Pictorial Review - PANYUE PH-08

I was sent this light a while ago and finally got the chance to do a short review on it. I’ve never made a review prior to this one, so go easy guys.

Samiluo’s Eachbuyer Giveaway
Waterproof CREE XM-L T6 LED 1600LM Magnetic Control Flashlight Lamp Torch
This is my first side button style light, and although it has quite a few draw backs, I seem to be using it more than the rest of my lights at the moment. I’ve always enjoyed tailcap switch lights, but this may sway me in my preferences. I have listed quite a few pictures bellow, as well as a short conclusion at the end.






Threads are pretty dirty. Fixable, but dirty.



This centering ring definitely doesn’t center the emitter, and blocks the light from reaching parts of the reflector, resulting in a “halo” effect

The description says it is waterproof, and it does come with an o-ring inserted between the lens and the head, but judging by the craftsmanship on the glass, I wouldn’t get it anywhere near a liquid.

Unprotected cell fits just fine

Protected cell does not

Trying to cram a protected cell in here results in the tailcap jumping a thread

Beamshot: To my eyes, it looks like the LED isn’t centered at all and the hot spot makes a very well defined “halo” instead of a defined area of peak intensity light.

Comparison of size

Conclusion:

* The outside of the light looks nice and neat. No dings or marks from the factory. Actually feels like it could be a quality light.

* Upon further inspection, there are quite a few problems

  1. Tailcap threads are extremely dirty. (Fixable)
  2. Doesn’t take protected cells (Most people can work with this)
  3. Emitter has some sort of centering ring around it, which isn’t working as well as it needs to. And due to it being so tall, I believe it is what is causing the “halo” effect
  4. Horrible “halo” effect. Very noticeable and quite dark in the center. (Reminds me of a BMW headlight)
  5. Plastic reflector
  6. Zero possibility of it being waterproof as advertised
  7. High-Med-Low-Strobe-SOS-OFF Starts on high and you better be quick with your thumb if you don’t want to go into an epileptic seizure, because you will have to pass the blinkies each time you want to turn it off.

Overall: I appreciate getting this light for free, but it is very far from quality. I hate to give a negative review, considering this is my first one and the light was given to me, but I can’t honestly say that I am happy with the light. If I had paid retail for it, it would be on the next boat back to China.
My rating:

Not bad for your first review! Good job!

Yeah, man, it does suck having to give a bad review but it has to be done when deserved. This one sure looks like it deserves it. One thing I'd add is that the entire pill just slides in from the front and the heat has no direct transfer to the body so it can be shed. This thing will cook itself in short order if left on high. :(

So where does Eachbuyer figure that magnetic ring is?? :P

The pill does contact the head at the bottom, the design handles ~6 amps just fine (after copper MCPCB/FET driver swap of course, but no other changes to the pill/head design). And the beam improves dramatically after swapping in a conventional XML insulator. Throw is comparable to the best P60 reflector but in a much more compact package and a momentary switch to boot. For $12 it's an excellent host.

The magnet is in the tailcap, just like the ~$45 UF-T50 it's cloned from.

Thanks for the pat on the back JohnnyMac. After reading all of your stellar reviews, I think I had plenty of material to mimic!

Comfychair, it is a nice small light, and I really wish it was something worth flaunting. But I know of quite a few lights that perform better stock for the same (if not less) price.

Oh... well, I guess I keep forgetting that there are people who use these things as-is. I don't think I have found even one light at any price that I was completely satisfied with in stock form. Too many personal preferences and quirks ("I hate memory!" "I hate lights with NO memory!" "lights with high-to-low mode order are just impossible to use!" etc.), and too many neat parts out there to make them work however each quirky user wants them to.

Every light I buy, I evaluate on the basis on using it as just a host. Some that look not too awful stock just aren't well suited to being used as a host (like the Solarstorm SC0x lights and the way the switch is mounted on a vertical PCB, not mod-friendly, so I have crossed those off my to-do list).

You are right that the PH-08 in stock form is pretty bad, I wouldn't recommend it either if it's not going to be modified. The stock reflector is excellent and it's a shame they crippled it with the dumb insulator. The UI on the stock driver sucks. But all those things are fixable without major reworking of anything. Thermally it's better than any P60 since the base of the pill is seated against the ID of the head and not floating in empty space.

I’m seeing more and more of these spacers and can’t help but think that this is extremely detrimental to reflections.
I typically try very hard to get the edge of the reflector near the edge of the dome.

Seems like the manufacturer said “well we can go two ways with this”

  1. Spend X amount of dollars to design the light to where it doesn’t need this huge spacer or
  2. Spend X amount of CENTS to just slap the spacer in there and potentially ruin the light.

“Right, option 2 is cheaper so lets do that.”

Comfychair, if I had the ability to help this light out, I would. Like you said, not everyone knows their way around flashlights and has the tools to work on them. One day I hope to be able to (maybe this will be my guinea pig) but until then, we have to enjoy them “as is” or send them to someone to mod for me.

Those are typically found in lights that originally used the thicker 1.6mm MCPCB and everything fit fine with the ~.035" thick butterfly spacer, but at some later date they cheapened the build and went to thinner 1.0mm MCPCBs and lazily use the crappy thicker insulators as a spacer to make it all fit together again, even though it ruins the beam pattern. It doesn't matter if it works, only matters that somebody out there will buy it.