Tag: Thrower Flashlight

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Wurkkos TS12 Review (Budget Pocket Thrower!)

Today I am taking a look at the Wurkkos TS12, a small pocket thrower with onboard USB-C charging. It’s using a new YLX N3535B round LED and is powered by a 14500 battery all for a bargain price. Thanks to Wurkkos for sending this to me to review any discounts or coupons I have will be in the description.

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Get your own Wurkkos TS12 for a discount at https://wurkkos.com/products/wurkkos-ts12-mini-edc-flashlight,-1050lm-432meters-powerful-rechargeable-light-with-bezel?DIST=REJCFVQ%3D&VariantsId=11017

 

Packaging & Accessories

Wurkkos packaging on recent models has been a lot nicer and this is no exception, it’s a full color slip with technical specs on the back over a white box with magnetic closures, a sticker on the end of the box let’s you know what the specs of your model are. The light ships with a few accessories, a generic lanyard, 2 spare orings for the tail cap, and USB-A to USB-C charging cable. You can get it with a 900mAh 14500 for an additional $2 which is worth doing in my opinion.

 

Construction & Design

The TS12 is made from 6061 aluminum and anodized in black. The light is a mini thrower and has a form factor similar to the Lumintop GTmini, but with a bit more of a tactical feel. The tailcap is flat and magnetic so it tailstands without a problem. In the hand the deeper groves provide decent grip for a light with no knurling on it. There is only a spring in the tail cap, threads are standard ACME cut and the head and body tube are all one piece. 

The button has a silicone cover, with an LED in it’s center that’s used for a charge status indicator. The USB charging port on the rear is small, not all your USB-C cables will fit due to width restrictions. The front bezel is aluminum I believe and anodized in a gunmetal finish and glued in place. The front lens is thick glass, and below it is a deep smooth reflector with a small round LED in the center. 

 

UI

The light has two UI modes, a stepped that it ships in by default and a ramping option that you can switch to. Stepped mode is a very traditional flashlight interface, simple click to turn on, long press to go up through the 3 main modes, double press to go to turbo, and triple press to go to the blinking modes. Once in the blinking modes, you can double press to move between strobe, SOS, and Beacon modes. The light also has moon mode which you can access from off by long pressing. 

 

To switch to ramping mode when on click 4 times to switch between mode groups, the light will flashlight to confirm. 

 

Ramping mode works like you think with double click to turbo, and triple click to strobe although when ramping if you hit peak output the light will reset down to low instead of stopping. Not idea IMHO.

 

Retention

For retention, there is a small lanyard hole in the tailcap for the included generic lanyard. The light looks like it’s designed for a clip to attach at the rear however one is not included. I like it’s slightly longer length than the GTNano I have since the body tube is a little longer. 

 

Size & Weight

I measured the length at 90.9mm, body diameter at 20mm, and head diameter at 33mm. Weight with the battery came in at 2.61oz. The light is IPX8 water rated and drop rated for 1M. 

 

LED & Beam

The Wurkkos TS12 is using a new LED the YLX N3535B  which is round instead of square. There isn’t much information available for this LED that I can find, but from testing, I can tell you my example is 5536k and 57Ra on my Opple Meter. Its tint is more yellow in DUV than we see from most other LED’s. To my eye, it looks yellow-green but that doesn’t show up on the meter much. In a thrower, we typically don’t care as much about high CRI so this isn’t as big of deal. It’s something I would notice though if using it on something reflective like snow. The beam has a small hot center, and a few diffused rings in it. The spill has a small area around the hot spot where it’s reasonably intense and then a huge drop-off for everything past that. I don’t notice much of a difference here with the LED being round vs. square and having optics. There is fast PWM in the light.

 

Outputs

My measured outputs (On my TexasAce LumenTube) were generally pretty close to what was claimed by Wurkkos for the TS12.The exception was Turbo at the standard FL1 reading of 30 seconds was 844 lumens instead of the 1050 lumens claimed. I saw 1050 lumens but only on the very initial startup output. 

 

Heat & Runtime

Turbo stepdown on the TS12 is pretty significant and occurs pretty quickly. It goes from a peak near 1050 lumens to around 300 lumens in 90 seconds. I do wish it could sustain more lumens for longer. Peak heat was around the 15-minute mark at 46C which is warm but won’t burn you. Around the 35-minute mark on out to an hour, the light began to sea saw in output, too slowly to see with the eye but enough to see in the graph before running on low. While the light stayed on (but in a very low output) for another 90 minutes, when starting in turbo the effective useful runtime is about an hour. Starting in High, you got a lot of more of this sea saw output much sooner and a little bump in effective runtime. In medium, it did about 3:20:00 of total runtime and no sea saw output. 

