Review : Utorch UT02 Flashlight (XHP35 / 26650 / usb rechargeable)(in progress)

[Bill_tong]

@PeterRamish

I just took delivery (6/1/2017) on a utorch ut02 and the poor thing is just pathetic. It draws 2.4 A at the tail cap, and my DIY sphere tells me it’s 650 lm. I know that’s right as my sphere is very reliable it’s tested dozens of lights .

I want to warn other fellow BLFs about this situation, so they do not make the same mistake I did.

I have looked at this light a little more. It has other driver issues, like a 50% timed step down at 90 seconds which is total un-necessary at the power level it is driven.

It is a shame because the construction, machining, fit and finish is all very high quality. I can not believe that they put that much effort into it and then fell apart on the driver/LED. They also have violated the ANSI FL1 agreement, as the bogus information is stated on the box and printed material. That is a real No/NO and if ANSI catches up… but, of course China is a “long way away”,… so I guess they will just continue to do what they are doing.

Last Post/Review here was last updated some months ago and I think people thought that UTORCH would improve and fix the light by this time (over 7 months). But that has not happened. I have a recent production sample here and it is basically 50% below its claimed ANSI spec.

I wrote GearBest, but they just send back one of their bul&^lsh#@t emails about asking me to “take a video of the problem”, and “am I sure about the issues”, bla…bla…bla…

Unless you want to pour another $50~100 in drivers, LEDs, mods, stay away !

-Peter

So does the 50% step-down, mean after 90s it’s output is limited to 325lm(650lm/2) ?
Is there anyway to lower the bleeder resistor and increase output?
Despite the issues, it’s still difficult to find a thrower at $30 that has a built in charger.

[nodoubt]

mine steps down too
shame like you said for a heavy duty light
the dam things still ice cold after several reruns on turbo………

[Bill_tong]

@PeterRamish

@Bill_tong

So does the 50% step-down, mean after 90s it’s output is limited to 325lm(650lm/2) ?
Is there anyway to lower the bleeder resistor and increase output?
Despite the issues, it’s still difficult to find a thrower at $30 that has a built in charger.

Yes, actually a little less than 325lm, but that is pretty close, it maintains that for over 10 minutes, it may actually run much longer at that level, but after 10 mins I got tired of waiting and removed it from the sphere. The math with the 26650 should have it go abt 7 hours at 300lm. You mileage might vary.

I paid $39 from Gearbest, maybe you can find one 10 bucks cheaper. I agree the form factor and the USB charging is very interesting. For me, speaking as a tech-head fashaholic, it just is annoying as hell, not statisfying :person_facepalming: , but if it will work for you then go for it! Actually, I am going to gift it to a non-flashlight friend, he will make fine use of it, the USB charger is perfect for him. FYI I have a stock box Convoy C8 from Simon that blows the doors off this thing in a night time A/B head to head at 100 yards.

The resistor mod is liable to kill the USB charge and other features of the programming. TomE and I discussed this in PM and he agrees, the only fix is a complete lobotomy.

-Peter

I agree 325lm is pretty bad for a XHP35, it has all the right stuff going for it why didn’t they just improve the driver.
Which Convoy C8 are you comparing to, XPL with 8 drivers? Or XPL with a FET?

[NikolaS]

How then me and Dale got 950 lumens for NW, and 1090 on CW? Not that I am discrediting yor measurements, but we had same Amperage on tail as you do 2,4- 2,5A and 0,7A on led
….

[DB_Custom (Dale)]

I use mine on 10 minute walks pretty much weekly, taking the trash down to the road for collection in the morning. It makes nice light and doesn’t step down like what you’re saying yours does. I tested it side by side with a Manker U21 and liked the UT02 better.

Just pulled mine off the shelf, well rested, and it does 1070.2 lumens for 2 minutes then takes 30 seconds to ramp down to 745.2 lumens where it sits stable for over a minute and I cut it off, the head is warm to the touch.

[NikolaS]

There is a step down after 3 min but from 950 to 640 lumens with my NW but you can’t actually see it with bare eyes. Anyway if you dont like it just go to secret mode and switch to turbo and it will stay in turbo until battery can handle it, also it will get hot after 10 minutes

[DB_Custom (Dale)]

Forgot about the hidden mode, thanks Nikola for reminding me. No turbo step down when in that mode.

