Trustfire F3 3 x XR-E Q5 from Manafont (Brief Review)

Last week, I received (among nearly $400 worth of other lumephilic “porn” materials) the Trustfire F3 from Manafont.com. Its trip to work proved no less exciting than getting it. Below is the beamshot. Can you guess by the beam profiles which is the F3? I’ll reveal it on down.

Came, as requested, with double and triple-checked quality control (Thanks, Jim!) and got here in a timely manner without a scratch. It is a weighty little thing. It is direct-driven, I am told, but I’ve run it long with 1 Orbtronic and 1 gray UF cheapie and not an ounce of dimming. Mode memory works great. The comment from the individual who bought it before me at the site praised it. I do so a little more.

Throw is better than most C8 XM-Ls. As the distance increases, the beam stays tight. Tint is as expected. Due to size constraints, I shied away from the 5 and 6 x XM-Ls, but the tradeoff is that for this price, it doesn’t replace a single XM-L. Might as well go with the cheaper option.

On the right (above) is the Manafont XM-L C8. On the left, the F3. Yep, that 600 lumen figure is accurate, no question. They are suuuuuuper close in output with slight advantage to the XM-L. And the stronger XM-Ls will do much better. As stated, for the price ($28+), it just won’t be of value above its cheaper XM-L cousins. That is the only drawback to this finely made light.