 

Recharging

A couple of notes on charging with the TS12. I found the USB-C port to be a bit narrow, the ID of a USB-C port is 8.1mm wide while the width of the surrounding aluminum for this recessed port is only 11mm so you can’t use a particularly wide cable or an adapter to get there in my experience. The included battery rated at 900mAh and I tested it at 881mAh on my Vapcell S4 Plus charger. This isn’t a light where a high drain battery is required. Charging itself was without issue, and it charged fine with PD charging. I record the light charging in exactly 90 minutes at a maximum charge rate of 0.84A. Full the battery measured at 4.12v which is a little low. LVP kicked in at 2.980v.

 

Conclusion

Pocket throwers have a more limited niche use in a lot of situations. It’s made it hard to justify on price sometimes, but the Wurkkos TS12 delivers a solid mini thrower, with solid performance for a budget price. It’s an easy light to recommend in the pocket thrower class without a lot of strong negatives.

 

Get your own Wurkkos TS12 for a discount at https://wurkkos.com/products/wurkkos-ts12-mini-edc-flashlight,-1050lm-432meters-powerful-rechargeable-light-with-bezel?DIST=REJCFVQ%3D&VariantsId=11017

 

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Thrunite Catapult Mini V2 Review (1100 Lumens, 515 Meters of throw, 18350)

Today I’m taking a look at the new Thrunite Catapult Mini V2. Now if you have watched my channel for a while you will know I really liked the original Catapult Mini and it’s probably my go to small thrower flashlight so I was excited when Thrunite said they had an updated model coming out. It’s using an SFT40 LED that’s brighter than the original light and a different optic setup, so lets see if it’s an improvement or not. Thanks to Thrunite for sending this to me to look at and review.

 

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Get the Thrunite Catapult Mini V2 at Amazon with the links below.

Desert Tan https://amzn.to/3oD2ee6 use code LXDG4Y7L to save 15%

Black https://amzn.to/3N1xbln Click the coupon on the page to save 15%

 

Packaging & Accessories

Standard Thrunite packaging here, the signature brown cardboard box with just the logo on the front and the line drawing on the side, opposite that is the indicator for the body color and LED tint. Inside the light is nicely protected with black foam. Accessories are the light itself, USB-A to C Charging cable, proprietary 18350 1100mAh battery, and a bag of extra o’rings, button, recharging port, and branded lanyard.

 

Construction & Design

V2 shares some similar design characteristics with V1 in roughly the same shapes but with a little different style. The light is made from 6061 aluminum and is available in two colors currently, a standard black and a Desert Tan that I have here. The V2 is slightly longer by about 4.5mm in length. The V2 to me feels more like most of the recent Thrunite Designs with a lanyard attachment point on the flat tail, allowing the light to tail stand. The grip on the body is a combination of very fine-milled lines, and then 5 milled flats around the side. The head has the standard Thrunite flat metal button with an LED Battery indicator in the middle and a standard USB Port cover opposite that. That head grows in size with a cone and a more traditional flat screw-off bezel that’s not glued in place. The V2 is using a traditional smooth deep reflector where as the V1 used a TIR-style optic and this has a pretty big difference in the beam pattern as we will see later. 

 

Retention

Retention options here are limited, as the light doesn’t have a clip, nor comes with a holster. It does come with a lanyard that attaches to the tail if you wish. The light does tailstand but that’s less useful with a thrower like this in my opinion. I do like the size of the light in my hand, and find it pretty comfortable to use. The tail is nonmagnetic.

 

Size & Weight

I measured the length at 85.81mm, the diameter of the head at 40.4mm, diameter of the body at 26mm. Weight with the battery installed came to 4.06oz. The light is drop rated to 1.5M, and waterproof to 2M (IPX8). Here is a photo comparing it to the Catapult Mini V1 and the Lumintop GT Nano all small form factor throwers. 

 

LED & Beam

The Catapult Mini V2 is using a SFT40 LED that I measured on my Opple meter at 5835k and 65 CRI, so more on the cool white spectrum and low CRI. DUV had no undesirable tints to it. This LED is combined with a traditional smooth reflector where as the V1 used a unique TIR style optic. The result is the beam patterns are quite different. Where the V1 was all throw, and basically no spill, the V2 has a very bright hot center (with a bit of a donut at closer ranges), and a bit of spill. This makes the V2 somewhat better as more of a general-purpose light rather than only a thrower. 

