Review : Imalent DN11 XP-L HI 18650 flashlight + Quick Video Guide (Updated)

Imalent DN11 XP-L HI 18650 Flashlight

Overview :

Brand: Imalent
Model: DN11
Lamp Beads: Cree XP-L HI
Beads Number: 1
Lumens Range: 500-1000Lumens
Luminous Flux: 1000LM
Luminous Intensity: 14600cd
Color Temperature: 6000-7000K
Feature: Lanyard,LCD Touch Screen,Lock-out Function,Overheating Protection,Pocket Clip,Reverse Polarity Protection
Function: Camping,EDC,Hiking,Household Use,Night Riding,Rescue,Search,Seeking Survival,Self-defense,Walking
Battery Type: 18650,CR123
Battery Quantity: 1 x 18650 or 2 x CR123 battery (included)
Mode: Electrodeless Dimming Flashlight
Rechargeable: Yes
Waterproof Standard: IPX-8 Standard Waterproof (Underwater 2m)
Power Source: Battery
Lens: Toughened Ultra-clear Mineral Glass Lens
Impact Resistance: 1.5M
Beam Distance: 300-400m
Flashlight Processing Technology: Aerospace Grade Aluminum Body with Anti Scratching Type III Hard Anodization
Available Light Color: Cool White
Available color: Black

First Look :

Flashlight comes in a nice little box :

Package Contains :

- Flashlight

- Imalent 18650 battery 2600mAh

- Holster

- Lanyard

- Micro-usb cable

- 2 spare o-rings

  • User manual

Battery comes inside the flashlight , with a little plastic disc on the negative side of the battery . You need to remove it in order to operate the flashlight .

Some more photos :

Front side
You can see it uses an LCD display and 2 touch buttons !

Back side

Size compared to 18650 battery (you can also see the Imalent battery is shorter than protected NCR18650B)

Also side by side with a familiar flashlight , Nitecore MH20

You will notice DN11 is a little longer .

A few more details :

Reflector - You can see it has a nice smooth reflector

And the AR lens

A photo of the LCD display while flashlight is on

And the voltage of the battery under load (not actual battery voltage)

Imalent DN11 logo on the tailcap

Flashlight inside the holder - Fits very nice :

Tailcap & spring

Threads - Yep , you guessed it , they are square and the annodization is great for tailcap lock-out

Measurements :

Battery used : NCR18650B

Lumens on highest setting (1000) : Approx. 960 Lumens

Intensity on highest setting (1000) : 20kcd

Tailcap measurements :

While off - Parasitic drain : 0.079 mA
Setting 1/1000 : 5.4 mA
Setting 250/1000 : 0.53 Amps
Setting 500/1000 : 1.22 Amps
Setting 750/1000 : 1.92 Amps
Setting 1000/1000 : 2.98 Amps

Runtime (Incomplete) :

- When flashlight is on (on highest setting) , on the 4.5 minute mark , it steps down at about 650 lumens . That happens if the flashlight reaches the temperature of 55oC .

- 1000/1000 brightness level , Output/Time Graph :

As you can see , it reduces with little steps as the time passes , without any big drop . Measurements ended at 124 minutes , with flashlight producing moonlight-level light , while the battery was at 2.87 Volts .
Also here is the graph , with every measurement available (mouse-over the line) : http://goo.gl/9JvGe6

Beam profile :

A picture of the beam - Wall is 12 meters away

Quick video guide - how to use the flashlght in simple steps :

Conclusion :

Tested some more things :
-Built-in charger charges batteries up to 4.19 Volt in my unit .
-Battery that comes with the package is a true 2.650mAh battery.

Overall it’s a very interesting light , with some brand new features like the Lcd (in such a small light) and the touch buttons .
Touch buttons are a little difficult to use until you find the right way to do it . For sure it needs some improvements.
Lcd is a very nice feature , and i found it really useful.
The quality and anodization is great , not a single issue in my unit .
I like the beam , quite throwy , but with a usable spill.

Please comment if you want me to test something else . You are free (and i would like to) to tell me your opinion about tje review .

Thanks!

Product link (ref ) : http://goo.gl/VP0dWk

Reserved for Update Log

21/8 - Updated Performance/Runtime with “1000/1000 level” Output/Runtime graph .
29/8 - Updated “my thoughts”

Subscribed!

Probably today when i get home i will do the “1000/1000 mode” Performance/Runtime measurements . I will have to use a fan , so i can see real efficiency (without the temperature warning changing the output) .

Edit : Review updated (see post #2 for update log) .

Any suggestion for other brightness level to review ?

