Review: Little Brass Beauty (18650 XP-G2 from FFL)

LED Flashlights – General Info 18650 Flashlights
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Brass 18650 XP-G2


Pros: Small, bright, well driven
Well spaced modes with no blinkies
NW tint (my first)
Smooth beam with no artifacts
Good knurling
PWM at 4.6kHz
Cons: Temperamental tail cap threads
Mode switching seems to need a double tap
Does not fit protected cells
Uses PWM

Price paid: $42.00 (now priced at $29.00)
From: Fancyflashlights.com Link

Specs from vendor:

Emitter: CREE XP-G2 3B NW (14mmx1mm PCB)
Material: Brass
Battery: 1x Unprotection 18650 ( not included)
Current Regulation
Current Setting: 1.4A 100%>25%>2%
Modes: Lo>Mid>Hi; With mode memory
Tail Cap Click Switch; Made of brass;
Toughtened Glass lens
Tail Stand Available
Net Weight: 75 G
Size: 97mm x 21mm

I have a weakness for shiny flashlights and have several in Brass, Ti, CU and SS, so I knew I had to have this one as soon as I saw it. It arrived very well wrapped in several layers of bubble wrap inside a sturdy brown cardboard box that was not crushed or mangled the way we have come to expect.

Out of the box it came with good o-rings and was lightly lubed. I popped in a fresh cell and measured (H)1.4A (M).350A (L).030A. High and Medium are fine outdoors and I use Low most of the time indoors. It stays cool to the touch on low and only mildly warm on Medium. It was still comfortable to hold after tailstanding on high for five minutes.

Knurling on the bezel and head area provides a good grip, but most of the body is without it and so can be a little slippery. But the light is small enough that I grip it with thumb and forefinger at the head so it isn't really a problem.

Very slight machining marks are visible but to my eye are in no way unattractive. I've handled it a lot since
these photos were taken and the mostly smooth body has developed a nice patina.

Tail cap has plenty of grip.

The star has a white TIM paste that is still quite fluid. It seems to be doing its job because the light heats up quickly when used on high but never becomes too hot to hold.

My main nit to pick with it is the very finicky tail cap threads. They are much coarser than those on the bezel/head,
but while the bezel screws on easily, the tailcap does not. I have to turn the cap counter-clockwise until I hear/feel the threads align, but even that is not reliable. I've found that fresh lube on the threads helps make aligning the threads a bit easier, and even so care must be taken to avoid damaging the threads. Both head and tail threads are butter smooth, it is just that the tail threads are difficult to get started.

Even the switch cover is brass, but is nicely sealed - see second photo below.

The copper springs are stiff enough to do the job but are short and have little travel, so this light doesn't like protected cells. However the mostly brass and copper tailcap construction helps give it the lowest tailcap resistance of any light in my collection - a miniscule .006 Ohms.

At the price I paid I'm very happy with it and with the reduced price I think its a steal! I'm very tempted to get another.

From the above left, lights 1, 3 and 5 are from Peak LED Solutions and, of course #2 is the well known Maratac AAA in cu.

The money shot. I was expecting a floody light along the lines of a P60. But the XP-G2 lets this small reflector throw a surprising amount of light

Its not very deep but the LOP gives it a nice smooth beam and the 3B tint is very nice. This is my first LED without a CW tint and I am liking it a lot.

I've only had the light for 17 days but the patina is developing nicely. I usually keep my brass and copper lights shiny but I want to see how it looks after a month or two of handling without being polished. The next two photos were taken this afternoon.

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Cool

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nice looking light :slight_smile:
is the body easily change color due to wear? maybe oxidation, oily or sweaty palm, etc…
does it handle the heat well?
protected cell like sanyo or panasonic can’t fit at all? max length?

I’ve been wanting a shiny light. apparently stainless steel doesn’t shine up to my taste anymore but titanium or other unique material can do :stuck_out_tongue:

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After time & use, it would be great to have a flashlight with its unique patina.

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Thanks for the nice review, it has answered all the questions I had about this light. It is a really nice light!

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Nice review. Thank you. Digging that brass and copper light collection.

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Thanks for the review, it would have been really helpful when making the purchase decision. In the end the $29 price tag and full brass body alone was enough to make me buy it :stuck_out_tongue:

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Thanks for the review.
Wouldn’t have thought this light has copper springs, a big plus.

Is the reflector pretty shallow, and beam very floody?
Any chance of a pic of the reflector/head?

