Palight GS2600 Review and Tear Down, with beam shots AND NOW, the MOD! and XHP70 beam shots!

I received a Palight GS2600 flashlight today. Gearbest sent it to me for review. By now, you know what that means... A long drawn out review that takes forever and simply says, "It could be better". Pessimistic me? Yep.

The light is listed on the Gearbest website for $83.72 USD.

Here are the specs according to Gearbest, which seem fairly correct:

Main Features:

High power CREE MTG2 LED, max output up to 2600LM
● User-friendly
night light design, avoids accidental activation
Infinitely variable brightness system, last used brightness will be memorized
● When in the highest brightness, long press upper button to enter
strobe mode
Waterproof charging port, with charging indicator light
● Waterproof accords with
IPX-6 standard, against water jets from any directions
Built-in battery protection board ensures the batteries' safety
Stainless steel switches, tail on / off switch, side dimming switches
Caution: Can not fit batteries with protection board (diameter over 26mm). Please install the battery in the right position and cover the tail cap carefully

Operation:
Tail Switch:
● Single click to activate tail night light
● Long press to turn on the flashlight
Side Switches:
● Upper button: Increase brightness
● Lower button: Decrease brightness
Indicator:
● Red indicator informs low battery capacity
● Blue indicator goes out when charging is completed

Battery:
Type: 26650
Capacity: 5600mAh
Voltage: 3.7V
Charging current: 500mA
Discharging current: 3000mA
Charging time: 16h

Specifications

General

Brand: Palight
Model: GS2600
Lamp Beads: CREE MGT2
Beads Number: 1
Lumens Range: >2000 Lumens
Luminous Flux: 2600LM
Switch Type: Clicky
Feature: Cooling Slot of High Efficiency,Infinitely Variable Brightness,Power Indicator
Function: Camping,EDC,Hiking,Household Use,Night Riding,Walking
Battery Type: 26650
Battery Quantity: 2 x 22650 battery (included)
Mode: Infinitely Variable Brightness; Strobe
Mode Memory: Yes
Rechargeable: Yes
Waterproof Standard: IPX-6 Standard Waterproof

Specifications

Power Source: Battery
Working Voltage: 2.75V-4.25V
Reflector: Aluminum Smooth Reflector
Lens: Toughened Ultra-clear Double Glass Lens with Anti-reflective Coating
Body Material: Aluminium Alloy
Available Light Color: White
Available color: Grey

Dimension and Weight

Product weight: 0.680 kg
Package weight: 0.990 kg
Product size (L x W x H): 16.60 x 6.20 x 6.20 cm / 6.54 x 2.44 x 2.44 inches
Package size (L x W x H): 22.00 x 12.00 x 16.00 cm / 8.66 x 4.72 x 6.30 inches

Package Contents

Package Contents: 1 x Palight GS2600 LED Flashlight, 2 x 26650 Battery (3.7V 5600mAh), 1 x USB Cable, 1 Pair x Gloves

Here's the full review, which has been shortened considerably:

www.youtube.com/embed/cTcrWu71SLE

Here are photos of the driver. I am looking to see if I can just change a resistor, to up the power:

My thoughts:

The Good:

Well constructed, good fit and finish

Small led on tail for finding the light

leds for battery state

Almost step-less dimming and last step memory

Hidden strobe

The bad:

Body and head "O" rings too loose and get pinched/damaged

Tail cap switch is redundant and hard to press/hold

Price is a little too high

Overall: I really like the feel and weight of the light and with a little modding of new O rings and a little more output, I would be happy.

Many thanks to Gearbest, who provided the light without knowing if I would like it of not and also for the giveaway that they just sponsored, by sending this light to me.

04/30/16

Now for the MOD!!

XHP70 High CRI led and the driver mod.

I love the XHP70, even with the dreaded dark + sign of death in the center, due to the split in the 4 dies. I still love the amount of light one led gives out.

The XHP70 is on a 20mm star, but that doesn't clear the reflector. The stock MT-G2 was on a 30mm star, so I had to get the wires outboard of the reflector and keep things low. I did it by using copper strips to move the wires out and away from the center of the reflector.

Now there is plenty of clearance for the wires and the reflector still sits low on the star.

