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

Kreisler, how noticeable to the eye is the drop down from turbo to high after 200secs? I’m not that fond of the SC600W or Klarus XT11 timed drop downs (not that I keep them in high that long anyway).

Good question :)

The actual step-down is noticeable as a 0.5sec long "flicker". But interestingly i could never distinguish the brightness levels before vs. after it. To me, in all honesty and sincerity, both levels look equally bright.

On the D25A clicky Ti xp-g2 however the levels before and after were very far spaced apart. Huge brightness drop. This resulted in continuous runtimes of ~5.0hrs on Turbo-mode (Eneloop) :D

Please shoot if you have more questions about TX or Alison ;)

You would think so, but unfortunately here in the US, people who are too smart are actually excluded from being police officers... (You don't want someone too smart to refuse an unlawful order to be a cop after all.)

First thing a cop did when searching my car, and coming across a flashlight was turn it to himself, and click it on. Needless to say he was kind of pissed. The light in question was a jetbeam m2s, and set to medium. He's lucky it was not set on high.

Personally I wouldn't mind of warning stickers were removed from most things, but imagine how many dumb dead people we'd have. After all you need to be told that you can suffocate if you stick a plastic bag over your head, or that the boiling hot cup of coffee in a styrofoam cup is actually hot and can burn if you, if you spill it on yourself.

I'm surprised we don't have warning signs yes for food that's not in small little pieces or blended into mush, to warn us that we can choke to death.

Edit, people like this are the reason we need so many warning labels...

BWAHAHA... :D

Thanks for the picture Kreisl.. :)

Just got mine today :D

Great little light, I'm certainly pleased with it. Would love to see more modes on a future iteration, and maybe a bit better design with regards to waterproofing (I'm probably too paranoid about this) but aside from that... fantastic little powerhouse of a light.

Btw, spring in the tailcap is most definitely not gold plated :p

Congrats to the purchase! ( i hope the review didn't ***ll you into the buy ;) )

One shouldn't be too worried about waterproofing, you got 10yrs performance guarantee by EagleTac company. Foursevens, ArmyTek, EagleTac, and Sunwayman have exceptional service to the customer, they're very responsive and swift with solving such problems. As a general rule with high power hot rod flashlights, in humid environments one should zip bag the light after use so that it cannot suck in moist during the cooling phase. And this physical phenomenon has absolutely nothing to do with the IPX-8 rating.

Gold plated .. i think the Small Suns are :)

btw, i am still busy with adding more and more pics, they're all(?) on my HDD ready for upload.

It did. You will no have to explain to my family why I bought yet another flashlight

Not really though... it was on my buy list for a long time... after hearing what Vinh can do to mod this light, and comparing it in size to the zebralight sc600... it was only a matter of time until I got it.

I agree with you about the ziploc bag approach in principle, but idk if I'll actually be able to do that in practice. This light will get a thorough testing over a three day camping trip at the end of the month along with a number of my other lights... will be interesting to see how they hold up.

Would it be safe to say this is the best and brightest pocketable 18650? I was considering the SC600II but this looks even better

yes

its only 0.6 inches longer than the zebra light and its a wee bit brighter

After doing a bit of research I ended up ordering the SC600II simply because:

a. Lumen wise it’s much of a muchness
b. SC600II is 20mm smaller in length
c. For most use a flood type beam is more useful than a more throwy type of beam

  1. SC600II may have questionable tint (XM-L U3 cw, identical as our greenish SC52, see cpf reports)
  2. Under all circumstances TX25c2 will look brighter because of intense beam; and it is brighter
  3. 18.4mm ;) difference .. Eagtac can hosts Protected ncr18650b up to 71.00mm without problems
  4. Eagtac. I convert the throw beam with the screw-on diffuser lens to a flood beam
  5. Eagtac has better clip, and one can also use Deep Carry pocket clip by Foursebens.
  6. instant turbo/strobe, momentary activation, 10yrs warranty, user-replaceable 2mm glass lens, (optional) SS bezel, lots of accessories, holster

Zebralight fans will always favor SC600II i guess and the lights don't have that much in common except for same form factor, same reflector size and being pocketable. I do care a lot about tint and with all the negative reports and my own experience i don't trust ZL's emitter picks anymore.

1. ZL don’t reveal what emitters they, use do they? If its the same as the SC52 (website says same tint) I’ll be very happy.

2. Don’t need intense beam as stated, happy for the same flood as the SC52. Throw isn’t as important for me as a firefighter.

3. Calvin from IS assures me any protected Panasonic cell will fit. ET however MUST be button top (or a blob of solder would do the trick)

4. Didn’t want or need the optional pack that ET offers, and YouTube vids show the beam with the diffuser looks pretty bad, I bet alot of OTF lumens are lost through that thing.