 

V2

 

V1

 

Outputs

Outputs here on the Catapult Mini V2 were generally higher then claimed when measured on my TexasAce lumen tube at the 30 second mark. This isn’t something I mind at all, a nice little benefit.

One other thing to note here on outputs is the candela rating or throw, the V1 was rated at 89,600 candela and 598 meters of throw. The V2 is rated at 66,150 candela and 515 meters of throw, so slightly less throw than the outgoing model, but you are giving that up for a bit more spill to make the light a little more useful as well as a brighter output in all modes.

 

Heat & Runtime

I will let the graphs do the majority of the talking here on this section. Turbo runtime lasts 90 seconds in my testing, stepping down to 400 lumens. This corresponds to the thermals that I measured on the outside of the light at 34C. It was able to run at this level for 1:20:00, with peak heat increasing to about 39C on the outside of the light. Skipping turbo and just going with high nets you another 6 minutes of total runtime, and running on just medium gives you 3:30:00 of total runtime.

 

User Interface

The Catapult Mini V2 is using Thrunight’s standard UI that they use with basically all of their lights. It has 3 modes during normal operations and shortcuts to Firefly and Turbo. To get to Firefly from off, just long press for about 1 second. For Turbo double press in any mode, and for strobe triple press. For the main modes once on just long press to cycle between them. The light does have memory and will remember only the main modes. There are 2 lockout methods with the light, first is electronic lockout which you can do by long pressing the button for 4 seconds when off, and the same to unlock it. The LED will breathe fading in and out when it’s locked out with this method. Or my personal favorite is just to mechanically lock it out by slightly unscrewing the body from the head to break contact. 

 

Recharging & Power

The Catapult Mini V2 comes with a Thrunite branded semi-proprietary 1100mAh 18350 battery. I tested this battery at 1181mAh in my Vapcell S4 Plus charger. What makes the battery proprietary is the plastic ring around the positive contact on the battery and the fact that there is both positive and negative contacts on the positive end. However, the Catapult Mini V2 only uses positive contact meaning a button top 18350 that’s long enough works here too.

Using the onboard USB-C charging port I was able to charge the light from LVP at 2.903V to full at 4.191V in 3 hours 3 minutes. Now this is a pretty slow charging speed of about 0.5A and only about 1/2C. So it’s super conservative given the battery capacity. I had no issues here charging with a USB-C PD charger either. 

 

Conclusion

I think it’s debatable if the Catapult Mini V2 is really an upgrade here, while it is brighter, and the beam is more useful as a general-purpose flashlight, it’s slightly not as good as the original at being a thrower, which was what is so impressive about the original. That said the V2 is more useful daily because of the spill and the throw is nearly as far. The SFT40 has a slightly cool white tint with no negative tints which is nice to see. 

 

I do like the design of the V2 light slightly better with the improved grip and lanyard attachment points. The rest is pretty similar and unchanged. While I am a little disappointed a proprietary battery shipped with the light, i’m glad it’s not required to function and that normal small button, button top works here or a standard battery with a magnet if needed.

I can definitely recommend picking up a Catapult mini, now which version I think comes down to how you plan to use it, and the V2 for me probably gets the slight edge over V1 just because it is more useful in more scenarios with the increase in spill. That said let me know what you guys think is the better light to go with and why in the comments below. If I have any discounts those will be in the description of the video along with links to my socials. 

 

Get the Thrunite Catapult Mini V2 at Amazon with the links below.

Desert Tan https://amzn.to/3oD2ee6 use code LXDG4Y7L to save 15%

Black https://amzn.to/3N1xbln Click the coupon on the page to save 15%

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Lumintop Thor 3 Ragnarok Review (1.562 Million candela!)

Lumintop has a new addition to their Thor line of LEP flashlights with the Thor 3. The Thor 3 is the largest of the 3, and is powered by a 21700 battery, or optional 18650 with the included adapter. It’s a beast in terms of performance so I have to thank Lumintop for sending it to me to try and show you what it can do. 

 

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Get a 22% discount on the Thor 3 Ragnarok from Lumintop by using Coupon Code “JTHOR32” at https://lumintoplighting.com/products/lumintop-thor3-ragnarok-400-lumens-2500-meters-21700-lep-flashlight-183

 

Packaging & Accessories

Packaging is like may other recent Lumintop lights, a cardboard box with a basic slip cover and an outline drawing of the light. Inside the light is nicely protected in foam. You don’t get much in terms of accessories here for the price but you do get the light itself, a lanyard ring, 18650 adapter tube, and in my case an unlabeled 21700 battery. I believe you will get a battery with a branded lanyard if you choose that option. 