[Tom_E]

When Peter and I pm'ed, I forgot the standard tail amps on these things is 2.3-2.5A amps now. Used to be over 5A when they did a true 1,300 lumens, like the Manker U21 did in my review: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/40242.

So the new 2.4A version does about 1,000 lumens. With Peter's doing ~650 lumens, I'd suspect the LED, LED mount, and/or optics, but could still be a driver problem I suppose.

He's right though - they downgraded the light but never downgraded the specs, but if the measurements are good, his is performing below par of even the downgraded model, but the amps drawn from the cell is not producing the same output.

[DB_Custom (Dale)]

From post #179, earlier this evening…

“Just pulled mine off the shelf, well rested, and it does 1070.2 lumens for 2 minutes then takes 30 seconds to ramp down to 745.2 lumens where it sits stable for over a minute and I cut it off, the head is warm to the touch.”

I may not be a mathematical genius but even I can garner that 1070 well rested lumens is much more than half of 1300 ANSI rated lumens. The well rested cell in question is an OLD Moli 26700 sitting at 4.02V.

Edit: For the record, my UT02 with a Sanyo 20700B cell at 4.15V makes 1107.45 lumens. As tested moments ago before plugging the light in for charging.

Edit II: With the 20700B cell charged in the light, it makes 1111 lumens.

[giorgoskok]

Received another ut02 (cw) some days ago , and this particular light is making 1040 lumens .

[DB_Custom (Dale)]

FWIW, without the lens mine is making 1159.2 lumens, so there is some 48 lumens blocked via the lens… which actually speaks very well for the lens of choice they put in this one!

[cdjaney]

@DB Custom

From post #179, earlier this evening…

“Just pulled mine off the shelf, well rested, and it does 1070.2 lumens for 2 minutes then takes 30 seconds to ramp down to 745.2 lumens where it sits stable for over a minute and I cut it off, the head is warm to the touch.”

I may not be a mathematical genius but even I can garner that 1070 well rested lumens is much more than half of 1300 ANSI rated lumens. The well rested cell in question is an OLD Moli 26700 sitting at 4.02V.

Edit: For the record, my UT02 with a Sanyo 20700B cell at 4.15V makes 1107.45 lumens. As tested moments ago before plugging the light in for charging.

Edit II: With the 20700B cell charged in the light, it makes 1111 lumens.

DB……I can’t remember. Is your UT02 stock or did you mod it (resistor mod, bypass etc)?

[DB_Custom (Dale)]

It’s stock, kept it that way for the comparison to the U21 and find I rather like it… don’t want to replace the driver due to the 3A built in charger.

Or that’s what my memory tells me, I’d have to open it up and look to be 100% sure.

[giorgoskok]

2A battery charger .

Btw , modded a lot of them , and if someone wants could probably keep the charger , I’m now working on one like that …

[DB_Custom (Dale)]

Confused now, sure thought it was the UT02 that had a 3A built in charger… now I can’t find if there’s one I have that does or if I just got it wrong. Thanks Giorgo.

[maukka]

Mine rises slowly up to 1.9A. 3A would be quite difficult for most USB power supplies.

[DB_Custom (Dale)]

But of course, with most USB outlets having a 2A max. Seems there was a light that had more than one USB charging port that could be used simultaneously to charge faster although that’s not where I got the 3A figure, must’ve just made that one up. Sick and tired of being sick and tired…

[maukka]

@DB Custom

But of course, with most USB outlets having a 2A max. Seems there was a light that had more than one USB charging port that could be used simultaneously to charge faster although that’s not where I got the 3A figure, must’ve just made that one up. Sick and tired of being sick and tired…

Yup, the MecArmy PT60 for example goes to almost 3A with three micro usb charging ports (or just one if the charger is up to it).

[nodoubt]

mine makes close to 1100 lumens, and 99 k lux, its nw

[ZozzV6]

@giorgoskok

Btw , modded a lot of them , and if someone wants could probably keep the charger , I’m now working on one like that …

I ordered last week an UT-02. I will be interested in the details of your build to keep charger and make better driver. Please inform me when you do it. So then If I will be unhappy with performance I can make an upgrade.