Pioneman K36
At the end there will be a summary for those who like only particulars. In each topic I will bold the key sentences, so it will be easier to notice what's the most important. Enjoy!
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I got this flashlight from Pioneman for the review.
Check the Official Aliexpress Store
And the Pioneman K36 in official store
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Table of Contents:
- General parameters
- Package content
- Appearance, parameters
- UI, runtime and charging
- PWM
- Waterproofness
- Light pattern, tint
- Beamshots
- Usage and my experiences
- Gallery and Summary
General Parameters
Material: aluminum alloy.
Color: Desert yellow, Titanium gray, Grayish white
Oxidation process: White one is micro-arc plating, desert yellow and titanium gray are hard anodizing
Bezel: tactical, stainless steel with ceramic beads
Lens type: double-sided coated lens
Reflector: SMO (smooth) / OP (textured)
LED: XHP50.2 / XHP50.3hi / XHP70.2 / SST70 / SST40 / SFT40
Color temperature:
XHP50.2: 6500K / 5000K
XHP70.2: 6500K / 5000K / 4000K / 3000K
SST70: 6500K (reviewed here)
SST40: 6500K / 5000K
SFT40: 6500K
XHP50.3hi: 6500K
B35AM (R9080): 4500K
MCPCB: 20mm*1.6mm
Modes: smooth ramping / 4 modes (1% - 10% - 40% - 100%), moonlight / tactical mode with 1 mode: 100%
Mode memory: yes (moonlight mode is not remembered)
Low voltage warning: yes
Low voltage protection: yes
Reverse polarity protection: yes
Temperature regulation: yes
Switch position: side e-switch, illuminated
Battery type: 1x 21700 battery
Tailstand: yes
Waterproof standard: IPX6
Charging current: up to 2A
Driving voltage and current:
SST70, XHP50.2, XHP50.3hi, and XHP70.2 LED: 6V5A
SST40, SFT40 LED: 3V8A
Size: head diameter: 37mm / battery tube diameter: 27.5mm / total length: 140mm
Diameter of battery tube: 22mm
Net weight: 140g
Package content
There were not much stuff in my package – the flashlight and a lanyard.
Similar style to Convoy flashlight, so a small white box, secured by a bubble wrap.
Appearance, parameters
Size:
Pioneman K36 is a standard sized, standard looking flashlight. Back in 2018 we would say it is surely powered by a 18650 battery. Since 21700 got popular, more and more flashlights were made to fit this battery. K36 is one of those.
Its compact size is definitely a good thing, making it...well, compact and easy to carry.
Starting from the bezel, the Pioneman K36 stands out from the rest of the flashlights by having ceramic beads. Pioneman decided the stainless steel bezel is not enough, so they included and extra protection in form of that ceramic beads.
OP reflector with SST70 (throwy LED) is a unique combination. It helps to lit up the beam sides.
The LED itself is a new SST70 6500K one!
Side e-switch, illuminated, indicating the need of charging.
Deep cooling fins helps to dissipate heat.
Spider is not included
Driver has a metal pill instead of a spring, it helps with electric conductivity by lowering resistance.
21700 cell is not included, but the flashlight can fit all sizes 21700 cell (without USB charging port)
Square-cut threads by the tailcap are not lubricated, sadly.
Battery tube has a nice design, I really like the deep knurling and pattern. It gives the light more outdoor and tactical look.
The spring is thick. Necessary thing, because it can generate up to 30W of power
Tailcap has 2 lanyard holes
UI, runtime, heat dissipation and charging
UI
Simple UI with 4 modes: 1% - 10% - 40% - 100% or stepless dimming (but it is not perfect, ramps slowly in high brightness, quickly in low brightness).
There also are shortcuts to the moonlight (0.2%) by long press from off state, and turbo, 2 clicks from off or on.
Runtime
--- runtime will be added as I got back home, currently I am working in another city :) ---
Heat dissipation
Cooling fins definitely help to dissipate heat. Let’s see how it performs in 10 min test at full brightness in room temperature.
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Temperature:
At 2min mark: 52°C
At 5min mark: 49°C
At 10min mark: 50°C
Brightness after 10min (starting from 100% brightness): 943lm
Battery tube and the tailcap temp: 45°C
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It looks like the thermal protection kicks in at 50°C, which is definitely a safe temperature
Charging
USB type C charging port. Battery is not charged to top (4.20V) but rather to 4.13V
Good thing if you don't need a long runtime and carry about the battery health.
PWM
I did not observe any flickering. Good!
Waterproofness
IPX6, so I don’t expect it to not let any water in when submerged. IPX6 means protection against high pressure water stream from any angle (no protection against continual water submersion). So I won’t submerge it.
Just kidding, let’s do it
--- but again, let's do it as I got back home ---
Looking at o-rings though, I assume it will be waterproof. If you need a light to carry during rain, don't worry, it won't leak.
Light pattern, tint
SST70 6500K. And no, in case you don’t know SST70 is not like XHP160 or XHP199.9 (yes, you can buy those “new” LEDs on Aliexpress… but please, don’t do that – you know, it is dangerous and you could get blinded in a fraction of a second by whopping 1 000 000 lumens).
Anyway…
The SST70 is a real LED, and Pioneman has some more new LEDs, so if you like that kind of stuff, definitely check the Aliexpress store, again here’s the link: https://pioneman.aliexpress.com/store/5878787?spm=a2g0o.store_pc_home.1000001.12.64b86b8fs26KFu
Photo was taken with a sunlight white balance, flashlight is exactly 70cm of the wall, each black dot is 15cm apart.
A little greenish tint. Once I got back home I will be able to share a CCT and CRI values measured by me. Stay tuned, I will definitely update it this month.
Beamshots
ISO200, t2s, f/3.5 sunlight white balance
General picture of what the forest looks like:
Beamshots of the Pioneman K36:
Long distance beamshots:
I was impressed by how far it can throw. The beam is not that narrow, so it can lit sides, and can throw far away as well. It is a good overall-hiking-purpose flashlight.
Short distance beamshots:
Good for that purpose as well, but I don't recommend using it if you only need a short distance light. In this case, better get a TIR flashlight or a more floodlight LED, ideally a triple LED one.
Usage and my experiences
I really like the design of Pioneman K36. Deep knurling on the handle, decent cooling fins, stainless steel bezel and those interesting ceramic beads. Never seen that before.
Great for them to include new LEDs, like SST70 or XHP50.3HI. It is a good everyday use flashlight. Ramping could be better though. Because of that, I am using it on 4 mode setting.
Maybe it will be fixed, because there is a lot of smooth ramping fans.
Gallery
Summary
Pioneman K36 is a good flashlight. My sample is quipped with SST70 6500K, but you can get XHP70.3 or other new LEDs. If you have a 21700 battery, that’s good, because it is not included. But you don’t even need a charger – built in USB type C gets you covered. If you like walking in the pouring rain, getting wet, being soaked, walking with water in shoes, the Pioneman K36 is your best companion. And you probably need to talk about it with someone… But IPX5 standard protects the flashlight from (almost) any rain. And a side note, from dust. So if you live on desert… ok you get it, is is dust and waterproof.
Stainless steel bezel in the front gives it more protection, and sort of military look. But Pioneman goes further, adding ceramic balls on top, so it is super tough.
Pros:
+ USB type C charging port
+ new SST70 LED
Cons:
- smooth ramping is not that smooth, ramping fast in low brightness, and slow in high brightness
- greenish tint, if you are allergic to it, better get a different LED option
If you have any questions, put them below, thanks for sticking for a while :)