The King is dead? Long live the Warrior!!

For all of you who've wanted an SRK but couldn't stand the gold color, hated only having two output levels, didn't care for the parasitic drain of an electronic switch...your patience has paid off. The FandyFire Warrior/YL-02 has arrived!

For those who, like me, bought an SRK (or 2 or 3 or 6) in the past, it's time to break open the PayPal account like I did not 5 minutes ago when I saw this for the first time on Fasttech's new release page. I didn't even see this one coming but had to order it immediately. I can't remember the last time I pulled the trigger on a new flashlight the instant I saw it without giving it a second thought.

The color and style of the L3 minus 4 of it's LEDs. It probably does have the L3's driver and it does have the L3's control panel. I'm sure most of you remember this little number...

Full of promise and obscene amount of photon output, it only delivered disappointment and shame with just 2000 lumens and a giant battery carrier needing 6 matched 18650 cells. Well, FandyFire apparently decided to trim the battery fat off of it and lose 4 of those emitters but keeping all the best parts and reduce the head diameter to SRK proximity. Here are some posted YL-U2 specs.

Light Sources
TOTAL LED COUNT 3
LIGHT SOURCE BIN U2
LIGHT SOURCE BRAND Cree
LIGHT SOURCE COLOR White
LIGHT SOURCE MODEL XM-L
LUMENS (MAX) 2200 LM
Aesthetic
COLOR Grey
MATERIAL Aluminum HA-III
Construction
WATER RESISTANT Yes
WATERPROOF IPX-7
Electronic Components
LOW VOLTAGE WARNING Yes
OUTPUT CURRENT 2500 mA
REVERSE POLARITY PROTECTION Yes
FLASHLIGHT MODES Hi > Mid > Strobe > SOS > Infinitely variable brightness
LENS TYPE Glass Lens
MODE COUNT 5
MODE MEMORY No
REFLECTOR TYPE Aluminum Smooth/SMO
SWITCH PLACEMENT Side
SWITCH TYPE Reverse Clicky
TAIL STAND Yes
TAIL-CAP CURRENT 3000 mA
Power & Batteries
BATTERIES INCLUDED No
BATTERY FORM FACTOR 18650
REQUIRED BATTERY COUNT 3

The fact that they are selling the Warrior for just $37.64 is icing on the cake. I used the BLF code on mine and it was just a tick over $35. Now the waiting game begins! Come on snail mail!!! Looking forward to reviewing this and letting you all know if it is a disappointment or a winner. Can't seeing it not being a winner though.

Just 2 weeks until it arrives.... Just 2 weeks until it arrives...

Can’t wait… looking forward…

just when i thought i was going to get through a month without ordering a light…. poo.

Infinitely variable brightness is nice… when there’s a magnetic ring to control it. Using a timer based one sucks.
But holy crap it is cheap. I skipped the Kung, but I’ll wait for more info about this light before I take the plunge.

Thanks for posting JMac.

Thanks, looks velly interestink. Well now, if you could get extentions, extentions, like the TK75 …

They are getting really fast with copying lights:

Hmmm… looks pretty good. I might have to order one so I can compare it to my TM11.

Solarstorm and Black Shadow is actually Skyray.

Skyray re-brands to everybody, Fandyfire, etc.

How the hell did I miss that post?? Anyway, they are not really clones, just rebrands. BlackShadow/Solarstorm are the OEM and they rebrand them for companies like FandyFire. Not to say that the SRK hasn’t been cloned over time (it has) but AFAIK the FandyFires are the same as the BS/SS originals.

nice find there! yea i seen that thread on that solar storm warrior but wasnt too excited when op didnt reply back when i asked if it was brighter than the kung or king.

but now for only $35, thats almost a must have light! unless the king is alot brighter, then i may have to pass.

so whats that button with the lightning ….strobe mode?
and what are the 4 small buttons…or are they lights?

Big button is power and the smaller one mode selection. The 4 blue LEDs across the top of the control panel are voltage level indicators so you don’t get caught off guard with soon to be dead batteries.

i saw the cnqg one the other day, and this one earlier today... like the price on the FF model a lot more. i will probably wait until someone gets one of these models from either place, but i am liking this light a lot. yall know, grey and blue...

whats the 7 xml 6 cell light like?? besides the low 2k lumen output. pwm good? good ui? good machining?

It’s funny you posted this Johnny. I just ordered one earlier, and I haven’t ordered anything but hosts in a while. The price helps too.

Yeah, I just couldn’t pass it up. I’m thinking it will be way more floody than that SRK though. Originally I figured they were ab out the same size (and they may be) but after ordering I remembered the SRK uses 4 and this only 3 so the body will be thinner than the SRK (not a bad thing at all) but the head might be smaller as well. Now I need to check the dimensions of the SRK and compare against those posted about this one. BRB

Okay...the SRK head is 59mm and the YL-U2 is 57mm. Doesn't mean they don't have the same reflector inside but even if they did, 2mm isn't that huge a difference and the individual reflectors could still be the same size as in the SRK. For $35 I can't see going wrong with this light especially if output can be bumped up even more.

Oh god, I did not need to see this today. Considering I don't actually have a King currently I may have to get this, anxiously awaiting your review JM!

Damn you JM!

I have one already coming from FF - with XM-L2 emitters (and significantly higher price, of course..)

Well.. At least we can compare them. :) [At least in case of SRK, Fandyfire is identical to real King..]

I'll pass this one. Have a Nitecore TM11 coming. :hat:

Can’t wait for the review! FT might have another purchase coming soon.

Nice find JM. This is so interesting, if not for the UI (quote from FT):

How to use:
Press the larger button for 3 seconds to turn on/off the flashlight
Click the larger button to switch brightness in Hi > Mid > Strobe
Keep pressing the small button for infinitely dimming the brightness
Double click the small button to access SOS mode

It's extremely frustrating - the UI implements strobe in MAIN cycle! Why not hide it just like SOS - e.g double click small button to activate and cycle SOS/strobe? I would have jumped on this but having to cycle through strobe breaks the deal.

I'll put this on waiting list pending JM's approval :)

IMO main button cycle should be H-M-L (or add additional moonlight for extra long run) and hidden strobe/SOS through double clicking small button. And on/off shouldn't take 3seconds, too long - you might need light faster than that.

Now this looks interesting. Hope they didn’t do something stupid to it.
UI is already pushing it.