I ordered this torch from an eBay dealer a while back on a whim (it was cheap), and finally received it today. I’m actually impressed with the quality, and it seems to be heat sinked well, compared to my Sipik SK98 (plastic crap washer, etc). Has an extremely smooth zoom. Well machined, nice finish (but a couple dings from poor packaging), and really nice threads a a solid pill/body relationship. It has a Cree XM-L T6 in it, a brass reflector, a solid and deep aspheric lens… seems interestingly designed - heat fins everywhere, etc. Someone seemed to be trying to design a safe and functional 18650/XM-L zoomy.
I currently have a cell issue - I only have three red Ultrafire 18650s, and they all have some protection circuit problems as they trip prematurely and don’t run my better-quality budget lights that desire a higher draw. So, I can’t give a full review. But I can say that if I turn it on high, (reverse clicky switch) it will switch between the three modes (High, Med, Strobe) all by itself, until it decides to stop on whatever mode, for whatever reason. Sometimes, it even stops on high and works fine until I decide to turn it off. I’m not in the business yet of testing the limits of my budget lights for the sake of a review because I am still learning. But the switch assembly is tight, doesn’t need tightening. Could it be my crappy battery again?
Anyway, if anyone has this light, and someone out there in BLF land has got to have one by now… what are YOUR impressions? Also, any ideas about the phantom mode-switching thing? I didn’t expect to get a favorite torch or an EDC or anything, just a cheap, interesting light that I hadn’t seen reviewed yet.
Thanks all. Tired of being a lurker, but I’ve not felt like I’d had enough to share yet.
Why don't you spring for a couple of good US sourced cells? Order now and you could have in hand by Friday or Saturday. Try Hi-max or Xtar from protacticalshop19 on eBay. Under $20 shipped. Those crappy UF cells are nothing but trouble.
I actually have a pair of TrustFire flames (well reviewed) on the way, and a pair of the new Solarforce cells as well. I’m not done buying better batteries, I assure you. But hosts and impulse-buy torches keep showing up before my decent cells… I doubt I’m alone in this. NEWB - that’s me.
I bought an 18650 light and had to wait about 12 days on a battery and charger so don't feel bad .. it's one of the more interesting silly noob mistakes made ..i know i did it :P
Is that the 1 battery version of the Trustfire Z5 ? The Z5 was selling for $11.15(old deal alert link) just last week, and was reviewed by _the_ (link) last year.
here's a video of the $11 2x lightsaber in action, courtesy of forolinternas: :)
Yes, very similar. The heads seem identical, at least. Mine doesn’t have that awesome light saber effect. Here’s to hoping better batteries make a difference.
Oh wow nice, how well does it throw compared to your Sipik?
I ordered the Yezl T9 might have to look closer into this? I noticed the other guy say this is a single 18650 light, possible the single 18650 Z5.This is a single 18650 right? Kinda looks like a double 18650 light to me in the pics. Perhaps my perception is off.
It’s probably about the same throw as the Sipik, but seems quite a bit brighter. I’ll have to see when I have more batteries that are worth a crap and can run these lights. And yes, it’s a single 18650.
The head is pretty robust compared to the Sipik and some other cheap zoomies I’ve seen. Seems pretty solid.
I actually got to compare this light to several other XML flood to throw lights in a store in Ho Chi Minh city. Build quality seemed good, however it was quickly resigned to the shelf as the other 2 ftt lights the store had, the Poppas Ultrafire 878 and this ultrafire 2 cell flood to throw:
were visibly brighter. The zoomy I actually liked the most is the one in the above pic, it seemed to be of good build quality and felt great in hand, however I went for the 878 based on the compact 1x26650 design for mountain bike purposes. Just my 2 cents.
I have the same zoomy as who killed Jr pictured, gets used every night on low, tail standing on flood for when my baby son needs feeding, the light level is more than enough to see clearly, but not enough to disturb toni.
It’s slender enough to drop in a cargo pocket, fairly light weight but seems to have a purplish tint on low. (that may be the paint on the ceiling tbf). I like it, it does a job and does it well and is lasting a long time on the cells in it.
“Not a reason to prefer it (not knowing the current)”
True, my judgement is only based on brief initial impressions and what the store owner was saying (and I trust his judgment). That ultrafire 2 cell ftt did leave a pleasant impression though, and it was on par for brightness (to the naked eye) with the 878.
Out of interest, just did a tailcap reading on my POPPAS/ Ultrafire 878 clone, I only have 2 partially charged King Kong batteries on me right now:
At 3.9V 2.25A
At 3.6V 1.6A
Be interesting to see what the tailcap measurements are for both the other lights.
I’m using “torchy” 2800mah protected cells, although to be fair, I never had a problem with the limp fires it came with, their now running my work light c8 till I get some better cells.
Torchy is active on here, he’s based in Scotland and has an eBay shop.
The only time I get mode switching is if I turn it off and back on within a few minutes, left for a while it restarts on high.
Hi Jaffo, forgive me as I’m a newb at flashlights as well, but for the random mode changing have you checked it isn’t a tailcap issue? I had a similar problem with my shadow JM07. It turned out if the inside of the tailcap was turned too tightly, the battery wasn’t making good contact and would sometimes change modes or not work at all.
I had to loosen the inside of the tail to ensure the battery was making a nice strong contact. You can also check if it’s a tail cap issue by using a screw driver. Remove the cap and make contact with the negative pole of the battery against the inside exposed aliminium threads of the flashlight body. It will light up, and if it’s not changing modes randomly then it’s a tailcap issue which is usually easy to fix.
Sorry if you’ve already tried this, hate to give advice at my early stage of flashaholicism.
Thank you, whokilled. I will check this. I think you’re right. I checked the tightness of the washer in the tail, and it was REALLY tight, so I didn’t mess with it. But now I’m going to try to loosen it up a bit.
No worries, bear in mind tight is usually a good thing (although not in the case of my shadow JM07). Before you try playing with the tailcap try my first suggestion, remove the tailcap and touch the screwdriver to the bottom (negative pole) of the battery and the inside of the flashlight body simultaenously. It will light up and if you don’t get mode changing issues then you know for sure it’s a tailcap issue.
I tried the negative pole/flashlight body test, and it was fine, as suspected. Apparently a contact issue - stretched the positive spring out a bit, and unscrewed the tail washer a tad until contact seemed to be more solid. Thanks again! Now, I look forward to night again so I can play with this torch a bit - indoors on a white wall, the projected emitter is actually the exact same size as that of my Sipik sk68 variants, which is half the size of the sk98 projection. Suggests better throw already. Definitely better heat-sinking than the sk98. May we have a little winner here…
Oh, and gords, thanks for the suggestion. This torch actually works with a couple of my crapfires that DON’T work with a couple of my other lights with a seemingly higher draw that trips the protection circuit on the cells prematurely. Maybe this torch isn’t trying to pull as much power, but with the zoom function, may not need as much voltage anyway…
Will lights that seem to draw less voltage still perform better with better batteries? Or am I pretty much limited to how the driver limits itself?
NEWB - that’s me.
