REVIEW (IN PROGRESS): EagleTac TX25C2 XM-L2 U2

Nooooooooooo… Please say it ain’t so. Don’t tell me the great anti-corruption crusader and slayer of affiliate links has succumbed to the lure of sponsorship lucre! 0:)

scnr, literally ;)

The new Kreisl...

I totally get where your coming from the cost and what you get for your money. C12’s, C8’s and other lights in that class are very hard to beat for the money. And yeah $95 is a lot to pay for a single 18650 light. I fully understand and agree.
But the thing I’m trying to point out is these lights are not remotely in the same size class. Your C12 has a 44mm head. The TX25C2 has a 31mm head. And yeah the length as you pointed out 150mm vs 120mm. 44mm to 31mm head is a huge difference for a flashlight and is why the C12 can out throw it. Now considering the TX25C2 has a 31mm head and still throws 21k - that’s very impressive.

Oh I agree…the TX25C2 has a great size-to-performance ratio! I have wanted one for a while…just can’t justify it, that’s all. The C12 has a higher performance-to-cost ratio for me. If I could get my hands on a Vinh-modded TX I’d be in love with it for sure! :smiley:

Ok, I have actually read around 65-80% of the 90% finished review.. :p (Yes, I deserve a price)

I have also watched selfbuilt video review (then the nice UI made sense). I have used a lot of time to find out why Kreisl is so "obsessive" about this light and brand. In order to understand I have read lots of big words describing the basics, and a lot of "mumbo jumbo" words... :p

I applaud you for the well written review, its truly impressive. Although, I think you have been drinking a bit too much Eagletac-koolaid. :p When that is said, I hope you write a more normal sized review of the MT-G2 light and put in some more pictures of the light. That way more than 3-10 people might be able to read more than 50% of the review. You truly have the skill to write a through review with its own unique character. So much appreciated..

Personally, I would also like to see some outdoor beam shots. Those indoor shots may tell you a lot, because you know how they look in real life. But to me, they don't do that much..

One of the reason I used a lot of time to check on this light is that is well driven. Making it a desirable premium light. I like the fairly sophisticated twist UI + electronic switch. But at the end of the day, Ill take one of my modified small sun lights (ZY-T11 or ZY-T29). They just offer more and can outperform the Eagletac in basically every way I want them too.

For people who does not mod, I think the Eagletac looks great.

Me, ill still stick to my budget lights. Once modified properly, they are just better. With modified small suns I can get a shorter flashlight, more spill, better throw, better heatsinking/heat-transfer from LED?, higher light output, higher CRI, nicer tint, UI with ramping, UI with programmable modes, UI with battery indication, can take every battery, etc...

Yeah, Im still protective over my modified budget lights, because Kreisler seem to look down on them based on earlier posts. :p And Kreisler likes to talk down on various premium brands too, in order to try and make the Eagletacs look good... And Kreisler likes to troll...

_______

Oh, and how come Kreisler use FIRE batteries :Sp, yet he can not name the UltraFIRE M5 by its full name? :p

aw man this is too funny :bigsmile:

Panas 10440/14500's don't exist and that was before i realized that TF/UF chargers and batteries are ****. Will never ever again buy TF/UF chargers, such an ultracheap **** they are! :O

Some readers may find the mentioning of ULTRAFIRE flashlights and products offensive in the context of a premium brand flashlight review, so it was some wise smart*** move to auto-censor the full name :D

The references are full of very helpful outdoor beamshots and i cannot surpass the professional quality of their work, so the curious reader is advised to admire the beamshots by andreas0401 a.o. [9, 13, 25, 26, 27]. Even Vinh the pro-modder is positive about the light too [20].

