P5 "Zhishunjia" Triple Review

Thanks for the review. It looks to be disappointing all round. The anodizing finish looks strange in your first picture also, almost like it was sprayed on though l assume its not.

That's just the flash combined with the camera's auto-exposure. The anodizing actually seems particularly nice on this light. I'm not sure how durable it would be, but it looks good!

Thanks a lot for that review!

I had those lights on my radar for quite a time - but because of the low price I didn’t buy one so far - which is good as I see now.

Bravo for getting it apart and explaining the parts.

This light is like a Odd Duck, so geeky it’s kinda cool.
Standing on it’s head it looks like an older Rocket.
Mine will stay stock.
Thanks!
Keith

Thanks for saving my money, hope you get some return.

I was waiting for a review on this specific light because I liked the non-conventional appearance. Too bad it’s not just as functional or well built. Putting the time into this review is much appreciated :slight_smile:

I’ll instead put the $15 into a different budget light or knife!

My attempt to escalate this issue up through the GB customer service isn't going so well at the moment...

My initial note:

"I purchased this light but it did not have the "XM-L T6" emitters described in the product listing:
"Emitter Type: XM-L T6"
The light I received has Cree XP-E emitters, which are inferior to the XM-L advertised."

Their reply:

"Thank you very much for your recent message.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that may have been caused.
Is that the problem with the item P5 3 x Cree XML T6 1000LM LED Flashlight,could you please send me a photo to show this problem?I will resolve it for you.
If any problem,please do not hesitate to contact us.
Best Regards, "

I have followed up with a response repeating my initial complaint, and included a rudimentary explanation of the difference between the emitters (one is much bigger and brighter than the other)... and included a photo of the LED from the light I received, and a photo (stolen from the web) with a side-by-side view showing the difference between the XM-L and XP-E emitters.

Okay; maybe I'm just being stupid here, but my plan is as follows:

  1. Replace the lenses with glass lenses: https://www.fasttech.com/products/1088100
  2. Replace the emitters with these 4500k XP-G R5 emitters: https://www.fasttech.com/products/1950305
  3. Re-assemble the light, potting the heads with JB Weld or similar as mentioned above

...Just because I can, and I don't like leaving things the way they are. I won't be able to do anything else with the light, but it should be some better than as received.

I could strip the factory driver and use it as a contact board for an E-Switch Nanjg mod, but I don't think the light is worth it.

thanks for the review, u save me $15.

Got to be a contender for the “Ugliest light of the Decade” award :Sp

Could you replace the reflectors with TIR’s? That might help a little.

I'm just going to keep the factory reflectors because they are okay, even thouh just plastic. The TIR option might be okay, but I don't think this light deserves me dumping any more $$$ into it than I already have. I found some compatible Aluminum reflectors on KD, but I don't feel like sending the money and waiting.

"""

Their reply:

"Thank you very much for your recent message.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that may have been caused.
Is that the problem with the item P5 3 x Cree XML T6 1000LM LED Flashlight,could you please send me a photo to show this problem?I will resolve it for you.
If any problem,please do not hesitate to contact us.
Best Regards, "

I have followed up with a response repeating my initial complaint, and included a rudimentary explanation of the difference between the emitters (one is much bigger and brighter than the other)... and included a photo of the LED from the light I received, and a photo (stolen from the web) with a side-by-side view showing the difference between the XM-L and XP-E emitters."""

---> Actually a good sign as they responded quickly.

The service rep needs to take the listing error information and documentation to their supervisor before any restitution can be made. Hopefully we all will get a partial refund, then we will have a new (different, unique, kinda weird) light that we can doctor and play with at an even better price. Tx

How did you get the driver out? I’m still trying to figure out how to take it out without destroying it :stuck_out_tongue:

The aluminum retaining ring threads out normally, it just doesn't have the normal holes drilled to allow you to rotate it easily. I was able to grip it through the neck with a suitable pair of needle nose pliers and get it to rotate counterclockwise with a bit of effort. After that it threaded out easily. I filed a pair of notches into the edge to make it easier to work with in the future.

I got a new response from GB regarding this, offering me a refund of 300 GearBest points, equivalent to $6 in store credit. I'm happy with the refund amount, but have asked that they process the amount as a refund to my PayPal account instead.

Their points system states "50 points = 1 US dollar. You can use points for up to 30% of the final item value" so I would still have to make a larger order to make use of the points. How they handle this would of course influence my decision to make future purchases there...

Ah-h-h, all in all IMHO it’s worth $15.00. I realize all the shortcomings it has and I was critical of it in my report on it when I first received it but it’s still a decent light.

It has good throw and when it warms up on high it transfers the heat to my hand and unless you keep it on high for extended periods, it doesn’t get so hot that you can’t hold it.

Come on, we’re getting so spoiled and so critical that we now expect a $15.00 light to be top quality and have no flaws. Heck, just a few years ago we would have reveled in these cheap Chinese lights as marvels.

Again, I’m not really defending this light as a true bargain in this day and age of wonderful Chinese lights but for $15.00 it’s not all as bad as some imply. I’ve been using it a lot in the past few days and think it’s fine.

If you modders want to put an extra $20.00 and lots of work into it to “make it right”’ I say have at it! Truly my main complaint with it is having to cycle through all the modes just to turn it off.

If some folks are interested in it and for $15.00, I say go for it. It’ll make a decent car or truck or knock-around light just the way it is. Maybe it won’t last with a lot of use but we’re getting WAY overboard in our criticism of $10.00 to $15.00 lights. :slight_smile:

Looks like this light is strongly inspired by the Fenix TK45 :slight_smile:

I agree entirely; it's an okay (just okay) light with some limiting design shortcuts. I'm just disappointed that when I purchased this light, it was not as described by the seller. I hadn't seen this light before to know that other sellers had it listed as XP-E emitters; knowing this, my expectations would have been reduced, and I would have likely looked elsewhere. <shrug>

GearBest has agreed to refund me $3 toward the purchase of this light... I have suggested that they update the product listing which still lists this as an XM-L T6 light. If they don't fix their listing now, I'm sure there will be other disappointed customers coming along soon enough.

Yes MRs, it does have that appearance.

I have a metal railing company and we get items anodized quite often. We usually polish aluminum before anodizing, however sometimes we will bead-blast material and it give it more of a textured appearance. That is what this appears to be.

That being said, some of the anodizing looks funky like where the threading starts....

My light is scheduled to arrive today and I shall post support pics as well.

Cheers