Review is now done.
Still open to suggestions.

Thanks!

If you can figure out what lock and unlock do you will be my favorite person ever. Al i can see they do is turn the display off and on with a gnetle swipe.

I own this light and here are my impressions:

What I like about this light:

  • The LED display. Shows lumens and voltage. Fairly accurate. This is an awesome feature that I wish more lights had. It’s not perfect though. The display isn’t that sharp owing to Imalent’s use of frosted clear plastic over the display. Smooth plastic or glass would have worked better.
  • Nice fairly throwy beam. Not surprising from the relatively large smooth reflector and XPL HI. The beam pattern is quite nice.
  • Overall very good build quality.
  • Price: much cheaper than a Zebralight SC600w III HI.
  • Innovative. It’s rare to see flashlight developers trying something new. The LED display on this light is quite innovative and something other manufacturers aren’t including.

What I did not like:

  • The “touch” sensors are unreliable. Sometimes it takes me 3 or 4 tries just to get the light to turn on. The touch sensors feel like a gimmick. Why couldn’t they just have used a couple momentary e-switch pushbuttons like other lights? Momentary switches would have worked 10x better. It feels like Imalent tried to reinvent the wheel and forgot to ask themselves “Is this actually better?” I consider these finicky unreliable controls the biggest negative of this light.
  • The “touch” sensors are hard to find by feel. Expect to have to rotate the light a few times before you locate the controls. And this is before having to spend multiple tries just to get them to work.
  • Bad UI: The light only has one mode, with 2-way ramping and memory. Unlike a magnetic control ring, the ramping is far too slow to serve as the only control. This light really needs shortcuts to min and max.
  • Defective shipment. My package failed to include the micro-USB cord that was supposed to ship with the light.
  • Poor placement of micro-USB jack. The micro-USB jack is too close to the bottom edge of its recessed pocket for the rubber cover. Many standard micro-USB cables won’t fit because of this. Imalent should have centered the socket under the rubber cover, or made the socket and cover bigger.

Personal preference

  • Cool white tint. I prefer neutral tints. I have not attempted to replace the emitter with one of better tint as I decided it was not worth the effort.
  • Chunky. For a single 18650 light, this light is chunkier than I’m used to. I find this light too big and heavy for pocket EDC. While it might make a good searchlight, I can’t really think of any situation where I’d grab this over my SC600w III HI.

My conclusion: I really wanted to like this light since very few flashlight designers are trying something really new and innovative. Unfortunately, this light just has too many downsides, and I cannot recommend it. The troublesome controls combined with bad UI are enough to push this light into the “unsatisfactory” category. It just takes too much time and hassle to get the light to turn on to the desired setting. NOT RECOMMENDED

Comments: I would have recommended this light if Imalent had used momentary pushbuttons for the controls, and had included simple shortcuts for min and max (such as double-click for max, long-click for min, etc.)

Great review!

While the flashlight is on , if you touch for a little time , the display turns off . That’s everything it does as you already said …

Thank you zeremefico!

I will agree Firelight. Also when its completely dark , it’s even more difficult to locate the switch and power the flashlight.

Nice review ! Thanks mate :+1:

Thanks for reading my review :wink:

thanks for the review.

Nice work. Well done Γιώργη. :slight_smile:

Heya George,

Nice review. I’ve just received mine today, and after playing a bit with it, I reckon the DN11 is not too bad. Except for the padlocks.

Weird icons for the screen on/off function. A single tap turns the display on and off!

Thanks for your kind words people . :beer:

Tony i expected more from the “lock-unlock” button . For example , disable the touch buttons until you press it again , or something like that .

Thank you for the review and the pics!

I’ve got one in Astrolux guise and my feelings are mixed. Mainly due to the touch button operation. The buttons are hard to find in darkness and the response is very inconsistent.

Having said that. It’s a great Mk I version. Improve the haptic side of the buttons and the consistency of the response and it’ll be an unbeatable proposition in single 18650.

I would suggest a clicky on-off button (tail but shrouded so it can be used standing up) and a further look into the electronics. I’d also like to see over- and undercharge protection built in for the Mk II version :wink: .

Would be nice to enhance it and make a BLF version of this one. Potentially, it’s a winner.

Thanks Bazz!

It is for sure , the first of its kind , and we expect more from Imalent :innocent: .

This broken record asks: is there any PWM that you can see? Thanks :slight_smile:

Not visible with naked eye . I think it has a pretty high frequency (i have noticed low frequencies before with naked eye , like jetbeam) .

Thanks :slight_smile: