Review: Thrunite T10 (vs. DQG AA XP-E and BLF Tank007 E07)

Thrunite T10

Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★

Summary:

Battery: AA (14500 not recommended)
Switch: Twisty
Modes: Firefly>Low>High w/ Memory
LED Type: CREE XP-G (R5)
Lens: Glass
Tailstands: Yes
Price Payed: $30 (Also got free Ti on promotion)
From: Thrunite-Store.com
Date Ordered: August 14 2012

Specifications (from manufacturer):

- Cree XP-G LED (R5) with lifespan of 50,000 hours
- Three modes of output:High (115 lumens, 1.5hrs) > Low (9 lumens, 39hrs ) > firefly(0.09lumens 147hours) with memory (Tested with Ni-mh battery with actual capacity 2500mAh)
- Stable current regulated circuit, stable brightness
- Uses one 1.5V AA battery (ni-mh, alkaline ). 14500 batteries are not recommeded, because they heat up quickly.
- 17-gram weight (excluding batteries)
- Made of durable aircraft-grade aluminum
- Premium Type III hard-anodized anti-abrasive finish
- Waterproof to IPX-8 Standard
- Toughened double ultra-clear glass lens
- Reliable twist switch
- Candle mode (Capable of standing up securely on a flat surface to serve as a candle)
- Accessories: key ring.
- Size: 81x17mm

Pros:

  • Firefly Mode
  • Current Regulation
  • Build Quality
  • 2 Spare O-rings and A split ring keychain
  • Thrunite Warranty and ANSI/NEMA F1 Certified Specs

Cons:

  • Price
  • No clip

Features / Value: ★★★★

This light's most unique feature is a very useable firefly mode. At 0.09 lumens, it is twice as bright as the firefly mode in the Ti, but I can’t really tell the difference.

Thrunite Firefly modes. T10 on left and Ti on right.

Please excuse the fingerprint on the lens, I had just put on a piece of screen protector to protect the lens from scratches (which I do to most all my lights). I like how the light goes lo to high in modes, and the memory feature is well done. It sets in after being off for around a second. It’s also awesome that all these modes are current regulated and so there’s no PWM. The firefly is way lower than the low on the BLF E07 and the DQG AA.

Head shots and also LEDs at lowest levels. Left - DQG AA XP-E, Middle - Thrunite T10, Right - BLF Tank007 E07

My greatest complaint is the cost. I think it was a fair deal with the promotion, but the asking price of $30 seems a bit steep. Various XM-L lights like the Balders and Xeno can be found cheaper or at similar prices.

Design / Build Quality: ★★★★

PCC and Match touched on this already here. Nice machining and anodization on my light with a well centered LED. It’s a bit longer than the DQG AA due to the reflector, but that gives it some nice beam patterns. It is still slim and very pocket-able. I like the well-lubed, anodized threads and the design they use to close the circuit, where the bare aluminum rim needs to contact the driver board rather than the battery needing to touch the board. This allows them to use a spring in the bottom so there’s no battery rattle and it’s always in contact with the driver. I like that better than the standard foam discs that seem like they’ll wear out. My only fear is that if the anodizing layer comes off the threads then the thing might be stuck on. I don’t know how hard that would be to do though. It would be awesome if it came with a clip standard, and Match’s mod is stellar. The light tailstands well enough (better than the Ti), and there is a hole to attach a split ring that was included. I’ll probably fashion another dangle clip for this light like I did for the DQG AA.

Battery Life: ★★★★★

I haven’t done any in depth testing myself, so I hope the specs are right. The firefly mode on the light will definitely run a long time. I got over an hour on high on a fresh eneloop, but I didn’t check it again until much later, so 1.5 hours seems respectable, and the given 9 hours on low is nice. I'll update if I find anything different.

Update 2 December 2012 - I did some quick current draw tests with gen 2 eneloop at 1.353 V open with my cheap DMM and a paperclip. These might be causes for the discrepancy in my numbers vs. the manufacturer ratings. I am still a fan of the battery life so far in my practical usage. Also, I don't know if this light will lower brightness to prolong usable light time as of yet.

Moonlight - 35.5 mA (est. 56.3 hours runtime on 2000 mAh vs. 147 rated)
Low - 178 mA (est. 11.2 hours vs. 39 rated)
High - 2.23 A (est 0.9 hour vs. 1.5 hr rated)

Light Output: ★★★★

Again, I have no gear to test this myself. For an AA light on NIMH, this light performs well. It compared well with the other similar form factor lights. The 115 lumen high is nice for when you need it, and the low/mid is good for basic tasks in the dark. The firefly works great for me in the middle of the night to just get around, but I suppose that’s a “your eyes may vary” situation. I think a fourth, medium mode might be nice to get more brightness and good runtimes. Something like 40-50 lumens for 2.5-3 hours, but I suppose it would get annoying to cycle through so many modes on a twisty. Here are all the comparison beam shots at a off-white cinder block wall about 1 m from the lights. Camera was on auto, so you can't compare between levels, just between lights. Sorry for the mixed up order on the lows, I had to redo that pic.

