[LiquidRetro Reviews] Acebeam L17 (160,801 Candela, 1400 Lumens, Awesome Thrower)

Today I have a new compact tactical thrower from Acebeam. They boast that the L17 which easily fits in your hand will throw out ot 802 meters. It runs off an 18650 and features a Osram LED. Thanks to Acebeam for sending me this new model. Let’s take a detailed look.

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Packaging & Accessories
The light does come in 3 different versions, a white or Green LED version both capable of 800 and 820M of throw respectively, and a Red LED version that’s capable of 460M of throw. T

The standard package is a nice retail box with a line drawing of the light and the LED lumen and distance ratings on the box. On the back side there is a lot of stats and detailed info, good for any retailer looking to sell this. Accessories that are included is the light with the clip and tactical ring installed on the light. It comes with a lanyard, spare button cover and 2 spare orings as well as the standard paperwork and manual. You also get a nylon holster that’s branded Acebeam that has a D ring and belt loop with a button.




Acebeam offers a couple of additional accessories on their website that will work with the L17 but are not sold in the standard version. First is a 10A rated 18650 battery with microUSB charging and a remote pressure switch for only $10 which is a good price.

Construction
The L17 is made from aluminium and is hard anodized in a flat black. In the tail is the e-switch for the light and it’s truly silent. The cover is a rubber boot that has medium texture that sits just under the bezel. Internally, the tail has a single stiff gold coated spring and then an additional contact to the inner tube of the light. Threads are anodized, square cut and smooth.



There is a tactical ring on the body which serves as a cigar grip point, the lanyard attachment point and adds reinforcement/lock for the clip on pocket clip. Both the tactical ring and pocket clip are removable should you wish. It’s a nice way to add quite a bit of security to the clip without making it permanent. The body tube itself is plain and features no knurling, I would like to see a little more grip here or closer to the head.


The head itself is glued to the body. The head has some decorative milling around it and it helps dissipate some heat. The bezel is aluminum and has some modest large crenulations for a tactical light. The lens is glass with a Carclo TIR lens inside designed to enhance the throw.

Size and Weight
I measured the length at 140mm, minimum diameter of the body tube at 25.5mm, and maximum diameter of the head at 40mm. Weight with an 18650 battery is 196.9g,








Retention
You have a couple of retention and carry options with the L17. It does come with that nylon holster for belt carry. It’s a basic holster but does the job well. You also have that pocket clip. The clip is 1.4 inches from the top of the light so it’s definitely not deep carry.



LED & Beamshot
Acebeam doesn’t specify which LED exactly is in the L17 only that it’s an Osram. I asked my contact for clarification and they said it was an Osram KW CSLPM1.TG which is a mouthful but good to know exactly whats in it. It’s a very throwy LED that Acebeam has put a TIR optic on top with a glass lens. It’s different looking than your traditional optic and this is designed for all throw.

The result is a light that has virtually no spill, it’s all focused on the center in a tight pattern. The combination of the optic and LED choice explain the claimed 160,801 candela rating here at 1400 lumens in Turbo mode. Tint here is cool white but I don’t detect much blue in the beam. In my night shots it stands up pretty well to some of the competitors using different LEDs but this has a tighter more focused beam. I didn’t notice any PWM here.

Specs below are for the White Version I have. The Green version throws slightly further.

  • Turbo - 1400 Lumens - 160,801 Candela
  • High - 370 Lumens - 42,025 Candela
  • Mid - 150 Lumens - 23,409 Candela
  • Low - 50 Lumens - 11,025 Candela
  • Ultra Low - 15 Lumens - 3,600 Candela

Heat & Runtime
I did all my runtime and heat tests with the supplied (optional) Acebeam 3100mAh battery that was sent. It’s a 10A battery so keep that in mind for what you decide to put in this light and choose something with at least htis rating. Total runtime was 4:35:00. In my runtime tests I saw Turbo last for 3:30 before stepping down to right at 50% relative output. This is also where I saw maximum heat at 64C (147F) so this definitely gets hot and that thermal protection kicks in to limit output. The light maintained this 50% output for a total of 1 hour before stepping down again to about 4% relative output. My advice would be if you plan to use this light on Turbo for more then once past step down is to wear gloves. It only takes exposures above 60C for more then 3 seconds to get 1st degree burns.

UI
The L17 uses a pretty traditional and simple interface. When Off long press on the rear tail switch for ultra low (15 lumen), single click to turn off. Single press to turn on to low, long press to cycle modes. Double click to go to turbo, and triple click to go to strobe.

