United Palight MS600
Specs
Emitter: XM-L2
Switch: Twisty, smack tail of light to change modes
Modes: Low, High, Strobe, with last mode memory
Battery: 1 x 26650 or 18650, all types acceptable.
Lens: Plastic aspheric
Stand: Head and tailstand
Material: Aluminium (6061-T6?)
Coating: HA-III
Water proofing: Not rated, o-ring on battery tube. Splash resistant. Air escapes from between bezel and lens, I noticed this when pushing the head back in with my palm over the bezel.
Current draw: L-0.12a, H-1.3a
Size: Dia 31mm. Lengths: On 100mm, off 101mm, Zoomed 111mm
Accessories: Lanyard and 18650 adaptor
Packaging: Bubble wrap and foam wrap.
Seller: Aliexpress seller
Pros
- Anodizing
- Zoom
- Compact
- Beam quality
Cons
- Twisty design flawed
- Changing modes annoying
- PWM on low
- Dry threads
What I have to say
I got this flashlight delivered without any damage from postage, however there is a tiny dent on the tail made during manufacturing (dent is under anodising).
This thing is tiny! At only a 100mm long for a 26650 light it is only 9mm longer than a Sipik sk68. The diameter I think is just about the right size too, the walls of the battery tube aren't too thin and you can comfortably hold it in your hand.
Output is decent for a zoomie, approx twice as bright as the "300 lumen" Sipik sk68 clone from fasttech on AAs. There is PWM on low mode, not visible to me and inaudible but my phone camera picked it up.
Turning it on works just like a twisty light, only the MS600 seems to have trouble with that. It flashes on and off a lot of times as you tighten or loosen the head causing it to cycle through modes. I find this very annoying and this is what caused me to put my Thrunite Saber 1A in the shoebox of shame shortly after using it for the first time. This problem seems like it is caused by how they removed the anodising from the head and battery tube. I wonder if there is a way to fix this or implement a different switch.
The battery tube has a large spring that is very... springy. When changing modes, the battery bounces on the spring and ceases contact with the driver for a split second. You need to hit the tail of the light hard enough for the battery to bounce otherwise it will not change modes. This process is quite loud. Sound from your hand hitting the tail and the battery bouncing back hitting the driver is not subtle at all.
Accessories pic which I forgot
Strange 18650 adaptor, outside diameter is much smaller than a 26650 but it seems to work, at least on this flashlight.
Some wobble on the head when it is zoomed in. I can't measure it, but I estimate 0.3mm-0.4mm of difference between the zooming head and the rest of the head.
Would I recommend this light? If you really wanted a very compact 26650 zoomie and the twisty flaw is a rare defect, yes. If not then no. This flashlight seems to be of excellent quality other than the flaws I have described above.
Twisty switch fix
http://imgur.com/a/tymX6/embed
You shouldn't need to mod a flashlight for it to work properly, but if you do decide to buy this one there is a way to fix it. :) I had a look at some other twisty flashlights I had and saw that most of them had compressible spacer rings (gaskets?) around the positive contact. So I tried to make my own for the MS600.