Review: Yezl Y6-X XM-L T6 800-Lumen Flashlight

LED Flashlights – General Info 18650 Flashlights
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Yezl Y6-X XM-L T6 800-Lumen Flashlight

Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★★★★

Summary:

Battery: 18650
Switch: Reverse clicky
Modes: Hi-Med-Lo with memory
LED Type: Cree XM-L
Lens: Glass
Tailstands: Yes w/o lanyard
Price Payed: USD 29.00 + 4.43 shipping
From: www.cnqualitygoods.com
Date Ordered: 15-12-2010

Pros:

  • Good build quality
  • Bright
  • Efficient heat sinking
  • No flashing modes
  • Rather floody beam pattern

Cons:

  • Fingerprints inside on lens
  • Can't lock out tailcap
  • Rather floody beam pattern

Features / Value: ★★★★

This is my first XM-L light and of course I am impressed. Apart from a brief discussion here I have never heard from Yezl or cnqualitygoods before but decided to give it a try because I wanted a multi mode, single cell XM-L light without flashing modes and with better heat sinking than a P60-drop in and this seemed to be a good offer.

I received an order confirmation two days after I had placed the order and the light shipped out registered 21-12-2010 and arrived 03-12-2010 (only mentioning this because I had expected worse).

The cardboard box inside the typical yellow envelope was worryingly deformed but the light itself shows no marks or dents.

It has like promised 3 modes going Hi -> Med -> Lo -> cycle and features mode memory. Breaking the circuit for less than ca. 0,5s is switching to the next mode otherwise it comes back on in the same mode as before. The difference between Hi and Med is IMO well spaced, Lo could be a little lower.

The light has a GID switch cover in natural alpha zink sulfide colour which feels a bit flabby but is easily accessed yet without an obviously big risk of accidental operation.

It tailstands rather firmly on flat surfaces but only after removing the lanyard.

I took off one star mostly because of some fingerprints on the inside of the lens. It was no problem to clean it, though.

Ugly prints inside the lens:

Build Quality: ★★★★★

Very tough built light. This is the largest single 18650 light I have, the numbers for size and weight on cnqualitygoods are accurate. All the parts have rather thick walls and I am sure they can take some abuse.

Apart from the fingerprints on the lens the hole light came unusually clean. The threads are all smooth and lightly lubricated. Well fitting O-rings on all the right places. Anodisation is even on all the parts both in visual and haptic appearance.

The pill is brass and quite solid at the emitter end. It nearly completly screws into the body tube and the threads for the head are in the same height so heat sinking should be good. The base of the emitter is not glued on to the pill but "swims" in a thick heat sinking paste. I briefly thought about glueing it on but the reflector is pushing the emitter against the pill (with the usual piece of white carboard in between) so I left it for now. I haven't tried for any extended period of time yet but running it on Hi for 20 min the hole light gets pleasently warm after 5 min and is not noticeably getting much warmer thereafter.

There is no knurling on this light which worried me a little when I ordered it but the shape makes that it does not feel slippery.


Yezl Y6-X "exploded":


Quite solid brass pill

Tailcap contents:

Battery Life:

I can't comment much about battery life as I don't have the knowledge or the equipment to do so. Tailcap readings with a freshly charged "flaming" Trustfire and my simple DMM are

Hi 2.07A

Med 0.63A

Lo 0.21A

I noticed that the current draw i dropping with declining voltages so probably no constant current regulation despite cnqualitygoods' description. Well, I did not believe this anyway. :p

Light Output: ★★★★★

Having no equipment to measure light output I made some beamshots instead.

This is my first flashlight review and I consider myself not a true flashaholic (although most people who know me would not agree) so I have no experience at all with taking beamshots but just chose the camera settings by eye. Indoor shots are taken with ISO 200, F 5,6 and 1/125 exposure and are underexposed to show the beam profile; outdoor shots are ISO 200, F 2,8 and 0"5 exposure and show approximately what I saw by eye.

The hotspot i big and bright with a gradually diminishing corona. This light is definitely not a thrower and I am grateful for that because the beam pattern is much more useful this way IMO (if I need to point at distant objects I use a laser pointer).

No donut hole irrespective of the distance.

There is no visible PWM flicker.