More photos are going to be added and the MT-G2 review will be shorter, no prob H)

Small Sun flashlights .. do they have an official website? Maybe i should look into them then if you believe that they are the better product. ;)

[quote=kreisler]

aw man this is too funny :bigsmile: [/quote]

Im glad you are amused. Im sitting on my high horse today.. Even higher up than kreisler.. The view is great! :hat: :crown:

[quote=kreisler]

The references are full of very helpful outdoor beamshots and i cannot surpass the professional quality of their work, so the curious reader is advised to admire the beamshots by andreas0401 a.o. [9, 13, 25, 26, 27]. Even Vinh the pro-modder is positive about the light too [20]. [/quote]

The part where I said I read 65-80% of the review. Well, that number would mostly depend on if you included references, I skipped most references.. :p

Vinh liked the light.. After it was modded that is. :D He basically did pretty much the same as I did to one of my Small Sun lights a good time back. :) Id take the de-domed XM-L2 over XP-G2.. De-domed emitter in these lights may not be for everyone though.

[quote=kreisler]

More photos are going to be added and the MT-G2 review will be shorter, no prob H) [/quote]

:beer:

[quote=kreisler]

Small Sun flashlights .. do they have an official website? Maybe i should look into them then if you believe that they are the better product. ;)

[/quote]

Never checked, the main parts in the stock light suck. Hence, why I compared with modded. ;)

It can certainly be made into a better product, if you are into output, UI, tint, those kind of things... You dont really have to see a webpage for the lights do you. Just look at year eagletac and then improve it a bit..

See, the Eagletac uses a nice gold plated spring.

Oh no! you are right. Look at the Small sun below. No gold plating or anything..The cheap looks comes through right away..

:X My mistake. I mixed the lights.. That picture right above is the premium Eagletac. That one before that again with the nice gold plated spring was the Small Sun... Sorry..

Great and stable tail stand, and nicely placed lanyard attachment on the Small Sun (no more errors now).

I see that Eagletacs tailcap is almost as stable as the one on the Small sun too.. Not bad, I like the way they sorted out the lanyard. Reminds me of the small sun.. :D Although not as neat and clean looking. But then again. The Eagle light is tacticool! Right? That is why they made it a bit more unstable with those cuts and such..

Nice and clean design... On the small sun..

"Do not look into the beam warning sticker" WTF! This light was made for law enforcement, police, search and rescue, and that kind of people? :p

Im glad Small Sun did not put that kind of shit on their light. That is basically a "retarded sticker".

Ah man, you even how too look at it every time you look down on the light.. Its not even centered..

Retarted sign..

Retarted sticker :D

:D

i did not get your animal references sorry i thought you were using the wrong word for squirrel lol

the labels on my newer (than selfbuilt's) sample are fully centered/aligned and there is none on the line of the switch. the "Do not look into the beam"-label is located at 90°, i.e. exactly at the side when looking straight onto the switch.

but i know what you mean with 'retarted signs' ;)

>)

Very good review, thanks!

Who has the best price for the XM-L2 version of this light? Please just name the place but don’t advertise the price so the dealer doesn’t get in trouble with the manufacturer over minimum advertised price or M.A.P.

Or just PM me :slight_smile:

Thanks!

AlexGT, for non-US buyers i would recommend nkon from the Dutchland, one could drop them an email and refer to me.

For US shoppers i would ask for example our mike for a personal deal. he's always been very good with us bfl peeps :)

Have you been able to do any testing on your ZY-T29 yet? Curious what type of numbers it puts out. It’s going to have to have very impressive numbers to out perform a TX25C2. We now have two versions of this cool little Eagletac. I have a healthy bone stock version and brother has a dedomed XML2 version. Brother also has a stock ZY-T29.
Here is the teast numbers we got with these lights in the same lightbox and with the same meter. Also throwing in a nice C8 for comparison —
———————————————————————————————————————
XinTD C8 V4(stock XM-L2) - 918 lumens at 30 seconds. 32Kcd at 1m.
ZY-T29(stock XML) - 505 lumens at 30 seconds. 5Kcd at 1m
TX25C2(stock XM-L2)- 1095 lumens at 30 seconds. 21.9Kcd at 1m
TX25C2(dedomed XM-L2) - 1070 lumens at 30 seconds. 44.1Kcd at 1m
————————————————————————————————————————
Those last two set of numbers can be surpassed I’m sure, but its not going to be too easy. Especially if driven reasonably. Even if a light is driven much harder, the numbers arn’t going to go too much higher with the 31mm head that both of these lights have. Too bad we don’t have a modded ZY-T29 to test. It is a pretty cool light. And yeah hands down a much better deal than the eagletacs. But these little eagletacs are VERY impressive irregardless.
I’m perfectly willing to beam shots of the above mentioned lights if anyone desires.
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OP if my data contuses or deters from your review, just ask and I’ll delete it. This your thread after all, but I am obviously a big fan of Eagletacs too.

