Review: Lightmall's C12 UltraFire XM-L2

LED Flashlights – General Info
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This is a review of Lightmall's C12 Ultrafire XM-L2 $21.50

Their specs:

Product Brand UltraFire Model C12 Case

Material Aluminum Alloy Color N/A

LED Brand Cree LED Type XM-L2 LED QTY 1

Light Color White Light

Lumens Max 1770-lumen

Working Volatge 2.8~4.2V

Working Current About 4000mAh

Modes 5 Modes_Arrangement High>Mid>Low>Strobe>SOS

Switch Location Tailcap Switch Type Clicky

runtime About 80 Minutes Battry Type 1x18650

Lamp cup material Aluminum

Reflector Type SMO Lens Glass

With Hand Strap Yes

Other than the obviously inflated Lumens I would say it's accurate. I don't have a way to test the amps because my MM is bi-polar, but It's driven hard. More than 3amps would be my guess.

The Good: It's very bright, put up against a C8 T6 at 3amps it's much brighter. The hot spot is fairly large, very bright and very well defined. It's a perfectly round hot spot with very distinct edges. The driver is soldered in very nicely. (so nice that I'm not taking it apart) The fins are very nice and deeply cut. The memory works perfectly. Turn it off, turn it back on it's in the same mode. Well centered emitter and clean clear lens.

The Bad: Nothing. I can't see anything that is a negative on this light.

The average: threads not greased kind of on the sharp size but they seem to work just perfectly, not too fine just OK. The body is light, I would have liked it to be just a bit heavier. Tail cap is the usual. Price was also average. For the money it's a good deal but not a super steal. Shipping time was decent. It wasn't so fast that I said wow that was fast. But it was fast enough that I wasn't even starting to worry. The flimsy box was smashed inside the flimsy mailer with flimsy bubble wrap but the well built light was up to the task and arrived in perfect condition, not a scratch on it.

Conclusion: I really like it. Two solid thumbs up. It's actually one of the only lights I have that I don't plan to change a thing on. I don't care for 5 modes but the memory is great so it's no big deal. The XM-L2 is a bit on the cool side, but again not worth changing because it's one of the things that makes it so bright. On a 5 star rating system I would give it 4.5. Three modes, a little more neutral tint and nicer threads would have earned it a 5 star rating.

I would suggest this light. It's a winner.

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I’m still waiting for mine (it’s finally heading out tomorrow - due to no fault of Lightmall’s). It’s nice that the tint is cool. I’ve seen so many yellowish ones.

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I had seen some posts about “disappointing” performance with the C12:

So is just the C12s from that one seller that are problematic, and the ones from lightsmall are good?

I have a couple of C8s, and have been interested in trying a C12, but had been avoiding them because of that thread.

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From what I understand the C12 U3 had problems even from lightmalls. They probably got a bad batch of emitters. This light doesn’t have any problems at all or at least none that I have come across yet.

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I just put it up against a unique fire UF-V3 with a U2 and the U2 is cooler but then it’s the coolest light that I have.

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let’s see the beamshots comparison…

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I have tried taking beamshots and I just don’t have a camera or a place to take them so they come out well enough to make it worth posting.

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thanks for the review, now maybe this gives us some reassurance about these c12’s in xml2’s.
i know for sure im staying away from the u3’s.

hey 18sixfifty, does the light have memory? lightmalls says it dont.

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lucky for me, the order i placed the other day with lightmalls, didnt ship out yet. i just told them to delete the uniquefire uf v1 and replace it with a c12 xml2.

the operater told me it didnt come with memory, but he knew how much i wanted the memory feature, and he said he would change it out for me….what a nice guy!

or is he just acting cool, and it already comes with memory haha?

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Mine has memory. It works perfect too. No long wait time.

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Oh and I’ll tell you what. I took it out for my walk tonight and it throws too, not like a dedicated thrower, like the small sun TZ-T08. The beam isn’t that small but it still throws a big beam a long ways for a C8 style light. It gets hot though if it’s left on high for a long time. This is the most impressive single 18650 light I have. This is just quite an amazing light for such a small package. I think we are going to be seeing quite a few positive reviews of this light when people start getting them in.

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Maybe we should start a group buy for whichever one is the best C12!?

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did you get yours off lightmalls? man, your tempting me to go back to live chat and tell them to ship me two of these suckers!
maybe ill get another one from another place to compare them.

wait so if you got yours from lightmalls, why did he tell me it does not have memory? haha
so it throws like your zy t08? thats pretty impressive i gotta say. what c8’s do you own?

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yep it came from lightmalls and it has memory. I wouldn’t say it throws like my ZY-T08 because the beam is not as concentrated but it’s not far behind. It throws more light almost as far would be how I would put it. It’s putting out more lumens than the ZY-T08 just with the smaller head it’s not focused so narrowly. It does out throw my other C8’s and my Rook as well which has fairly decent throw for a small light.

I have a Trustfire C8 with a T6 and a 3amp driver that I thought was impressive. My other C8 is just generic but it’s got a U2 and it’s at 2.8. It even outthrows my X8 which has a smaller hot spot. I think it’s just brute force that is getting it done.

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Thanks for the review. But how do you know if your C8 is driven at 3A if your DMM isnt working properly?

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very nice! im actually looking forward to these two new torches now. its gonna be a good torch fight between the two lightmalls light….the c8 xml2, and the c12 xml2.

hey theres actually two reviews on the c12 on lightmalls page, and one reviewer is a member here on blf. maybe he’ll chime in once he sees this thread.
but the member says the driver is pushing more than 3.5 amps. and says to get it now while the batch is good ….

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My MM is on the fritz or I would check mine. I would say that’s it’s well over 3amps for sure, how much I can’t say. It’s a beast of a driver.

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I bought it from a reliable person who checked it before he sold it to me and when I compare it to my other lights that are in that range it’s pretty consistent. Plus I have swapped out a bunch of different drivers in a dozen or so lights now to compare it with including XM-L2’s. For instance I just built a P60 with a MX-L2 U2 and a 3amp driver from illumination supply and this one is hotter by far. it’s not just the throw either. Ceiling bounce and even just holding it a couple feet from a white wall tells me it’s hotter than 3amps how much I don’t know. That’s the problem.

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Looking forward to seeing your comparison of C8 xm-l2 and C12 xm-l2.

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Thanks for the review. Nice sounding light.