 

Construction

The light is made from aluminum, and anodized in a mat black. Fit and finish here is great. The rear button is a reverse clicky, and stands proud with the Lumintop bunny showing some small red LED’s underneath to help you locate the light in the dark. The tail also has 6 glow tubes in it. These do glow in the dark but it’s not the best glow material I have seen. 

The body tube tapers slightly as you go towards the head. It has a deep large diamond pattern milled into it that’s elegant yet gripy but the edges are a little sharp. I am glad they decided to do something different than the traditional knurling that we saw on the prototype version of this light. Internally there are small springs at both ends.

The head has large fins with milling for style primarily since this light doesn’t get hot. Branding is very minimal, it actually doesn’t say Thor 3 anywhere on it, only a largeish Lumintop logo and serial number. No laser warning is atypical too. The front bezel unscrews if you want to see inside. There is a thick glass lens thats spaced a bit away from the front convex lens that helps shape the beam here. There is what looks like glow material between the two on the edges, similar to what the Thor 2 had, expect here it doesn’t glow. 

 

Size & Weight

I measured the length at 164mm, the largest diameter in the head at 59.9mm, and the smallest on the body at 25.46mm. Weight with the battery and ring was 344g. The light is IPX8 water rated. 

 

Retention Options

The only included retention option with this light is the removable silver lanyard ring. There is a little more tolerance here then I would hope for, as it rattles around and rotates a bit too easily for my liking. The light feels good in the hand.

 

Emitter & Beam

Instead of a LED the Thor 3 uses a Laser Excited Phosphor (LEP) module. The Thor 3 is using the second generation of module where the laser sits behind a phosphor layer which has a silicone piece on top that focuses the light into a narrower beam. Lenses are then used to direct the light out of the front of the light into the beam we see. The benefit is this style of module is smaller typically but the lens assembly can be larger. The beam here over a long distance is very even, in some of my other LEP lights mainly the Jetbeam and Astrolux you can see a narrowing point (Focal Plain), but the Thor 3 seems more even like you see out of a traditional LED light. At short distances (2Ft) the beam has a hole in it, that in this case is blue/black, with a bright donut of light on the light. At 4+ feet this normalizes and just becomes a very intense beam with a few rings of intensity. The longer the distance the less this happens. Tint wise this is on the cooler side 6000-7000k I would guess. I have equipment on the way to give you a better answer to this question in my future reviews. 

 

Table of Outputs

 

ANSI/NEMA FL1 LOW HIGH
OUTPUT 40 Lumen 400 Lumen
Runtime 7H 20MIN 5M+ 4H+
INTENSITY 1562500cd (Max)
DISTANCE 2500m (Max)

 

Runtime & Heat

I ran my runtime tests with the included unlabeled button top protected battery that Lumintop sent with the light. I put it in my Vapcell S4 Plus charger to run an analysis cycle on it and came in with a capacity of 4987mAh. The Thor 3 claims to run for 5 minutes on high before step down and that’s exactly what my tests showed. Stepdown is about 37% of relative output for 5 hours at which point the light blinks once and goes to an ultra low mode for another 40 minutes. During this time the highest temp it saw was 31.5C, so not even warm.

 

In low mode only the light runs for what looks more like an unregulated 9 hours, Output slowly declines  but is above 50% relative output for the entire time. Impressive runtimes when your use to LED’s that typically run hot and for not as long.

 

UI

The UI on the Thor 3 is super simple. It has 2 steady mode and a strobe. The light turns on officially in low at the start, and you can half press the rear button to turn to high. Double half press quickly to go to the fast strobe. The light does have memory for the two low and high modes. It’s as simple as that.

 

Final Thoughts

The Thor 3 is my best performing LEP thrower light, and it’s also one of the largest single cell LEP lights I have. In terms of performance it’s a beast. 1,562,500 CD is nothing to sneeze at.  It’s amazing to think that you can get this much throwing performance out of a single cell light you can hold in one hand, and get that for 5 minutes before step down. You just can’t do that with current LED technology. 

 

I like the look here physically with the body milling and tail being my favorite parts. You get grip without the same or similar knurling that nearly every other flashlight has. Performance is good here too, it can sustain the high output for the better part of 5 minutes before step down. That equates to throwing performance of 2500 meters, well over 1 mile of performance. Pretty impressive for handheld. 

 

I still maintain I don’t have a ton of practical uses for LEP’s in my daily life other then to amaze people and have an awesome handheld spotlight to quiet the neighbors dog 3 houses down. 🙂 If you have land or just want a fun but somewhat impractical spotlight, this is a great option to pick. 