5. Can’t comment on the clip, if it’s the same as its little brother I’ll be happy.

6. 10 years warranty is very nice…

I’m a huge fan of the SC52, and if the SC600II is similar I’ll be a happy boy.
I’m doing so much OT I might even end up with both 8)

+ 1

me too, am a *ucker for SC52. even got the nitecore titanium clip and the sunbayman holster for it. SC600II will definitely be similar, just other battery length inside. It's the same flashlight series. ZL does not have many series nor models, which is interesting. 1 headlamp H-series, 1 flashlight SC-series, and 1 S6330 triple X, that's all afaik.

i wouldn't mind owning the SC600II too, anyone's throwing money at me? ;)

well, since i already have the SC600-similar SC52, the TX25C2 was a no-brainer. yes the diffuser lens kills quite a few OTF lumens :O

Wallbuys stopped selling the SC52/SC52w. ZL doesn't supply more products to them. Tss.

EDIT: i am done with adding commented photos (many of them are mouse over pics, hope you like them!). To fully complete the review, i'll add Excel graphs/charts from the Fenix integrating sphere as soon as they become available, within 2 weeks i guess.

i think you will enjoy the sc600 mk2

my sc600 had crap tint and i still enjoyed it lol.

It sounds like ZL is a bit hit and miss with the “green tinge” to their lights. After a good amount of playing with my SC52 tonight I’ve come to the conclusion that mine must be one of the lucky ones to have no trace of green-ness in the corona or spill.

I’m not sure if it has anything to do with anything, but the SC52 is a much newer flashlight than the original SC600…

Brothers SC600 MKII has a very nice white tint. Nice floody beam. Truthfully a great light for an EDC. Now for us, we both like to play with our EDC’s a fair amount. Because of that, the TX25C2’s throwy manner makes it much more fun to play with. And the extra power boost helps. Take a TX25C2 out in a dark wood area and it will light up a very impressive area wide and far. Especially for its size. Though that stronger throw has a downfall since its spot is more concentrated and can be a little intense on your eyes on highest levels. That’s where the SC600 takes the lead with its excellent flood and moderate spot. Likely I’d say its a better EDC for most people.
I guess if you can afford it, get both and you’ll have two awesome and very different little power houses. Though at $80-100 each, that’s kinda hard for many to justify spending on EDC’s. And I understand that.

+1

As a very recent new owner of both of these now (:D) I'm in full agreement with you.

The ET is much more impressive outside due to it's throw. Indoors though the SC600II takes a commanding lead, because of it's mode spacing... you can get exactly the amount of light you want, without killing your night vision by starting in high.

Personally now I will be waiting for a light that combines the properties of the ET (great throw in a tiny package), with a magnetic control ring for infinitely variable output, and ( I know this is a pipe dream) a built in flipped down diffuser cap, that you can just flip up when you want the throw for long distance use. A man can dream right? :)

was a dream, ain't no more, rea litty is catching up on us:

H)

I think those things are not relative, they’re big cons. Rubbish UI and mode spacing are huge flaws in a light that’s supposed to be more versatile due to its size. I don’t know why they changed it, UI in G25C2 is much better for all-around flashlight. Modes like this: 7-459-965lm are useless for most users that want to actually use it instead of showing off. I like the size, brightness, throw etc, I’d buy one in a heartbeat but because of this UI I won’t spend ~$90 for something basically useless.

I know what you mean, it's been criticized more often by potential buyers than by final owners. I also referred to the many well-received "pseudo 2-mode" EDC lights on the market (4Sevens Quark, Nitecore MT-series, Klarus P-series, Jetbeam B-series, Armytek Partner-series, etc) and in practice it works out okay in many RL situations: 7lm (looks brighter because of focused spot) Low <-> 459lm Hi.

The 965lm could be considered 'extra'.

3 readily accessible modes makes operation of the light simpler than 4 or 5 modes because of the head position. G25C2 and SX25L3 have larger diameter heads .. so it's easier to distribute more modes to the head positions. i guess.

I love the simplicity of my Quark Tactical and Klarus P1A. I've been praising the Quark Tactical UI numerous times on this board. If the physical build quality and anodization were better, the Quark Tactical would be my top choice as RL light, EDC that is.

In the review i tried to make my point in case, so that potential buyers are not too deterred about the mode spacing. On the paper it looks drastic, in reality it's a fair design. I hear little serious complaints from adopters of the light, on the Russian and Geman folums it's been a very well-received light, on CPF too i think. Selling well, little complaints.

But i know what you're talking about. It's on paper.