Sorry I know some are sick of seeing this type of post pop up but first let me assure you I have researched! I have looked at suggestions on similar posts (especially from HikariNoob, thanks!) and I think I’ve looked at every flooder around and the closest to my requirements is the Olight X7R.
I have quite a few lights and what I want is basically the Haikelite MT03 with USB charging added, the 2700 lumen mode is perfect as it can sustain this easily without heating up. I have the DT70 and the issue with this is mode spacing, it jumps from 1000 lumens to 8000 which heats up quickly. I like it otherwise, its a good torch but if it had another mode around 3000 lumens and maybe some bigger heat fins it would be nice, I wouldn’t mind it being bigger.
Looking at different options there aren’t many that have usb charging that I can see. The closest is the Olight X7R which I’m trying to purchase/preorder (can anyone recommend a shop that does worldwide shipping?), the website indicates it can run at 3000 lumens for 2 hours which would be fine, except that this appears to be 2 hours until the batteries are flat. The Haikelite MT03 claims 330 minute runtime at 2700 lumens off the same batteries which matches up with what I get (2 hours with plenty of turbo use took it down to 60%). If the Olight is really that inefficient I would need to carry a second light on a long night walk! I also wonder how hot it would get with such an inefficient driver, the only reason I can think for it is that it appears to run the batteries in 4p compared to 2s2p on the Haikelite so has to step up the voltage. Combine this inefficient driver with smaller heat fins and I wonder how hot it will get? I guess we have to wait until we get them to know but if anyone can recommend a shop that actually lets me place an order I’ll buy one anyway. I wish manufacturers would move away from proprietary charges for the larger rechargeable lights and instead use usb-C and either step up the voltage or make it pd 2.0 compatible so it can charge at a higher voltage. I also wish they’d start giving the lights better cooling, I’d rather have a larger torch with longer runtimes on high modes!
But yeah if anyone knows of something that meets these requirements that I’ve somehow missed can you let me know? Haikelite if you read this, add USB charging to the MT03 and I’ll buy 2
USB-C and QC 3.0 are not bounded.
I think most people are not ready to pay extra $15-20 for modern internal charger with Q.C. support board chip or with extra intrenal dc-dc boost converter to make usb charge real with serial cells connection.
In this case, you can look through single 26650 lights with internal usb charger. Recently were discussed here: Which is the best ~100-220 gram >=3000 lumen light?
Bigger lights dont offer usb charging, there is no much sense in having charger that require 6-8 hours for full charge.
P.S. You can try to repiet such mod or ask builder to make one for you… Noctigon Meteor M43 USB Rechargeable
“USB-C and QC 3.0 are not bounded.” Sorry I’m not sure what you mean by this? I think PD would be a better option then QC, I think it will be the common standard moving forward for charging all devices as it can negotiate voltages from 5 up to I think 24v? At least 15v though as this is what my laptop charges at.
I agree most people are looking for low cost (and I am on BLF after all) but there is still a market for premium lights I think, otherwise the high end models wouldn’t sell. Add on an extra $20 to a Haikelite MT03 and its still far cheaper than the Imalent DT70 and I think it would be a better light overall if it had charging
I’ve discounted the 26650 lights, there are already options with 4x 18650 that are brighter and last longer, especially since I’m looking for 3000 sustained lumens, a single 26650 wouldn’t give much runtime at that level. And I know it would take a long time to charge which is why PD 2.0 would be better, it would allow a charging voltage of say 12-15v at 2amps which is plenty, but even if it was slow it wouldn’t worry me. The main reason I want USB charging is just convenience, if I use the torch each night for walks its much easier to simply plug it in then pulling out the batteries every time. I feel safer with the batteries remaining in the torch also as it should help contain any mishap, and it removes the risk of the batteries being damaged while handling. I’m also wanting a 2nd one to give to my partner so I’d rather she didn’t have to worry too much about handling the batteries etc.