Tested? Yes, a lot! I pointed my lights on a bunch of things and seen the wonderful beam and tint. :D 80 CRI minimum and still within the NW range.. Thats a nice number, dont you think? :) For a compact general purpose light, I can relate to that much better than lux values. :)

Stock the small suns are in the 1,8-2,2A range, running a 1st gen CW T6 (at best) on aluminium, and no AR lens. Not impressive in any way..

With a fully programmable DrJones, there is no reason you can not push up towards 4A to a dedomed XM-L2 U2 on copper if you are chasing numbers. Ill probably stop at 3,8A and a dedomed T6 3A emitter (yes, de-domed 3A). Its getting into winter season, I can just program output to be a bit lower in the summer.. :p

Amps in the TX25C, and how the turbo mode is implemented is actually quite nice and reasonable for a "hot" light.. I think eagletac did a great job in that respect. But not using copper MCPCB with an overdriven emitter is potential lost..

Currently none of little small suns have a de-domed emitter. I used to have de-domed XM-L in one. I change around alot. My ZY-T29 will get emitter swap again soon (waiting for the emitter) And current increase. Then some time later, it will be de-domed. Need to experience the domed emitter first. These tiny lights are mainly close up lights for me, general purpose. But since I have two lights that are fairly similar, I want one to have some good range, without being bad at close up stuff. My previous de-domed setup worked surprisingly well. Ill might get around to post some beam shots or a thread about them some day... :) Its a really nice form factor. Which is why this Eagletac review cough my eye. (back on topic ;) )

My flashlight thread is probably a better place for asking questions about my lights. But I dont have a light meter. I normally measure amps on the emitter .

Yeah I think brother’s ZY-T29 is in the 2.0A range. Still not bad for a stock little light. It is pretty compact after all. And I agree it’s very nice looking. He bought it way back when he was wanting a Zebralight SC600 but couldn’t justify its price. I’m sure with a nice driver, copper sinkpad, and XM-L2 U2 it would be a very serious little light. I say U2 because I’m one of the few out there that actually prefer a nice white beam. NW is ok, especially with a high CRI, but I just prefer tints in the 5.5-6K range.
Anyway, the problem brother and I have is we apparently have 5 thumbs on each hand. Or it feels like it whenever we try to mod a light. So our choices are to buy a high output and usually too darn expensive name light. Or try to get Tom or Vinh to help us out with modding a more budget friendly light.

I understand your situation in regards to modding, which is most people situation. I think that is what makes eagletac quite impressive. Updated emitters, and high output, combined with good UI, and probably good build quality, anodizing and everything. Considering the package, their lights seem to be very good value. Especially if you are into the emitters they use. I would certainly consider Eagletac if I was not into modding.

To me, modding is half the fun with flashlights.. :)

If you have to pay others to do the modding, pay for extra shipping and so, it may not be worth it considering that its still a light with cheap anodizing and no warranty.

When that is said. A DrJones driver transforms those little small sun lights from just another cheap budget light with crap UI to a light that have a more sophisticated UI than most premium lights. People who are interested in the setup might find this thread useful.

This is the one I would really like to see a review on iam glad you are taking one for the team again !

Totally awesome review mate!

For when the AA based review? :slight_smile:

Such a heck of a time to pull this review man.