Great pics and descriptions!

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Thats a very nice collection of lights you have there. I really like the switch button. Its a lot more appealing on this light than the usual rubber. Thanks for sharing.

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@THE_dAY - I've updated the OP with more pics.

@sorotantaz - Brass will oxidize slowly, even without being handled. I've been handling mine daily for more than two weeks and you can see the change already. Sitting on a shelf, without handling, it would not be as obvious.

It does deal with the heat effectively as mentioned, but remember that the high is only 1.4A.

The FF site recommends unprotected cells and I agree with that. I'm running an unprotected cell that is only 64.5mm long. I tried to put a protected flat top AW cell in it that is only 67.82mm. And I think it would fit, but I was afraid to tighten the tailcap.

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thanks photon1k :slight_smile:
yes, the brass color become dull…just like the electrical socket plate…hmm…how do you make the light shiny again? polish with some metal cleaner?

the battery option is the downside…I don’t have any unprotected cell, and never been thinking to get one…

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Yes, metal polish in liquid form works. I use Brasso but lots of other metal polishes will remove tarnish. Check your local hardware store, they will likely have a selection. Lemon juice will remove tarnish from copper.

You can buy unprotected cells of course, but the cheapest way is to get them from old or unused laptop battery packs. You might prefer to get an LMR (sometimes called IMR) cell if you don't want to use an unprotected LiCo.

You will need to monitor your cell voltage with unprotected cells, but you should be doing that with protected cells anyway.

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I cleaned my brass coin collection some time ago with brasso. it is clean but only for a while, but it seems to oxide worse afterward…
IMR is lithium manganese right? suppose they have safer attribute than li-ion on high current draw…
I’ll browse around first before decide to put this light in cart.

thanks again.
:slight_smile:

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Thanks, nice that a small diameter light like this can have decent throw… XPG2 ftw!

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I remove all the polish when I'm done and have'nt seen it get worse. I find that handling the light is what seems to speed the oxidation process. I'm guessing its the skin oils.

Yup, LMR cells can take much more abuse than LiCo without venting or worse, and they're also good for high current discharge. Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) are reputed to be even safer but they have a lower nominal voltage at only 3.2 volts. I mostly use them in lasers or lights that were designed for use with lithium primaries.

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Just received mine. I were thinking Solarforce T1 was tiny at least for a tail clicky light. Then, Olight T20 was smaller, but it was 2xCR123 / 16650 / 17670 cell only light.

Here T20 vs a regular sized Convoy C8;

and here T20 vs Brass One;

and all lined up; Brass One, T20, SF T1, Convoy M1, Convoy M8

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I feel that the tailcap threads on my light have become a bit easier to operate after some use. You could also try to file down the beginning of the threads to make it easier to get them going.

The light came with spare switch, spare lens and some o-rings. They where in small separate bag, that could be easily lost with the newspaper padding in the packet. So check between the newspapers or other padding you might have got with it.

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very nice light, I love the switch

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Bought mine with higher than current price, get spare tailcap but not spare lens. Current tailcap switch worked butter smooth though.
Tempted to get another one too.

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I received mine a couple days ago and am quite happy with it. It immediately became one of my favorite lights.

I measured the tailcap current at 1390mA, 340mA, and 26mA. I estimate (based on Match’s charts and visual comparison to other lights, no actual measurements) that this translates to roughly 440lm, 130lm, and 12lm, with runtimes of 2.25h, 9h, and 120h (on a 3100mAh battery). It would be better if it also had a sub-lumen moon mode (qlite driver?), but I can’t really complain. The low mode is low enough to be useful (unlike most budget lights), and makes a nice candle.

There really should be a version with a 4-mode qlite driver and Nichia 219 (4500K 92CRI) emitter at 1.4A — ideally with a floodier beam pattern (possibly using a TIR optic?). Maybe a GitD lens O-ring too; I’m kind of a sucker for those. If this version of the light were available, I’d buy several. I’m almost tempted enough to buy the parts and mod it, but I lack the tools and experience to do so. It’s an awesome host.

I tarnished mine pretty quickly, on purpose, by holding it and fidgeting with it for like 12 hours out of the first 24 hours I had it. It looks much more aged now, and I think it looks better that way.

Oh, and mine came with five extra O-rings, a spare lens, a spare switch, and a holster. No clue what to do with the holster. I added a battery to the order (just $6 for a 3100mA Panasonic) since almost all my cells are protected and wrapped.