Thanks for the feedback. The review format that I use is heavily influenced by 1lumen, tacgriz and zeroair. I.e. “User interface and driver” is one section that I try to cover but I rarely delve into details about the driver.
Here’s a teardown of the driver and tailswitch:
Cells are running in series so the flashlight is only seeing one voltage reading. If one cell isn’t matched in capacity it’s going to discharge lower than the other cell, this is a rather large issue if it discharges past 2.5v
Thanks Tim for the good review. I looked up the Acebeam X75 or Imalent MS18 since you mentioned they are “flooders with longer runtimes if money is not a concern.” After I see the cost of those 2 lights I would say money is always a concern 
. The Chaos is extremely attractive at $128, but how do I know that it would ship with SFQ60.3 leds?
Sources please. I’m also thinking the XHP50.3 is a good alternative. But all my searches about Nightwatch keeps coming back the Neal. Is it his own brand?
@cannga, when you have cells in series, any deviation in capacity will result in reduced usable capacity and cycle life, which gets worse as they get cycled.
Nightwatch has a Taobao store. I don’t think they ship to all countries. Neal stocks them and ships internationally.
geforce73 on reddit appears to have read product descriptions written in Chinese on Taobao and created a table in English to describe the differences between various models:
https://www.reddit.com/r/flashlight/comments/ymqta7/new_nightwatch_flashlights_ns59v2_ns59_single/
I have no vested interest in sharing the taobao link but here it is:
You might need the Taobao app installed to view product information…
Nice review. A better design would be 3 x 21700 in a soda can format.
Three 21700s in series?
It would be interesting to measure the switch resistance. Does the tailcap get hot during turbo?
Thank you for adding this tear down Tim. I am glad it went back together for you afterwards.
Not enough thermal paste under the MCPCB might be a slight problem!
The switch appears to have a removable cover over it. I’m not sure what make it is, but it sure has to pass a lot of amps!
Looks like the driver relies on direct drive for turbo and high modes, at least initially, and buck regulation for the other modes.
While using an infrared thermometer, I did not notice the tailcap get hotter than the rest of the body. The head was hottest, and it became cooler as I measured closer to the end of the tailcap.
Yeah. The lack of thermal paste is a concern. I am lucky that some LEDs did not burn themselves.
It’s worth replacing the thermal paste and spreading it around properly. The driver wires are a bit difficult to desolder and solder. I cut the wires with flush cutters at the joint, cleaned off solder from the board, added some flux and added some more solder. The solder joints need to be neat and tidy or they might touch the metal reflector and create a short.
It would have been nice to see four screws used instead of one for the MCPCB too. There are four threaded holes but I only found one screw.
This is definitely a budget torch for enthusiasts. Scary fun! 
Now you’ve done it; I like to be scared by a flashlight! Kidding aside this has been a fun thread to read not least because of your (and others’) experience & knowledge. I like the teardown’s discussion even though I have no experience re. DIY stuffs. But… I would like to ask an important question since we are after all in the land of “budget lights” (a really unusual name that gave my wife a chuckle the first time she saw it, as in “you, hobby, budget?!”).
What I like about the Wurkkos TS30S is, for me anyway, there is nothing like it at 60 bucks (SBT-90, 1000m throw, ~4000 lm, USB-C).
I know you chose the Chaos out of many lights to review, so it’s special. But could you (or anyone reading this) say the same about the Chaos? Is there anything like it at $120? Any flooder with this much lumen at this price? If you say no, that IMHO would narrow the focus and mean a lot to potential buyers.
I haven’t found anything else around US$100 that can hit 31k lumens.
I pushed a Sofirn Q8 Plus hard with 3x Lishen LR2170HP cells and broke it after reaching 28k lumens on Turbo. 28,987 lm at turn on. 10,544 lm at 30 seconds.
1lumen published a relevant article recently for brightest flashlights:
Nightwatch Chaos NS59v2 is about US$96 after discount so it might fit into the “Brightest flashlights below $100” category. It reaches about 31k lumens which almost enters the category of “The brightest flashlights in the world you can buy today”.
A few budget flooders come to mind:
Nightwatch NS73v2
Nightwatch NSX4
Sofirn SP36 Pro
Sofirn Q8 Pro
Sofirn Q8 Plus
Those Sofirn soda can flashlights have built-in charging and an Anduril user interface. Charging, battery type, user interface etc may be other considerations. I just wanted a cheap flooder for the thrill.
parametrek has a database of flashlights and you can search by lumens. It may not have everything (flashlights that don’t have a product page online might be omitted, e.g. Nightwatch). The price starts to go into hundreds of dollars when looking at 30k+ lumens.
Thanks Tim, the subject is definitely in focus now.
How to get that discount you mentioned pls? I only see $128 on Neal’s website.
BTW per Neal by email:
“Not in stock now, will be restock next week
It is SFQ60.3 LED”
There are two codes at the bottom of my review page. One is 25% off. You can also consider codes from 1lumen and others.
For those willing to mod these: I swapped XHP50.3 Hi’s in mine. 5000K/4000K 90cri tint mix. It has negative DUV and is incredible bright and fun. I recommend.
Thanks for taking time to write the nice summary above. That first line kinda did it for me lol; I am finding the Chaos hard to resist. :+1: BTW it seems the one code “TimMcAU” gives a bigger discount than the other, a hefty one that brings cost to below $100. Amazing price/performance ratio.
I have SP36 BLF and have found that I really don’t like soda can size. I prefer pocket-able lights hence was also looking at Nightwatch NS73v2, but I already have similar-size Wurkkos TS30S (less brightness but nearly 3x longer throw). Bottom line is I think it’s time for me to taste 30k lumens
I wrote to Neal re. improving the skimpy thermal paste; waiting to see if he’s going to tell me to go to hell.
Neal’s response: “I will let them take care (of) this batch.” Not sure any change will happen but at least it’s better than a “fat chance no”. Now that I’ve “harassed” Neal like this and got a positive response, it would not be nice of me to not buy the light, would it? :person_facepalming: As mentioned, this light is out of stock now but he says should be available next week, with the same SFQ60.3 LED as in Tim’s review.
Could someone correct me: did I read somewhere that the SFQ version has better throw than the Cree XHP version, or is this entirely my imagination?
I think I will be among the first to “click in” in case stock runs out again; I need to get it before Decmber 25. Less than 100 bucks, but 31,000 lm and 600 meter throw. This sure is gonna to be a scary Christmas.
Wasn’t my imagination, found the source. Thank you geforce73.
Yeah, the SFQ60.3 version has slightly more throw and a warmer color temperature of 6000K. The XHP50.3 version has a few more lumens, this may not be noticeable, and it has a slightly colder color temperature of 6500K.