within the first minute and a half but it was a gradual step down and continued this trend from the 0:43:00 mark to 2:46:00 it was quite stable at 40% relative output, before it did it’s LVP warning and stepping down to 5% relative output and shutting off at 3:23:00. Max heat I saw during this time was 46C at 0:10:00.

I also ran a runtime test under the same conditions but only going to high mode, and here the light was able to sustain a much higher output for longer in comparison to turbo. Around 80% relative output or better for 3:26:00, with at total runtime of right at 4:00:00. So if you don’t need turbo this is the best mode to use for sustained output and runtime. 

 

UI

The light has 2 modes, first the daily mode which is the lights default and how I tested and then a tactical function. When in daily mode the light does have a memory function for all modes except SOS and Beacon. When in tactical it will only memorize turbo or strobe. 

 

For daily mode the light turns on with the tail switch, and then you use the e switch up front to change modes, and it cycles through all 5 non blinking modes. There are no shortcuts to jump to turbo or turn on ultralow when off. If you press and hold the mode button when on the light will go to strobe instead of cycling through modes. It’s a little different from many lights but is easy enough to understand but might be hard to remember if switching to many other lights.

 

Recharging

The MH12S has onboard USB-C charging, thats capable of being charged via USB-C to C and USB-C PD, another nice change to see. USB-C to C is finally going mainstream on flashlights. I charged the included 5000mAh Nitecore battery (non proprietary) from LVP at 2.947V to full at 4.198V in 3.5 hours. Max charging rate I saw was 1.9A at the 1:30 mark. The charging curve here looks a little funny with a lot of drops to near zero as detected by my meter, this also caused it to cut a little short the graph. I don’t think this is a problem for charging the cell just a bit different. The light will also charge 18560’s with the adapter if you want to. 

Pro

  • Simple interface but lacks shortcuts to moon or turbo.
  • Good all around beam
  • Not as cool white as past Nitecore Lights.
  • Wide selection of compatible batteries (21700, 18650, CR123A, RCR123A).

 

Cons

  • Seems long
  • Pocket clip did not make contact with the body without modification and it’s deep carry
  • Only one LED and tint option
  • UI has no practical shortcuts, requires cycling through brighter modes to go lower. 

 

Conclusion

The Nitecore MH12S is a solid general use light. I like that NItecore has taken a step away from ultra blue emitters but do wish they would offer a more neutral or warm tint option, in the MH series of lights since I believe these better represent the multifunction roll the lights were designed for. 

This isn’t a light I will probably EDC in my pockets due to the clip design and relatively long nature of the light, I do like it’s slim nature though. I think this is a better jacket pocket light or utilize the holster it comes with. The UI here isn’t my favorite but I can live with it. Overall I like the beam profile here of the light, and with the 21700 it has a great runtime, and it’s super great to see USB-C being implemented with full support and PD support. 

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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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Jetbeam TH20 Guardian (2020) Review (3980 Lumens, XHP 70.2, 21700, USB-C)

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

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Olight Warrior X Turbo Review (1100 Meters of Throw, 21700 Rechargeable Battery)

Today I have Olights new thrower flashlight, the Warrior X Turbo. It’s capable of 1000 meters of throw on 1100 lumens and 250,000 candella. It has an Osram LED, and is compatible with the pressure switch from the Olight Odin. Thanks to Skyben on Amazon for sending this to me to look at and review.

 

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Packaging & Accessories

I won’t go into much detail here but the Warrior X Turbo has great packaging, arguably Olight has the nicest packaging in the production flashlight world. The light comes currently as two colors, you have the black model that I have here and then Olight does offer a limited production gunmetal gray as well. As a base package the light comes with a 5000mAh proprietary 21700mAh battery. Fun side note I will link to a video another flashlight reviewer did of how they make these batteries. You also get the latest generation of the MCC charging system, a Tactical Grip Ring (TGR), pocket clip, anti roll ring, lanyard, and a nylon holster. 

 

Construction

The Warrior X Turbo takes a lot of the design cues from the Olight M2R Pro, in the tail cap and body, adapting them to the larger thrower platform. Overall build quality is great for a production light.  First the more aggressive tail button is here, which does allow the light to tail stand but it’s not the most stable when doing so. The tail is also compatible with the locking remote switch from the Olight Odin so if you have that it works here great. Inside the tail is a spring loaded contact internally. 