Remember the two "Pins" sticking up out of the stock mcpcb? I thought they were locating pins, but they were screws that were screwed in backwards into the led shelf. Why I don't know. They were designed to hold down the mcpcb, but they weren't used for that. Now they will be used for holding down the new mcpcb and I also had to drill out the wire holes, since I went with 20ga wires.

A little thermal paste...

Star is now screwed down and everything is set.

I went ahead and bridged for the resistor here, to up the amperage for all it can do.

I assembled the light and tested it. The dreaded black + was there in full force. The force was strong with this one, so I went back and sanded the dome of the led.

But, as I said, the force was strong enough that even with the sanding, there was still some of the dark +, so I stippled the reflector too!

and that's the mod for the XHP70. Now the beam is smooth as silk and the spill is brighter and smoother too. That's the way I like it.

Beam shots tonight!

EDIT: I received a question from my YouTube channel about Gearbest and how it is to deal with them, especially they have gotten to be a bad taste for many people and my answer is:

It's like any other vendor. They can be real good or real bad. What you have to do with any of them, is to wait to place the order, till after you work out the agreement that you seek. Most items are not in stock at the seller's location. They are just selling things that someone else has and they often drop ship, so the seller never sees the product they are selling. If you want to only buy items that the seller has received and handled themselves, then you must specify. If you want the seller to inspect the item and say you do not want scratches, then tell them you will not accept any or the item goes back. Tell them exactly what you expect and make sure you are willing to back up your end, by returning the item, (at your cost), if they do not fulfill the contract. If you do not want to go to all that trouble, then you are at their mercy and it will be hit or miss. It's all in how much you are willing to put into the pre-order work.

I feel that none of the sellers fall outside of this category. It's hundreds to thousands of miles from buyer to seller and it only makes sense to treat a prospective business partner as one who has to be questioned about everything, in order to maintain one's own investment. As has been said before, buyer beware, especially over long distance. Gearbest, for me, is a valid seller, if proper precautions and questions are used before hand. Hell, I still think even Wallbuys was ok, if you worked with them before hand, even though their practices were questionable for me, they obviously weren't for them. Different cultures, different strokes... Tmart, was always the worst for me.

Beam Shots (What? No Mouse over ability any more?)

I have added the XHP70 beam shots to the mix. Each set of two photos has the stock MT-G2 on top and the XHP70 below it.

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Thanks for watching.

Looking forward to beam shots. Thanks for the review.

A complete review. But video review too lengthy. It would be better if you skip the packing review part or you could include that end of the video. Too lengthy video tkhus difficult to concentrate 25 minute on it. As a cree flashlight I always like Fenix cree led.

Thanks OL. The light itself looks super impressive. I’m modding a ZY-T08 to series at the moment and when you see lights like this you have to wonder why.

Thanks for the review, this is a very interesting light, but why long press for the primary light and single click for the secondary light? It just doesn’t makes sense to me.

Wow for the price you get $20.00 worth of batteries. Thanks for he write up. Looking forward to the mod’s.

Beam shots are up.

I really like this light, but with a couple of niggles.

I would like it even more for under $75 USD

Giveaway to come soon, Thanks to Gearbest for making it happen.

I think long press is to ensure that the light does not get turned on by an accidental quick press.

I would guess that removing the R010 resistor in the photo, (bottom center) and bridging with a copper wire, would raise the amperage output, to whatever could be gotten from the rest of the components/batteries, etc.? More than the stock 3 amps possibly?

Yes, no?

Thanks for the review.
Looks like a real nice light, but I agree it is not budget at all.

The mod is done and it's shown in the bottom half of the OP.

Beam shots tonight, with the XHP70 led!

Nice review & mod!
I would prefer G30 though.

OL. if the R010 resistor is a sense resistor, bridging it may not work. Of course, try bridging the resistor first before removing it. Great XHP70 mod btw :smiley:

Yep, I wasn’t for sure and it’s hard to get any amp readings off this light. I figured worse it could do is nothing, but it’s still brighter just because of the XHP70, so not to worry.

It's a giveaway light now, so I figure anyone getting it for free can mess with it themselves or just be happy with getting it free, so I'm clear.

great review and pictures as always!

Great review & mod :wink:

G'Day Justin,

Great review, & a Superb mod.

If only I had 1% of your abilities, smarts, & good old common sense.

Best Regards,

George

If only the price is nearly the same as low as S70

I’m with you here George. As usual nice finish OL. Thanks for sharing.