 

Pick up the Thor 3 Ragnarok from Lumintop at https://lumintoplighting.com/products/lumintop-thor3-ragnarok-400-lumens-2500-meters-21700-lep-flashlight-183

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Lumintop Thor II Review (LEP, 1800M, 18350, 769500 Candella, Turboglow)

Today I have a fun one, with a new LEP light from Lumintop with the THOR. It has a Turboglow ring in the head as well as little viewing windows and a tail cap with colored LED’s. Thanks to Lumintop for sending this to me to look at and review. I will have links to where you can pick it up from them in the description below as well as a coupon code where you can save 21% on this fun LEP light which is nice.

 

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Pickup the Lumintop Thor II (In Aluminum) at https://lumintoplighting.com/products/lumintop-thor-ii-1800-metersthrow-lep-flashlight-154 and use code TPOR2J to save 21% from Sept 30 2021.

 

Link to the Titanium Thor II and use code TPOR2J to save 21% from Sept 30 2021.

https://lumintoplighting.com/products/lumintop-thor-ii-titanium-1800-metersthrow-lep-flashlight-163

 

Packaging & Accessories

I received a retail package, that was Lumintops cardboard box with an oversleve. The outside showed the outline of the light, and the options that were inside on the side. Accessory wise mine was pretty basic, just the light, 18650 extension tube and the basic manual.


Construction

The Thor is available in a couple different material configurations. You have titanium options with 2 different finishes, and an aluminum model with 4 different color options (Black, Grey, Sand, Raw). I have the Grey color here which is the same as what the FW3A came in originally if you have one of those.

As usual let’s start at the tail cap, the light will tail stand, and it has a machined metal mechanical button with the “old” bunny logo. Surrounding it is a clear plastic ring. Under the ring are RGB LED’s that fade to Green, Yellow, Red, and Blue over about 30 seconds. It adds to the fun in my opinion. Below are some tear drop shapes, and a small place for a lanyard to attach. Inside there is a spring.

Depending on which configuration your running there may or may not be a body section. With the titanium version of the light, it includes the 18350 extension, with the aluminum version it’s an add on. If you do opt for it it allows you to run 18650 batteries too. There is a square knurling pattern milled into it for a little style and grip.

The head section is the rest of the light, You have an interesting add on style ring which on my light is gold in color. This features the name and serial number of the light. Fit on mine isn’t great so it spins freely but it’s also completely removable if you wish. The head has a little more of the square milled knurling and then grows for the emitter like a traditional flashlight shape.

 

What’s not so traditional are the little windows that are cut into the bezel, what looks to be preinstalled tritium is actually little vial sized pieces of Turboglow in Red and White. When the light is on, light leaks into these and charges them creating a neat effect that makes the light look really cool when in use and after for a little while. 

The front of the light has a glass lens, underneath is a glow ring around the outside edge of the same Turboglow material. Underneath is a biconvex lens made of plastic, and below that is the emitter. The front of the light comes apart easily, but I don’t recommend it as it’s very hard to get back together without getting dust inside.

Size and Weight

Minimum diameter is 25.6mm, Maximum diameter was 41.5mm. Length in the 18350 configuration is 116mm, with the 18650 extension it’s 148.4mm. Weight in 18350 configuration with a battery inside was 194.4g. Weight with the 18650 tube and battery came in at 233.6g. The light is impact resistant to 1m, and IPX8 water rated.

 

Retention

Not much to say here, the light has a lanyard attachment point in the tail cap. It’s too small for paracord to fit but fine for a split ring and then paracord. No lanyards or holsters come with the light in the box. 

 

Emitter & Beam

The THOR is using a LEP or Laser Excited Phosphor. It’s a technology I have covered in the past but it’s similar to a blue laser shining onto a piece of phosphor to produce white light. In the Thor the tint here is better then my Jetbeam and Astrolux LEP lights, in my opinion because it’s less cool white, and more neutral, almost slightly warm when you look at them side by side. The beam is pretty small with very little spill and this is exactly what you want out of a LEP. While not many lumens it makes up for it with extreme 769,500 Candella, and a 1800m max claimed distance. No PWM is visible during the use of the light. 

 

Heat & Runtime

I tested the light both with 18350 (Keeppower 1100mAh), and an 18650 (Sony VTC6 3000mAh) batteries. With the 18350 runtime at high mode was stable for right at 5 minutes, before taking a stepdown to about 30% relative output that was mostly flat out to 52minutes. Total runtime was 57 minutes, with maximum heat being found at 6 minutes at 42C .

