The TC750X is currently Shadow's only other multi-emitter light in their line up. It features dual XM-L U2's putting out 1200lms on max and has drawn comparisons to Klarus' XT20:
While the TC750X answers one of the most desired feature in the form of a side-switch (based on comments around various forums), the main switch is implemented differently. Let's see how it fares overall...
MANUFACTURER SPECS
• Dual Cree XM-L U2 LED with a lifespan of 50,000 hours.
• Maximum output of 1200 lumens.
• Digitally regulated output, maintains constant brightness.
• Low voltage warning flash.
• Reverse polarity protection.
• Tactical forward click switch for on/off operation.
• Ergonomic side switch to enable mode switching; 3 light levels and 1 hidden strobe mode:
• High, Medium, Low (Strobe accesed via quick double click).
• Smooth Aluminum reflector.
• Long throw flashlight with tons of flood illumination past 200 meters.
• CNC manufactured, made of durable 6061 aluminum alloy.
• Stainless steel bezel and lanyard ring.
• Toughened ultra-clear glass lens.
• Premium Hard Anodized Type III Grey finish. Scratch resistant and anti-abrasive.
• IPX-8 waterproof.
• 212mm(Length)x25.4mm(Body)x66/33mm(Head).
• 230g weight (batteries not included).
• Powered by Li-ion battery: 2x18650 or 1x18650( both sustained by the circuit,rechanged to short tube for the latter )
• Test run(Powered by 2x18650,,capacity of 3.7V/2600mAh,Sanyo):
• High Mode:2.7 hours, 1200 lumens
• Included accessories: lanyard/spare rubber switch cover/O rings/glass lens/switch.
PACKAGING / CONTENTS
As with the other Shadow lights I recently received for testing, the TC750X arrived in generic Eco packaging with decent foam cushioning:
Accessories included are:
- 2 x lens
- 2 x red o-ring's / 1 x black o-ring
- lanyard
- spare tailswitch and rubber cover
CONDENSED VIDEO SUMMARY
Here is a quick high-level video summary of the TC750X while while I work on fleshing out this review:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/TbH7dkL46Kw
DESIGN & FEATURES
Design-wise, one would be totally justified to think that there is more than a passing resemblance between the TC750X & Klarus' XT20:
However, there are enough subtle differences between the two with the most distinguishing feature being the side-switch on the TC750X which the XT20 doesn't have.
Like the XT20, the TC750X features dual XM-L U2 emitters that reside within individual housings that are capped off with SS bezels that are removable with sufficient force and proper grip applied:
Once released this allows easy access to the lens (which are not AR coated), o-ring and the reflector, however, I wasn't able to remove the reflectors to measure them.
Incidentally, a forum member inquired whether the bezels are compatible with SF bezels, my particular sample isn't (although I believe I read somewhere that another member's sample was):
NOTE: In above pic, the black XENO bezel (which is SureFire P-series compatible) is merely placed within the threads, it is just slightly too small.
The TC750X arrived with two OP reflectors that smooth out the beam completely removing any rings:
There are ample heat fins on either side of the emitter housings as well as the throat of the light that helps keep heat in check:
However, given there is a step-down from High, heat generally shouldn't be an issue even if it's re-invoked (see Runtime section for further details).
The side-switch controls access to the three output levels as well as the hidden strobe:
As with their other lights that feature a side-switch, there's a nice SS ring that adds an aesthetic touch.
There are springs within the base of the head and tailcap that help prevent shock to the batteries:
The battery tube features two flat sides that bear the company's name & web address (that is finally valid) on one side and the model on the other:
There is a machined oblong groove between the flat sides that round out the design elements for the tube.
There is a rubber grip ring that can be shifted around to customize and improve one's grip:
There is a symmetrical (both openings are identical in size) lanyard ring which I thought was redundant since it can freely rotate:
While a mini-split ring is included, it's actually unnecessary since the lobster claw can attach directly to the lanyard ring without any interference in movement.
The grooves surrounding the tailcap offer some additional grip:
Given the tailcap cover sticks out prominently, you won't be able to tail-stand with it.
The threads on either end of the tube are anodized thus allowing lock-out:
They aren't square-cut but came amply greased. Despite this, the operation feels a little rough on the tail-cap end.
I didn't encounter any issues with using a pair of my shortest cells (AW IMR 1600 @ 65.2mm) or longest (XTAR 18700 @ 69.2mm):
SIZE / HANDLING
It is slightly more compact vs. multi-emitter 2-cell (seires) lights:
L to R: RediLast 3400 | SHADOW TC750X | Klarus XT20 | Niteye EYE25
As well as single-emitter 2-cell (seires) lights:
L to R: RediLast 3100 | SHADOW TC750X | Lighten7 Max L2A | SureFire M3LT | Shadow TC750 | Sunwayman TC40CS | Crelant 7G5CS
While the TC750X is slightly head heavy (as with most 2-cell turbo-head lights), grip is quite comfortable and doesn't feel too unbalanced in either overhand or underhand grip:
Here is an interesting setup that can be achieved by legoing the TC750X's head w/the TC350's body:
L: Lighten7 Elite S1A | M: Shadow TC750X w/TC350 tube | Klarus XT20
Here's how it would stack up against other 1x18650 sized lights:
L to R: RediLast 3400 | XENO S3A | Shadow GF1 | Lighten7 Elite S1A | Shadow TC750X w/TC350 tube | Niwalker NWK550N3 | ThruNite TN11 | Crelant V9-T6 | ThruNite TN11S | Niwalker NWK600N1
Mighty mites! It wasn't long ago when "pocketable" 1000+ lumens light was but a dream:
L: Shadow SL3 | R: Shadow TC750X
Despite claims that the TC750X can run on a single cell, I wasn't able to get it to do so. Thus, the preferred choice of cells for this config would be 2 x 18350's:
Due to the amount of play the springs at each end afford, it's able to accommodate this set up despite the length of the cells.
