Zeusray alternative?

Now that Zeusray have stopped producing the EDC100 and EDC120 what is a good alternative budget xm-l2 zoomie? I really like the EDC100 but its current replacement the EDC122 is twice the price.

Drat. Sorry to hear that.

Checking their website, they’re still selling both the 100 and the 120, for just under $10 apiece.
https://www.dealmetic.com/product.asp?ID=FL06597

But the 100 still ships free, while they charge shipping on the 120 and newer models.

100 price is possibly less, if you poke around their website:

Typically they have a few for sale and then offer a “backorder” link, which comes available fairly fast.
I assume they have to order the parts from subcontractors (which is where corners get cut).

Cross-reference to the compiled collection of Zeusray threads:

I’m not familiar with the Zeusray models, but for a cheap XM-L2 zoomie from a reputable manufacturer check out the Sofirn SF30: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/b0EpUT7S

What’s the head like? I see a retaining ring on the driver, is there an integrated shelf for the MCPCB?

The SF30 has an integrated shelf for the MCPCB.

From memory it takes a 20mm MCPCB, a 22mm driver, and fits a 21700 cell so it could be interesting to mod it with an XHP emitter and a boost driver. I think Barkuti has done that but so far I haven’t felt that the host really warrants that investment.

Another possible advantage the SF30 has over the Zeusray is that it uses a standard tail switch board and spring secured with a metal retaining ring.

SF 30 is one cool zoomie… I bought over ten of them for birthday presents… They all seem to be working for more than year and half now(without modding or anything).

I bought a Zeusray EDC100 following recommendations from here - it’s terrible. Poorly made, cheap tat. Out of all the lights I have ever bought (and I’ve quite a few ‘cheapies’) it is easily the worst one I have. Even the cheap zoomies I’ve had from ebay eclipse it in quality and optics. Quite why people think they are so good I have no idea. I only used it half a dozen times before the driver gave up. Build quality is terrible , thin cheap body, crappy tail cap , body is very limited for battery length, poor focussing ……. I could go on and on, but I won’t. As you can tell, I hate it lol!

Great thread for the the new best budget zoomie. I was considering the sofirn sf30, but the 500 lumens turned me off. Is there another good cheap Zoomie with at least 800 lumens?
I have a modded Zeus Ray that I purchased and I agree. It’s quality is very cheap feeling.

Did you read the consolidated thread? Zeusray is the poster child for an originally good product that got worse over time as their suppliers cut one corner after another. I believe I mentioned that you have to be ready to complain if you get a bad one. In my experience they have replaced bad ones with better ones but only after I complained. A driver failure would definitely be worth complaining to them about.

For an under-$8 flashlight, shipped free, and easy to mod, you could easily do worse.

How moddable are they? Are the LED and driver glued in?

I’d say the SF30 is quite moddable, although I haven’t done anything with mine. It has an integrated shelf and the driver, switch, and LED all have retaining rings.

I’m not 100% sure about the driver diameter I posted earlier so I’ll pull it apart when I get home to check.

Wowtac A3 - side e-switch. A3S is a ridiculous price though. I got 2 of the more reasonably priced XP-G2's - great quality little zoomie.

https://www.amazon.com/Flashlight-Zoomable-Adjustable-Resistant-Tactical/dp/B074V77QFR?th=1

The $8 ZeusRay with the solid pill was a great deal for a compact 18650 zoomie -- you just can't find this anywhere, specially 4-5 years ago. They beefed up the pill on our request, which is unheard at this price for an 18650 light of any kind. I used to buy many cheap zoomies to find "the deal" to maybe get decent quality, and the ZeusRay was the best I could find. I paid more money for brand zoomies that were useless because the zoom mechanism was so poorly designed. It's far from Convoy quality, but it's 1/3 the price of the BD04.

Dunno what happened later on with the ZeusRay, but the earlier ones I bought were decent enough, but I bought them for modding - stock I'd agree - pretty trashy but they had a nice wide field in full unzoomed with tweaking, and again, the shortest 18650 zoomie around.

Now, maybe that SF30 is a real deal on the current $10 deal on Ali, but for the full $27, it's way over priced. The A3 is $16 on Prime which is good for very decent quality.

The Wowtac A3 looks like a great deal if you’re in the US, Canada, or Japan. I’d love to get one myself but it costs the equivalent of 30-35 USD to get one in Australia. Wowtac’s website says that their products will be available on Amazon UK so it might not be so bad in Scotland.

My recommendation of the SF30 was definitely based on a 10 USD price. It’s better than many zoomies I’ve seen for that price but I wouldn’t pay much more for it. I agree that at 27 USD is way over priced, but do you ever have to pay “full price” for a Sofirn? If it’s not constantly discounted I doubt you would have to wait long to see that price again.

Now if you want cheap, there’s the Skywolfeye:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/331970644567

don’t believe the 99 cent price shown, it’s a bit under $3 (click the ‘Model’ pulldown).

The last Skywolfeye I had, not this model, was the cheapest feeling flashslight I’ve ever come across, super thin-wall lightweight.
Modded OK for a low power giveaway anyhow.

I believe djozz said something to the effect of that if you have two seemingly identical flashlights, the one branded Skywolfeye will somehow be worse. :laughing:

Having said that, at least Skywolfeye lights seem to be priced appropriately. If you didn’t know any better you could probably pay much more for the same light with different branding.

Before I got into torches I bought an SK68 zoomie for about 7 USD and thought it was amazing and I have a couple of 99 cent AAA lights that are perfectly adequate for pocket EDC, so I wouldn’t completely dismiss ultra-cheap lights.

I didn’t no, sorry. I bought mine some years ago, it was one of the first I got. I agree it’s pretty easy to mod, I did it to mine with an A6 driver (I think) I had laying around - but that doesn’t make it a good light to mod, I wouldn’t want to start with a cheap junk feeling light, spend maybe £15 on it and still end up with a junk feeling light (it’s more the feel of it, it feels ‘cheap’) maybe spend £5 more in the first place.

HAD 2 ZEUSRAYS during their debut…Great til they started flickering constantly unless beat upon repeatedly… One was replaced with another that flickered too. Geesh. Cleaned all contacts…nope…. Got no more want no more

My dad LOVES the EDC100 but the switches are garbage and I’ve never found a direct replacement. He had 5 sitting on the bookshelf that I repaired with this:

LINK

I ordered 20 just to be safe.