 

With the 18650 it was a very similar story, Turbo lasted the same amount of time, the s tepdown roasted out to 2:45:00, and total runtime ended at 3:07:00. Temps were a a little higher at 51C and peaked near the end of the runtime here. 

https://i.imgur.com/2FqiLAc.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/mMfX5jQ.jpg

 

You don’t need a high amperage battery here, as max power draw is only 9W. You do get quite a bit more runtime with an 18650 battery so that’s worth doing if you want/need that. 

 

UI

The UI on the Thor is very simple, it’s an easy 3 mode light with a reverse clicky mechanical button and linear progression from Low to Medium, to High. The light will always turn on in the next mode. The button itself is quite easy to press and change modes by half clicking, almost too easy. There is no flashing or blinking modes, and I can’t find a way to disable to LED’s in the tail cap either if you wanted.

 

Conclusion

This is my favorite LEP light that I have so far, because it’s emitter is a more neutral, almost warm color and it’s performance is great, especially when your running the 18350. That said I would definitely recommend adding the 18650 extension it to your order if you decide to buy this light in aluminum. Really for this price it should be included.

 

I still maintain LEP lights are not super practical, but they are a lot of fun and great for specialized applications. This is a super compact thrower with great performance without the heat limitations that a lot of the smaller LED based throwers have. It’s a step above the other LEP lights that I have tested this year. While I love titanium the increased cost here is hard to justify, my recommendation is to choose aluminum and pick one up. 

 

Don’t forget that coupon code in the description below that Lumintop has given me to save 21% on this light through September 30th 2021. 

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Astrolux WP1 Review (A rebadged LEP thrower from Jetbeam?)

Today I have the Astrolux WP1 LEP flashlight. It’s capable of 250,000 candela, and 480 lumens out of the included 21700 Liion battery and it’s UI is a control ring. If you have seen my review of the Jetbeam RRT M1X Raptor you might notice a few differences more on that further on in my review. Thanks to Banggood for sending this light to me and providing a discount for my viewers. 

 

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Get the Astrolux WP1: https://ban.ggood.vip/XSaT for $165.95 by using code BGYX06

Other Flashlight Deals from Banggood https://ban.ggood.vip/XSaQ

 

Packaging & Accessories

The Astrolux WP1 comes in a large plastic case with a handle, on the front is a large sicker showing the light and listing a few headlining stats. On the back is another sticker showing a runtime chart and links to various social media platforms. 

As far as accessories the light comes with an unbranded 5000mAh, 21700mAh battery with MicroUSB recharging onboard, A basic lanyard, an extras bag with 2 red orings, and spare tail cap, manual and a basic holster.

 

Construction

Astrolux brought out 2 LEP style flashlights earlier in 2021 that appear to mirror the Jetbeam RRT M1X and  M2S WP-RX, in physical appearance and closely in performance with the main difference being the engraving on the body. I suspect the parent manufacturer for Astrolux is Jetbeam. The anodizing Jetbeam useses is a somewhat distinct gray in the flashlight industry, and it’s being used here as well. Side by side they look the same anodizing wize.

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. I was able to swap around the head, body, and tail from the Jetbeam RRT M1X as well. The orings on the WP1 are the same distinct red color as the Jetbeam.

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. The bezel of the light is non removable. It does stand proud of the “lens” and the cuts in the side allow for some light to leak when head down.

 

Size & Weight

I measured the length at 158.3mm, minimum diameter at 24mm on the flats of the body, and maximum diameter of 36.7mm on the control ring. Weight with the supplied battery is 230g. The light is IPX8 Water rated. Here are few photos of similar lights or competitors that I own.  

 

Retention

Retention options with the WP1 are the included lanyard which can be attached at the tail cap and then the holster. The holster has a velcro front cover and is made with a neoprene lined ballistic nylon. On the rear it has a belt loop that’s attached with a button and velcro. 

 

Emitter & Beam

So instead of an LED, the WP1 uses a LEP or Laser Excited Phosphor. Astrolux calls this the WP-T2 LEP (Same as Jetbeam). 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. 

The result is a beam that’s extremely concentrated. At 8ft it’s less than a 5 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 as much and my night shots show that. When I compare it to my Jetbeam RRT M1X the beam here is larger, in shorter distances, but still quite small by LED flashlight standards. The tint here definitely has a blueish tint to it. There was no visible PWM to the eye or camera.

