I really like some some aspects of this light, but I’m still going to skip it.
Positive:
I really like the looks, and although I suspect it’s probably a plain grey I would be very happy if it had the purple tint I see in some of the pictures.
Single AAA lights are my preferred EDC so the size and shape are good.
The clip attachment is excellent.
Although tailcap magnets are controversial I love them, even in a pocket EDC light.
Built in charging is great - I like being able to quickly top up the cell when I’m at my desk.
Although the cell is non-standard, at least it’s theoretically replaceable.
Neutral:
10380 cell - it’s annoying, but probably easier to replace than a a RovyVon cell.
‘Moonlight’ modes - sure I would prefer lower modes, but I get by with my single-mode SF-348 most of the time.
Negative:
That UI! It’s not the worst UI in the world but for something in my EDC rotation I want it to either be simple or familiar (e.g. Anduril) and this is neither. I don’t think I’ve come across anything like it, and some aspects seem to go against convention (like double-click for moonlight rather than turbo). I can’t imagine most muggles would find the UI simple either.
Price - even assuming the AU $90 postage is an error, a AAA-size EDC light would have to be pretty incredible for me to pay AU $60 for it.
I think Xtar has received a fairly negative reaction to some of their recent product announcements on BLF, and I appreciate that they’re continuing to engage with the forum.
$ 46!Are you honest ?!Power on / off by holding!And it looks like to get a 10380 size battery, you need to purchase 1.5V AAA USB, and rip off the driver port ...
Revisited the webpage again and yes, there’s a big price difference now that the cost of shipping has dropped to ‘0’ (for shipping to Thailand, can’t say anything about other destinations).
Hmmmm. For now, unless gchart can prove otherwise, I see no advantage over this vs something like a Skilhunt E2A for the following:
Nearly proprietary battery (throw it away when the battery goes flat)
No dual chemistry
Press and hold for off UI
Xp-G3 (although an optic would help tint shift)
The price. I can get an E3A and E2A for the same price.
I think people need to get past the dual-chemistry thing with this light. The battery isn’t made to be hot-swappable. It’s built-in, which to me is inline with the Rovyvons, Jetbeam Mini-One, Nitecore Tiki, Astrolux K2, etc. The UI is certainly different, but doesn’t take long to get used to.
The Skilhunt E2A is a very different animal: larger, tail clicky, no charging, but you do get a few emitter choices. Here’s a pic comparing it to the Skilhunt E2A (among others):
some of the old [5+ years ago] XTARs had a dual chemistry, li-ion 16340, and lithium primary CR123
{WK-42 was a light i had from them that did this…}
when the light first powered up, it would decide what the cell was
3.5V and up meant 16340, 3.2V meant CR123
if it was a CR123, then there would be no over-discharge protection
if 16340, then it would turn off at 3V
it was pretty slick
but if you happened to start with a discharged 16340, under 3.5V, it would not work, it would think ‘oh here is a CR123’, and it would allow discharge to zero
minor drawback
{also it did not have to deal with AA, AAA, nimh, alkaline, 1.5v, etc, since it was just sized physically for CR123 size cells}