XTAR D02 - Diving flashlight (200m)

Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★★★☆

Summary:

Pros:

• Lightweight
• Variable output
• Uses easy to find batteries (AAA both alkaline and ni-mh)
• Built to sustain some abuse
• Head is made of aluminium, pretty similar to the XTAR D01

Cons:

• plastic lens/cap asembly
• plastic lower body (thick however, and common for most underwater flashlights ) Is it really a CON?!?
• Cannot be used with anything else than AAA batteries without fiddling with extensively.

XTAR D02 - Diving flashlight (200m)

Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★★★☆

Summary:

Pros:

• Lightweight
• Variable output
• Uses easy to find batteries (AAA both alkaline and ni-mh)
• Built to sustain some abuse
• Head is made of aluminium, pretty similar to the XTAR D01

Cons:

• plastic lens/cap asembly
• plastic lower body (thick however, and common for most underwater flashlights ) Is it really a CON?!?
• Cannot be used with anything else than AAA batteries without fiddling with extensively.

Features / Value: ★★★★☆

From XTAR page:

This is XTAR D01 new cousin. You might be familiar already with th D01 and the fact it is an awesome diving flashlight for less than you think. The main difference is that is powered by 3 AAA batteries. Both alkalines or nimh works fine. I immediately checked the possibility to use it also with 18650/18700 batteries but found it extremely difficult to do. It has to be modded extensively and personally i think it is not worth to do it. Features the same magnetic 17 step variable switch i like very much. It drains the battery in standby for unknown mA so don't forget to turn it off completely after use. I was unable to register any amount of current but i believe it is there somewhere. The D01 had quite a drain on "off".

Design / Build Quality: ★★★★☆

The head of the D02 is very similar to D01 but the D02 features a on/off reminder. The flashlight cap/lens assembly is plastic. I was unimpressed seeing the lens are plastic, however the quality of the plastic which is very similar to a good glass is quite reassuring. The body tube is surprisingly also made of plastic. The pastic is however very thick. No worries dropping it but i would suggest against it since the head of the light might get scratched. Reflector wise there is also a difference. While the D01 features a nice SMO refletor the D02 opted for a slight OP reflector. Whatever the reasoning behind i like both of them. Pretty hard to unscrew which i assume must be very good for the claimed underwater capabilities. I have tried to remove the lens/cap assembly but i was unable to without using extreme force on it. Since i needed to review it i opted not to.

Battery Life: ★★★★★

Battery life is decent. The 5 stars are awarded as you can have plenty of options on how to run it. Be sure to put it on off after use or your just bought 3 AAA alkies might go bye bye in a few days.

Generic AAA nimh which rested 1 day:

- high 700mA

- low 13mA

Off = less than 0,00?A

The current draw at rest postion (slider down to 0) was not under the range of my multimeter (in the up to 10A testing range). I might get a better one and do it again with a fused unit i can trust.

Light Output: ★★★★☆

What to say? It's a underdriven R4 emitter. Has nice tint, it is bright but not excessively so. That was toughtfull i think since driving it at 1400mA (1500mA being the max allowed by cree) would eat the poor AAA pretty quickly. Instead it can be run at "full" brightness for more than an hour providing decent batteries are used. Tha ability to regualte the output in 17 steps is excellent and heklps alot in not crystal clear water. Especially usefull in muddy water where the refelction on full brightness will just make things worse.

Absolutely no idea where the blue corona comes from. The joys of a pocket camera with a mind of it's own. :/

The reflector is very mild OP type. Thats why a slightly defined hotspot.

Summary: ★★★★☆

The D02 was tested by the same team that tested the D01 but i was unable to have it tested by the same guy. :/ He used it at max 18m for 45min without issues while helping cleaning the coolant tank of a factory or something similar. It was sweetwater use but very littered and with poor visibility. He liked the variable output which helped him to see where he usually was about to expect either 0 visibility or getting blind. What to say about the D02. It is likeable. Features the variable magnetic switch, uses common to find batteries. What do i think? Very simple. Actually i would put it this way:

Q: Have or like to use 18700 li-ion batteries?

A: Get the D01 hands down

Q: Could not care less about li-ion, want easy to find batteries, don't like chargers much or have a ton of AAA ni-mh's?

A: The D02 might be the best you can find.

The claim of 200m is a bit weird. At such depths i think a submarine might be very reasonable, and those feature their own light system. Why would this one resist 200m and the D01 "only" 100m beats me. If both can do 50m consistently i say that is more than enough. I have no reservations believing they will do that.

XTAR informed me that this flashlight is also available in green color. Might appeal to many but green is not my favorite color so recieving a black one was pretty nice.

I would like to thank www.szwholesale.com for the opportunity to test the flashlight. Since i like snorkeling and live by the sea i will probably use it myself this summer. Planning to do a scuba diving course if budget permits. Untill then it will make a shelf queen. This one is definitely a keeper. Still think that if you don't mind going the li-ion route the D01 is superior to D02. Perhaps the D02 was built for the alkaline users market. For that it has little to no fault.

Still i would have liked the tough glass lens like the D01 has. D02 It is however much lighter and weighs only 70g.