Review: UniqueFire C10 XM-L T6 (With Pictures and Beamshots)

Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★★★★


Summary:

Battery: 1 x 18650 only! (3.6v - 4.2v)
Switch: tailcap
Modes: 3, Hi - Med - Strobe
LED/Output: Cree XM-L T6 / 900 Lumen
Lens/Reflector: Glass Lens / Smooth Aluminium reflector
Tailstand: Yes
Price paid: US$ 25.99
Date Ordered: November 2011
From: Manafont SKU: 7807

DIMENSIONS / WEIGHT:

  • Head Diameter: 4.45 cm
  • Total Length: 16.0 cm
  • Weight: 156 grams (without battery)

Pros:

  • Attractive design, very nice head with deep smooth reflector.
  • Compact, light-weight
  • Good build quality and finish
  • Waterproof & shock-resistant
  • Very bright for 1x 18650-sized flashlight
  • LED screw-in pill makes good heat transfer with the body
  • Comes with handstrap (as most flashlights)

Build Quality and cons: ★★★★

I don't like the main tube, it looks like the WF-501B, but the rest of the body is outstanding.

LED's tint is a bit blueish.

Light Output: ★★★★★

This flashlight is a pure thrower!

Here is a comparison between P60 Drop-IN with XM-L U2 @ 2.8Amps on the left, and the C10 XM-L T6 (Direct Driven) on the right:

Note: Both batteries are Xtar 18700 2600mAh with same charge level

Summary: ★★★★★

Great flashlight, great build quality, does tail-stand, excellent for throwing, good heat transfer ability.

When I received it, I inserted two 16340 and it worked for three seconds, then turned off. The driver stopped working and for that reason mine is direct driven now


Some pictures:

Deep smooth reflector



Tailstand


Tail Switch

Screw-able Drop-IN

Beamshots!! - Comparison with TrustFire TR-3T6

Pointing to the sky, C10 on the left, TR-3T6 on the right

Pointing to the water tank, Control shot:

Mouse over for TR-3T6

Same water tank, but from higher and another angle, Control shot:

Mouse over for TR-3T6

Pointing to a far tree, Control shot:

Mouse over for TR-3T6

A little jungle, Control shot:

Mouse over for TR-3T6

A tree, Control shot:

Mouse over for TR-3T6

Link to all pictures: http://postimage.org/gallery/150el7mm

It sounds promising! Waiting impatiently for the beamshots!

Can't wait for those beamshots!

Seems to be the black sister of my titanium colored Manta Ray that I bought from KD for about $29. Mine is 5-mode and gets used every night, as its 440mA Medium mode and the bright wide corona make it my best light for walks.

OK, beamshots added. Took me a while to take these pictures and it wasn't as easy as I expected, but I think they are OK.

As additional info, the TR-3T6 had fresh charged Xtar 18700 2600mAh; and the C10 had a fresh charged generic DX battery (the cheapest battery from DX).

Picture of C10's battery:

Thanks for all the work . Great review FX-32 .

+1

Very nice FX, thanks for all the beamshots! Frontpage'd and Sticky'd.

:bigsmile: Thank you.

But I do have a few questions though.

What is the approximate distances for the shots you've taken. Like the distance to the water tower?

And another question I have is this:

This screw in pill that you have in this, is that compatible with the Trustfire USA168 : Manafont SKU 6036 that we have reports about is a "laser beam" type light with the SKU 6635 R2 screw in?

And a last one - does anyone sell this XM-l screw in on its own or do I have to buy the whole package?

Sorry for all the questions, but I've never had a screw in type flashlight with all the pills and all the stuff but I am trying to brace myself for the plunge. And a review like this is actually what is getting me drawn in.. :D

First of all, Thanks everybody for your comments!

@Ledsmoke: The distance to the water tank is ~40 meters (not too far), I tried to point to a palm-tree tat was at 165m but both flashlights couldn't reach that distance (may be because the night was clear with moonlight, but a Trustfire X6 with SST-90@7A does reach clearly).

I can't really tell you if this pill/drop-in fits the TrustfireUSA168, but anyway you can buy the 168 and a spare XM-L, then install it without driver (direct drive), now that you mentioned that flashlight I want to do that and try :D The USA168 is ~2CM longer than the C10, it's the same body of the HS-801 and HS-802; kaidomain has one with XM-L T6 but it is too expensive.

When mine arrives, I will answer your question about compatibility between C10's pill and USD168's. I think you can't buy one of them separately but again, for USD28 you can buy it and mod with T6, and you can give some use of the Q5 for something...

It is definitely not the same type pill as the USA168. Those screw into the tube not the head. As the C10 is effectively a C8 with a deeper reflector the chances are that it is a standard C8 pill, it certainly looks like one.

BTW neither will be compatible with the Small Sun C10s which is a C10 with a zoom head on it.

thanks for all of the pics, I was searching hard for reviews on this light just before you posted. might have to buy one;)

Hi FX-32 and thank you for clarifying that. I´m a flaslight user and i´m looking to buy something in that size that will get a lot of use :bigsmile:

ans thank you to VFMaddict for settling the question regarding the pills - that is valuable to a noob like me.

I am really into zoomies so I might just have to buy the Small Sun C10s. Uh oh... Decisions decision. Does anybody know if I'm likely to receive it before christmas ? I've never dealt with Kaidomain before so I'm feeling unsure about them.

Yes, you should receive it before Christmas if you order now.

How do you think it compares to uf 980l?

Thank you :)

OK today I tested this by myself, and as VFMaddict already said, pills are not compatible.

The USA168 has way better throw, but it is like a laser, not useful I think but I like it, so I'm waiting for the Manafont R2 DropIN and I will install a 1.7A driver, or maybe 1.4A... In the right moment I will decide.

Heat transfer of the C10 is way better than the USA168/HS801, because in the C10's case the pill screws into the head, and in the USA168's case the pill screws into the battery tube, so the head is the last to receive the heat generated by the LED.

I don’t have any Keygos, but I do have a HS802 modded with XRE-R2 EZ1000 at 2.2Amps three mode driver. XM-L is not good for throw on the HS802.

here is the comparison between this C10 driven at 3.8Amps (not standard) vs the HS802 with that mod.

I'm uploading four pics, but if tinypic deletes any here is the gallery: http://postimage.org/gallery/wlklaiu