There is enough room on the tube to comfortable wield the TC750X in this format with either grip:
Now, if there only was a 1x123 tube... 
FIT & FINISH
The TC750X is roughly on par with the rest of their newer releases; that is to say that while it's not bad and improved from the very early JM07 I have, it could still make do with some additional refinement. Starting with the anodized finishing, while the head and tailcap matches up reasonably well, the body is slightly lighter:
NOTE: Flash intentionally used to highlight shading differences.
Overall, the anodizing has been applied well with none missing in the crevices or around edges:
The laser-engraving, while sharp is slightly blotchy in certain areas:
While the bezels thread on nice and flush, they weren't fully deburred and one still had scraps left on it that wasn't removed:
Last but not least, while the switch sits flush, upon closer inspection, one can see the gasket sticking out slightly from around the seams:
It does feel reasonably solid overall but the main issues are with the threads on the tube on the tailcap side (feels rough and not fully deburred before anodizing was applied) as well as for the lanyard retaining ring.
UI
The UI on the TC750X is very straightforward in that the forward-clicky tail-cap switch functions solely as the master on/off and the side-switch cycles through the three output levels: H > M > L and accesses strobe if depressed twice. As with the rest of their lights with a side-switch, it is fairly easy to accidentally activate the strobe while cycling through the output levels since the spacing isn't tight enough. There is no memory so it'll always come on in H.
BEAMSHOTS
I've returned the TC750X so didn't get a chance to take indoor shots but its profile and output is very similar to that of the Klarus XT20 in this series.
As for the beam angle, despite the dual XM-L's, the beams do converge nicely once it's roughly 6" away from whatever it's being projected on. The hotspot is roughly 40 deg. and the overall spill is ~85 deg:
RUNTIME & OUTPUT
The relevant battery stats are provided above each runtime graph along with:
- Voltage of the battery at the start and end of the test
- Current draw
- Actual runtime using ANSI FL1 (first in HR and then in M so for the RL3100 on High, read this as 4.3hrs or 258min)
- NEW (as of May 2012): Lumens measured on my PVC LMD @ 30 seconds
- Also for High, captured the temperature: ambient, the head/fins at start and the max it reached (fan was used for all bats)
Max output measured @ 30 seconds was 1280lms w/2 x RL3400.
The TC750X will step-down after roughly 3 minutes and despite the claims of digital regulation, it is a rather peculiar implementation. While it does run in "regulation", the output is not purely flat and smooth but instead a constant peak/trough with nearly 70lms difference or so. I wasn't able to detect this with my eyes but it's definitely captured by the light meter as can be seen in the runtime chart of high above and is nearly identical to the XT20's behavior as well.
Due to the aggressive step-down, the TC750X doesn't really have an opportunity to get all that warm, which isn't to say that's not possible since High can be re-invoked by cycling through the modes again. Here is a truncated run I graphed on 2x18350's to test whether H can be reinitiated after the step down and after the initial one at roughly 3min I shut it off for a minute or so. Then after it stepped down again, I let it run briefly in med and low before going back to H and this time, it stayed there for ~6.5min before stepping down:
I then initiated a third cycle back to H after which both cells were around 3.58V at the end of this run. While the light did get warm (98F w/a small fan on) it's nothing to be concerned about (caveat is that this is w/ambient temp of 69F).
CONCLUSION
The TC750X is a solid effort overall by Shadow and while it's an improvement as compared to their first-gen JM07, it still leaves a little to be desired refinement-wise. The main Achilles heel for it remains the threads on the tail-cap which don't seem to have been fully deburred before the anodization was applied. Likewise, the retaining ring for the lanyard holder didn't even want to stay put, it's almost as if it was an afterthought. Beyond this though it does feel solid enough and is a great choice for floody needs due to the side-by-side placement of the emitters. Given I returned the TC750X I didn't get a chance for outdoor shots but its profile is just like that of the XT20 and that was the light I felt most comfortable with during the underpass shots. However, if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, perhaps they went a little overboard in that the TC750X also has this weird PWM'ish profile as the XT20 where the output is constantly jumping up and down roughly ~45lms or so. For the next iteration of this light, aside from an update to the emitters, I'd like to see them turn up the refinement a notch and perhaps redo the tail-cap threads. For now though, here are my thoughts:
turboBB-licious
- legoability allows shorty version for compact powerhouse w/1200+ lumens (albeit not sustained)
- despite the step-down, it still allows for 4.3hrs of runtime with ~600lms of output (high can always be re-initiated)
- good choice for floody needs due to the wide beam dispersion from the side-by-side XM-L's
- forward tail-cap clicky switch only functions as master on/off so allows signaling without fear of changing output levels
turboBB-cautious
- tail-cap threads not fully deburred leading to rough feeling during threading
- retaining ring for lanyard disc doesn't even thread on
- quick cycling of output levels can accidentally trigger strobe
turboBB-wishes
- square-cut or refined threads
- increased run-time on High (at least 5 minutes) before step-down
- tighten-up timing required to activate strobe
- stand-by mode so one can shut off the light without having to activate the tail-cap switch
- AR coated lenses
- more output levels implemented via different UI (a la Zebralight)
TC750X GALLERY
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TC750X provided by sbflashlights.com for review.