I know it can be done because the DT70 and X7R both do it already, but DT70 has poor mode spacing and quickly overheats, and the X7R appears to have poor runtime although I’ll still buy one anyway! I suggested above that the poor runtime could be from the batteries being in 4p configuration, I take this back though as the DT70 advertises the same runtime from the same batteries at 8000 lumens. I know it will step down, but thats still more efficient then the X7R
Yeah I have thanks and also seen a very similar light, I think from Niwalker, looked almost identical with similar spec but the issue with these smaller ones is that they can’t sustain around 3000 lumens which is what I’m after, and even if it could it would need a larger power supply.
Another one I’m considering is the Imalent DDT40, just because of the infinite adjustment, I’m thinking it might be easier to find a sweet spot balancing brightness and heat. Would rather it wasn’t an Imalent though, my DT70 is working fine but developed an annoying rattle in the tail without much use and was never dropped, its glued so I can’t easily open it to fix it :@
PD would allow a much faster charge rate, but for most people (sometimes even tech savvy ones) this isn’t a familiar topic. The whole point of PD is to allow high power charge rate through an existing port, but for a flashlight with a integrated high capacity battery pack I think the easiest and safest choice for a rapid in-light charging system is still a DC adapter and a integrated DC-DC converter, but I can see why most people would rather prefer the familiar usb port in exchange of a slower charge rate.
The X7R will feature USB-C port with “up to 3 times faster” charge rate compared to regular microUSB, I guess it will operate at 5V3A which is the new 5V standard of the USB-C. Since the charging mechanism is on the tail, let’s hope that it allows for continuous operation while being charged. At 15W it should easily put out 2,000lm which is about as much heat as the light itself can sustain.
I think the point of PD is to cut down the number of chargers and cables, I hate DC adaptors for a few reasons, I have a few multi voltage adaptors with the different tips but its still annoying having to match it to a device, or if its an odd voltage it can be a pain finding a replacement, and this probably isn’t so much of an issue for the rest of the world but for Aus/NZ another big advantage of USB charging is that we can buy local adaptors or use existing adaptors and not worry about having to use a converter.
I don’t see how a DC jack would be easier or safer, if anything it would be more dangerous because of the potential to plug in the wrong voltage adaptor? Whereas with PD over usb there is no risk, and I can use the same charger and cable that I use for all of my other devices, whereas if I want to go camping this would be just another thing I have to bring along. I also have foldable solar panels with USB ports and having lived through some large earthquakes I like the idea of having lighting that can be easily recharged off the solar panels (I have USB chargers for batteries anyway). They don’t support PD though so anything other than 5V wouldn’t work but PD powerbanks are already available that can charge off 5V and then output multiple voltages to devices like laptops.
I am definitely going to get the X7R anyway, I’m hoping the stated runtime is either a misprint or will be improved before being shipped but I won’t count on it.
If you think about it, 3000 lumens split between 4 18650s means that each cell is running 750 lumens for 2 hours. If the cells are 3000mAh each, than means the LEDs are getting 139 lumens per watt. Not bad at all.
I know and the Haikelite works out at 300 lumens per watt which seems a bit unrealistic, but the output is confirmed in reviews and the runtime matches what I get, 2 hours on that level with plenty of turbo use didn’t even half drain the batteries according to my Nitecore charger
Olight drivers have been pretty efficient in their other lights. I would assume this one to. E no exception. And 300lumens per watt is not possible for the Haikelite. Any reviews of the theolight yet? Looks like a nice light.
Scroll down and theres a blue box with test results. High mode was measured at 3470 lumens with no stepdown and runtime to 10% was 4hr 10min. Batteries are 3500mah so 51.8 watts between the 4.
Actually scratch that, if I’d read the thread a bit more I would have seen that hes calculated the total lumen/hours at the end and it averages 2000 lumens over the 4 hours.
So
2000 / 12.95 = 154 lumens per watt, much closer to the Olight. I just haven’t run it down far enough to have a noticeable decrease in brightness.
The X7R will probably be much more similar to the X7 which is shown on the same graph “Soda can lights on high, cooled” on that review. I think I’d prefer the Haikelites discharge curve though, the X7 isn’t that much more brighter at the point where it shuts off, and the haikelite can still run for another 2 hours, albeit at a lower brightness level. But for those first 2 hours there would be little difference compared to the X7
