Solarforce L2X extended + Kaidomain Cree XM-L U2 3-18 V 1-mode drop-in
Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★★★
Summary:
Battery: 2x18650, 4xCR123, 4xRCR123
Switch: Reverse Clicky
Modes: 1
LED Type: Cree XM-L U2
Lens: There seems to be one
Tailstands: Yes
Price Payed: 26$ for the host, 16,50$ for the drop-in
From where: Host: http://solarforce-sales.com/product_detail.php?t=FB&s=6&id=16 Drop-in: http://www.kaidomain.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=11249
Pros for host:
Build quality (with reservations)
Heat dissipation abilities
Output vs size
Distinctive looks
Very good grip
Cons for host:
Not pocketable, hardly holsterable
Siderolls if not modded
No place for lanyard as standard
Ugly standard bezel
Lens not coated and shatters easily (if abused)
Pros for drop-in:
Bright
Simple
Great voltage area, can be used from 2AA(A) to something silly like 6xCR123
Cons for drop-in:
Generates lot of heat (like all XM-L:s, I suppose)
One trick pony
Hello. My name is HID45 (it's not my real name) and I've developed an addiction for flashlights. It's just started, but it's getting worse. I've recently began hunting and found out that in the dark forest one needs light. And so it began. I got myself a couple of medium to high priced lights and was happy with them until I saw the Solarforce L2X extended. I pulled the trigger before thinking twice and afterwards found out that the choises in high voltage drop-ins in XM-L, P7 or SST-50 region are limited. So, I asked help from You, and was directed towards this item. http://www.kaidomain.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=11249 Went for it, it came today and let's see what we've got. I see no point in making two different reviews for the host and drop-in, so I'm doing a combo.
First I must make clear that I'm an total noob in flashlights, inexperienced in electricity in general, my photography is awful, my english is medicore, I typo a lot and got a sense for sarcasm. But try to bear with me. (after beating myself, I must say that I am decent IPSC shooter and quite a good floorball goalkeeper...)
Features / Value: ★★★
Nothing much to report on the feature department. It's a basic, well made budget 2x18650 host with one mode drop-in. Pretty straightforward stuff. It's not an all-rounder by all means. But what it does, it does well. And that is delivering masses of light and keeping going for long time. Although I got to point out that unlike your basic P60 host, this actually would make a decent makeshift self defence item. It's long, heavy and propably sturdy enough to deliver some damage. But this is of course purely speculative. I would never use or advice to use it in any kind of combat. That's just silly. If one is going to a place where extra protection is needed, it would be better to grab something that shoots lead instead of photons. Where allowed by law. Here it is not.
Design / Build Quality: ★★★★
Anodising is impressive. Full stop. Not any of that "price point considered" bs. Overall finishing is on par with my 4Sevens Turbo 18650 (which is my only "high end" light to compare to). Head threads came lubed, but tail end was dry. One drop of CLP took care of that. There's double o-rings at the tail, one at the head. I didn't do the sink test, but I'm sure it would pass it easily. I did run water over it from the tab, no problems. The torch feels solid and durable and because of the ridiculous knurling, it sticks to hand regardless of the environment. It rains here now and we have some snow also, but even being wet, cold and snowy the grip is very firm. Unlike the 47's, in which the knurling is way too shallow and it will slip on first sign of moisture or cold.
One thing I don't care about is that the inside bore is bit on the loose side. Inside diameter is 19,0 millimeters. For example is 4Sevens 18650 tube it is 18,8mm and Solerforce L2 has 18,9. Small differences, but they count. L2x is kind of clonky with two Trustfire flame 18650's. Those buggers are narrow. Loaded with my trusty Cytacs it is ok, but still makes an occational "clonk" if hit against hand etc. In real world use it's silent on Cytacs. Don't know it they designed it that way or if it's just out of specs. I think those Flames might be off-spec too. But still, at least my L2X has slightly larger inside diameter than my other 18650 / 2x123 lights.
