I am about to make an Armytek purchase. Wanted to get feedback on this brand. What attracted me to it was the constant-current offerings, for one, as well as the claims of good durability.
Please share your thoughts or any concerns you may have.
I only have one. Bought it as I wanted an XHP35 HI.
I like the UI and modes and it seems well built. The finish is a bit odd. Feels almost rubbery to the touch and sort of looks like it marks easy. But seems to be durable as well. The marks on it aren’t deep marks.
Never figured out how the pocket clip is meant to work. Just doesn’t seem to fit anywhere. It was a bit pricey. I’d like to get one of their EDC sized lights as they use a TIR optic. But haven’t justified the price.
Think it’s a Predator Pro that I’ve got. Will need to check.
I have a AT Predator Pro v3 XP-L Hi "White Light" that I've had for about 2-1/2 months.
I think it's very well built. The anodize feels like 2000/3000 grit wet/dry sandpaper. To me feels real odd to the finger sensors.
The UI is fairly simple to deal with. Mine is set to turbo on click. Rotate (loosen 1/8th turn, then tighten) the head quickly while on to get to low, then loosen the head 1/4-1/2 for strobe.
I haven't done a comparison, beamshot-wise. Although I do have several others I could compare it to since I bought mine!
I bought mine from AndrewAmandaDOTcom with their MakeAnOffer option. The Limited Edition
Shipping was expedient, and the package was pristine on arrival.
I'd recommend the one I have if asked. I guess I am now..lol.
Hope that helps your decision.
I plan on getting a few more AT lights, if I could STOP buying others!!
Buy from a good vendor! I had a couple of WW Wizard Pro V3’s that kept cracking lenses. I bought from illumn.com and they were fast and pleasant to deal with when getting them fixed.
Any light can have issues, no matter the manufacturers reputation, a great vendor like Illumn.com makes the difference…
I have an 18650 size headlamp and a AA/14500 flashlight that I like a lot. As others have said, the finish is a little odd, and tends to collect lint/dust fairly. On the other hand, they are lightweight, reliable, and very tough. They are more of a non-flashy workhorse kind of a light.
I also have a Viking Pro v3 (Warm) with an XHP50 that ended up being warmer than I had hoped. It’s an awesome light, but I’m selling it because it is just too warm for my taste.
They are very expensive in my opinion, but I’d like to pick up another one at some point.
They’re designed in Canada, made in China. They’re heavily glued most of the time. I got a Wizard Pro headlamp and took it apart (wasn’t easy) and took pics showing the potted driver and the XHP-50 glued directly to the inside of the metal of the head. I was notified by a member here not long after about a picture he saw, posted on the ArmyTek facebook page, showing MY pictures of the inside of their light! They never asked me or said anything about using them, just posted away. As a professional photographer, that’s a huge breach, probably could have sued them for it but I blew it off. It was speculated that they themselves, having designed the light but never been into one after production, had never seen how China is making their own lights. I don’t know, but it was certainly interesting to see my watermark and all, helping ArmyTek sell their lights. (which is, of course, where copyright infringement comes into play)
All that said, I’ve always liked the matte ano finish on their lights, the user interface can be quirky but some love em and others hate em… to each his/her own.
Be aware about the potential issues, there have been several of the models from them that had critical errors, try the light out and if you have problems, exercise the warranty.
Edit:
Notice how this Wizard Pro has the thin copper mcpcb directly applied to the inside of the head. This section is about 3/4 ” from your forehead! If you aren’t careful when changing the modes the back of the light can scorch your finger… are all 90º angle lights designed this way?
The driver is heavily potted into the head of the light. If it starts acting up, it’s pretty much trash. (Let them throw it away though, use your warranty!)
I have a predator xpg 2 warm. I love it’s quality and feel in hand. I do not like its UI. The beam is throwy but not clean like other popular brands. There are obvious rings. I pretty much never pick it up for any use.
Unless you are looking mainly on reliability, not for edc and regular use around house, I would not recommend it.
The cool version of this was the one I am wanting! No major beam dark spot issues?
Thanks, all.
I have a Wizard, 18650 NW, that I used as my primary headlamp for modding. Worked well for a few months than died - isolated it to the driver. Took the head off, like Dale, but it's been shelved ever since - not very repairable. Don't think I'd buy another one, but that's me. I'd prefer having something I can repair and maintain.
No, it’s just basically one huge, smooth, floody hotspot. The warm actually looks nice indoors, but it looks too yellow outdoors for my taste.
I own three; Doberman, Viking, Predator all three I’ve had over a year and all still work well.
Now if they could just figure out how to get more throw out of them without changing the reflector diameter.
Don't know if you ever tried this, but, try adding a sunshade to the bezel ;)
I own a Tiara A1 for over a year, and a Wizard Pro 3 XPH50 for just about a year. They’ve both been 100% reliable. They both get used often.
I recently bought Armytek Wizard USB with broken color indicator (it swows only green.)I sent it back.
I have a wizard and wizard pro. Absolutely love them. They get frozen in –30c, covered in river mud and fish slime and never skip a beat.
I have a predator (last of the fully programmable models) and never use it. Not that it’s not a good light. I just don’t have much use for it.
I love the Predator and Doberman models, quality is great, but the clips are a joke…. :person_facepalming:
I also have a Prime C2 (first unit was defective thermal management, you can see in my review of Prime C2, after 18 minutes temperature reach 80ºCelsius, danger…). Same problem with first batch of my Prime A1 PRO….
My Doberman was first batch, the interface is different of rest of batch, I protested, because on their page they said it had low mode and strobo mode, but the first batch was not like that, and they said it was not their fault (they blame the seller for not saying that the first batch was different … but Armytek on its official page never indicated any different interface for the initial units). They do not report well on product changes. They are good flashlights, … but you should never buy a first batch and the clips suck.
Dangit. I am counting on using the pocket clip!
Then again, every light I have except the Klarus XT12GT has a mediocre clip at best , though.
They were full regulated some time ago, now it is crap.
I own Predator 2.5 Pro Warm which is a great piece of engineering, I wouldn’t buy any of current models. No full regulation, cheap look.
Mike
The wife’s little used.Wizard Pro headlamp no longer has a high output level. Mid, low levels work as they should. Build quality is great but I’m certainly not impressed with the electronics.