REVIEW OF THE MEOTE FM1 COPPERHEAD EDC

Which quality control issues do you mean?

In terms of design, this light is absolutely beautiful. In my opinion, the prettiest of the 3 or 4 emitters single cell lights we’re seeing since about 2 years.

There were many issues when this light came out. Maybe they have solved them, maybe not.

Is the switch still loud?

There were issues with the optic fitment causing really bad focus and beam pattern, driver connection issues (flickering), issues with modes, problems with the switch, and low output on some models. Some of those issues were fixable if you were handy with modding, but on a brand new light? I don’t know if those have been mostly fixed, but with other tried and true 3 and 4 emitter lights out there I’d still be hesitant to buy one, even if it looks awesome.

Nice review CNCman. The one thing i didn’t like about this light was the pocket clip required a gap or it would mark up the body from screwing/unscrewing the tail cap.

Thanks for this, I didn’t know this light, but it looks pretty nice.

It’s a nice looking flashlight.
I just wish that it has triple LED version as well.

Guess my 3 months worth of effort is not wasted after all.

I ordered one yesterday, will report back one I get it.

I ordered this from FreeME’s pre-order group buy before.

The main issues I encountered:

1) there are beam artifacts (multiple-LED flashlights might have beam artifacts, but I have a few other quad-LED including 4x XPL-Hi of the Meote FM1 but the FM1 shows the worst-looking beam artifact out of the 4x XPL-Hi flashlights I’ve tried (eg. Emisar D4v2 (4x XPL-Hi variant), Astrolux S43 (4x XPL-Hi variant))

2) at max brightness, for some reason, the FM1 is less than those from the same class of flashlights (ie. using ceiling bounce / light meter), the FM1 registers notably less brightness compared to the D4v2 or S43)

3) connection issues - need to tighten really tight or there may be flickering (which indicates some poor contact).

I wonder if the first issue (beam artifact) has been solved or not?
Regarding the 2nd and 3rd issue - I usually don’t need max brightness, so a slightly lower Turbo mode brightness may not be that much of an issue to me, assuming I just use the low to middle levels.
Tightening the body tube properly seems to solve the flickering issue most of the time for me…

But the beam artifact (noticeable even when not shining in a “white wall”) may be a bit distracting to me personally…

I’d say overall it’s a nice-looking light, maybe a tad bigger than the D4v2/S43 but still OK.

The worst beam I have seen is in the Astrolux S43. Completely out of focus.

Which LED type did you get? So far I’ve tested the Astrolux S43 with these LEDs: Nichia 219C, XP-G3, XPL-Hi & LH351D. I didn’t recall them being that out of focus, but will need to review beamshots I took before for each model… I think the S43 may not have exactly that good beam pattern compared to say one with the genuine Carclo (eg. Emisar D4), but are “passable” considering the price range of the S43, which is less expensive than the FM1 or D4…

I bought a orginal FM. It was horrible. Gave it away 2 days after having it. Won’t try another for all of the reasons listed above. Great looking light, so I guess it’s like a pretty girl who can’t kiss.

Got mine today. Overall I like it. NO flicker. My only complaint is that I spent an hour trying to figure out why it would not turn on. Turns out the head and tail cap need to be VERY tight. I mean abnormally tight. After that, works perfect, no flicker. Build quality excellent. Using Samsung LED.

The LH351D variant of Meote FM1 has less beam pattern artifact, unlike the XPL-Hi and SST20 variants, where there will be a visible ‘small black hole’ in the center and uneven brightness in the main area of light, even when not in a ‘white wall’. At least when I tried each variant of them…

The need for tightening the tailcap “abnormally” contradicts “excellent build quality” in my book. Tells me that the threads are too short, inner tube too long oder crap contacts. Or see it as severe design flaw, doesn’t make much difference.

This light is so bad, its clumsy and way too big and heavy for be an edc… lumens noway near the stated specs… i got when this was first out a faulty one it flickers alot, the fw lumintop series is so much better.

Like the many lights we have, this is a novelty light much like the FW3A. I would not trust either for EDC. The S2+ is far better and more reliable. As I have mentioned many times, there are lights that you have and lights that you use.

Green color.

I have bought the Blue one from Banggood. Very beautiful flashlight. Comfortable to hold. And very bright. But I keep checking whether the light is completely off, because I can see reflecions in the light head. All in all, very satisfied with this purchase.