Review: ShiningBeam Romisen RC-G2 III vs. DX Romisen RC-G2

ShiningBeam Romisen RC-G2 III
vs
DX Romisen RC-G2


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Summary

Battery 1 x AA
Switch Tail (Forward Clicky)
Modes 1
LED Type XP-G R5 (SB) and XR-E (DX)
Lens Glass
Tailstands No
Price Paid $16.75 from SB $11.99 from DX

Note: ShiningBeam price does not include postage. It was $23.50 total to Aus with shipping.

Pros

  • Excellent thrower for a AA
  • Very nice design
  • Feels really solid
  • Simple to use (On/Off)
  • Battery availability
  • Square threads
  • Forward Clicky

Cons

* Single mode may be a con for some

* Can not tail stand

This will try to review both of the lights as well as show the differences between the both of them.

As you can see below they are nearly identical in appearance apart from the RC-G2 III has a green GITD tail cap and the RC-G2 has a orange tail cap. For all pictures unless stated otherwise the RC-G2 III (SB) is on the left and the RC-G2 (DX) is on the right.


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The picture below shows the RC-G2 III (SB) with a pill that screws in to the reflector. Also notice there are no threads on the inside of the tube on the head end.


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And now this picture below is the RC-G2 (DX), you can see the pill screws in to the body/tube.


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Below is the RC-G2 III (SB) with the pill removed from the reflector.


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Below is the RC-G2 (DX) with the pill removed from the body, notice the threads on the inside of the tube.


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Below you can see the threads on the RC-G2 III are a lot thicker, they both have square threads even though it doesn’t look like it from the photo. Needless to say the tail caps are not interchangeable, neither are the heads due to the different pill configuration as shown previously.


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Below is a size comparison, left to right:
Thrunite T10, AA Battery, Romisen RC-G2 III


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And again below is another size comparison, left to right:
Nitecore EA4, Romisen RC-G2 III, Thrunite T10, Thrunite Ti, Nitecore T2


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And lastly for now below is a beam comparison, RC-G2 III (SB) on the left and RC-G2 (DX) on the right. What it doesnt show is the DX one is cooler and the SB one is more like cream moonlight hotspot. You can sort of see the cool hue around the DX version in this photo, it shows a little purple in the photo but its blue, and the SB version looks to have a slight blue spill tint in the photo but it is near pure white. Also the DX one appears to have a tighter beam.


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As for which one throws the furthest? I hope to have some beam shots to report back with tonight when it gets dark.

Beamshots are done.

Below the furthest white box is about 75 meters away, the tree trunk in the background is about 100 meters.


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Below focused on the shed.


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Below focused on the tree in the background, approx 100 meters away.


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ShiningBeam Silver versions is here
DX Black version is here
DX Silver version is here

The black RC-G2 III at ShiningBeam I am pretty sure is out of stock forever, Bryan (from ShiningBeam) said that his next version will have have a XP-G2 LED and be called the RC-G2 XP-G2.

Wow, you're a convinced RC-G2 user very comendable :D

Thanks for the helpful comparison review!

Can you measure currents too? And how does it compare to your Thrunite AA flashlight (lumens output)?

I don’t have anything to measure the currents with.

I’m about to leave soon to take some beamshots so Ill take the T10 with me as well if you want to see some comparisons of them.

The T10 wont reach half as far as the RC-G2’s I suspect, it might flood more though.

I actaully bought a T10 for my girlfriend then a RC-G2 III for my mother, after “testing” the RC-G2 III for her I bought one for myself as well, then another 3 from DX as gifts. I also ended up buying a T10 for myself but it rarely gets used.

I have a grey RC-G2 III and have found it be excellent. If I could only have one AA it would be the RC-G2 III.

Thanks ezarc. Nice comparison. It will be interesting to see your beamshots.

Oohhhh an RC-G2 G2…. might have to get one of those!

Thanks for the comparison , ezarc .

I wish I had an RC-G2 with a neutral XML2 that would take a 14500 . From what I hear , the clicky won't take the amperage .

Beamshots are up.

I also made some extra ones here including the T10 for kreisler and anyone else is interested.

Same pics as above just with the T10 added.

Pic 1 Focused at the 2nd box

Pic 2 Focused at the tree in the background

This type of review is very helpful…keep ‘em comin’.

Great review! Thanks for the effort :beer: .

I too have a grey RC-G2 III and love it. US shipping was around 2.35 for me so was an inexpensive, quality light and Shiningbeam ships faaast!

Awesome beamshots, thanks so much!!

Animated PNG?? haha.. didnt know that this is possible.

I think that i like the T10 beam better..

And how would you describe the tints of the 3 torches? :)

Nice comparison, helps evaluation!

Thanks for the positive feedback everyone.

@ kreisler, I would say the T10 has a purple tint, the RC-G2 a blue tint and the RC-G2 III a cream tint.

If you are just using 1 out doors its not very noticeable but if you are comparing them on a white wall its very noticeable.

With the beams the RC-G2 had about the same hotspot intensity and throw as the RC-G2 III but the hotspot of the RC-G2 III was twice as big.

The T10 wasn’t any match in throw but it was a lot floodier and would still light up a average back yard easily.

Very well done and greatly appreciated!

Thanks, Ezarc. That was really great. Buying Moddified Romisens from Bryan/Shiningbeam is what actually turned me on to just how great so called budget lights can be and pretty much put a stop to my paying for expensive Surefires. However, I’ve always been curious about how different the SB Romisens were from their more common counterparts so I found this review very intriguing. Thanks again.

thanks for the review, I didn’t even know that an XP-G version of the RC-G2 was available. Interesting change with the pill design, although I prefer the screw in type for more efficient heat transfer. The beam shots pretty much match what I see with my RC-G2 and RC-G2 modded with a Nichia 219 - hot spot intensity is similar, but the hotspot is twice as large with the Nichia. I found the flood much more useful too.

If you have the opportunity, could you take a macro shot of the reflector in the XP-G version please? I’m trying to figure out where the LED should sit with respect to the base of the reflector, as the Nichia sits much lower than the XR-E did. I’m getting a NW XP-E2 and Fasttech 5 mode driver soon, which should probably split the difference beam wise. The 3 mode driver from Shiningbeam looks really nice too, I might have to pull the trigger on that at some point.

These Romisens really are lovely little lights :slight_smile:

The XP-G the pill screws in to the reflector, the reflector screws in to the head and the head screws on to the body. I think the heat management is good and it hardly even gets warm.

I’ll try and take a close up of the reflector but I only have a phone camera, the reflector is also different for the XP-G version because it has a smaller LED. My phone doesn’t want to upload pics at the moment but Ill see if I can work around it some how.

Nice review! I only wish DX made a HAIII version of the light

Looks like some fluff/dust on my emitter.

awesome, thanks for the photo! Looks like I’ll have to turn down the edge of my reflector so that the head can sit slightly lower on the body.

I don’t doubt that the heatsinking is fine on the XP-G version, I just prefer a more direct path between the LED and the air. Adding thermal compound to the junction between pill and body on my modded light has noticeably allowed it to warm up after being on for 30min or so, compared to the untouched original. The extra 50-60mA the Nichia is drawing might have something to do with it too, though 150mW of heat isn’t a whole lot.