 

Threads on the body are anodized, nicely greased and have a double oring system, to interface with the anti roll ring and the TGR. I will talk in detail about the clip in the retention section. The grip on the body is the same as what was on the M2R Pro, a more aggressive triangle, and has a few flats milled in for labeling. 

The head is glued to the body and really grows in size to accommodate the large smooth deep reflector. I like the relief that’s milled in to give it some more style and save weight. The front bezel is beefy with large solid crenulations that allow light the light to stand on its head and for light to spill out. It’s not glued in place and can be removed with some force. This does effect the beam shape on the outer edges. The lens is large and anti reflective coated.

 

Size & Weight

I measured the length at 159mm, maximum diameter at the head was 58mm, minimum diameter on the body was 26.2mm. Weight with the battery, clip, standard anti roll ring came in at 296.1g. Here are a few pictures of the light with a few similarly sized lights you might know. 

Retention & Grip

You have a couple of retention options for the Warrier X Turbo, it does come with a captured pocket clip, but it’s 38mm from the top of the light. That’s ok because with the size of the head here, your not going to be EDCing this in a pocket. The captured clip is nice, it won’t rotate because of an extra tab in the clip and on the light and anti roll ring. 

 

The stock anti roll ring allows you to use the standard cigar style grip without problems, but that can be a little uncomfortable so Olight includes a Tactical Grip Ring (TGR) that’s a softer silicon like material that slips on in its place. 

Other options include a lanyard that’s included, and the included holster thats purpose built for this light. It has a velcro belt loop and plastic D ring. 

 

LED & Beamshots

Olight doesn’t say which LED is in this light officially, but they do list the tint at 6000-6700k, and by looking at it my guess is it’s one of the OSRAM models we have seen in other popular throwers. I wish they would list the LED they are using like almost every other manufacturer does. It’s a cool tint but not blue. The beam has a small but very intense hot spot, possibly one of the tightest I have had in recent times. There is a spill but it’s very minimal, only a few percent of the center, and there is some distortion on the edges from the shape of the outer bezel that’s noticeable at short range. I didn’t measure any PWM on this light on either mode.

 

 

Runtime & Heat

The ability on the Olight Warrior X Turbo to sustain it’s turbo output was better then I expected. From start to full and stable step down was right at 9 minutes, and it stayed above 80% relative output for the first 6 minutes. At that point it was running at 50% relative output for 1:45:00. Total runtime was just shy of 3 hours. The good news is with such a tight beam even at the lower output throws pretty well. When the power level reaches 20% the light starts to vibrate every 5 minutes to let you know, when it’s below 10% it will vibrate every minute, and below 5% it will vibrate every 10 seconds. You can’t miss it especially if mounted on a firearm. Maximum heat I saw was 48C at the 9 minute mark. LVP was measured at 2.95V.

UI

The UI here is super easy, it’s a 2 mode light with momentary and full on tactual switch. Low is rated for 150 lumens and you can use it in momentary if you half press the button and hold, or a quick have press will lock it on. A full press gives you full power 1100 lumens before step down and a quick press will lock it on, or a full press and hold will work in momentary. It’s the same UI we have seen in other tactical Olights with a rear switch. This light also works with the pressure switch from the Olight Odin.

 

Recharging

I had a little bit of trouble recording the graph with the Warrier X Turbo with my equipment due to the spikes along the curve where the current drops very near zero which tricks the measuring tools, but overall charge time here was 5:30:00, and the maximum charge rate I saw was 1.92A. I measured the full battery at 4.172V. No concerns with the charging but I will have to look for a firmware update for my equipment. 

Pro’s

  • Long runtime for “Turbo” Nearly 10 minutes. 
  • Great build Quality
  • Despite being cool white it’s not obnoxiously blue in tint
  • Options to mount/cary/activate

 

Con’s

  • Tail magnet is only for recharging & the pressure switch, it’s not strong enough to hold the weight of the light.
  • Proprietary Battery
  • On the pricy side
  • Two modes are ok, 3 might make it a little more useful for more then a weapon light.

