UltraFire W-878 Zooming from Aura Buy
Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★★★
Summary:
| Battery: | 3 x AAA, ! x 18650, 1 x 26650 |
| Switch: | Reverse clicky |
| Modes: | High, med, low and two flashy |
| LED Type: | XM-L |
| Lens: | Plastic |
| Tailstands: | Perfectly |
| Price Paid: | Compliments of Aura Buy. Thanks. |
| From: | Aura Buy |
| Date Ordered: | Jan 2013 |
Pros:
- Good solid feeling light.
- The variety off batteries that can be used.
- Very smooth zooming function.
- One off the best switches I have used.
- Large zoom range.
- Tailstands perfectly.
Cons:
- Threads off average quality.
- Next mode memory driver.
- Rings from the shiny led retainer.
Features / Value: ★★★★
At just over $16.00 this is by far not an expensive light. For the price you get a light that has an extremely smooth sliding zooming function. The main reason for this is the snug fit between the sliding outer lens holder on the rubber oring. You can sit the light on the bezel without the weight of the light pushing the battery tube down. The lanyard is not that different from other lights in this class and should do the job ok. There is plenty off space from the end of the switch rubber boot to the end off the tailcap allowing perfect tail standing. Having the ability to use such a wide variety off batteries should never leave you in the dark. There was no adapter supplied to use 18650 batteries. 26650 batteries fit fine as well as the AAA batteries in the supplied adapter.
Design / Build Quality: ★★★
The anodizing was ok with the usual few blemishes in the finish. Durability wise it looks and feels ok. There were several rings in the beam from the screw in led retainer. After blackening out the ring most off the rings disappeared. This ring was also the poorest built part of the flashlight as the couple of threads it had were extremely loose in the housing. all the other threads were of average quality. There were very few threads on the tailcap itself. I loved the feel off the switch. It had a firm press with very positive clicks. The lens was flawless and suited this light perfectly.
Battery Life: ★★★★
The standard driver had next mode memory. Running on Turnigy LSD AAA batteries the current draw at the tailcap was 1.6amps on high, .9 amps on med and .22 amps on low. This will give reasonable runtime on these batteries. The flashlight was noticeably brighter on a 26650 King Kong which would give an extremely long runtime.
Light Output: ★★★★
Depending on what batteries were being used was how bright the light was. Taking this into consideration the light performed well in this department. My daughter took a liking to this light while camping. She used it on all zoomed out in her tent, anywhere zoomed whilst walking and when her pups disappeared into the gloom of night she could zoom the light out and find her pups with no problems out to over 100 meters. I would almost call this light the perfect camping light for a child running rechargable AAA batteries.
Summary: ★★★★
I enjoyed using this light when I could steal it from my daughter. It has proven itself on many occasions and has never failed to work. The zooming function remains rock solid and the finish shows no sign off abuse that has been dished out to it.
Being the person I am, I did do one very cheap mod to this light. Yes, I swapped the driver to a 2.2 amp 7135 driver with memory. Now the light is just about perfect for the use It will have with me (my daughter).
Zoomed in.
Zoomed out.
You can see where the led sits and its not hollow like a few other zoomies are.
The pill and the extremely loose led retainer. You can also see the oring for the sliding head.
XM-L T6 led.
The tailcap which works like a charm. Theres not many threads though.
The pill was nicely machined and driver spring very sturdy.
The machining on the battery tube was very nice including the threads.
The lens worked very well in this flashlight.
Thanks again to Aura Buy for providing this light for review and there patience in waiting for me to post this review up.
I hope you like it.