 (Astrolux on the Left, Jetbeam on the Right)

 

Heat & Runtime

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 36C during testing, and that’s a regulated temp. With the smaller body it does get about 4 degrees warmer than the larger Jetbeam model. It does seem to have a timed stepdown, to 40% 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 5:14:00 with several step downs along the way. After 12 minutes your running at about 30% relative output but you can bump back up manually. 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. Strobe is very fast here, almost to the point of it not being useful as a strobe. 

 

Recharging

Recharging here is accomplished with the included unbranded (My guess is it’s the same battery Jetbeam supplies with their lights) 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 7:31:00 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 4719mAh. 

 

Pro’s & Con’s 

Pro

  • Simple Name
  • Good size for in the hand use & filters are available to make the LEP more practical for more tasks
  • The control ring is easy to use especially with gloves
  • Beam here is wider and slightly more practical.

 

Con’s

  • Strobe is too fast
  • Wish it came with the optional diffusers to make it more practical
  • Not inexpensive. 
  • LEP tint isn’t great, very cool white.

 

Conclusion

Given this lights apparent similarity with it’s sibling Jetbeams cousins, I would say go with whichever you can find the best deal on. Banggood is known for it’s coupons so it might end up being the Astrolux versions. From a physical and performance stand point I can’t tell a lot of difference. I don’t have both to do direct comparisons on but from reading in the forums and looking at them, and comparing the Astrolux WP1 to my Jetbeam RRT M1X Raptor I think they are likely the same. 

The big difference between the two models are their size of head and a bit of styling. The Astrolux WP1 here is a much smaller design thats easier to fit in the hand 

While LEP’s are really fun, and the performance is incredible, I struggle to find many uses for them in general. The hot spot here is a bit larger then my other LEP’s which makes it better, but realistically this isn’t something most people need and still quite small with no spill. It does work well for that smaller hand held search light application, signaling, and possibly on a hunting rifle at lower settings or with filters but this isn’t something you would want to take camping or be super useful in a power outage. That said it has pretty solid performance, and a LEP is something every flashlight obsessed individual should have in their collection.

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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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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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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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Acebeam L35 Review (5000 Lumens, 480M Throw, 21700, TIR Optic)

Today I have Acebeam’s new L35 Tactical Thrower. The one I have here has a Cree XHP70.2 LED capable of 5000 lumens with a throw out to 480 meters. It has a big TIR reflector in it’s short head to create a real wall of light that you will see in my night shots. It’s powered by a 21700 battery too. Thanks to Acebeam for sending this to me and providing a discount if you are interested in this light. More info on that will be in the description below.

 

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Packaging & Accessories

The L35 comes in a cardboard retail top hanging style packaging. The front shows the light in 1:1 scale with Acebeams black and orange theme. The box has a lot of information on the side and rear panel. There are two versions of this light, one with a Cree XHP 70.2 LED and the other with a LatticePower P70 that isn’t widely available yet (New LED). The light also comes as a kit version with a 21700 battery with onboard USB-C or not. Other accessories that come with all lights are a box of spares (2x O’Rings, 1x tail button), non branded lanyard, standard paperwork and a holster. The holster on mine had a pretty crumpled end, it’s just nylon, no additional padding inside. It’s a fairly tight fit for the light, making me think this isn’t a holster made specifically for this light but one that’s repurposed from another model. 

Construction

The Acebeam L35 shares a lot of characteristics and good build quality traits with the Acebeam L17 I reviewed earlier in 2020. It has the same mat anodized aluminum and nice machining. Starting at the tailcap you have a raised branded Acebeam button, underneath it is a mechanical switch for a full actuation it does require a decent amount of force. A quick 1/8 turn on the tail cap does disable the tail button and side switch. There is a small amount of knurling thats pretty aggressive on the tail. Inside there is a single very stiff spring.

Threads on this light are anodized, square cut, nicely greased and very smooth as a result. Some of the best in the production light category. The tactical ring is aluminum and completely round, it’s removable but you first need to remove the oring in front of it. Below that is a removable pocket clip. The body of the light is glued to the head. It has a milled grip pattern into it and it’s very mild for a tactical light. I do like the look though as it’s kind of a spiral. 

The head has 3 steps before reaching it’s final diameter at the front of the light. There is minimal branding, just the brand, model number and at the back. The side switch is polished and a very tight fit. It’s fairly sensitive but flat. To the left of this at the 9 oclock position there is a LED for a battery indicator and status indicator. The head then grows with the reflector. It’s quite short for it’s diameter and there is the aggressive diamond knurling. At the very front is a pretty aggressive tumbled stainless steel strike bezel. Underneath is a glass lens over top of the TIR plastic reflector. I can see a small molding marks inside inside the reflector but these don’t show on the beam. The center is diffused as well. 