 

Conclusion

The Warrior X Turbo is a nice more compact thrower from Olight. It has almost as much power as the much larger, more expensive Javalot Pro, but in a size thats easier to use, and carry on your person. While this is designed as a weapon light with the compatibility with the remote pressure switch and to beagle to be mounted on a weapon, it also works pretty well as a super easy main thrower. To me the long 6-9 minute runtime on Turbo is hard to beat in many other thrower style lights in this price category. 

 

It’s an Olight so it has the usual caveats, like the proprietary battery, and the cooler tints. If you are less sensitive to those things I can recommend the Warrior X Turbo as a pretty sweet well built thrower.

 

Get the Warrior X Turbo in Black on Amazon at https://amzn.to/32ntwHs

Get it in Gunmetal Gray at https://amzn.to/3hpK7yz

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Thrunite T2 Review (3757 Lumens, XHP 70 LED, USB-C, 21700)

Today I am taking a look at Thrunite’s newest model, the T2. It’s super floody light, producing a whopping 3757 lumens out of a Cree XHP 70 LED, a 21700 battery, and is rechargeable with onboard USB-C. Thanks to Thrunite for sending it to me to review. Let’s take a closer look. Be sure to see Thrunite’s deal on the bottom of the page for the T2.

 

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Get the Thrunite T2 on Amazon at the links below. 

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

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

 

Packaging and Accessories

Packaging here is Thrunites standard good quality brown cardboard box with minimal information. The side lists the model and emitter. Inside the light is protected well with foam. Accessories include the light, a 5000mAh Thrunite branded button top 21700 battery, a nylon holster, USB-A to C charging cable, 2 extra orings, a spare charging port cover and a branded lanyard along with a manual. 

 

Construction

The T2 shares many similar visual features to the smaller Thrunite T1 I reviewed earlier this year. The T2 is made from 6061 aluminum and has a fairly flat tail cap, that is non magnetic, but has a place milled in the side for a lanyard. The tail section and body are a one piece design. The clip only attaches at the tail and is non captured. The body section has a rectangle/rib pattern milled in oti. It’s similar to the Olight M2R which is a competitor light. The T2’s millings are deeper and the rectangle sections are a little larger. It’s a nice amount of grip.

Threads on the body tube are anodized, square cut and nicely greased. Inside the head it has a single brass post up front to fit the proprietary battery. On the outside there is a silver metallic button covering the eswitch with a hole in the middle for the LED indicator. The sides have some milled fins in them. Opposite the button is the silicone cover for the USB-C charging port. I had no trouble here with access to any of the cables I tried. The port is nicely recessed and out of the way.

The aluminum bezel has a grey accent that’s slightly tapered. Inside is a AR coated piece of glass, a wide but very shallow orange peel reflector and the giant Cree XHP 70 LED. 

 

Size & Weight

I measured the length at 112mm and maximum diameter on the head at 30mm and minimum diameter on the body at 26mm. Weight with the included battery and clip was 167.8g. 

 

Comparison

The light that i will be comparing this to is the Olight M2R. Now the M2R is a little more tactically focused but quite similar in over all size. The T2 is shorter in overall size and hardly grows in diameter. That said the M2R does have a bit more reach. The T2 seems to sacrifice it’s throw performance for the overall length of the light in the hand.

Retention

The T2 comes with a basic nylon holster, with a Dring and belt loop. The T2 fits inside just fine. You also have the option of a branded lanyard. These are basic options but do the job just fine. The T2 has as very deep carry pocket clip that only attaches at the tail of the light. It bends out and then up almost flush with the tail but on my example here that upper loop is hard to attach onto a pocket due to the step and small amount of space up top. Other than that it’s a decent clip and once you get it down over your pocket lip it carries well for a 21700 light.

LED & Beamshots

The Thrunite T2 is running a Cree XHP 70 LED and is a available in cool and neutral white. I have the neutral white and it has a bit fo green to it, not uncommon for a Cree emitter. It’s a big LED in a very short and wide reflector. The result is a very floody beam with a good amount of tint shift unfortunately. At 

When the light is dropped on it’s tail it flickers slightly but stays on. I didn’t detect any PWM with my oscilloscope. 

Official Outputs are listed as the following.

