Sorry, I don’t have any means to measure lumens or stuff like tailcap current. My cheap multimeter can’t measure ampere.
I like these tiny zoomies.
Much smaller and more pocketable than a Sipik 68. They even make the Sipik 68’s little brother, the Sipik 58, look large. Meanwhile the beam and output are pretty similar to a stock Sipik 68.
I had a couple modded lights similar to this one sitting around. One of them had a 3-mode 3-amp driver, but the LED, an XPG2, was only half lighting up. Either because it burnt out from too much current, or wasn’t soldered correctly to the star. Not sure which.
I removed the XPG2 and put on a dedomed neutral tint XPL I had laying around. The results are impressive. Flood mode is much brighter now. And in throw mode it still produces a respectable 18k lux. It doesn’t blow the socks off my modded 18650 version, but it’s far better than stock.
These tiny lights can be a pain to mod though. A 17mm Nanjg 105c driver fits… but only after you file off a LOT of the edges, and even then it floats below the pill.
The BLF SK68 driver fits fine to replace the native driver in these, with only slight filing.
CK made several variations on that driver for me, that went into these “#3” and SK68 zoomies just fine.
I don’t have any of these but it looks like any significant increase in output will need an accompanying improvement in the heat sink. The hollow pill might remain sufficient with a DTP mcpcb or a mod to improve the pill used with a non DTP mcpcb. The 1.5A range doesn’t seem like much but even there it’s necessary to improve the thermal path since zoomies are usually poor in this respect. Just my thoughts but having done a few mods in this range I would be careful upping the current without looking at this.
The one I got with a solid pill upgraded very nicely with a PC Rebel. Never got another one, from anywhere.
The other half dozen I have from the lottery, I’m starting to hand-carve copper disks to drop into the hole behind the emitter; they raise the LED closer to the lens so mess up the perfectly focused image a bit, but the zoom still makes a tight enough spot — but they seem to carry the heat off to the body adequately, using the “SK68” driver in various versions that Cerealkiller has made for me.
I do like these little #3s a lot. If only I could get more with solid pills (sigh).
http://www.fasttech.com/products/1612/10001750/1127402-12-aaaaa-1-mode-800ma-linear-booster-led-flashligh Looks similar to the #3 stock driver, I wonder what would happen if I replace that R270 with a lower rated one - or bypass it completely, idk.
See this thread Noob needs help with #3 XPE Q5 modding for other modding considerations. Heat management is my last concern, I still have to find a way to get output high enough first, with 1 or 2 1.2V AA that is. No drivers, at least none to decent prices (I think sandwich shoppe has one around $15) for 2 AA. Maybe I could use two drivers, like in Dual driver mods for single XM-L2's (edit: just realized that’s a bad idea, after reading some more about the XPE. Guess I’ll aim for 0.800-1A max.)
i have this and compared to the Sipik sk68 and ALL THE CLONES are better then this
the biggest failure is the clip its too weak and is not attached it just slips (loosely) around the battery cover so it totally interferes with changing the battery
also all of them are blueish
and they are not as bright at all
the beam pattern is a lot smaller
trust me when i say this is a cheap chinese toy and fails in every way compared to the sk68
i for one am not happy and hope this design dies quickly
and the cloners stick with the Sipik sk68 to clone even the worse sk68 clone i have is better then this
Actually I MUCH prefer these little zoomies to the SK68.
The SK68’s unwieldy shape with lots of crenelations is uncomfortable for pocket carry. These little zoomies are half the size but virtually the same brightness. They also have a much smoother more-streamlined shape that won’t tear up a pocket.
Performance between this type of light and the SK68 is quite similar. They have a fairly wide flood. Throw is very similar to a SK68, though the beam is narrower due to long focal length lens.
I agree the ring-clip interferes with battery changes. I removed it from mine. There’s also a variant with a slightly different bezel design that has a slip on clip that doesn’t get in the way.
You can drill through the side of the tailcap, carefully, and make a suitable hole for a split ring.
Much nicer than the stupid little metal clip.
I sure wish I knew a reliable source for solid pills for these #3 zoomies.
They’re decent mod lights even with the hollow pill — I stick a copper disk into the shelf, and put a 10mm square board with a PC Rebel on that.
They’re a pleasure to give away to people — passing on my older Energizer lithium primary AA cells when I refresh the batteries in the earthquake cache.
I got one of the gold ones. It’s at least as bright as a SK68 but thinner and easier to pocket. Not as thick or heavy so it’s not built as well but the SK68 is a beefy light. This light makes a good little 1AA cheap alternative. I’ve had mine for about a year with no problems. I like it.
Does anybody know the size of the mcpcb on this light?
It’s looks tiny, but believe it or not it is a 16mm.
How long of a runtime on nimh! looks like a great gifter 
Now on sale at Gearbest for $2.29 with free shipping.
Available in black, golden, and silver for same price.
I own a bunch of these from various different brands.
In mine, the star is either 16mm or 14mm. The ones using a 16mm star have a hollow pill. The 14mm ones have a solid pill. It’s not that hard to file down a 16mm noctigon with a handfile so it fits the 14mm slot.
The driver is 14mm. A 15mm driver from mountain electronics fits easily with a minimal amount of filing at the edges. A 17mm Nanjg 105c can fit as a floating driver below the pill, but it takes a heroic amount of filing and can easily result in a destroyed driver.
Lottery! I have exactly one with a solid pill, and it came with a 16mm emitter; I have going on a dozen with hollow pills, most of those with sort-of-15mm emitters that are probablyjust cut down and filed down. Those are the ones with the rough cut rectangular notches for unscrewing the pill that look like they were put in with a chisel ….
Sure would like to find solid pills reliably. I put in one 10mm square Luxeon PC Rebel board and it fits perfectly on the solid pill — leaves the wire holes unblocked, and self-centers with its corners right at the circumference of the cutout. (I’ve stuffed 16mm copper disks from Etsy into the holes on other ones.)
Has anyone bought the gearbest version and how does it seem to compare to other versions? I’m thinking of picking some up next time I order from them.
3-modes usually have a solid pill… but they’re 3-modes 
search ‘xpe flashlight’ on aliexpress to find them.
I think they are all 3 modes aren't they ??
i know gearbest says one mode but I assumed it was just a bad description on their part .
wallybuys ones were listed as one mode and 11 lumens ...but ended up 100+ lumens and solid pill three modes
Has anyone bought any of these from Gearbest ?
Inductor core is busted
