Nice review! That light looks really nice. Glad to know that the pill is a little more substantial than it looked to be in early pics. That thing is a beast of a thrower! Makes the X8 look shabby and it's not. I'd love to see a comparison against the Fenix and Solarforce throwers(*cough* hint *cough* hint) from those who have them!
If I had the cash I'd consider it...maybe in a few months. Right now I'm still honeymooning with my 3*18650 XM-L Maglite. :)
It's unlikely to throw as far however it will have a bigger hotspot. It's only driven at about 1/2 of it's max spec and at full spec the XM-L doesn't have the surface brightness of the XR-E/XP-E.
It does have a larger diameter but a HS-802 for instance still has a diameter of 45 mm or so.
I'm sure it has decent throw for an XM-L since it has a decent size reflector and since most XM-L's don't seem to be fully driven.
Edit: I guess maybe it is fully driven since those are battery numbers and you are using two batteries.
Very nice review. Thanks!
It has nice beam profile and very bright hot spot as well.
I can see the two screws on the aluminum disc in your picture.
But mine has neither screws nor holes as follows:
I wonder if it make any problem unexpectedly.
LOL, chinese QC.
There looks to be thermal glue under the pcb, so you should be ok. Obviously better w/ screws, but, well... that was to be expected.
Yeah its probably thermal glued on there and should be ok. I just changed the thermal grease to arctic silver on mine. Id say this light is probably regulated as i had it on the same batteries since i got it and still quite bright.
Thanks for the reply, agenthex & jamesearljonesisascab! 
Im doing some testing tonight to see if this light is regulated. Im doing 10 minutes on high then take readings and 5 mins of cool down then back on again for 10 mins. the head gets quite hot while the body stays warm and easily holdable. im doing a side by side with the Trustfire X8 also.
results so far:
STL V2
4.2v 4.08 3.99 3.90 3.82 3.77 3.74 3.70 3.63 3.50 2.99v
1.42a 1.40 1.42 1.46 1.48 1.52 1.54 1.54 1.56 1.63a light shutoff at 2.99v
X8
4.18v 4.03 3.95 3.87 3.80 3.76 3.74 3.67 3.55 3.04v
1.54a 1.53 1.50 1.53 1.55 1.55 1.57 1.61 1.67 1.95a
Pretty linear current on both.
need to plot these on a graph.
thats 100 mins of runtime with 5 mins of off time in between.
Brightness was pretty constant but i have no way of measuring Lumens.
So, does the x8 shut off or did you stop the test? Are they protected or unprotected cells (shutoff via light or battery)?
Thanks.
4.2v 4.08 3.99 3.90 3.82 3.77 3.74 3.70 3.63 3.50 2.99v --> Is this voltage of the battery?
1.42a 1.40 1.42 1.46 1.48 1.52 1.54 1.54 1.56 1.63v light shutoff at 2.99v --> Is this current draw of the LED or battery?
I used unprotected cells. the stl v2 shut off and then i took the battery voltage. the x8 would probably keep going but i decided to stop. Big dip in voltAge at that point. the x8 will dim when it hits the cliff and won't change modes anymore. seen it once.
I took those voltages and currents as soon as i turned off the light and unscrewed the tailcap. maybe i should have let them rest? i figured that by doing the way i did it i would get the most accurate cell voltage without letting it creep back up to resting voltage and give closer results.
Amazing how bright they were throughout these tests. again im still pretty impressed by these two lights.
Sorry yes voltage on top and current at the bottom. thanks!
Wow, You did check every step!
Thanks a lot for your effort and information.
How does this light compare to the sky ray 3800. I was going to buy that light but I saw some beam comparisons with tk70 and an olight and throw was very poor. Although i'm not that throw minded i was wondering how the spill of this stl-v2 is. And i suppose it has a memory?
greetings!
The light does have memory. i don't own a 3xxml and i can't tell you how they compare to this light. either one you choose im sure you'll be happy with. why not get both.
Have you thought of getting the Yezl T9 Flood to throw. this seems like what youre looking for.
1 is 10 minutes on the X-axis.
That's pretty crazy how much brighter it appears despite using less power.
I've known that head structure(size) is quite an important factor to the flashlight's beam profile through Fenix TK50 & this monster.
Candle lamp, your graph is wrong. It should be times 2, think you used 1-cell voltage instead of 2-cell. XM-L is basically a 10-watter.