Review: Ultrafire C12 XM-L T6 (Warning: Very picture heavy!)

Funny, I dont see any picture!

Yeah I just put them in.
Had a bit of trouble with Imageshack…

Now I see them! thanks

It looks you’ve picked some of the best that UltraFire has to offer. :wink:

Also, excellent review!

Nice review chriszhou It sounds like your in the same part of the country as I am. The pill looks very similar to the HD2010.

Have you reviewed C8 from lightmalls maybe?

Is it good quality/output?

Also, one important question in general and one important question for me personally…

1) Is reflector same size as ordinary C8?
2) tailcap threads seem little thicker to me, than standard C8 threads. DId you tried to fit some pressure switch on it?

Its a funny thing, regarding 2), Im ordering C8-sized flashlights continually, and recently I received same flashlights (from 2 different sources) with thicker tailcap threads. Same diammeter, but thicker.

The flaslight in question are C8 Q5 from Dinodirect and Small SUn C10 zoomie from manafont…

PS: Also important thing regarding price: lightmalls doesnt have free shipping for many countries. SO real price is around 20$. Not some astonishing deal…

Will the head lego with other c8’s. Great price!

My C8 review is here

The reflector is exactly the same on the C8 and the C12.

Naturally, I like legoing flashlights, so I tried to swap the switches of the C12 and the C8 around, but they are a bit different, the C12’s switch retaining ring screws down a lot more than the C8’s. Using a C12 switch on the C8 tail did not really work for me, because the spring on the C12 puts a lot more pressure on the copper plunger. Also, the C12’s tail works fine on the C8. It is just a little tight, because of the extra length of the plunger. If you are using 18700 batteries on the C8 with the C12 tail, you might want to partially screw the tail on. But the threads seems to be the same.

I did not know that lightmalls did not have free shipping to some countries, on their website it says: “All shipping, free”. Is it paid shipping for a registered article?

And also I gave the C8’s tail away. I had purchased 2 C12’s and I gave one away, I found the C12’s switch to be easier to push, so I changed them.
Now that I think of it, that was a stupid thing to do

C12 with battery in vs C8 with same battery in

This shows how different pressure would be put on the battery plunger spring if you used a C8 with a C12 tail.

C8 pill vs C12 pill

As you can see, the C12 pill is a lot wider, and would be good for efficient energy transfer.

C12 Reflector vs C8 Reflector

I personally cannot tell the difference between these two reflectors, they are absolutely identical.

Heads swapped around

The C8 head does not fully screw onto the C12 body tube. The threads on the C12 body tube are a bit longer than the C8


You can see how there is a gap, it just stops turning when it just passes the o-ring

Two original flashlights side by side

Here is the reflector from the Keygos KE-303 compared to a C8. Too bad there are other problems with the light.
This reflector throws a nice tight beam with an XM-L, but the pill needs work

Always nice to see a good review of a <$20 light!

Thanks for another great review. I bought a C8 U2 from Lightmalls after reading your review, and agree with your comments. It is excellent quality, and as bright as my 5 x R5 light. I’m waiting to get my TR-J16 and will post some comparison beamshots.

And I’ve just placed an order for this C12 from Lightmalls - You should get some commission from them !

Yeah I should get commission, but the thing is, I do these reviews for the fun of it. Just to let the world know what I think is good. If I get commission, it just gets too serious and makes it seem like a chore to do.

No, I was just joking. Anything to do with commissions will mean the questioning of the bias in the reviews. And as it is, there is enough twisting of the truth elsewhere in Web-review-land !

Really, its thanks to people like yourself and all the other members here that we can come here and find out for sure if a products is really good or it sucks.

Thanks for a review and good pics!
I ordered 2 myself to see, how these compare to my former C8’s :slight_smile:

C12 right - C8 left

so, which one is brighter, Lightmall C8 U2 or C12?

The C12 is driven a bit better, and it seems brighter too. Yeah it is pretty strange, maybe it is because the colour tint of the C8 is NW and the tint of the C12 is slightly cooler.