Blackshadow Darth NW (3 x XM-L | 3 x 18650)
Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★★★★
Summary:
| Battery: | 3 x 18650 |
| Switch: | Magnetic control ring + Tail switch, Forward clicky |
| Modes: | 4: Low, Med, High, Strobe |
| LED Type: | 3 x XM-L T6 3C (NW) |
| Lens: | Glass |
| Tailstands: | Yes |
| Price Payed: | Introductory price $62 + shipping (current price $97) |
| From: | FF |
| Date Ordered: | September 2012 |
Pros:
- Bright for the size
- Significantly smaller than King -> pocketable power house
- Available as NW
- Good runtime with three cells
- Two switches (Magnetic control ring + Forward tail clicky) =>
- Easy to change modes
- Strobe quickly available
- Momentary on with any mode
- Tail clicky can be used for Morse code without fear of changing modes
- Well spaced modes
- Tailstands well (and can be used to illuminate the whole room
) - Great design & build quality
- Flat bezel
- Comes in a nice box, lanyard included, very good for gifting!
Cons:
- PWM on low and med modes (~125Hz)
Features / Value: ★★★★★
The light comes in a nice red box:
..which contains the light itself, good lanyard, one extra O-ring and a manual (in English!)
Features are simply great: Three well spaced modes (about 1700, 900 and 300 lumens OTF) + an easily accessible strobe in case you should need it.
UI is very good, one of the best I have ever used: Forward clicky tail switch (momentary on), the light always starts on the mode shown by the magnetic control ring. After turning the light on, you can rotate the control ring to change modes in the following order: Off, Low, Med, High, Strobe. The ring moves smoothly with clear steps on each mode. Off and strobe are at the end of the rotation, which is very handy: Strobe can be turned on quickly with one twist, without any need to stop thinking.
One advantage of this setup is that there is no parasitic drain if the power is turned off from tail switch.
To avoid the light turning on accidentally, despite of two switches being off, the light can be locked out simply by unscrewing the head about 1/8 - 1/4 turns.
Value for money: Very good!
Design / Build Quality: ★★★★★
Design is very nice. Short, thick, good handle, and the magnetic control ring. What else would one need? The triangular handle fits my hand perfectly and the control ring (with option also for "Off") is as good as a side switch.
Color of anodizing is also good in my eyes and to top of it, bezel is flat!
The anodization is very good overall, glass lens looks nice and durable, and the magnetic control ring feels as good. Let's see some details..
Cooling fins and the stainless steel magnetic control ring:
Also the design of the lanyard "hole" is interesting:
Three well centered NW emitters, ready to push out 1500+ lumens:
The threads were anodized, smooth, and slightly lubed. The O-ring is well placed, feels tight, and keeps in place very well:
Another photo of the body:
A look to the inside. Three cells in a triangular formation. Looks great! Also longer cells like XTAR 18700 fit fine without any problems.
Another photo with the cells inside the body tube. This also shows how the positive poles are pressed against the driver when screwing the head to the body. I'm not so concerned about that with this light, because the driver ring is significantly thicker than in King.
This is all that can be opened without tools or violence.
..but since I'm dedicated to BLF community, I decided to go further..
The driver can be disassembled by unscrewing the two screws on top of it:
Other side of the driver. Note also the screw in the middle of the wires, holding the reflector tightly.
Bezel, glass lens, O-ring and reflector removed. Emitters are located on a about 2mm thick aluminum "platform", which is integrated part of the head.
The head can be disassembled even further by twisting it hard, but I don't suggest doing so! Listen to me: Don't try this at home!
The magnetic control ring requires the correct tightness between these two parts, which is why the parts are glued together. On the other hand, if you are not happy with the tightness of the ring, you might open this seam and re-glue it to preferred tightness.
Here is the whole light disassembled:
Closeup on the bezel and lens:
Another shot of the head. Threads are very nice also here:
Some measurements:
Length: 138mm
Head diameter: 48mm
Body diameter: 44mm
Tail diameter: 47mm
Reflector diameter: 21mm
Reflector depth: 16mm
Weight: 451g with 3 cells (= ready to use), 307g without
..and here's some pictures confirming the measurements:
This light is actually unbelievably small, for example when compared to King:
..or XinTD C8 v3:
And the bottom line in the quality: Absolutely nothing to complain! Surprisingly good in all aspects!
Battery Life: ★★★★★
Good! Three batteries will allow fairly long runtimes.
I measured the current and got results of 5.0A on high, 2.3A on Med and 0.7A on low.
This would give about 1.5h runtime on high, 3h on Med, and over 11h on low!
Light Output: ★★★★☆
Let's make this clear: This light is not as bright as the King.
But for a light this small, I would still classify it as "very bright". Ceiling bounce was measured about 77% of King on high, and the beamshots below seem to confirm this. (Visible, but not big difference)
Thermal sag & runtime graphs coming soon. Please wait patiently.
I estimate (ceiling bounce + "known" references) the light output to:
- over 1500 lumens on high (maybe around 1600-1700?)
- about 900 on med
- about 300 (or a bit less) on low
Some white wall beamshots (1/400s, f/4, ISO80, WB: Daylight)
High:
Med:
Low:
Beam angle:
Compared to King (1/100s, f/4, ISO80, WB: Daylight)
Low:
King Low, Darth Med:
High:
High with reduced exposure (1/400s, f/4, ISO80, WB: Daylight)
Outdoor beamshots (Distance 50m, camera settings: 50mm, 2s, f/4, ISO200, WB 5000K)
Control:
High:
Med:
Low:
Comparison to King NW on High: (Mouse over for Skyray King)
Summary: ★★★★★
Very good small multi-emitter flashlight with nice design and finish for anyone who wants to put out generous amount of neutral white lumens from a pocketable light.
As an owner of multiple lights, such as King, APEX 5T6, Roche F22 and this, I have noticed that I have had tendency of taking only this one for a walk during the last few days. Of course it might be only the "new light"-syndrome, but we'll see that in a near future..
Verdict: Highly recommended!
The End (pun intended):
Thanks for reading & watching. Hope you enjoyed the review!
Can’t wait to get mine.