Other problem is that as standard, the torch siderolls. There is nothing to stop it, as it's missing the normal P60 host bolt-like thingy at the head. But that's easily fixed with some shiny goodness. The looks are also quite dark, being all black. It really needs some contrast (shiny goodies!).
Compared to L2 and Trustfire flame 18650
Here with them shiny bits
Some details
This is a very sweet combination. You think that that shouln't work? So did I. But it does!
Battery Life: ★★★★★
Kind of hard to judge, as it only has one level. 4Sevens Quarks are claimed to run over a month on moonlight mode. This will go on for about three hours. But for those three hours it's bright bright bright. I measured 3 hours and 15 minutes (of which 2,5 hours continuously) on Cytach 2600mah 18650's. Don't have a luxmeter to measure the brightness, but it was bright untill protection kicked in and measured 3,17v for the other cell and 2,91v for the other. Yup, that's HID45 giving his cells the hell so you don't have to.
During that 2,5 hours of continous burn, did the torch get hot, I hear You ask. Well, it indeed did. Was it too hot to handle? Well no, sir, it was not. The body was warm all over, but I could squeeze it in my fist as hard as I could with no problem. The head is a different story. Now that sucker was hot. Not too hot to touch, but definetly too hot to fully fist-squeeze. I did wrap some al foil to the drop-in before testing. Don't know if it made any difference.
Added 22.4.2011: Tested runtime with 1xCytac 2600mah 18650 using regular L2 body and L2X head. Partly due to expected overheating, partly because I broke my other lens by dropping a battery in to an empty tube, thus shattering the glass. Results were quite surprising, to me at least. It started with 4,25v (which is more than I would care, charger seems to overcharge a little) and 1,90 amps. Brightness was similar to 2-battery setup to my eye. After 5 minutes the light was pretty warm. At 20 minutes voltage had dropped to 3,94 and battery was pushing 1,62 amps from tailcap. Still very bright. The heating peaked at about 45 mins. Body was very warm, head hottish but not nearly as hot as with 2 battery. After that the torch cooled down as voltage dropped but remained still above hand warmth level until cut-off. The output faded from that peak point too, but still maintaining usable level 'till the end. At 1,5h it was still pushing 1,10 amps and 3,60 volts. At two hour mark results were 0,85 amps & 3,4v. It finally died at 2,5 hours and 3,27v. So as a conclusion for 1 battery setup: about 45 mins of very bright light without serious overheating issues, after that degrading but usable amount of light for up to total of 2,5 hours. That's longer than I thought and this drop-in seems to be very usable also in 1x18650 setups. Not best alternative if there's to choose from, but for example as a backup for almost every common voltage level it's just brilliant.
It draws 1,90 amps at the tailcap from fresh 1X18650 @ 4,2v and 0,84 amps from 2x similar dose.
Light Output: ★★★★★
Can't measure, so hard to tell. Not 1300 lumens as advertised. Hardly even 1000. But maybe round 700 or something. It is bright allright. Some bad photos...
On the left corner: 7Sevens 18650 Turbo with fresh Trustfire flame. On the right corner: KD XM-L U2 1-mode drop-in running fresh 2xCytac 2600mah 18650's
Left: Shiningbeam S-Mini Neutral white. Right: KD XML U2
And finally, outside shot of KD XM-L U2 high voltage drop-in 2x18650. No comparison shots, sorry...
I do not put a picture of the drop-in, as it looks like pretty much like all the other generic drop-ins there are. Check it from KD site if needed.
Summary: ★★★★
As said, what it does, it does well but it's not an all rounder. Drop-in is bright and can be used for lot of voltage options. It's quite cheap and good value, if you can live with one mode. Host is well made and gives good runtime on high output. I will not use it as only light on my hunting and camping trips, but combined with a Quark 18650 Turbo, they make a perfect duo (ok, they would be perfect if at least other would be either neutral or warm...). One pocket thrower which has ridiculoulsy low low and one mini sun (ok, now I'm exaggerating, have to tone it down) to light things up when needed.
. Also, I think you left off one "pro" for the light - It can be used to tenderize meat!