Highest mode: Left - BLF Tank007 E07, Middle - Thrunite T10, Right - DQG AA XP-E

Middle Modes: Left - BLF Tank007 E07, Middle - Thrunite T10, Right - DQG AA XP-E (on Low)

Low Modes: Left - DQG AA XP-E, Middle - BLF Tank007 E07, Right - Thrunite T10

Summary: ★★★★

All in all, the T10 is a nice pocket AA light. It’s well made and brings a firefly mode to the table while providing sufficient high and low modes for numerous tasks. I’ll give this a whirl as my EDC for a while, but I doubt it will dethrone my DQG AA. Stainless steel seems more robust to me for some reason, plus I like the magnet in the tail. As for this light, I think there’s one big advantage. I can give it to little kids to play with at church and babysitting and stuff while on in firefly and the kid’s parents won’t shout “that’ll blind him/her” as I sometimes hear now :P Good thing water resistant = drool resistant too. I think this would be a great deal $15 and a good deal at $20.

Stop blinding my baby: Left - DQG AA on low. Right - Thrunite T10 on firefly.

I don’t know where all the strikethrough came from in the specs. That was just copied from their site.

Edit: Managed to get rid of it.

Awesomw review HBomb!

Great review Hbomb! I've been meaning to do one on this particular light for months, so if you don't mind I'll just add to this one here:

BatteryType Mode LumenOTF
eneloop Low .087
Med 12.5
High 129.6
Lithium Primary Low .09
Med 12.5
High 140.7
14500 Low .087
Med 146.2 - unstable
High 355.7

Lux = 1136@1m (on eneloop)

A note on running 14500's: Low and High work fine, but medium mode appears very unstable and flickers a lot. It does get warm quite fast on high and output will drop off some, but I've been using mine since I got it for short bursts and it's still alive.

My only two gripes about the light as received were the lack of a pocket clip and somewhat loose threads. By somewhat loose, I mean that after a quarter turn off I can still press on the head and it will activate. I guess I've been spoiled by my LD01.

Both were easy fixes...a little teflon tape for the threads, and a bit of SS welding rod for the clip. I love the T10, and it's part of my edc rotation.

Thanks for the technical tests Match! And thanks for the support of the review fishinfool. I did some teflon tape on mine like you said and that made it super firm and yet silky smooth. I like it, and it works great since there’s no metal connection needed. It’s probably a bit more water resistant that way I reckon. That was an easy fix. The welding rod clip umm… maybe easy for you :wink: One of these days I might try though, that pic makes me drool a bit everytime I see it. Thanks again :slight_smile:

Honestly, it takes maybe 20 minutes to make one. Using a cordless drill, I just put two holes on the thick side that are relatively parallel. It's not as critical as you might think because one has some leeway during alignment since the clip can be bent however it's needed. If I had another T10 I'd do a tutorial.

You're spot on though...if this was $20 I'd by a couple more, and if it was $15 I'd by a dozen more. It's that nice of a light.

Btw, I did swap out my stock xpg emitter for a NW xp-e (huh?) Yup...I have plenty of really bright lights, but I wanted a small one with a bit more throw and the xp-e does that surprisingly well. Granted, this was done before I received a bunch of xpg 2's from cutter...

Now that I think about it, I think I only have 2 lights that I haven't swapped emitters multiple times on....

Haha, things are always better after you’ve improved them. Maybe I’ll try sometime after i find some wire stock. How do you secure the rod into the drilled holes? some epoxy maybe?

Thanks. Yup, just a few small drops of epoxy. In reality it wasn't needed as such due to the way the clip is bent (tension keeps it secured pretty well).

If you want, PM me your address and I'll mail you a piece of welding rod to try.

Thanks Match. I might take you up on that. I’ll paypal you some dough to cover postage too. What’s the drill bit size you used? I’ll have to see if I can scrounge one up from work to borrow.

On a usage note, I’ve liked the T10 lots as my edc. The DQG AA XP-E out throws it a bit, but for closer tasks the T10 takes it. I’ll have to see how the DQG AA XP-G I just ordered does comparatively when it gets here.

Very nice comparison! Thanks very much. Frontpage’d and Sticky’d.

Hey, what the emitter star size?

@12mm, although there is enough wiggle room for a 12.5mm to work as well. The last one I used was a 14mm star that I had to file down slightly. Never let star size stand in the way of a good emitter swap :)

HBomb,

As for the drill size for the clip...I'll have to get back to you on that (Gotta go find it to verify).

Just wondering about the Ti

I read that with a eneloop that they are only 30 lumens and with a 1.5v battery they are 60 lumens.

Is that right?

Taken from here

Time to buy some cheap lithium primaries instead?

TI = crap light. Direct driven. I’d avoid that like plague!

ezarc - This is a review for the T10, not Ti.

Mountainking - Ditto. Also, the wrongness of your comment made me laugh.

LEDs cannot be direct driven off of a 1.5 volt battery. Not enough voltage.

Its mentioned 5 times in the review and has a picture of it, its also part of package when you buy a T10 so it wouldn’t hurt to know what you are getting with it when you buy one.

I meant to say the output is not regulated…

Just received my T10 two weeks ago with minor problem. If I put the O ring, I can’t turn on the light.

I have to twist it very hard (using two hand) to turn on the light. I think there’s some problem with the thread or something. So I removed the O ring to be able using this T10 with single hand. A friend of mine also ordered T10 and arrived today, it has no problem with O ring.

IMO, T10 is a nice flashlight but I won’t buy the same flashlight again. With the same budget, I better looking for other AA alternatives.

Could anyone actually comment on this flashlights real life battery numbers with NiMh?
Im pretty tempted to get this one despite problems with my Ti’s, which I will describe later in my Ti review, but this T10 looks like the best bang for the buck when it comes to single AA battery life with extremely long runtimes!