Review: BTU Shocker (3 x XM-L T6 NW | 3 x 18650)

In case someone didn’t notice: BTU Shocker can be purchased for $150 (again, matching the pre-order price!) from FF’s Xmas Special offer

(there are also other interesting offers like DRY or Black SRK for $55)

Thanks for sharing! Couple interesting deal there.

I just purchased one of these from a member. Can’t wait for it to get here!!!

Ordered a NW shocker from the FF christmas sale, got it yesterday.
Kind of have mixed feelings about this light, it’s bright and the machining is nice but I feel that I overpayed for what it is. It had a few apparent flaws to start, there was some of that thermal paste (Fujik?) on one of the led domes! Had to take it apart to clean that off. Isopropyl alcohol worked. There’s also a few scrathes on the lens (no ar coating either) and on the anodizing. I expected better QC for 150 $…

I guess it’s a good host to swap the leds in the future, xm-l2 maybe. Anybody know where to get an ar coated lens for this?

Oh hi btw, I’m kinda new here :slight_smile:

welcome to blf JH :slight_smile:
some interesting pictures comparing the well known and admired TK70 and the newer half breed BTU :slight_smile:
i think these heads that btu used were most likely made by Fenix themselves (fenix high quality machining says it all). probably the fenix engineers were doing trials with 18650s to make their final product the TK 75 and these left over ones were auctioned off to Ric .Anodizing may have been done by the btu team as there is a slight colour change i detect and also the hot to touch logo missing.just my theary. I may have shot my mouth off too early reagarding the quality without seeing this light in hand!!! appologies to the …lux readings seems to range from 80000 to 138000lux on english, italian and german websites .not sure if this is due to consistency of driver from diffrent batchs or probably lux meter differences

Brighter one is the btu :8) .both lights are on Turbo :open_mouth:


these pictures show the mods done by fenix …

tk70 on turbo and on the right is btu on “high” mode
while it true that it drops from its 3000 lumen Turbo in 3 minutes ,its 2000 lumen high mode seems to compete wih the tk70s 2200 lumen for 1.5h !!
distence shots will probably tell the diffrence

Well, at least Greta would likely mop the floor with little sweet thing. Heck, she might be able to even kick my butt! So I’m ok with this comparison :slight_smile:

Very cool! So did he admit defeat? Anyway I’m glad to so your BTU held its on in the light-off. So are are you cool with the BTU now?

rdrfronty will take your BTU if you are not happy with it. :wink:

He admited defeat but during the day he was whining that it wsnt dark enough or his battery wasnt charged enough etc :slight_smile:
and yes im cool with my btu . its a showoff light for sure :wink:
u keep your paws off my btu fronty 8)

  • i replaced all the springs on the battery carrier with thicker ones
    the original ones are not holding the battery tightly .just pull them outwaards and you will realise how soft and squishy they are

Nice mod. I’ll be sure to keep that in mind if mine give me any issues.

NEW UPDATE Tk 75 vers BTU SHOCKER
so we decided to go out to a darker place and test it out again today Over a large field instead of a parking lot …Tk 75 battery was also changed to the fenix 18650 and the fenix turbo seems to have become bit brighter!!
we tried at long distence and close up shots
both seems to have similar output
with the btu SLIGHTLY OUTDOING the tk75 in throw .
SO ITS MORE Of WIN BY DECISION FOR THE BTU NOW!!

Actually after owning SR95S UT that have 250kcd that have very obvious better throw than TK70, I can tell you her advantage diminish after 200m as we can’t see that far. Although those within 100m will be brighter because of better throw, but TK70 throw is already bright enough and flood better. So for a 1000m vs 600m thrower I have, the realistic practical gain is only maybe 100m from distance 100m to 200m.
And BTU vs TK75, the practical gain in throw is even less. For quality in UI and material, TK75 is the one to get. For modding purpose, BTU is the one to get. For newbie like your colleague, TK75 is right choice. And you are right to get BTU since you can do modding on it.

yes true . i ordered the dry driver
im weighing my options wheather to change driver or not 8)

I get my TBU Shocker today… by DHL
Thanks for the nice and objective review. Your pictures told thousend of words.
The choice is up to you…
Firstly I would like to buy the Xtar S1 or the Fenix TK75…. after read your review…. I changed my mind….
Now I like the TBU Shocker: big, heavy and solid quality! I can’t wait for longer… DHL… where are you now!

I ordered the DRY driver after received the TBU after 4 business day.
When receive the DRY driver, I’ll change it… for more light!

I thought someone already tried DRY driver in BTU, it is not improving much.

YUP .I changed mine few days ago . not much improvement. same output . changed back to the digital driver now .it drives at 3.8 amps and the dry is at 4 amps??? .. have a good soldering iron ready if you do change. its a bit of a chalenge to change the driver .you can end up screwing up the good digital driver. the dry driver is cheap. THE ONLY THINK I LIKE ABOUT THE BTU NOW AFTER USING IT FOR A FEW WEEKS IS ....THAT I CAN UPGRADE IT OR REPAIR IT EASILY...NOTHING ELSE. THATS IT . I RECOMMEND A TK75 IF YOU ARE A NEUBIE .

All I can say to that is no other LED light on the market offers the combo of throw and power of the BTU U2. Simply put, if this light doesn’t impress you, there is nothing out there that will.