Almost four weeks ago, I gambled on a light purchase that was too good to be true and today that bet came in. I’m very pleased. The light in question is the same one seen elsewhere branded as “SkyRay 856”. More on the light in a sec…
Here’s why I say that the purchase was a gamble… The AliExpress vendor had no reputation, and would not commit to the light being able to accept 26650 cells. The IM chat session I had with him before pulling the trigger did not instill much confidence in me either. The language barrier was daunting to say the least. I wanted to know if the light was the same as in his pictures and if I could get the same light without any branding on it. I recognized the light as the SkyRay 856, but with very unusual (unappealing to me) logos in his pics. The light was being offered for $33.80, shipped, with 2x18650 and a charger included. The price seemed too good to be true, even without the accessories. To me, this all added up to a risky purchase, but desire overcame prudence.
It took longer than AliExpress defaults to for the vendor to provide shipping information. In fact, the clock ran out, but instead of acting, I waited very patiently and didn’t opt to cancel the transaction. I’m happy to report that after the vendor finally provided tracking info, he reached out to me, unsolicited several times to comment on the package tracking status, which took a long time to acknowledge the tracking number.
I’m very happy to report that I received exactly the light that I wanted, logo-less, and in pristine cosmetic condition. To my surprise, the cells and charger that I volunteered that I did not need or want were included anyway, in equally as good condition.
There was one flaw that anyone with a DMM and a 30W or hotter soldering iron would consider to be extremely minor - the driver’s connection to ground was non-existent, despite obvious solder joints (see pics below). Testing with DMM leads revealed that something was electrically insulating the brass collar from the solder. This was quickly remedied by applying some flux to the brass collar that surrounds the driver and touching a tinned iron to it to get some instant heat & adhesion of the solder to the well-sinked brass. I made my own connections this way and re-wet the OEM connections and had the repair made in just a few minutes. Obviously, to someone without the tools or know-how, the quality control oversight amounts to a DOA light, so everything is relative.
On to the light…
All this for $34 shipped
Excellent machine work, no anodizing defects, and no xxxxFire logos
Bottom of driver board. Pos. contact spring was included. Had to correct those solder joints from driver- to brass and/or add my own.
Tailcap. Unassembled and reassmbled and felt that it was easier on the thumb afterward. Might have just needed tightening up.
Top of driver exposed from beneath the light engine. Brass collar that surrounds it appears to be press fit, but I’m not sure - didn’t attempt removal.
The heatsink base on which the LEDs and tri-flector are mounted threads into the head.
When the heatsink is fully tightened into the head, the triflector lip makes flush contact. Also notice the beefy GITD o-ring behind the glass.
Besides the battery config, the other thing that drew me to this light were the wider bezel diameter and larger than usual tri-flector cups, which provide tighter focus for the XML. The fact that those XML are perfectly centered, unlike my FandyFire 3900 triple XML is much appreciated.
Here it is side by side with a smaller 2x*18650 FandyFire 3900 triple XML light, both standing on their heads
And the same two laying down…
Finally, here’s a side-by-side comparison of the two lights faces. This light is the larger of the two.
Comparing the white-wall beam output of the two triple XML lights pictured above side-by-side revealed the improvements brought by this light’s larger triflector diameter and better centering. I was surprised to discover upon taking tailcap measurements that this light has either a much less aggressive driver, or a much more efficient one. Using the same A123 LiFePO4 18650 cells to test (open voltage 3.33V, less under load), the FandyFire pulled 3.0A at the tail, whereas this light only pulled 2.0A. Using eMoli IMR26650 cells, this light only drew 1.6A on high. Part of me wants to see what this light can really do if driven harder, but the more sensible part is telling that other part to leave it alone - it’s very well balanced for power consumption, heat, and runtime (2 hours on high). As it is, the intensity of the spot on high is equal to that of the custom 3xSST-50 in DX SMO triflector Mag-mod that I grabbed from my shelf to compare it to. (Current on the SST50 wasn’t measured, but should be 4.2A if the cells were full.)
This is, in my mind, a buyer beware situation that ended in my favor.
Oh, those unprotected blue-shrink UltraFire cells with the ridiculous 4900mAH rating printed on the side remain untested, as does the charger. As I mentioned earlier, I wasn’t even expecting them.
I’ve had my eye on the Skyray 856 for some time now, but just couldn’t commit (having no reviews to go by). Just like you, for $33.80 I’m willing to give it a shot 