Trustfire T2
Reviewer’s Overall Rating: ★★★★★
Summary:
This review is kindly sponsored by http://www.aurabuy.com who sent me this review unit for free, along with the request to provide an unbiased review.
Battery: 1x18650 (fits protected cell)
Switch: Side (reverse clicky)
Modes: High, Medium, Low, Strobe, SOS
LED Type: CREE XP-G R5
Lens: glass lens, singlecoated at best
Tailstands: Yes, but slightly unstable with strap
Price Paid: $24.35
From: http://www.aurabuy.com/trustfire-t2-cree-xp-g-r5-380lm-5-mode-memory-white-led-flashlight-torch-w-strap-1-18650.html
Date Ordered: March 15, 2013
Pros:
- Unique design
- Tailstands
- Rugged
- High output
- Tripod mount
- Nicely finished
- Comfortable to hold (at least for big hands)
- Flood mode when you remove the reflector and lens
Cons:
- “Tactical” strobe and SOS modes
- Tailstand is slightly wobbly with strap attached
- Somewhat noticeable PWM on lowest mode
- Doesn’t fit bottomless flashlight holsters
- No fancy box - less suitable as a gift
Features / Value: ★★★★☆
Well, it’s your standard XP-G R5 light. It has the common 5 mode memory which cycles between High - Medium - Low - Strobe and SOS. I personally don’t care about the last two modes, I work as a lighting engineer on rock shows and the strobe modes are more of an annoyance than a feature. Still, the strobe is sufficiently timed to be VERY desorienting to any would-be attackers, and the SOS mode is signed correctly, unlike some other chinese lights which sign “OSO”.
There’s a 1/4” tripod mount on the bottom, and you can unscrew the lens and reflector housing to create a flood light, similar to the way Maglites work.
Design / Build Quality: ★★★★★
First impression when you pick this light up: wow, this is one rugged light!. You would think the rectangular shape would be uncomfortable to hold but nothing is less true. If you have large hands like me, this flashlight is a joy to hold.
The rectangular area fits perfectly and the rounded transition provides a lot of lateral grip, along with the small crenellations in the body.
The front features a slightly crennelated bezel which is not too intimidating, and a smooth reflector. Note that the ribs you see in this picture are slight optical abberations from my fingerprint on the glass lens. Oops.
I love the chromed top and bottom which, from the images you might think are flimsy. They’re not, it’s extremely solid and thick steel as you can see on the back of the light.
This shot also shows the standard 1/4” tripod mount which makes it possible to mount the flashlight to any standard tripod or photo accessory. Here’s the light on my flexible tripod to give you an idea.
The side switch is nicely positioned and feels very sturdy. It’s a reverse clicky which makes switching through the modes when the flashlight is turned on a breeze, and the rubber cover fits very snugly.
Then there’s the anodizing quality, which is pretty good. The color itself is something between matte black and grey, anthracite seems to best describe it. The printing on the anodizing is rather high quality, as you can see in my 100% enlargement:
But enough about the outside, let’s take it apart!
When taking the light apart the first thing you notice is the long threads, especially on the back. This gives the light a very sturdy feel, but also makes changing the battery a slightly slower process. The threads themselves are properly lubed, and sealed with a glow-in-the-dark O-rings.
On the front you’ll find that the driver and LED board are integrated into the body which I see as a benefit, as it makes it less likely for the driver to become loose and shortcircuit under stress or after an impact. However, there are two small holes available which should allow you to release the driver for some modding.
All in all I’m very impressed by all these things, in terms of design and features this light offers a tremendous value and can be compared to much more expensive lights. The light is advertised as water resistant and I have absolutely no reason to doubt that.
Battery Life: ★★★★☆
Well, it’s an XP-G R5 running at a digitally regulated 1200mA and according to CREE the module has an efficiency of ~93 lumens/watt (at 1500mA) which is pretty good.
I know an XM-L is more efficient than an XP-G, but I think the added throw and the bonus in reflector design is worth the slightly lowered efficiency.
As far as battery life itself goes, in the two weeks that extensively I’ve used the light (6 nights a week including one power outage) I’ve not managed to drain a single 2400 mah cell.
Manufacturer rated this light should do 3-5 hours depending on the power mode and I’m inclined to agree on for the low power mode, but high will probably only do 2-2.5 hours at best.
Light Output: ★★★★☆
Well what do you know, the light is advertised as 380 lumens and actually manages to surpass that, being at least 400 lumens when running on high for a while!
The beam itself has enough spill to be a multipurpose light, but when you need throw there’s a very tight hotspot exactly where you want it. I dug out a smoke machine, filled a room with smoke (much to my colleagues annoyance) and took a shot of the beam itself:
Neat! The beam pattern itself is also very nice, it’s not ringy in any way as my XM-L lights are, this one is just a neat ring of flood, with a very bright even hotspot. I’m pleased to say no chromatic abberation (fringing) to be seen on the edges.
High:
Medium:
Low:
As an added bonus you can also choose to unscrew the head which turns the light into a candle/flood. Nice for camping, or for those moments where you need a wide flood light:
There is some visible PWM going on at the low mode which is visible when you’re moving quickly and have the reflector unscrewed. With the reflector the effect is much less obvious. I haven’t noticed it on the medium mode though.
I measured the color temperature to be 5500 Kelvin which is pretty much neutral daylight/camera flash.
Summary: ★★★★★
All in all I can heartily recommend this light. The free shipping was relatively fast and the light was packed very well in boxes and multiple layers of bubble wrappings. The light itself looks like it cost 3 times as much and brings some nice features to the table which you don’t see on other lights.
and let’s not forget the build quality. Things tend to break in my line of work so often that I have a 300$ Peli case to keep my stuff in. And guess what, I’ve used this light for two weeks and it still looks like new aside from one or two tiny scratches in the anodizing.
There’s one of two flaws that would have gotten it a 4/5 star rating, but then I considered this light only costs ~25 dollars.
It’s not a budget-light with an identity crisis, it’s a high end light with the “wrong” price tag. 
I feel the price is a little high though.