That said, a light that gets hot on high is a good sign that the heat is getting to the outside of the torch. The way the LED is connected to the head, no pill involved, removes an extra interface, and gives you a better thermal connection to the outside of the head, therefore allowing the heat from the LED to get to the casing faster with less resistance.
Thermal management comes from reducing the heat generated (lowering the output, or not running it for as long), and getting the heat out of the LED, and then out of the torch (thermal mass, and external surface area for immediate and continuous management respectively)
The star is actually the driver (like in it's smaller brothers). It's fujiked between a retaining ring and body => good for thermal transfer => body gets hot as it should.
Yes. It's plastic. But we kind of knew that, because there aren't many glass TIR optics around, especially not in flashlights (as mentioned by djozz here).
I can also confirm the very nice quality of the optics.
Mine flickers a lot and skips modes when twisting it, only solution is to twist it really hard to closed every time I turn it on or change modes.
The threads were gritty and dry, but a little cleaning and grease solved that.
Otherwise it’s got the perfect size, fits the palm of my hand nicely, and it’s brighter and throwier than my SC52 on 14500:s.
My Maratacs or Itp:s are a lot better when it comes to that, smoother and more consistent in their mode-changing.
There is no boost and there seems to be no under voltage protection, at around 2.4V input it barely glows.
Tested with lab power supply and long cables and from 3.8V it gives the full ~1.9A on high, I tested up to 4.5V and it was the same current.
I got the XM-L2 version.
Hmm can’t get a stable current reading and tell for sure.
If I try with 3.3V it seems to be to low for 1.5A but it’s fluctuating up and down.
It also seems to warm up very quick which makes forward voltage go down and make it pull more current.
I can’t believe this: Been waiting for these for so long, and they arrive at my house today, but REQUIRED SIGNATURE, and no one was home. AARGH! Now I have to wait for another night/day to get them :)!