[Review] Acebeam L19 (Thrower, 1x21700, TIR, Double Electronic Switch)

I received the Acebeam L19 through the review program. At the end of the review you will find the link for purchasing the Acebeam L19, or any other Acebeam flashlight or accessory.

The Acebeam L19 is a compact throwing light, built for hunting application. It features a TIR optic and is powered by a 21700 battery. The L19 is controlled by 2 electronic switches. It is available with 2 emitters, a green LED (NM-1), and a cool white one (PM-1). I got the latter version.

The L19 comes in this box

Inside the box: L19, manual, warranty card, USB-C charging cable, lanyard, spare O-rings, sheath and 21700 Acebeam 5100mAh battery rechargeable via USB-C.




The L19


The head of the L19 is bigger then average, to host the peculiar TIR optic that focuses the beam of the PM-1 emitter; however, it still maintains a design compact enough (60 mm wide at the head, 164 mm in length and 25 mm width at the body). The TIR optic is covered by glass lens with anti-reflective coating.

Never seen in many years of flashlight addiction such an optic in person. Please note that there’s a protective sticker on the optic when you receive the light, remember to remove it before turning the light on.



The tailcap allows for tailstand and an easy access to the tailcap electronic switch (that has the feeling of a traditional mechanical switch).


The body has a wide squared milling, and a metallic round cigar grip ring is present (also has a lanyard hole).

The threads at the tailcap are square cut and anodized, allowing for physical lockout

The body is glued to the head, and the point of contact at the head is a golden spring.

At the head there is the second electronic switch, under a metallic switch cover. It is round and is located on a flat milled portion of the head. It has a nice tactile feedback.

At the left of the head switch, there’s a battery LED indicator.

Note the 2 different contact points inside the tailcap, for carrying the signal necessary to make the 2 electronic switches run.

The bezel of the head definitely has an aggressive profile.

The sheath is made in cordura. It is MOLLE compatible and has a plastic D-ring.



UI
There are 2 electronic switches that control the light.
The one at the head works like your typical electronic switch: turns the light on and off at the last mode with a single click; turns the light on at the lowest mode if you keep it pressed when the light is off; scrolls through the modes if you keep it pressed while the light is on; and goes to turbo mode with a double click.
The one at the tailcap turn the light on and off at turbo mode. If the light was already on at a different level, it goes directly to turbo mode. Once the turbo mode is activated via the tailcap switch, the one at the head is not working until you turn the light on. To turn the light off, you need to press the tailcap switch again.
Only then the head switch will return responsive.

The LED indicator for the battery will turn on when using the light, and will be green when the battery is above 30, red when between 30 and 10, red flashing when under 10%.

Beamshots, 100 meters at the tree.


Keep in mind that these pics are underexposed, and the L19 in real life is brighter.

Output and runtime
All tested with the included Acebeam 21700 5100mAh battery.



My thoughts
The light is well built and finished
I like the interface. I like the fact that you have on one switch all your “regular” functions, with the access to lowest, highest and last used mode; and with the other switch, you can overrule the previous settings and go straight to turbo. I guess this feature comes in handy when you need to set the light at turbo mode and don’t want an accidental change of level (both for hunting and tactical applications). The levels are well spaced.
The output is a bit under the specs, the regulation is impressive. I like that the light has a continuous output of around 900 lumens for the entire runtime of the battery.
The light has a beautifully focused beam, as you can see from the Beamshots, but it also has enough light in the spill to be able to see the ground when you walk.
So, the L19 is a really good thrower, without necessarily being a one trick pony - laser.
I like the battery indicator position.

I would like the LED battery indicator to have more modes and spaces (something like: green>60, yellow>40, red<20, red flashing<10), the cigar ring to have a squared shape (to act partly as an anti-rolling device).

And here’s the affiliated Link, for your consideration:
http://www.acebeam.com/

Thanks to: AntoLed, Won, Zampa.

I like it but at $150 its hard to justify.

I agree. My Convoy L21A KW CULPM1.TG LED is less than 1/3 the price…$45…and has slightly less lumens and throw.

I have several modded Acebeam lights and like them.This one is over priced.

OP Thanks for the review :slight_smile:

Yep, very hard to justify the price. I dare you to do a runtime test with the included battery and see if you get any more than 30 minutes total runtime. Acebeam batteries keep being under capacity for me.

I am now in LOVE with my L18!

I reviewed this light L19 and a couple of things: yes, the price is high, and the lumen specs are inflated but it’s an Acebeam so you can’t deny the quality. It genuinely throws 1300m and still manages 1200+ lumens. Runtime is good, although there are some inconsistencies.

This is a great throwing compact light that isn’t an LEP or sbt90.2. Is the K1 cheaper and more ‘feature rich’? Yes, but for what it is, and the fact it has a nicely regulates buck driver and 5 year warranty justifies the price a little.

I do not understand. I used the battery provided with the light to make all the runtime tests.

Any way you could measure the beam angle?

any suggestion on how could I do it?

I typically measure the width of the hotspot at 10-15m distance and then calculate fwhm

W = width of hotspot
D = distance of measurement

2*arctan(W/2/D) = fwhm

Any luck with this?

I don’t have a space big enough for 10-15 meters but I can do 5 meters.

That would be better than nothing and I’d appreciate it. Thanks sirstinky

Sure thing. Be forewarned, I’m terrible at math though. I used some online calculators for it and got similar results for each. At 5 meters (16.4 feet) the spot is 7 inches across (.177 meter), so that’s roughly 2 degree beam angle. Feel free to check my work though. I didn’t think this was such a narrow tir!

The 7 inch measurement is going to be the largest source of error here. I don’t think you would be off by 2x, so thank you. 2­­­° is very tight indeed. I was hoping for closer to 3.5-4 but at these lux values that’d need a lot of lumens.

Sure thing.

thanx!