Following that whole Aliexpress seller issue with the cheap Jacob A60 and 26650 light (Looks identical to this one) I grabbed one off of Ebay (Thanks Flomotion and Gj) for $9 though they consistently go for $7-11 or buyout at $13. It got here in 4 Flippin’ days from Hong Kong… is this real life?! Shipped 28th, Arrived 11-1, estimated 11-5 : 11-18.
Worth every penny so far.
Pros
Aluminum spotless Smooth reflector
Terrific Beam
Glass lens
O-rings everywhere there should be one (first light I’ve bought that came stock with every O-ring in it)
Comparable brightness/spill/hotspot to my Convoy C8
Comes with 18650 Spacer
Mates perfectly with DST switch or head.
Cool White Tint
Cons
Next Mode Memory
Pwm whine at med/low
5 mode (flashies)
Won brown version, received black. (I wanted black anyway, but this may be an issue for some)
XML-U2 next to Convoy C8
This is just hilarious.
I can post more pictures/information if anyone is interested.
I searched for “2000 Lumen 26650” and “2000 lm 26650” to find the brown auction versions (had to wade through a lot of other flashlights to find the 1-2 of these lights).
With everything stock the DST switch housing is needed in between the head and the xml-u2 body because of the long driver spring, but if one were to shorten that driver spring you could attach the xml-u2 body directly to the DST head (I took the pill out for the picture).
Stock DST works fine with a single 18650 or 26650 battery.
Glad you got it and was happy with it. After that fiasco with Aliexpress, they notified me, that they were still sending two as ordered, so, we shall see. Thanks FM
Is the bezel true SS like the A8? What about the shiny ring near the tail - looks like shiny aluminum and not SS? Hard to tell from the pics, but I assume it's not the same quality as the A8 for this price. The A8 anodizing and threads are really, really nice. I put it at a quality level like the XinTD X3, maybe better than the XinTD C8.
If the bezel is SS, this is a pretty good deal if you like this form factor - some don't. It's an odd size, not as small as tube 18650 EDC's, but too small to compete with a C8 for throw.
Yeah I’m not actually a fan of tube styles, but the fact that it mates to the DST makes me overlook that somehow.
I’m not sure what to look at to determine anodization quality. You can see in the pic where it is laying on its side there is a bit of a defect in the upper left hand corner of the flat spot. Other than that it looks great to me. The threads aren’t square, but lubed I have no issues with them at all.
I’ll check on the metal compositions. I’m pretty sure they’re aluminum.
You’re definitely right about the throwing factor. The beam is comparable to my op reflector c8, but a bit less focused hotspot, which translates to quite a difference at range. I would estimate the C8 also has about 15% more lumens.
Hefty reflectors are nice, but you usually lose inner diameter on the reflector, reducing throw, and probably lumens. But still like you say, if the main purpose is to buy it for a DST, then no prob. there. Think I may order one just for that. I got 2 stock DST's I picked up for $12 each, so another $13 for a 26650 shorty DST isn't bad...