Indoor-shots: The light is 1 m from the wall. The corona is not as green as it looks here, more yellowish in reality.

High:

Med:

Low:

Outdoor-shots: The chopping block on the right is about 5m away, the white fence post behind the rocks on the left ca 15m. The big tree in the in the middle where I aimed at the centre is about 45m away.

Yezl Y6-X Hi:

Yezl Y6-X Med:

Yezl Y6-X Lo:

For comparison:

DX Ultrafire 502B with 5-mode XPG-R5 on Hi:

Uniquefire L2 with 5-mode XR-E R2 on Hi (from DX Ultrafire 501B, changed with SMO reflector for extra throw):

Mag 3D with MC-E and shiningbeam's 8x7135 driver on Hi (it has the original reflector and therefore an ugly beam with lots of diffuse side spill):

Summary: ★★★★★

I have to say even if the XM-L is not driven at its max I am very impressed. Suddenly all my other lights look dim. :D

I still have to find out whether there is some sort of low battery warning implemented in the driver and will report later.

Until now I am very happy with this light although it is slightly on the more expensive side for a budget light.

Definitely recommended!

2

Nice review Huny74

I do not like that the pill screws into the body, I think it's better if it screws into the head

3

Wow, thanks for the great review! I am very impressed at the difference between the xm-l High, and the xpg-r5 high. Now I have something to compare against my current lights. Thanks very much for the beam shots :)

I hope my KD C8 will draw over 2A :)

4

Thanks for the great review. A bigger light like that is a good way to go with a XM-L. Has nice throw but still lights up a big area.

That does seem like an odd choice to have the pill screw into the body since the head is where most of the metal is. Do you notice the whole light getting warm or just the body where the pill screws in?

5

Great review!

Your was bought at CN and they offer H M L. DX offers H M Strobe... arg

You can change the driver for the kaido 2,8A one

EDIT: I was wrong, DX offers a different model sorry!

6

if that was your first review, i agree with the peoople that know you and say you are a flashaholic. GREAT JOB!! i think you should embrace your flashaholism and start referring to yourself as one, because if you are not yet, you are well on your way. thanks for the review.

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i agree with the people that know you and say you are a flashaholic +1

I first thought this was a review on the yezl m6-xml and was a bit disappointed with the trow shots.

Now I realized that it was the smaller cheaper one, I think it is doing great! To bad about the 2.0A max

(it can be the fault of your multimeter/leads I have heard many issues measuring higher Amps)

the glass lens seems a bit thick does it have AR coating?

Great first review and hopefully not your last!

8

Thanks for the very good review!

My order for the Cree XML T6 1000 Lumen 5-Mode White LED Flashlight (2*18650) at kaidomain
still says Order pending-packing

hopefuly they'l send it soon!

9

Really nice review Huny! I loved the "exploded" view. Do you work on CAD by any chance? Sticky'd and Frontpage'd.

10

Thank you all for your kind comments! I am merely trying to imitate the honourable senior members of this forum.

I ran down a cell (same flaming Trustfire as before) on "Hi" to see if there is some low battery warning and did some measurements on the way. Cell voltage is resting voltage, current draw at tailcap.

Time (hh:mm) Current draw (A) Resting voltage (V)
00:00 2,07 4,19
00:15 1,63 3,95
00:30 1,42 3,82
00:45 1,25 3,75
01:00 1,20 3,67
01:15 0,49 3,46

After 01:15 I stopped because the dropped current draw worried me. There is no low battery warning apart from the fact that the light cooled down noticeably during the last 15 min whilst running. It seems to me like plain direct drive but I leave the conclusion (if there is any) to the experts.

OT Question: Does anyone know a simple method to reliably check the battery status of Li-Ions outdoors without being forced to carry a DMM?

@how2:

I believe you are referring to heat sinking efficiency. I don't think it is really a problem in this light (see below) and you have the advantage of a "real" candle mode by taking off the head for 100% flood.

@brted:

I added some heatsink compound around the pill and between the body and the head, so I don't know exactly how the stock light behaves but the hole light gets warm starting at the junction between the body and the head spreading nicely to both ends.

