I’m looking to upgrade from my 18650 ultrafire to something bigger. XM-L T6 are stupid cheap (<$10 shipped anywhere in the world from ebay, banggood, can take a few weeks to arrive though) and have a bright, solid, floody beam. At the high end you can find prices of several hundred dollars. But what about in the middle? What flashlight is now (2016) as the best value?
They say the Manker U11 is good, as they also say about the Nitecore. I do not like rechargeable lights because micro usb ports go bad but I guess good to have for an emergency.
The usb micro ports are inclined to mechanical failure, causing a lack of electrical functionality. To my knowledge (admittedly limited) these are not easily repairable.
I think the best 18650 flashlight of 2016, or maybe ever so far, will be released in a group buy very soon. It even comes with a bonus 14500 flashlight to go with it.
We’re not even through the first month of 2016… hard to say what the best flashlight is/will be. Come back and ask in 10-11 months.
At this point, I’m really really excited for the 2nd run of BLF-348’s with the Nichia 219B. I’m also eyeballing a Small Sun ZY-T08 which looks like a Fenix TK35 clone, and the Courui D01. Both lights that lend themselves well to modding.
I haven’t been “wowed” by a handheld flashlight in a very long time.
The jury is still out. Members have only just started receiving these flashlights. It’s not yet clear whether QA/QC issues will plague this flashlight, like the A6. And initial reports on output performance are mixed, not as high as expected.
In the long run, I expect that manufacturing defects will be satisfactorily addressed and tips and/or mods will be devised to restore performance back up to its former flagship status.
These are rather delicate. The usual fail begins with pushing too hard; insert the plug gently and try different cables if you need to- for charging they are all wired appropriately. The solder connections are tiny and often the body is only soldered on one side. If there’s a big enough mounting pad, solder the other side too. These can wear out and that is usually a small tab which contacts the outer shield which can be bent back into place. If it will fit, scavenging a port from an old cell phone will get you a high quality part; cheap ones fail a lot faster. Tiny little beggars to work with (watch for solder bridging) but they can be repaired/replaced. Getting the board out of the light may prove to be the biggest issue.
To me BLF X6 SE V2 copper one sounds cool just because it seems like its rare to see them maybe copper models are less of a bargain from a purely functional perspective, but they’re a good deal for what they are.