Should I buy this $15 XHP70 Xanes 1282 zoom and put in a better LED?

LED Flashlights – General Info 18650 Flashlights
1

I like zoomies, I saw this advertised on BLF & was thinking of putting in a better binned XHP70

$15 after discount XANES® 1282 XHP70 LED 3 Modes USB Rechargeable Telescopic Zoom LED Flashlight 18650/26650

^2x18650 or 2x26650, 360g

I don't know very much about modding, but can buy a heat plate, and have basic soldering skills. It looks like kaidomain has XHP70.2 N2 5A, and Mountain Electronics has XHP70 N4 1A (+16/20/32mm PCB), for <$15. I don't know much about tints, but I think those would be close to white. I like the color of a lot of the XHP50/70 I see

I have: S2+, C8+, ROT66 219b 5k, Q8

I'm looking to add a high powered zoom light, and a light that can sustain high output for >5 minutes. My favorite beam I'm trying to replicate is Old-Lumens triple 50 mag lite XHP50 mod

Other lights I'm considering:

MT09R $100 3x XHP 70.2 650g

Sofrin SP70 $50 XHP70.2, 625g

Convoy L6 ~$50-70 XHP70 or XHP70.2 775g

Emisar D18 $100 18xSST20 343g

I don't understand a lot about flashlights so please let me know your advice. I can't find many reviews of this Xanes 1282- the stock beam looks pretty ugly to me(blue), I don't mind the square beam pattern on zoom. I'm not 100% sure if it uses a genuine CREE LED, or if the driver would be OK. The other closest budget zoomie I've found is the Haikelite HT35 for ~$50 with an XHP35 and ~600g.

2

1A will be Angry Blue™, rather cold white. Only ones worse would be the 0s, and I’ve rarely seen ’em for sale.

5A would be nicer… guessing 4000K, and more rosy (A/D) than green (B/C). Quite nice.

For 15bux, sure, try it. Can mod it piecemeal or all at once.

3

I would stay away from the trade marked angry blue. :+1:

4

You mean actual XHP70, for 15$ you’re not getting a real one on top of a host. (plus afaik the real ones don’t have the markings like that one does)

I’d get a single die LED for a zoomie - i have a Cometa with a Luxeon MZ and while the flood is amazing, when zoomed in it has the cross pattern deadzone.

Which i “fixed” but putting dc fix on the lens which reduced the throw quite a lot (but still significantly more than zoomed out) and changed the shape to something more like a reflector light.

edit: also, since it’s a typical “tactical” zoomie (useless fins on the sliding part) it won’t deal with the heat well, i’d put a dedomed SST-40 from Kaidomain in there if you want throw (and ~2300 lumen) or Luxeon V (2400 lumen, less throw, bigger spot) or maybe wait for the Oslon Boost HX (upgraded version of the “white flat”) but that might be a long wait.