Review: FandyFire HD2010 from LightsCastle

LED Flashlights – General Info 26650 Flashlights
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LightsCastle FANDYFIRE HD2010! Review

Rating: 5/5 Stars
Price Paid: $27.80 USD (This was a special in the month of October, regular price is $34.29 and well worth that price as well)
Date ordered/received: October 28, 2012, received November 2, 2012
Link: http://www.lightscastle.com/product/fandyfire-hd2010-cree-xm-l-t6-600lm-5-mode-white-led-flashlight-1-x-18650-130025
Shipping is free with tracking numbers for all orders over $15 and any order over $100 gets DHL upgrade free.

This is my first review, so I hope I do not screw up too badly.

This flashlight in the Ultrafire form has been reviewed a few times , so I will not go into every detail of performance, this review rather showcases the exceptional Fit and Finish of the Fandyfire brand.
The fact that it can run off 26650s and 18650 is great and the light comes with the adapter. There are many different versions of the HD2010, some are better than others.
This particular HD2010 comes from LightsCastle and they processed the order very fast and sent me a great looking Black HD2010.

I also own the Ultrafire HD2010 in grey so it was easy to compare the two.
The Fandyfire just has more attention to detail in that all the threads were spotless, the o-rings were in good shape and there were no marks or scratches on the flashlight right out of the package.
Probably a lot to do with that was the packaging itself. The light was wrapped in bubble wrap tightly, then wrapped again with a heavier bubble wrap.
The lens was crystal clear as was the reflector.







It pulls approx 3.8 amps on a fresh 26650, it will pull more if you jam the battery down and compress the spring, but I do not believe that to be a real world reading, so I do not record those readings. I do not own a great DMM yet and need to get thicker leads, so that reading is probably conservative.
It draws a little more amperage than my Ultrafire one. They both have lots of output.
Great well balanced beam with a ton of throw. This thing is like driving a Muscle Car with a Big Block, pure power!

It has excellent heat management and never got weird with the mode switching.
Always starts on high if off for 3 seconds.
If this is the quality that can be expected form the Fandyfire brand, it is going to be my go-to pick of budget to mid priced flashlights as I see value in a clean, well executed product.

LightsCastle has earned my business by providing excellent communication and great packaging. Looking through their website, they are not always the cheapest price, but still very competitive and cheaper is not always better as we all have learned. I value timeliness and execution and in both of these areas LightsCastle has excelled.
If they put that G36 I have my eye on sale or that Rook, one of them will probably be the next light in the stable :slight_smile:

That’s all for now,
Thanks for the read,
Muto

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Awesome! Thanks! I have the UF version (and I like the name better), but I still want this one!

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They work now, learned the hard way:)

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Thanks very much for the review! Frontpage’d and Sticky’d.

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I just received my generic HD2010, ie. no specific flashlight assemblers label on side of light…from T-Mart US. Warehouse though.1 Week btw order and handling it,nicely shipped.Muto…one thing…every light picture needs to be as sharp as you can make it.Nice review…. jensen

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Nice review, thanks Muto!

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Thank you. I believe you're the first known person to get their order from LightCastle, so it's good to hear they're legit.

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Thank you Muto. Nice review!
Not sure if i should order form LightCastle or Lightmalls tho :stuck_out_tongue:

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I scrolled through 11 pages of lights last night while half heartedly watching a movie. Some of the pics had Deal Extreme watermarks. I'm not sure if LightsCastle is affiliated or if the pictures were just 'borrowed'. With the bad press DX has been getting last few months, it wouldn't surprise me if they set up a shadow site.

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Fandyfire seems to be a cut above in budget world. The name probably puts some people off but they seem to make better quality lights at the same price as other ‘fires’.

I just got my unmarked HD2010 from Tmart and it doesn’t look as nice and came with dry threads.

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I hate when I get the unmarked version, arrrrrrr!

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Thats the only motive of paying extra and getting it from LightMalls with the ultrafire brand. BetweenRides comment made me think twice if i plan to order from lightcastles

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Just got mine from Lightscastle and i am damn happy that i did purchase through them =D
And once more thank you Muto for the great review that inspired me! Thank god it arrived with zero damage/scratches! Its rock solid construction.
My HD2010 is pulling 3.35mA at high from the tailcap :slight_smile:
I just received my fandyfire HD2010 from Lightscastle.
Only thing to note is my HD2010 came with a black clicky rubber instead of green GITD rubber, and it came with a holster and the 18650 battery adapter. And i had to lube all the threads because they where not lubed

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Hi

Does anyone have try this aspheric lense on a HD2010??

DX SKU: 13569

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I have no idea if it'll work, but I'll give it a shot. Too bad with DX and the Chinese New Year coming up, I probably won't get it for a month or two.

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It sort of works.

With the reflector, the hotspot is the slightly unfocused emitter, and somewhat smaller as well. The problem is that so much light is spilled elsewhere that not enough is in the hotspot, and much of that light is in the worst rings I've seen yet. As a result, the light actually has less throw with the aspheric lens.

Without the reflector, the ringiness goes away, but it still doesn't seem to throw further.

These are my quick impressions shooting the light out my back door.

For now I plan on keeping the reflector and original lens. I'll try the aspheric lens again when I get a second HD2010 to dedome.