- The Fake-Cree LED Awareness Thread - The new "low" in Budget lights.

Does Cree know this situation of fake leds?

That lb 2.0 just gave me cancer. Next gen fakery

the best solution is stop to buy from these f*king disonest chinese sellers
they know what crappy light sell.
unfortunately,newbie customer including me was attracted lowest prices and they continue to sell them

That is nearly impossible.

stop buying noname crap which is too cheap to be true…. :wink:

or buy it knowing the lottery :slight_smile:
we know the game…

The sellers are less of a problem, the manufacturers though is more of a problem.

of course
but when you explain with photos that aren’t not Cree leds
and they continue To sell them declared on auction title as Cree leds
Sellers are a scam

According with first post about the smallest die of the not genuine Cree led
what do you think about this Skyray form gearbest?

and this leds of my skyray bought from Ebay…

Cree led or not?

For me they are genuine LB XL
http://www.latticebright.com/En/cpzs1/2015-05/12/NewsView-179.html

Oh you think?
I have bought the flashlight on 2015-03
the specs of Lattice Bright on your link are on source 2015-05-05

Genuine LB, AKA fake CREE lol!

Definitely not Cree XM-L. Both those lights look like they have the Cree knockoff LB LEDS.

I have bought a “budget” SkyRay clone “5 x Cree XM - L T6” http://www.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_52556.html on May/June 2014 but already it had the “genuine” LB XL.

I recently got into this Flashlight game. I have two flashlights with “Cree XML-T6” label-plate on the body. After disassembly, on the emitter boards one is labeled “LatticeBright V2” and the other “LB” which I take to be LatticeBright perhaps V1.

Prior to this, I use 2AA MiniMags. As a new guy in this high power flashlight world, I found it hard to blame LatticeBright as some of the reply on this thread do. LatticeBright make their stuff, and they labeled it as such. Some flashlight manufacturer put LatticeBright stuff into a light but labeled the light as Cree XML-T6, and then the seller doesn’t verify. So the fault lies with either the manufacturer or the seller or both. I like the flashlight, but dislike the dishonesty. I would have preferred the flashlight advertised/labeled as XML-T6 compatible.

Those who mount an LB emitter onto an emitter-board with Cree name are committing the same crime. There is nothing wrong with a LatticeBright. Even if it is not as bright as a Cree, I found the savings worth while. If they labeled it accordingly, I think they will gain sale because more buyer feel more confident about the product.

A couple of months back, I ordered 5x TP4056, a Li-Ion charge management chip to replace the chips that I blown. I paid at least 3x the lower cost ones I could find on AliExpress. I choose the higher price seller because his chips looks right - Not only were they clones (without the logo shown on chip in the seller’s page), they are dangerous clones - these chips charge the Li-Ion at 4.5V!

In an ideal world, I wish they sell “work-alikes” as “work-alikes”, “refurbs” as “refurbs”. Buyer can decide do I want to spend 3x to get the real one or save some money and get a compatible. That was how the whole IBM-PC compatible come into being and everyone benefited. This false labeling is damaging everyone. Then again, in an ideal world, I would have a Lamborghini in my garage for weekends and a “cheaper car” like a Porsche 911 on my driveway for day to day driving… But I don’t. So world isn’t ideal as least for me.

So, in this non-ideal work, we have to take our chances. Since I want to keep some “backup bulbs” as I did with my 2AA MiniMag, I ordered a couple of “Cree XM-L2” labeled board. Given the price, good chance they are not Cree but LatticeBright as well. I just wish I know what I am really getting.

By the way, can someone with confirmed good XM-L2 post a photo of how it looks? Thanks…

Rick

- See the first photo in the OP, (main topic post) it compares a genuine Cree XM-L emitter on the right, to the lower cost, (Cree copy, LB “XL” (Latticebright) clone on the left.

Rick, keep looking around the forum here, and you can find some very good, authentic stuff, for really good prices.

I think that photo is the XM-L and not the XM-L2. From what I gathered, L2 color is unlike the XM-L, the immediate area outside the plastic lens bubble is silver color for the L2 and not green color as with the L.

i just realized he asked about the L2 and not the XM-L. Its Been a long night. :~

@Rick, I do not agree that no blame lies on Latticebright, they chose to mimic Cree leds into the finest detail, they did not need to do that to make their leds perform (lol, they may be able to make better leds if the requirement of Cree mimicry is dropped). Therefore the one and only reason of existance of these leds is to facilitate counterfeit products that mislead customers. That makes Latticebright as guilty, even more guilty IMO, than those who build them into flashlights and the sellers.