[Review] Skilhunt M200 (XP-L CW/NW, Side Switch, 18650)

The flashlight was sent to me by Skilhunt for review.
Here's the product's link: Skilhunt M200

The M200 comes in a nice Skilhunt-branded cardboard box.


Seated inside some laser cut foam.


The accessories list includes an adjustable lanyard, a pocket clip, a proprietary charging cable, two spare o-rings and a silicone insert for substituting the tail's magnet.


The M200 incorporates an elegant design.
It's side-switch operated and comes with light knurling along its body.


Opposite to the side-switch there is the magnetic charging pad.
Both components sit almost flat to the head and are encircled by a metal ring.


The included pocket clip can only be reverse mounted and its very strong.


The e-switch also acts as a battery indicator. Once the flashlight is turned on, it will blink to indicate the cell's voltage.
(Constant Blue >80% , Blinking Blue 50% - 80%, Constant Red 20% - 50%, Blinking Red <20%)


Both threads are anodized, square cut and allow for a mechanical lock out.


Here's the tail and head assembly. Both springs are thick and robust.


Thanks to the magnetic tail, the M200 can be attached to metal surfaces.


The head hosts the shallow, smooth reflector along with the Cree XP-L CW emitter (NW tint is also available).
I am happy to say that the flashlight has almost no tint shift along the edges of the hotspot and that's probably the reason
why the XP-L was selected instead of the newer XP-L2.


The charging interface is very simple to use, as the cable automatically attaches itself to the charging surface.
Once the charge is complete, the indicator LED of the charger will shine blue.


Here's the input current that I record whlist charging a half full cell.
It's safe to assume that the max current is indeed set at 1A.


A thing that has really impressed me with the M200 is its minimal dimensions and weight.


The M200 is the most compact 18650 I have owned.
From left to right: Rofis R2, Skilhunt M200, Jaxman E2l, Convoy S2+, Klarus XT2CR


User Interface

Skilhunt is using a pretty intuitive UI that's easy to remember and provides quite a few goodies.
Here's all the actions supported by the firmware.

Turn on: Single press
Turn off: Long press (0.5s)
Mode change: Single press ( Low - Mid - High - Turbo )
Turbo: Double press from off
Low: Long press from off (0.5s)
Strobe, Beacons: Triple press from anywhere and double press to scroll between Strobe, Beacon1 & Beacon2
Jump to SubLevel: Double press while in desired mode (e.g H1 -> Double press -> H2)

Of course, mode memory is there and interestingly enough the last mode is memorized even after the battery has been removed.
There is also memory between the Strobe, Beacon1 & Beacon2 modes which means that the next time a triple press is invoked, the flashlight will just to the last used blinking mode.

Output Measurements

Here's my ceiling bounce measurements along with the current draw for each power level.


And here's Turbo2's Lux reading compared to my other lights:

The standby drain was measured at 60μΑ, which is good.

My tests showed that the M200 is pushing around 975 Lumens , which is around 200 less than the advertised performance.
To be honest, I am not bothered by the specification mismatch as the flashlight is excellent in every aspect.

Beamshots
Low1 - Low2 - Mid1


Mid1- High1 - High2


Turbo1 - Turbo2


Conclusion: The M200 is easily one of the most versatile 18650 EDC flashlights that I have come to review.
For the last week it's been my dedicated EDC light!

Thanks for the review Bilakos10. I grabbed one of these just a few days after they were released and I really like it a lot. I carry it more often than any other light. I don’t know why they advertise 1200 lumens. I know running 2 16340’s can bump up output a little but I still don’t think it hits 1200. The only real complaint I had about it was the edges around the charging port are wicked sharp on mine. Don’t know if your light has that sharp edge on it. Other than that I love it. Thanks again.

This light is going to make one awesome EDC for a lot of us guys. I used the Skilhunt HO3 as an EDC for tasks virtually every night on a 30 day trip around Europe…I developed a respect and real like for their product and once this light catches on I’m sure it will be a favorite. Thanks for your review!


To be honest I hadn't noticed the sharp edges around the charging port prior to you pointing it out.
In my case, the edges don't bother me at all nor I think that I will be encountering any problem in the long term.

As you also said, the M200 has become one of my go-to lights since I got it.
It's super lightweight, compact and runs on a nice UI :)

I am pretty sure that it will become an EDC favorite for lots of members.

Thanks for the review! Waiting for a coupon or sale, had my eye on this for a while now >.>

They say on their website 1200 led lumens - 950 ANSI lumens.

Anyway, that light looks really quite excellent in every way. Until you showed the comparison pic I didn’t realise it was so small. Can definitely see this becoming a favourite…

Probably the smallest one with a built in charging mechanism. But otherwise Zebralight SC64 is even smaller. Will post a comparison pic once I buy/get mine :slight_smile:

Same here. To date, the M200 has been my EDC. My only nit is the charging port looks like an open wound. And yes, I also doubt it hits 1200. Still, very small, well built, with a nice transition from center spot to floodiness.

Cheers

Can the battery tube be put in the other way so the clip goes the other direction?

Unfortunately no.
The threads’ pitch is similar on both sides, but their length is different so by rotating the body’s direction wont allow it to screw in all the way in.

That’s too bad.

To be honest I have been carrying it with the reverse pocket clip for quite some time and it hasn’t bothered me so far.

At first I was also discouraged by the fact that I could alter the direction of the clip.

Nice review. Thanks.

User Interface
...

etc.

...

Turn on: Single press > Yey! - So far, so good..
Turn off: Long p.. ff.. No! Simply, NO! Deal's OFF.

The End..

On the bright side of things though, the long press duration for off is very short :slight_smile:

I actually like the half second ‘long press’ to off.

It prevents an accidental shut down from a bump or unintentional press at a critical moment. With the long press, you have to want it off.

I also prefer the ‘long press through moonlite’ for the electronic lock out. I got used to that in Olights UI and find it less annoying that the ‘4 click’ lockout in the FW3x.

I think the M200 is a terrific little light, and I’m surprised it hasn’t drawn more attention.

I got one for 25 bucks and i’m very happy with it.

s2+ clip fits mine so i can carry bezel down and still tail stands if any help