Review: Ultrafire C8 XM-L U2 (Warning - Very Picture Heavy)

Nice Review! Got one on order since 8/23 with a holster. Probably a couple more weeks - good to hear another recent, good review. I read "rdrfronty"'s earlier write-up on it, and ordered it. I'll be using an EagleTac 3100 with it. I agree with Langcjl -- these things seem to change over time, so hoping it's still the same good batch. There has been some criticism of this vendor but looks like they got this C8 right. A U2 at 3.0 amps, good reflector and good heat management -- a great combo.

I also bought this light because of “rdrfronty”s review. I have seen so many good reviews about the KD C8, and some Trustfire lights, but since the U2 came out a while ago I decided to give it a spin, to try my luck with something different.

Thanks for the comments, guys, your support has been greatly appreciated.

Nice review. Thanks to you I just ordered one of these. I have a C8 with a T6 in it from KD and am keen to get one with a U2 so I can do some beam shot comparisons. My C8-T6 has been a reliable performer for a year+ now, and if this new one is anywhere near as good I will be a happy camper. Thanks for the review!

Got mine yesterday, running a EagleTac 3100 - wow! Love it! Bright, near brightness to the 7G9 I got yesterday as well, but obviously not as tight or bright hot spot. Think it's real in the 900 lumens. Cleaned and lubed the threads, that was about it. LightMalls dropped the price a little bit - hope that's not a sign it's been cloned/faked already...

Thanks so much for all your hard work on this review! Frontpage’d and Sticky’d.

I did something really stupid -

Noticed my U2 LED had a decent scratch/cut right across the top, so, decided to try a de-doming. knowing I had a spare U2 star. Well, tried the exacto knife thing, but it came out rough, then used a buffer attachment on a Dremel to smooth it out. Well, it turned out the buffering takes the dome down, and when I stopped, it actually got it down close, but not to exposing the LED. So, took a look - and really got the results people have talked about: tighter, brighter spot, less brightness in the spill. I figured I nailed it! But, when testing with the light on (this C8 U2 on a fresh pana unprotected runs 5.1A), noticed the head was not tightened, so I tightened it -- then the light goes out. Flipped the switch, still out -- loosened the head still out. Then, noticed that burning smell... Looking at the emitter, it got turned in the clock-wise direction, probably messing up +/-. so I figured tightening the head with the light on means the solder holding the emitter down was softened, and the plastic protected ring that is glued to the reflector axtually rotated the emitter. Got the driver out and noticed an IC blown apart, near the neg wire -- ouch.

Ok, so I removed the star, which was glued down (think a thermal glue), cleaned up the pill top by buffering and then alcohol, so it's all set for a U3 20mm LED and new driver which I'm planning on using a KD V2 or Nanji 105c and adding 7135's. I want the final regulated amps to be 3.5a to 3.8A - this light can take it and with a U3, should do well with it. Need the parts though - I got 16mm U3's, not 20mm, and didn't get my KD V2 drivers yet, but I do have the 380mAh 380's.

Not sure if the high amps (>4) or the de-doming had the effect to soften the solder, or maybe it just wasn't soldered well to begin with. But lesson learned - Do Not tighten or loosen the head with power on - maybe just for high powered lights.

I just get my Ultrafire C8 XM-L U2 from lightmalls.com.
In the low-light conditions, it is able to reach around 100metres but it is not too bright.
I think 30-50metres is the best range for me! Do u agree what I am saying??? :slight_smile:

Mine blazes, should easily do 200-300 meters, estimating from distance tests I did. We are talking 3.6A min, up to 5A depending on the battery - very dependent on the battery. If you get KumaBear's unprotected Panasonics (2900, 3100, or 3400): 4A plus. I get more light, and more distance from a HD 2010 or a Crelant 7G9 but those are the only lights that can beat it for what I have - when mine was working stock of course... . Probably better to use a quality protected battery like an EagleTac or KumaBear's because you get the amps in the 3-4A range which is safer, still very bright though. The UF's and TF's are unpredictable - I got some good, some bad ones... My flames wound up being fakes - trick in finding identifying marks in the labeling, as posted here on BLF somewhere.

Also, the charge level of the battery makes a big difference. Everyting I've seen means these lights are unregulated, not as described on the website as regulated to 3000mA.

nice review. can you get the inside diameter of the tailcap?
also anyone can recommend a more floody type head/reflector that would fit the c8 body?
so i can have a light with options for throw and flood.

I do not own calipers, so I cannot say for sure, but I think the diameter is close to 23mm.

And also, the C2’s reflector looks like it would fit the C8, and it is OP and shorter than the C8’s SMO reflector, a combination for good spill.

Personally, what I did was use baking paper to diffuse the light. Although it does block a bit of light, you can barely tell since it is so bright, and there is still is a hotspot in the middle, though it is quite faint.

Running now with a U3 1C with a KD V2 driver at 3.8A (8*7135 + 2*7135, all at 380 mAh). It does appear to be brighter than the stock C8 U2 light - we compared at 100 meters or so. Wish I could measure the lumens. It's an easy light to upgrade.

Did you every find out what's wrong? It could be the battery (cheaper one), or internal connection, etc. Maybe it's just not what you expected? Not sure of your experience, but you may be expecting a wall of light at 100-200 meters, not sure. I believe technically, a light's "throw" is rated at what distance light at the level of moonlight can be cast on an object, so the actual "throw" on this C8 should be closer to 350 meters. There is also a big difference in the width of light diffferent flashlights project - a Jacob A60 for example is a very small spot, but a C8 light is usually a quite large hot spot, comparatively.

I tested my U2 C8 at .3L at 300m and .1m at 400m. And that was with simple protected ET 18650’s pushing about 3amps. So Toms estimate of 350m should be pretty dead on. Some running it harder on an unprotected 18650 might be able to make 400m on a good night.

Can the Jacob A60 beat this C8? I bought this C8 after I read this preview but I’m planning to have Jacob A60 too.
Any comment???

On throw, yes the A60 will easily beat this C8. I have both lights and both are very good lights. But they are very different. The U2 C8 will throw about 350m and put out about 860L doing so. The A60 will throw about 500m and put out about 280L doing it. So the A60 has a nice tight spot, a little spill, and great throw. It has the bigger head and different die to get these results. The U2 C8 has a nice combo of flood and spot - good throw and good spill.

If you are talking about throw, as I suspect, then the Jacob beats the C8, hands down.

If you are talking about spill and overall light output than it’s the other way around.

Right, let’s try A60

rdrfronty - wish you could measure my LightMalls C8 U2 now. Updated to: U3 1C, KD V2 driver 8*7135 + 2, resulting in 3.8A regulated. It's lookin real good and with an SS head now.

Sounds like you have a really sweet setup now. I did test mine recently. Check out the results on the other SS bezel thread.

So a smaller star will not work? I also have a u3 on a 16mm star that I bought for my hd 2010 but I kind of don’t want to mod it and was going to use it on my c8. We (rdrfronty and myself) are ordering drivers and extra chips from Illumination Sply which is in California but I didn’t want to have to wait for some 20mm stars to come in from Int. Outdoors. Reading about your success has made me anxious to start on mine. Lol. Sorry to the OP for going off topic.