Palight QS68 Dive light quick review.
I won this light in a Gearbest giveaway on Budget Light Forum. Thank you Gearbest. When I won the giveaway I could choose any products up to $70, so I chose this Palight and a Convoy L2. Note that I am not affiliated with Gearbest or any other seller in any way.
http://www.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_295741.html
I chose the Palight QS68 Dive light because it seemed a good package with Palight 26650 battery and charger included that looked like it would be good to use in the garage and survive rough use. I also chose it because I really like Palights. I have purchased 5 Palight MTS 26650 lights and one Palight 14500 light. While this is a dive light I have not dove for many years and will not test it diving (scared of sharks, yes even in lakes).
It has one Cree xml2 emitter and is rated at 1000 lumens. I tested the amps on high with the stock battery at 4.21 volts and got 2.65 amps, so I would think the actual lumens are likely somewhere around 900 or so. Low mode is .68 amps at around 300 lumens or so. It does have PWM in low and makes a faint buzzing noise that I can hear at anything closer than 1 foot. It has quite a nice coolish neutral tint, the spill area is the common light bluish purplish colour. The reflector is not as deep as some lights so this provides a medium size hotspot and spill area.
It is an aluminium light with a plastic shell. The plastic shell will act as insulation especially if not used underwater. The aluminum body of the light will likely get hotter than a similar light without the plastic shell. I did a 10 minute test on high and the plastic shell did get a little warm. Heat can be felt through the plastic shell starting at about 1 minute which I think means it transfers heat better than you might think.
The battery loads in from the tail cap. There is a spring at each end of the battery and the light will accept any battery I have including flattop, all 18650 with included adapter and Evva 26650 protected which is extremely long. There are 2 o rings at the tail which feel like they make the perfect snug contact that a dive light needs. The threads are fine and have very nice close tolerances with little play. The tail cap is aluminum with aluminum threads and a plastic exterior shell, the threads on the flashlight body are plastic, so it is very important not to cross thread when changing a battery because the plastic will surely lose against the aluminum. A slight loosening of tail will shut off light providing a lockout. The light tail stands very well, probably would remain standing in a reasonable earthquake.
The switch is very intuitive. It is raised and easy to find, also the lanyard hole is directly inline. It is spring loaded and very easy to operate, push it forward for on, push it forward again for off . It always starts in the last mode you were in. What could be easier? If you lent this light out to a non flashaholic they would immediately figure out how to turn the light on and off in less than 1 second (some lights can take a newbie a lot longer than 1 second). To change modes you must hold the button forward about 1 second and it will cycle through the 3 available modes - then just release at the mode you want – low, high or SOS blinky mode.
I do not have a battery tester but another reviewer tested the included Palight 26650 battery at around 5000 mah and I have found all the Palight batteries I have to be very good.
I tested the included battery charger to shut off at 4.21 volts.
The light shuts off for low voltage protection of the battery at 2.86 volts.
I will not attempt to take this light further apart. What is that saying? If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
I think it is a great light just as it is.