SkyRay King
Pro:
- Bright! (Even brighter than my Dry Turbo)
- Enough battery juice (4*18650) for the 3*XM-L
- while still being compact
- side button easier to access than tail cap clicky
- tailstands
- strobe is hidden (long button-press)
- design (matter of taste though)
- parallel battery setup: mixing different batteries is ok.
- lock-out (turn head 1/4 turn to prevent accidental activation)
- spare o-ring
Contra:
- no-memory click-through (off/high/low/off)
- to brightness modes only, missing a nice medium
- switch glitch: sometimes goes off-high-low-high-high-low-off
- noticeable PWM on low: 184Hz
- switch not easy to find in the dark
- parallel battery setup: When inserting, make sure they have the same voltage,
do not mix cells with different voltages!
Got it from Manafont, 80$ incl shipping. (reflink, no-ref)
I have to apologize for writing a review just a few hours after _the_'s nice review (which has much nicer pictures). I ordered it the first day it came available with the intent to write a review, but then it got stuck at customs, so I got it later and had to pay additional ~14$ tax. I just didn't want to give up on the review, too. I try to bring up some other aspects.
Power: Let's first get to the outstanding aspect of this light: it's very bright and beats my Dry (turbo NW) by a few percent.
| Flashlight | est. flux [lm] | throw [m] | intensity [kcd] |
| Dry | 2310 | 279 | 19.5 |
| King | 2380 | 283 | 20 |
I usually wouldn't give the values with 3 digits precision, but since they are so close... :)
With a performance like this, I guess the LEDs get some >3A each.
Size/shape/body: Quite compact! barrel is 50mm in diameter - but it lies better in your hand than the DRY, because your thumb doesn't have to reach the tailcap. The power of 4*18650 in compact dimensions - I really like that.
A button on the tailcap is however easier to find when it's dark (especially with GITD).
Tailstands well. Quality is nice. Comes with a spare o-ring.
User interface/modes: For me this is the downside of this light. It's like those flashlights with a three-stage clicky; you always have to cycle through both modes to switch it on and off again - which I don't like. It's a bit easier here though because the button is easier to press.
Additionally there's a bug, sometimes it doesn't switch off when it should, but goes high again (off-high-low-high-high-low-off, sometimes even twice in succession).
The hidden strobe is nice, but one could think of a better UI for a softkey (electronic switch).
Modes are off/100%/11%; I really miss a medium mode, as the full mode is to 'hot' for extended use and 11% is too low for such a power-light.
I already though about a self-programmed 24*AMC7135 driver, but the performance of this light is very nice as it is. Haven't taken a look at the driver yet.
Battery setup: I like that parallel battery setup; and I see why they used an electronic switch for this light - ~9A are a bit too much for a simple mechanical switch. The parallel setup allows to mix different cells (with different quality) without problem, better cells just contribute more current then. However, when inserting make sure all cells have the same voltage, or else high balancing currents might flow, protection circuits might trip and take a battery completely out until the light is opened again.
Design: Well, it's a matter of taste, especially the color. I like it. It's not really golden, more like bright bronze.
Conclusion: Great brightness in a compact and nice form, but with a UI in need of improvement.
