Review: MXDL 827 from TinyWind.com -- a Brighter Light with the Curves of the SS-5039!

The most beautiful shape of keychain or shirt pocket light is now available with more output in stock form.

★ ★ ★ </span style> ☆ ☆

Pros

  • Beautiful shape, in contrast to most AAA lights, which are mere cylinders or combinations of cylinders.

  • Grippy surface.

  • Good output.

  • Large reflector for head size.

  • Nice clip.

  • Dirt cheap.

Cons

  • Shinier and less grippy than the original SS-5039.

  • Not as bright as some other budget 1 x AAA lights.

  • Not as narrow beam as some similar size lights.

  • Only one mode.

  • The light producing parts are forced in the front, rather than being held by a narrowing in front of the window.

  • Like the SS-5039, it has a plastic pill and a fiber glass star.

Click for full size.

History

My favorite AAA size flashlight to modify has been the Smiling Shark SS-5039.
Click for mod. thread. However its light output in stock form is much less than that of some comparable lights.
I have seen it before without the Smiling Shark brand name and logo, but the pictures on TinyWind looked a bit different, so I ordered one to have a look. Rather than an updated version or a near clone, it turns out to be a styling copy with different constructions. It is nearly as good feeling and looking as the SS and a lot brighter.

Comparison to Smiling Shark SS-5039

Through a Yezl t9 lens:

Through a 28 mm. lens:

The MXDL doesn’t quite have the same nice grippy surface as the Smiling Shark. It feels more slippery and is shinier. The most unique feature of the SS-5039 is the surface texture, which, unlike knurling, appears to be achieved in the same operation as the shape. It looks as though the lathe programmer found just the right combination of speed, rigidity and tool to produce this complex surface on a shaping cut. This was not as easy to copy as the shape.

MXDL on left, Smiling Shark on right. Alkalines with similar voltage.

The heads are the same diameter, but the MXDL has a larger aperture and a wider and deeper reflector. MXDL on right.

Comparison of output to other lights

MXDL on left, UltraOK SK-68 clone on right, similar voltage alkalines:

MXDL on left, Black Cat on right, similar voltage alkalines:

Currents:

  • MXDL 827 . . 0.5 A.

  • SS-5039. . . . 0.17

  • UltraOK . . . . 1.0

  • Black Cat . . . 0.9

Construction and Internals
Though the shape is almost identical, the construction is quite different from that of the SS-5039. Soaking it in acetone and torching the head only softened the reflector and turned the front of the window to foam. There is a groove imitating the SS, but the head is integral with the battery tube. The works come out through the front. This construction is stronger against bending and crushing, but the front may be a weak point. It may also constrain the window (lens) to be of a more flexible material. The pill, reflector and window are held in only by force fitting plastic into aluminum.

This is really a styling copy and not a clone.

The pill is plastic and resembles that of the SS. With the higher power, overheating the LED is another potential problem.

The star printed circuit board does not have a metal core and does not contact the body.

These extreme budget features are not really necessary in this price range, as show by the # 3 zoomies and SK-68 clones. Perhaps the poorly fitting threads on the cheaper SK-68 clones are a clue to why the head does not unscrew.

The driver only has three components.

The thing that looks to me like a resistor must be the inductor. The little thing is a small capacitor. The back thing in the shadow is either a transistor or a simple amplifying integrated circuit. I think that with the inductor having only two leads, the amplifying element has to be more complicated than a simple transistor.

Its marking is legible in the full size photo.

The negative ground wire contacts the body, runs through the driver and is soldered to the LED. It is steel and is not soldered to the driver board.

The switch is typical of very inexpensive lights. The small parts are steel. One end of a spring contacts the battery and the other end is the spring for the switch.

Modification
For modification, the SS still seems better, because of the nicer finish and because the internals of the SS-5039 and other SS variants are located positively, rather than forced in. The plastic window and reflector might hold in a metal pill, but it doesn’t seem to be as good an arrangement. The larger aperture of the MXDL may favor it for mod. The larger reflector might be used in the SS. For over one or two amps., a metal reflector is needed to stand the heat.

★ ★ ★ </span style> ☆ ☆

Summary:
Though not the brightest compact budget AAA light available, nor the nicest to hold, it comes close in both counts, making it, from a certain point of view, appear to be about the best AAA light now available. As far as I know, the only better feeling and looking light is the original Smiling Shark version, the SS-5039. Various budget AAA lights have more total output and/or more throw, though I know of none as cheap.
However, on taking it apart, I see too many cost saving features for my taste, reducing my rating to three stars out of five. The fact that I reduced it from five to three stars only after looking inside is a very high compliment to the designers, though not to the flashlight itself. To what extent these shortcuts will affect reliability and durability remains to be seen.
The great thing here is that the idea is spreading to use numerical control to produce free artistic shapes, like pottery or wood lathe work, rather than to imitate shapes that might be made on a manual lathe with a screw feed.
An other way in which this light is on the forefront is that it is small bright and cheap.

May have to pick a couple of these up. Thanks for the well written review!

Coupon TW1YEAR worked for me. With the coupon, the cost is one cent.

Look at Deal Allerts.

I reduced the rating from five to three stars after getting it apart. The cooling is no better than that of the SS-5039, so with the higher current I expect some thermal droop. I expect the forced in, rather than screwed together, construction to lead to durability problems. The ground wire is not soldered.
I have two more on order and may eventually have more experience to add.