@cabfrank:

Well, I am actually mostly interested in different kind of outdoor activities and of course in the equipment involved like e.g. flashlights. I simply like to have good gear without spending a fortune and want to know how it works or what to do when it doesn't, that's it.

@pipopopo:

The lens is 36,0 x 1,5 mm and appears to be plain glass.

@sb56637:

Computer Aided Design? Nope, never got near it.

Ctrl Alt Del? Yes, all the time! :bigsmile:

11

I was thinking to use one of those http://cgi.ebay.com/F00076-Battery-Voltage-Indicator-Tester-2S-6S-Lipo-/250748035540?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a61bf61d4 and make my own housing from some bad charger.

Has anyone seen this and know how it operates?

Before buying it I'm waiting for an anwer from the seller wether item can be used for single cell measurment.

12

Thanks for the tip! Very interesting approach but I don't think I'll have the skills/patience/time to build my own customized voltmeter (although it would be very cool)

Currently thinking about getting a cheap DMM that is reasonably compact and has the advantage of an included battery test function for normal cells (Alk/NiMH).

Good luck with your project!

13

Huny74 I think a DMM is impractice with all those cables. I was thinking to use one rubbish http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.14885 I have, cut some holes and connect Li-Po 2S-6S voltmeter if it ever works with one cell. Simple and fast mod.

14

i'm interested in this or the more expensize Yezl XM-L HA-III as an outdoor light. what difference will the larger head diameter make on the HA-III model?

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Hello and welcome to BLF, sonofbuster!

I don't have any experience with the other model (I assume you mean the Yezl M6) but my guess is that the larger diameter will give a more focused hot spot thus better throw.

Personally I prefer a rather wide hotspot for outdoor use illuminating a bigger area and for this the Y6 is great.

16

about how much range do you get for useful light on your Yezl? i'd like something that'll easily light up 30-50 yds or so. my Uniquefire S10 will get some light out but definitely not enough to be useful at a distance like that. thanks for the reply!

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If there is no haze/mist you can tell rabbits from cats more than 100 m away. The big tree in the outdoor beamshots should be about 50 yds away if I remember the conversion formula correctly (ca 45 m) so you get an idea. I also have the UF S10 (said R2 from DX) and comparing both lights on that tree both with fully charged LiIons the Y6 illuminates a bigger area (circa twice in diameter) at estimated twice the brightness. I think you will find it great for your intended range of use.

18

thanks for the info!

19

Thanks for good Review :D I like this one... its a good light that could have been so great if it was driven at full, and for not a proper flooder despite being potential. other than its good.. the official site says its water proof.. :) A bit on expensive side a bit.. could be a little bit cheaper at some other retailer i guess. Yezl lights look promising..isnt it.

Is this light available at any other store? .. i dont see it anywhere else :-(

20

I strongly disagree, for myself. In fact, a flashlight like this, where the head can be screwed off (for a true "full flood" or "candle" mode), is STRONGLY appealing. I dare say I WOULD have purchased this or the "M" model already, if they weren't underdriven at 2.5 amps. (Has anyone gotten one which goes higher than that?)

Look at the ultrafire C8 and its many variants. Those are bigger flashlights built for hotter emitters, and have big pills, too. In all of those, the pill screws into the body, and they handle heat very well. No matter what happens, you're going to have the pill touching the battery (at least via a spring). Those heads screw directly over the body, and are thick (there's a lot of metal). If a P60 drop-in can handle 3+ amps worth of heat (where the pill is NOT screwed directly into the body--or the head), the M6 and Y6 can totally handle it. I'm simply not going to buy a separate big flashlight which puts out fewer luments than my P60 drop-in, even though the reflector will provide some advantages, and you can run this on high for a longer time (but that is what multiple modes are for).

The biggest advantage with the Yezl (in my world) is that apparently they're not gluing the head to the body, which is wonderful. I've come to resent my Spiderfire P7 for them gluing the head on so unremovably. I've ruined the finish baking it hoping to melt/burn the glue, scratched it by wrenching... it still won't come off. i WANT to see the XM-L in its true flood glory--being one of the first LED's in a flashlight which can almost light a room respectably on full-flood, like a lamp.

Darn it Yezl--won't you come up with an M6 which drives these at 3.0 or more amps? And thank you again for not gluing the heads down!!!!