Howdy guys and galls. I haven't done a review in a while but T-mart asked me if I would review their new XHP-50 light so I thought why not.
Here is a non-affiliate link to the light. I did get it free but as always I'll be completely honest about the light.
http://www.tmart.com/SHARP-EAGLE-ZQ-F08-2530LM-5-Modes-Waterproof-Flashlight-Black_p335511.html
They sent the light fast and it showed up in a very nice package. It comes with a holster for the light, but unfortunately the holster doesn't fit the light. It fits other lights that I have so that was ok. But don't buy it expecting the holster to fit. It's too small.
It's a big light, as big as most of the plunger lights. The actual quality of the body of the light is on the poor side. You will have to be careful with the threads, they are not the best. The anodizing is also rather cheap. But the light does have it good points too. The reflector in particular is great. Very nice reflector, probably the best part of the light. It's got a good driver and all the wiring was done just fine. The switch and springs are all good too. Just don't expect it to feel like a more expensive light. But for about $45 it's really pretty good. Also if you know how t-mart works you can probably pick up some coupons or sales days and get it for under $40 and for that price I would say it's great.
The lumens on the light are only showing up at 1,500 on my meter but outside it seems to do a lot more than that. It's a floody light with a very nice beam, (Thanks to a great reflector) The tint of the beam is also super as well as having no rings at all in the beam.
These two beamshots are from two different lights. The sharp eagle is on the left and on the right is an XHP-50 built into a 2x18650 trustfire light. The light on the left is 1500 lumens on my meter and the one of the right is just over 2,000. As you can see they both seem much brighter than that. At first I wasn't a very big fan of the XHP-50 emitter but I have to say that with the right reflector you can get a very nice beam with a good tint too.
Overall the construction of the light is a mixed bag. Cheap anodizing and thin threads. But the switches, drivers, springs and wiring are all done very well. It's not a massively bright light but it has a great beam and I think anyone who isn't a raging flashaholic would be very happy with the light.
The one problem that should be addressed with this light is the "Pill". You can see from the picture that it's a decent sized aluminum disc, but it's not threaded into the light at all. Furthermore, the emitter/star could have used a full coating of thermal paste under it. There was only just a dab of it. The Pill does fit into it's space in a way that allows some thermal transfer but again, if they had put some thermal grease or something on it, that would have helped a lot. However, as the light is not being driven hard at all, it's not really a problem. The light would get a jump in lumens from a spring mod and heavier wires and the driver itself could also be modded by stacking a resister on the r150. I won't be going that rout myself. I will probably drop a FET driver in and swap the XHP-50 for an XHP-70 and add work on the thermal transfer.
Final conclusion.
It's a good light, not a great light but then it's not an expensive light either. It's going to give you good run-time and has a very pleasant beam. It would make a very nice camping light or all around walking light.
One and a half thumbs up.
showed me what cheap means.