Review Xtar WK-21 Meteor

For review I have the WK-21 Meteor supplied by Xtar for review .


Product description from Xtar

ANSI Illumination levels: High Mid Low Strobe SOS
Luminance: 500Lm 210Lm 10Lm
Duration: 20mins 55mins 40h
Max Range : 70m
Max Intensity: 1225cd
Impact Resistance: 1m
Water Resistance: IPX-7 ( underwater 0.5m)
Bulb: CREE XM-L T6 LED
Crust Materials: Anodized aircraft 6061 aluminium alloy
Working Voltage: 2.75~4.2V
Battery: 16340
Switch: Head rotary switch
Size: Ø 25.6mm(Head dia)x Ø 24.0mm(Body dia)x 70.2mm(length)
Net Weight : 43g(Excluded battery)













In the above picture you can see the 4 sets of pins , when connected lock out modes .

1 is for strobe , 2 is for SOS , 3 is for Low mode , and 4 is for Medium , you can't lock out high . Mode memory appears to be relatively fast , and for those worried about PWM , its there but its fast , I can make it out , but at least its not wickedly slow .


Initial impressions :


The light comes in a very nice , clean and sturdy little cardboard box , with a really nice foam interior protecting the light , I cant see the light being damaged in transit unless run over by a Tank or something .

The light is well made and finished , the threads are cleanly cut , and the clip works well , Im not 100% sure SOS and strobe belong on a small EDC , at least the option is there to lock them out . [ Which I did almost immediately ]

Also the light is very sturdy in construction [ beefed up if you will ] to handle the XM-L emitter , and there does look to be room [ if some one wanted ] to bore it out for a 18350 , in fact , if Xtar was to do this , and include a plastic sleeve for 16340 , this light would be even more desirable . Now I did take the light for a walk , to see if it would vanish in my pocket as I walked [ become un noticeable ] , and to be honest you always knew it was there [ it does have a little heft to it ] .


Performance :


I'll get the primary out of the way first , on high with a fresh 3v CR123A it did on high about 70L , so maybe not a choice light for use with primaries . Moving onto the 16340 , the light really comes alive :


High - 1.31A - 480L - sags to 440 in a minute , 425 in about 2 minutes and down to 400 in the first 5 minutes or so and from there continues to slowly drop as the battery is drained of current , the better the battery the slower this process will be [ More mAh capacity = longer run time ]


Medium - 0.53A - 197L no heat sag to speak of


Low - 0.02A - 8L


Now if you look at the product description from Xtar you will see these figures are very close to the Xtar performance figures , good to see a Company not fudging numbers , kudos to Xtar .


Locking out Functions:


I touched on this earlier , so now I will describe a simple way of doing it , A Lead Pencil . Yes simply run the pencil over the pins for the function(s) you wish to lock out , and if you wish to undo , simply use a eraser . Just run the pincil over the pins quite a few times , and the softer the lead the better .

Pin set 1 = Strobe

Pin set 2 = SOS

Pin set 3 = Low mode

Pin set4 = Medium mode

I did mention locking out strobe and sos , myself . [ And yes I did it with a lead pencil - an old HB ]


The beam :


Very nice , and with such a small reflector , yes its very floody , but that is something I would want in a EDC , but with 400 and something Lumen on High , it throws plenty for a light this size [ Keep in mind its not meant to be a thrower ] .


Conclusion :


Now , I am impressed with the WK-21 Meteor , I think it meets the requirements that it was designed for , but one thing I didn't like , the placement of the O ring on the battery tube where the threads end , the O ring is right up against the shoulder . I hate to say this , but I would like to see it moved forward a mm or so away from that shoulder .

Other than this one thing , I found the WK-21 Meteor to be a very nice light that performs well .


Well Centered emitter

Glass Lens

Smooth reflector

Tailstands

Has a very nice clip [ Firm ]

Has a magnet in the base [ It sticks to things nicely , but due to the smooth finish , gravity tends to take effect - so when I put it on my fridge , it slid , two smooth surfaces = slide . Placing the light over a fridge magnet , it hung there fine ]


Not really for Primaries

Lock out modes [ with a Lead Pencil ]

Ran it on high for 5 minutes [ the light got warm not hot ] in my hand .

Very slight battery slop when shaken vigorously

Room to be bored out to 18mm


Beams Tonight :


Nice review old but how did you work out the lumens on high 1.31Amps?

Thanks for the review , old4570 .

Nice little review on a very nice little light. Thanks!

Thanks for the review, old4570

http://www.cree.com/products/pdf/xlampxm-l.pdf

T6 280L per 700mA - 1.4 = 560 [ variable ] but a guide .

If that's 0.4L per mA

That's 524L ... [ + I use a light box that I worked out output a long time ago ]

Now , does the MM add resistance [ often it does ] so current less MM may be higher [ possibly ]

Either way , its meant as a rough guide , especially the current draw , as I have little control over the variables ..

MM [ may add resistance lowering current measured ]

Emitter quality , it can and does vary ..

Driver efficiency , lens loss , reflector , bezel block , temperature , battery

Please take it as a ball park figure ...

Just wondering how my Olight i1 on 16340 (though not recommended) would compare to this light?

The i1 is a little smaller though.

Got it on ebay for $32 with free shipping and it´s pretty crazy bright and floody on 16340.

I saw the Stainless Steel one and

Thank you for nice review old4570, great pictures

I am very impressed with this "Meteor" and I agree about O-ring on the body that you have mentioned, but it's still do the job although. About the Olight i1 and this "Meteor" I've just compared and no significant difference from their High output, but the i1 has come heat up very fast, that makes me worry to run it long duration in high.

WK21 has 5 mode (cycle): Low-Medium-High-Strobe-SOS

Meteor from XTAR

Grat review! Hoping mine clears customs soon (this is the 1st package customs took interest this year) they probably think must be expensive. :)

Can't wait to review it myself. Pretty confident it will be my next EDC as i like what i see so far. For a flashlight of such dimensions i really like it does not have any knurlings and a conservative crenelation on the head. Fast memory is a nice bonus.

Was busy with School , last week - Test - and now Im done ...

So back to the Xtar Wk21 Meteor ...

Where was I - Thats right , I was going to post some beam shots ......

Well there I was , playing - eer testing the WK21 , when there was a flicker , and the light shut down ... ????

Well , I had to pull the pill out and see what was going on , short story = the driver died !

So with school and everything , it got put on the back burner ... [ Sorry About that ]

out came the internals ,

In goes the Nanjg Driver [ ooops , left it 5 mode ]

New driver in the pill , old driver of to the RB

So hopefully , beamshots , with a 1.4A driver in place tonight ...

Hmmm..... Nice review Old4570.

Nice beamshots, remembering that we are talking about such a small light.

High is now about 470L [ Warm start ] / Med is 150L and Low is 23L with the new driver , so High hasn't changed much at all , but low and medium have ...

High is spot on 1.4A

Medium is 0.44A

and low is 0.07A

Great review and great results until I saw that the driver is a bit fragile. Do you have any idea how the driver might have burnt? I guess it isn’t a CR123 light like Quark MiniX.
I use a 4xAMC driver in a dropin I put in a 501a body and it is a puncher with a IMR 18350.

Well , it may have been killed by a short , when I opened it up one of the wires going to the LED was frayed [ plastic cover was split open, exposing bare wire ] .

So hopefully one of those rare things ...