Ok, I got lured into this one :person_facepalming: .
I asked Neal via email if he could spare me two mini-GT drivers because I demolished one in the process of modding. He very kindly offered me them even for free, but also asked if I would be in for reviewing lights. I told him that reviewing flashlights is not my favourite pastime but if there were exciting new flashlights I may consider it.
Without further contact today I received the two drivers….and a Mateminco X6S :weary: . Not what I consider the most exciting new flashlight but it is pretty nice and compact and admittedly Neal played it well, so here’s a (compact) review.
First the size. The use of a triple TIR instead of a single reflector allowed for saving quite some length compared to the Eagle Eye X6, and it makes the X6S have a rather elegant silhouet. The rubber cigar grip rings are from Kaidomain by the way (because I like them, they did not come with the lights).
And here’s straight away the biggest downside of the X6S, the very small TIR’s, about the size of the TIR in my DQG-tinyAAA. Either they would have fit in a much narrower head, or many more of these (7 to be precise) could have fit in the current X6S head. My X6 mod has Cute3 optics that have way larger reflector cups.
Those tiny TIR’s translate in a massive flood beam, despite that XP-L Hi leds are used. Here compared to the X6 triple mod (with neutral XP-L2 leds). Note also that the X6S beam is a bit messy.
What does not help for the beam is that the TIR reflectors are not fully used in this optical lay-out, the outer edge does not receive light. It could be that the distance from the led die to the optic is not correct, or that the optic is not ideal for XP-L Hi leds. Here looking at the light from 2 meter distance (going further does not fill the reflectors any better)
So what is inside.
First the lens, nice and thick, it does not seem AR coated.
Then the leds, the obligatory cool white XP-L HI leds (on a nice copper DTP board on a thick shelf)
Then the driver. They used the 17mm Banggood X5/X6 driver with the standard Bistro user interface which is pretty nice. My immediate question was how, when using this driver in a triple set-up, did they avoid the dreaded turbo-immediate-drop-to-moon problem? Tilting the driver a bit gave the answer: they piggybacked an extra cap on top of C1. Not the most elegant solution so I have been told, but it does the job.
The tail contains the standard tailboard with blue leds that were in the BLF X5 and X6 and which is separately for sale at Banggood as well.
Numbers with a charged 30Q cell:
Output at start 2500 lumen, 2370 lumen at 30 seconds. I measured 10.5A with tail off and clamp meter (so a bit lower with the tail in the circuit, between 8 and 9A?). I did not even measure throw, this is a flood light.
Oh, and with the cute shorty tube and Aspire 18350 cell is still does 2450 at start and 2250 at 30 seconds.
The head of the X6S is much wider than needed for those tiny TIRs, in fact they would fit in my E2L tube lights. So the big head is not used for throw, so what’s left is the better heat management of a finned wide head. A quick test indeed shows that. (both flashlights use the same VTC6 battery and both draw 10.5A).
After recharging the battery I checked how long it takes for the X6S to reach the 56.2 degrees that the E2L reached in 35 seconds, it was 2 minutes so almost 4 times longer.
Conclusion:
If flood is your passion, here’s a great flashlight, this light is even floodier than my DQG-tinyAAA. It is short, looks good, has great output that it can maintain for a useful few minutes, and the construction of the X6S is very well done, with no surprises, and using the standard parts that we modders like. You can swap leds, bypass springs etc. etc. if you want to customise it to your liking. It will however never become a thrower, throwier optics will not fit (or you need an anti-spacer).
Is it worth buying? I think so, for just over 25 dollar in Neals group buy, you get a lot of light for your money, reliable with trusty well-proven parts and in a nice compact form. And who can resist that shorty tube? :heart_eyes:
Thanks for reading