Convoy X3 review

Ok, So I asked Gearbest to send me this light to review and they were kind enough to send it to me. I really wanted to review it because there isn’t a ton about the light on the forum, and it looks to have really good mod potential.

Convoy X3 LED flashlight:
http://bit.ly/2ob6Lmf

My Youtube Review:

Construction:








The X3 can take 1-26650, 1-18650, 3xAA. However the AAA battery carrier that I received with the light did not work. there was some rattle with it, so I suspect it was a bit too short to make good contact. It also comes with a sleeve for the 18650 with 2x o rings for a good tight seal, and 2x o rings to go over 26650 batteries to stop rattle. The genius of the system is that with the 18650 sleeve in the flashlight there is ample room to store the 26650 o rings. This makes keeping track of them super easy! I was not able to get NCR18650 batteries to work in the light, so it looks like it may only be able to handle shorter unprotected 18650 batteries. it has springs on both ends, annodized threads at the tailcap for lockout, and the driver is held in with a retaining ring. The bezel was easily removed and the lens was a nice thick AR glass lense. The light utilizes the integrated shelf to hold the LED. The Driver is a 8x 7135 driver with the typically convoy 3/5 mode setup. It utilizes the Cree XML-2 led.

Performance:

My ceiling bounce lumens were very similar with both 18650 and 26650

I had to leave off a few modes in order to make this work for some of the 4 and 5 mode lights, but as you can see as far as brightness it falls in the same range as the competition.

This test here is using a Samsung 30Q battery. The X3 performs right about on par with other 18650 lights. Sorry but I don’t have enough 26650 lights in order to make a good comparison test.

Runtimes:
Liito Kala 26650 - 124 Min @ 2.89V
Samsung 30Q - 94 Min @ 2.89

You can also see here that the LVP is accurate and worked appropriately in my tests.

Beam Shots:




the X3 has a very nicely focused beam with a great hotspot. The beam is very clean with no artifacts, and only the tiniest rings at the outer edge of the spill. They did not show up on camera.

My Thoughts:

I don’t have anything bad to say about the light other than the AA battery carrier didn’t work. I’m a huge fan of 26650 lights that come with a sleeve for 18650. It’s a very versatile combination. The fact that the 28650 sleeve leaves a little room for the extra o rings is such a nice touch. The construction is everything you expect of a convoy and everything is smooth and finished nice. It fits into my collection nicely and makes a nice moderate range thrower.

I fully intend to mod this guy with the mountain electronics FET+7135 driver and an XPL-HI. I think that will turn this thing into a beast. It definitely has the mass to handle the heat, and switching from XML-2 to the XPL-HI should really turn this thing into a nice high lumen thrower.

The only disappointment was the lumens. Only coming in around 700 lumens was a little sad. If you look at the results of my other ceiling bounce tests this light is a little outclassed in the lumen department. My convoy C8 - 1160, Xintd C8 (xp-g2) 941, S2 - 828. So I was a little surprised that even the S2 came up with a higher number. Granted those numbers aren’t perfectly calibrated, but it does show that the X3 was the lowest by far.

The price on the X3 at the time of this review is $26. At that price this is a great light. I think it looks much nicer than the C8, and the added capability for 26650 batteries is worth the extra money. Then add yourself about $15 dollars and you can mod this into a really high lumen thrower.

Knowing what I know now, this is a light I would definitely purchase

Thanks for the review. If my flashlight fund ever rebuilds this along with the BD06, L2, and L6 are on my purchase list. The number of 26650 lights and cells being released is growing and I think this battery platform will soon see the same advancements the 18650 saw as far as capacity and max current output.

Thanks for the review. I’ve been thinking about this light for a bit, looks fantastic with good mod potential. Might be my next light, I’m liking the 26650 so far.

I’m starting to like this x3 what is the difference between the upgrade version ?and it has a 1600 lumens

Thanks!

What a nice bezel design!
Well nice looking all actually

Some 3*AAA holders need a sleeve to make them center and not rattle (lots of those holders have grooves where the 26650 to 18650 sleeve these come with have inside ridges for. This is not the case here? (Convoy usually well thought through :wink: )

I own the original X3 made by XinTD I purchased a couple of years ago. It’s got a different driver which only has 3 modes. Also, unlike the Convoy, the driver is completely hidden. Also, the tail cap spring has a brass cover over it. One other thing, mine didn’t come with an 18650 adaptor, I had to make one. I wonder what else they changed.

Edit: I noticed the threads look beefier on the Convoy.

My xintd came with a really nice 18650 adapter that fits perfectly.

This AA carrier also works perfectly: http://m.gearbest.com/diy-parts-and-tools/pp_89760.html

I have the xint x3 as well. I put in an xpl hi will dd driver. The beam is tight and beautiful. It’s my farthest throwing light by far. Very nice!

This is the X3 with xpl hi compared to a d80

Thanks for the review, looks like your corn is knee high by the 4th of July :partying_face:

Looks really good, i like the design and that color. Looks kind of elegant. A more floody version would ne nice

with a xpl hi and a fet driver from mountain electronics could this throw farther than a c8?

It would throw further than a stock C8, yes.

*corrected grammar

From what I’ve seen, I believe this light will out throw the c8 with the same setup but I have yet to learn to use my newly received light meter. So my answer is somewhat subjective.

Got my first Convoy X3 today. Did some measurements and modded it afterwards.
Installed a dedomed XP-L V6 1A (greenish) and a BLF X6 FET-Driver. Pulls 5.7 Amps now and throws 148000 Cd with LG 18650 HE2. Tail spring is not bridged yet, and the glass is not coated. I guess it outthrows a C8 with same setup.
Beautiful solid light, very good heat dissipation, only disadvantage: to short for protected cells, even with a brass pill in place of the spring at the driver. Bended the flattop of my new (short!) protected Keeppower 26650 5200 mAh cells. I have to find a solution here (currently using a O-Ring as a tube extender), since I intend to mod a second X3 with MT-G2 or XHP50/70 with 26350 cells.

Edit:
the included AA-cell adapter is useless (to short), I used one of a Warsun X50, which fits perfectly. Btw, 84560 Cd throw with 3x Eneloop Pro AA at 2.5 Amps (after modding), which is quite a lot.

The Convoy x3 was the first nice flashlight I ever bought. It began my little flashlight obsession. Mine came direct from Simon. Ld25 driver, 1a tint, wonderful tight Hotspot.

One of my favorite back in 2014, but it was seriously under utilized ever since I completed my mod.

Compare beamshots with C8 to compare spill and focus. This one seems to have a deep reflector.

Moved dedomed XP-G2 from Thorfire C8s to Convoy X3. With exactly this LED I got 165,000 Cd in C8s and 188,000 Cd in X3. The C8s has coated glass, X3 doesn’t, so the difference is even a bit bigger.

What is the diameter of the driver?

It takes a 17mm driver. I had mine custom built by 3Tronics with a BLF A17DD in it.