  • Firefly  – 0.3 Lumens
  • Low – 30 Lumens
  • Medium – 366 Lumens
  • High – 1712 Lumens
  • Turbo – 3757 Lumens

 

Heat & Runtime

With big output numbers from a big LED comes heat and output stepdowns. Turbo on the T2 started to step down at 1:10 and then ran at 38% relative output till the 8 minute mark, stepping down another 10%. FL1 was at 3 hours 12 minutes. Total runtime was 3hr 20 minutes. Peak heat was 49.9C at 1:30

I did a bit of comparison to the Olight M2R Pro also running a 5000mAh 21700 battery and you can see the Olight has a little brighter mid range but ends about 5 minutes shorter. Overall both lights are pretty comparable in terms of runtime even though their beam patterns are really used for different purposes. 

 

UI

The UI on the T2 is what Thrunite uses on most Thrunite and Wowtac models. Long press to go to Firefly, single click to go up in modes from L, M, H, and double press to go to Turbo. Triple press to go to strobe. There is a memory mode on all normal modes, and a lock out if you press and hold while the flashlight is off. Mode spacing here could be improved, with just 3 modes you see some big steps up, Medium to High is 366 to 1712. I would like to see another mode in the middle.

 

It’s kind of a bit of a shame they didn’t decide to use the T1’s ramping mode as I liked that quite a bit. For a more high end light like this, it’s almost becoming the norm to have a stepped and ramping mode that the user can switch in and out of. 

 

Recharging

The Thrunite T2 has onboard USB-C recharging, and it ships with an A to C cable. They advertise the light as having fast charging but doesn’t really say what that is. I had my hopes up that it would be compatible with C to C  charging via USB-C PD but at least in my testing that doesn’t seem to be the case. Charging the 5000mAh battery from LVP at 2.948V to Full at 4.199V took 3 hours 30 minutes. Maximum charging rate I saw was right at 2A. It didn’t ramp up but instead started right at 2A and then ramped down as the battery filled. The LED Indicator on the button displays power levels in real time. Greater then 21% is blue, between 11-20% red, and flashing red is less then 10% power remaining. When charging they go red and then blue when charged.

I was a little worried about the included 5000mAh battery as it has both the positive and negative terminals on the positive side, it looks identical to the battery Olight uses in the M2R Pro and in fact the Olight and Thrunite batteries are interchangeable in either light. What’s a little strange here is that Thrunite doesn’t have a contact point in the head for that negative terminal on the top of the battery so a standard button top 21700 works and charges in this light just fine. 

 

Pro’s

  • Compact High Lumen Flood
  • Neutral white tint is available
  • Even though it looks like a proprietary battery, standard batteries charge and work just fine.

 

Cons

  • Not USB-C to C Compliant, no USB-C PD support
  • Pocket clip need a little bit of tweaking to fit most pants for deep carry
  • Mode spacing is spaced out quite a bit. 0.3, 30, 366, 1712, 3757 lumens. 
  • Timed Step Down

 

Conclusion

The T2 a pretty good all around floody light with a lot of output from it’s Cree XHP 70 LED. It’s nice to see Thrunite continue to offer tint options on their lights. I find the overall design here a little boring to look at but in this case it’s form over function and functionally it’s pretty good. 

 

I would make a few small changes on a revised model if I could, another mode between medium and high to split the difference between 366 lumens and 1712 lumens. I would tweak the top loop of the clip to allow for it to fit over thicker pants easier, and I would make it compatible with a USB-C to C cable so it could be charged with many laptop and smartphone chargers. The USB-C to C cable is the one universal cable to make your life easier, we are just not there yet with most flashlights. It would be nice to see active thermal management on a light in this price range instead of a timed step down.

 

The battery here is really interesting, that Thrunite went to the expense of putting that negative contact on the positive end but doesn’t use it on this light. It makes me wonder what they might have coming out in the future. It’s nice here that you don’t need a proprietary battery though. 

 

Overall I can recommend the T2 if you need a high output flood light in a small package with a choice of tint. It even EDC’s and carries in a front pocket pretty well which I was not expecting for a 21700 light. 

 

Get the Thrunite T2 on Amazon at the links below. 

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

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

 

Thrunite is also running a promotion for the T2, limited to the first 50 people. 

1 – Buy ThruNite T2 & leave your unbiased experience on Amazon

2 – Contact review@thrunite.com to get a customer edition T1 – dark green ($45.95 on Amazon?for free, limited to the first 50 people!