I will say mode spacing here isn’t super common. Ultra low is 15 lumens and throws really well for not much light. Next is low at 50 lumens, Mid is 150 lumens, high is 370 lumens. Acebeam says this will go 410 meters. Next is Turbo the full 4500 lumens or 160,801 candella.

Pro’s

  • Nice to see colored LED’s being offered here instead of just a filter. I could see this being popular with a hunter with the green tint option.
  • Very tight and compact beam with great throw
  • A fairly compact bezel which makes this more accessible.
  • Silent Tail Switch & good vibration resistance.

Con’s

  • The light gets incredibly hot during turbo before step down. Wear some gloves or hold the back of the light.
  • Big steps between High and Turbo.

Conclusion
I can recommend the Acebeam L17 if you’re in the market for a fairly compact 18650 powered thrower with basically no spill. I am typically not a big fan of tactical lights but the UI on this light is pretty non-tactical so it works out well.

This isn’t the light to take with you when hiking, or for EDC or for walking the dog to see right in front of you. It would be great for a security guard who was needing to point out a specific spot on a house or inspect something from a distance. It’s also just a lot of fun to impress your friends or significant other, it’s a lot of power and so focused. It’s probably the next best thing to a LEP light.

You mean 1400 lumens correct?

Hi liquidretro,

Can you confirm if the tactical ring is metal/alloy or plastic. In your video I heard the sound of metal cling when the ring dropped and hit the table. I’ve had a tactical ring fail on me on another light (got rid of the light already) because it was plastic. I attached a lanyard to a spring clip (more like mini carabiner type) and clipped it to the lanyard attachment hole on the ring similar to the L17’s… but while pulling the light out of my pocket, it got caught and clip broke right through the tactical ring’s lanyard hole. Hopefully that wasn’t too confusing.

Tactical ring is aluminum.

Thanks for the great review. I see that relative output is more than 100% in the beginning. Can you please elaborate this? Has this something to do with ANSI numbers, being measured at 30s after turn on?

At 30s I got a hair over 1300 lumens in my integrating sphere. Stepdown from turbo happens after around 3 minutes to high. I my testing @5m the throw numbers are exaggerated, but still good for a compact optic light.

Sorry everyone I wasn’t getting notifications for this post for some reason.

Yes sorry.

It’s Aluminum/metal

Yes that’s it exactly. ANSI numbers are measured at 30 seconds, Many lights will produce more before this reading.

Nice review! It looks like the Acebeam battery is button top. Will it work with a flat top, like a normal 30Q? I suspect from the view of the head spring that it will, but wanted to make sure.

Thanks.

The L17 is on my short list. I have a couple of Acebeam’s lights, L30 and X45, and there build quality is great. Nice review, thanks :+1:

I tested it with a flat top VTC6 and it was just fine.

My flat tops worked, although one of my Vapcell vtc6’s rattled inside the tube.

Thanks.

You referred to the TIR optic as a Carclo optic. However, so far I haven’t seen that confirmed anywhere. Do you have a source for this information? Better yet, do you have a Carclo optic model?

I strongly suspect it is not a Carclo optic.

Output measured at 2 seconds from turn on using Texas Ace Lumen Tube calibrated with Maukka lights. Color measured using Sekonic C-800-U.

Acebeam L17 Turbo 1,141 lumens 7110K -0.0042 DUV 70.7 CRI Blue light relative amplitude 1.00 -12.6 R9 42.2 R12 64 Rf 96 Rg VTC5D
Acebeam L17 High 293 lumens 6200K 0.0037 DUV 66.9 CRI Blue light relative amplitude 1.00 -36.9 R9 36.3 R12 63 Rf 95 Rg VTC5D
Acebeam L17 Mid 131 lumens 6012K 0.0056 DUV 67.0 CRI Blue light relative amplitude 1.00 -39.9 R9 34.9 R12 64 Rf 94 Rg VTC5D
Acebeam L17 Low 40 lumens 5769K 0.0081 DUV 66.9 CRI Blue light relative amplitude 1.00 -45.0 R9 33.0 R12 65 Rf 93 Rg VTC5D
Acebeam L17 Moonlight 9 lumens 5403K 0.0109 DUV 66.5 CRI Blue light relative amplitude 1.00 -49.2 R9 31.2 R12 66 Rf 92 Rg VTC5D


The light is huge for an 18650. It is larger than most 21700 lights. For this size, I don't understand why Acebeam didn't just make it a 21700 light? I like how with this optic, the spill gets dispersed evenly so the hotspot stands out more than from a reflector light.

Thanks for the measurements! I agree about the optic. I love the way the spill just fades off instead of there being a hard circle of light.

No instant turbo? If not, I’m not going to consider it.

Double click for turbo.