 

Size & Weight

Overall length of the light came in at 152mm. Minimum diameter on the body was 25.42mm, maximum diameter on the head was 54.1mm. I measured the weight with the clip on but without a battery at 166.2g. The light is rated for a 1M drop and is IPX8 rated to 5M. 

 

Retention

As mentioned previously the light does come with a nylon holster that’s Acebeam branded. Mine was kind of crushed at the end in shipping but still works fine. It has very little padding which is ok. There is a dring and fixed belt loop. I question if this holster was made for this light as the velcro doesn’t have full engagement. 

There is also a removable pocket clip on the light that fits below the tactical ring. It’s not fixed and rotates with moderate pressure, I would expect it to rub on the anodizing over time too. The pocket clip here is less for EDC carry in a front pocket but more for clipping on to a vest or something like that. There is a lanyard and the main attachment point is on the tactical ring.

 

LED & Beamshots

My L35 here is running the Cree XHP 70.2P LED in a neutral white at 5000k. Mine has a green tint that’s more noticeable at lower powers and in the corona and spill. Not very surprising to have tint shift on this Cree LED. It’s rated for 5000 lumens, a beam distance of 480 meters at 57,600 candela. There is a LaticePower P70 LED option for this light that is a slight decrease in lumens but an increase in throw by 90 meters. I will be interested to hear more about it when it becomes available as it’s a new LED. You do need a high drain (At least 20A or more) 21700 when running this light to get maximum performance. If batteries are not as high drain the light will start to blink when in turbo mode and step down quickly. 

Mode spacing is pretty good here, as you can see from the table below. It’s nice to see it have a 1 lumen moonlight mode. The jump from high at 1500 to turbo at 5000 sounds like a lot and it is quite a bit. There is no PWM with this light.

 

Heat and Runtime

For my runtimes tests I used an Xtar 4200mAh battery with a max amperage rating of 45A. This light requires a battery capable of 20A or more in order to see it’s top performance. In turbo the light ran for 1:15 before stepping down to about 38% relative output. This was a bit disappointing how fast it stepped down as the difference of 5000 lumens to 1500 lumens is substantial. Here it ran for another 1:10:00 before shutting down with LVP kickin in at 2.966V. I did the same runtime test but only ran it on high and got slightly longer runtime of 1:19:00. This curve was very flat. So at these higher outputs the light has a fairly limited runtime, but the good news is the cure is flat after the initial step down.

Heat was interesting, I had trouble keeping my thermal couple attached to the light, with the small shelf the tape didn’t want to stay attached as well as I hoped in my 3 test. Maybe it’s time for some high temp tape. Max temp I saw before step down was 43C, but during the longer runtimes heat continued to rise to about 55C before it looks like the thermal couple came loose during the last 15 minutes. 

 

UI

The UI is simple to use, you have 2 controls, the eswitch at the front and the instant access to turbo via the mechanical switch in the rear. If you turn the light on with the rear switch, the front switch doesn’t work at all. With the front switch you can simply press to turn on, and then press and hold to cycle between the normal outputs. Double press to go to turbo, and triple press to go to strobe. To lock electronically press and hold for 3 seconds, and the same to unlock or just slightly turn the tail cap. 

 

Pro’s 

  • I like they replaced the eSwitch from the L17 with a Mechanical switch here on the tail.
  • The hotspot is large, not a super long distance thrower.
  • Relatively small and short head given it’s performance.
  • Simple UI. 
  • Takes a standard battery

 

Con’s

  • Strobe isn’t utilizing all the lumens here which is a little odd.
  • Quite a bit of tint shift. 
  • No tail standing
  • Turbo runtime is quite short at just 1:15. 

 

Conclusion

The Acebeam L35 with the Cree XHP 70.2 LED and TIR reflector is an interesting light. It looks tactical, and and with the tail cap only working for turbo it is. It’s a little odd to not find strobe on the tail cap though but it’s not a feature I personally miss. The beam here is interesting as it’s not the throwiest for its, size or power, instead you get a large intense hotspot that goes 480 meters. The LatticePower P70 LED is a little less on peak lumens but throws another 90 meters.  It’s compatible with a remote pressure switch too should you want to run it on a weapon. 

To me it’s not quite a thrower, but definitely on the side of a more tactical then most long distance thrower lights. The beam is pretty useful, since it is larger not nearly as focused as the L17 was. It is on the expensive side but right now for Black Friday Acebeam is running a 30% off sale on this new light to help with that, and that brings it more in line with its competitors.