Review: XTAR WK42 Sirius CR High Performance EDC Flashlight

Thanks for the review. I love to EDC 123/AA lights. This light looks good but kind of pricey for that old emitter. Xtar haven’t bother to update their lights now.

That's a good question. And they use different reflectors too with the SC03 reflector being smooth and the WK42 being orange-peel. One reason I personally really wanted the XTAR was for the low battery indicator feature. If it exists on the SC03 I'm not finding it.

Another thing I'm uncomfortable with about the SC03 is no claim on lumens for the low setting. From low the SC03 is supposed to be infinitely adjustable to any lower setting yet. But there's at least one review out there that wasn't too positive about it (can't remember the details).

Either way, the SC03 is a great light for the price! The WK42 simply filled more of my wants/needs. A head to head comparison would be cool though.

Thanks for the review!!!

I have the SC01 and the XTAR WK41, any comparison is meaningless. They are similar in form and having side switch, but as flashlights one is a 9/10 and the other 5/10.
I have the Xtar WK42, is one of my favorite cr123a, the low voltage warning recognizes primary and rechargeable, and it works for both, great flashlight, great design and great regulation.

Most in that size category don't even have half the features or reach it's brightness and some of them still cost basically the same for all practical purposes. Some less. I can certainly agree that some simply don't need or care about all the features the WK42 offers compared to others in the same form factor, and the WK42 simply isn't for them anyway.

Of course if someone is only buying it to turn around and customize it, that would be a different story all together.

I need an education on what a newer emitter would do for it? I couldn't find another in the same form factor that offers any more brightness, and if they don't, what's the difference with the emitter it does have? Am I completely missing something? Btw, don't take that the wrong way. I really don't know.

I've noticed after reading lots of threads that many agree with you. I like a little shorter, and the fatter part doesn't bother me. In the end I'm glad there are multiple choices for both preferences in terms of form factor.

they make it in a AA/14500 too

curious if the head of the cr123 version fits the AA . if so it would be nice to have both pieces

---> I thought the same thing when I saw it >>> looks like a mini f6 Roche

Wondering if it has low PWM like the wk50's if so it's a deal breaker for me.

nice looking light

@Skeeterwx XM-L2 can give approx. 20% more output with the same current but to tell you the truth can you really tell the difference? I don’t but newer is usually better right? :stuck_out_tongue: Take a look also at Olight S10-L2. It has better price than this with more output (400 lumens) and it will step down to about 60-70% after 4 minutes. You can usually get it cheaper on eBay through auction ($34-$36 shipped). I think that is really cheap for what you get and the regulation is really excellent with 16340.

The advise of low and advise of very low voltage with both chemicals (cr123a and rcr123a) is great ¿Any other in his category do the same?

+1 but I normally use protected 16340.

http://www.xtardirect.com/products/xtar-wk42-u2-sirius-edc-flashlight-only

Thanks for spelling that out for me! My thought would be if beam profiles are equal then a full 20% should be easily noticeable. In my mind if a 1/5th difference of anything isn't easily noticeable then I would think there really isn't a 20% difference.

LOL, yeah. But not necessarily. Newer can be anything ranging from a tweak in improvement to a leaps and bounds improvement. So it just depends. But yeah, I hear ya.

I did. For me overall it just didn't have the feature set I wanted. But that's a personal thing of course. At the same time I'm not buying into their 400 lumen rating. Of that extra 100 lumens over the WK42, the S10 is either adding 90% of it to spill light (not necessarily a bad thing, and something the WK42 has a fair amount of itself), or they're not getting it in general and are fudging their numbers.

At 300 Lumens XTAR claims the WK42 is at 2500cd with a beam reaching 100 meters. At 400 Lumens Olight claims the S10 is at 2700cd with a beam reaching 104 meters. So a supposed 25% increase in max lumens, but the beam only reaches 4 more meters? It would be very cool to see a direct comparison between these two. Because I think either XTAR is underrating their product, or Olight is overrating their product. I wonder if in reality they both end up dead equal in max brightness and beam distance?

One feature I REALLY liked about the Olight was the built in magnet, and I REALLY would like that feature on my XTAR. Maybe I could custom fit a magnet into the recess on the tail end? I'm also torn between the pocket clip design between both the XTAR and Olight, as the Olight one would MUCH more easily mount to the bill of a cap and such. Maybe the Olight one fits the XTAR? If true, another thing I really liked about the Olight over the XTAR was the specific brightness choices, whether the 400 Lumen rating is true or not. But when it came down to an overall package, the XTAR was simply the better choice for me.

I'm not seeing a price difference between the XTAR and Olight. I see both ranging from $35-$50 depending on who you choose to buy from. I saw the Olight as low as $34.95, but the same place also want $14.95 in shipping costs and a $3 handling fee. I think to suggest either is cheaper than the other is either nonexistent or simply splitting hairs.

Yup, basically a longer skinnier version of the WK42 with virtually the exact same feature set. So yeah, it pretty much comes down to choosing shorter and fatter vs longer and skinnier. I can only assume pricing would be equal, but honestly I never did check.

I have to think there's a chance that if you put the 14500 is some sort of spacer sleeve, it would probably work fine and the WK42 would probably never know the difference. Of course that's all assuming the WK42 has a long enough battery bay for the extra length.

If there is PWM, it isn't visible to my eyes. And I've really been paying close attention for even the slightest hint of it. Not a single hint whatsoever that I can see.

@Skeeterwx A well thought out decision you’ve made there. :beer:

I have both the XTAR WK41 and WK42. The heads are identical at least in shape. The battery tube is interchangeable.

Great review! Well done :beer:

Yes, but the low alert voltage will be different for the wk41 ( around 3.45V and 1.1V ?) and for wk42 (3.45V and 2.8V?)

No idea. I used my lights for mod hosts so no longer have the original drivers installed to test.

Incidentally, the AA sized WK41 and the CR123 sized WK42 have what appear to be identical heads. The battery tubes are also the same width. The only noticeable external difference, other than the labeling on the bottom of the head, is that the WK41’s battery tube is longer than the WK42’s.

Note that the AA sized WK41 is no skinnier than the CR123 sized WK42. Both lights are identical in width.

I could be missing something or it may be over my head entirely.

But since 16340 and 14500 batteries are available in equal voltages and capacities, and both the WK41 and WK42 are set up for the same 0.9-4.2V working voltage, wouldn't regulation be the same no matter if you were using a 16340 or 14500?

Even a standard alkaline or NiMh AA battery would work with the same working voltage of 0.9-4.2V working voltage range of both the WK41 and WK42, right? Or no?

I agree. It makes sense that both the WK41 and WK42 would have identical heads with identical drivers. The only functional difference being the battery tube length.

However, since I’ve modded my lights I can’t personally test that.

Hello!
(please excuse my “bad” English, I am writing from Germany)

I am intrested in the WK41 light and now I am wondering if it is possible to use this flashlight with some kind of selfmade “adapter” with the CR123 Batteries?!?
As quoted the size (besides their lenghts) of the WK41 and WK42 are the same - so it must be possible, or?
Has anyone tried to do this?

Would be great get some help!
Thank you very much!