As I search for lights that I do not need I keep coming across what appear to be decent lights with XPE emitters. I know they are a few gens back but is there anything wrong with them? What are their limitations? How hard can they be driven and what can one expect for performance?
2,4 A ( XP E2) @ cooperstar
XPE you won`t have any fun…
What's wrong with an xpe ?nothing at all ....this happens every few years if someone thinks there is something wrong with an xpe emitter they need to seriously check their thinking .That would be like saying all your cfl bulbs are bad because there is a newer model out ..or your tv is old and junk because it's not curved or a 3 d model .. I have an I phone 4s is it junk because there is now a 6?
a flashlight is much more the the theoretical output of the emitter .People tend to gravitate towards numbers as a way to gauge the worth of something . I say output be damned .if it's a clumbsy unweildly ,unbalanced sharp edged piece of crap I don't care how bright it is or isn't .i have to want to hold it , pick it up or touch it . i have lots of lights I just don't like for one reason or another and it's not about how efficient it is or how bright it is . Judging lights solely on output is IMHO the stupidest thing anyone can do .With minimal amount of talent you can make any light bright. yet it's much much harder to fix a bad host or make a light have more throw or do something a certain emitter like the xpe already does naturally .
I think finding a host /shape, size,knurling etc you really like is a much harder thing to do .
According to Cree - Flashlight Wiki, an XP-E has a max output at one amp of a little under 300 lumens, while an XP-E2 has a little over 300 lumens max. at the same current, depending a bit on the bin. That is a small difference compared to the cooling or optics, or, as Boaz points out, very small compared to esthetics, ergonomics, etc. XP-G, XP-G2, XM-L, LM-L2 have more lumens at higher current but less luminosity and therefore less throw.
XP-E’s are fine. Make good throwers from smaller reflectors. Not the brightest, but never designed or intended to be.
I hva en XP-E in a Tank007 AAA light and it works brilliantly in it. I also have a POP lite (Lenser style light with a TIR) that uses XP-E’s and works fine. And I have a 180 lumen XP-E Maglite that still out throws almost all of my XM-L/2 throwers.
The XP-E doesn’t put out “1000 lumens” so folks think it’s no good. :~
An XP-E run at around 1.4A or thereabouts makes a throwy P60 sized dropin that gives long battery life and generates little heat.
Put one in a large head, like a 57mm and it throws pretty good.
I’ve built a few hunting lights with the red and green ones, even in smallish C8’s and the Solarforce M3 they throw OK.
In the likes of the Brinyte S18 they throw pretty good.