Review of the Palight BOSS1 flashlight - Light came today, so review now and beam shots tonight 02-04-16

LED Flashlights – General Info 26650 Flashlights
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Hello,

I decided to buy a Palight BOSS1 and review it here. I purchased it from Gearbest on January 20th, 2016. I decided to show the shipping time in the review thread as well as the review itself.

The package was picked up on the 21st of January 2106 and it was supposedly sent to an airport on the 22nd of January 2016. That is all the information I have so far. Here is a photo of the info from this International Bridge company, which Gearbest is calling "America Line". Supposedly 3-7 days shipping, but it is going to take longer than that.

Here you can see the "IB" number as well as the USPS number below it, on the left side.

IB4533828308915

USPS # 9205 5901 0007 5372 6436 06‬

USPS also shows the package departed the shipping partner facility on the 22nd.

From what I can see, the package went from the green dot, to the purple dot and then it went to an airport, but which one? I do not know. I would think Hong Kong, but I just do not know.

Unfortunately, this does not show if the package ever got on a plane yet. It is supposed to go to the CVG airport in the USA, which is the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky airport.

So, as of now, location unknown, just as any other international shipment and time to receive unknown as well.

I think knowing how this international shipping works or does not work, is important in a review. I wish I had done this more often, since time to arrival is a big deal for a lot of people.

I will let you know more, when I know more.

01/28-16 I contacted International Bridge about the lack of tracking after leaving China. I got a response in a few hours.

"Our internal tracking shows that we were notified to expect a package on 1/21 but didn't actually receive the physical package till 1/22. The shipment containing your package arrived in the US on 1/25 and is still waiting to clear customs, because of it being an International shipment. Normally custom clearance happens the same day it arrives, but sometimes it could take up to even a couple days for deeper inspections. Unfortunately, I can't provide you an exact ETA at this time until it actually clears customs. Once released, our tracking will be updated accordingly and we will hand it over to USPS for the final delivery to your home, in 2-3 days, with your regular mail."

So, the package made it to the USA in 5 days, but it is now held up in USA Customs. I have seen packages sit in USA customs for 3+ weeks and I have seen packages disappear there too, with never a trace. I hope the customs in CVG airport gets it inspected soon.

At this point, I have to say Gearbest and IB did what they said and got the package to the US, so I can't complain at all with their timing. Looks like Customs and USPS will be the holdup here. Maybe a lot of packages do not clear customs easily. Might be why we think they never get out of China, because there isn't good tracking or any, when they come into the US.

2016-01-31 19:01:46 Alert: Package was cleared by Customs 1/28 but not released in time to pick up Fri. evening. We will retrieve shipments Monday and induct to USPS. Please check your USPS track # for update on USPS.com by Monday pm or Tues. am latest for most accurate ETA.

Well, IB seems to at least keep things updated well. Looks like I should get the package by Friday of next week, so basically no different from any other shipper except DHL. Looks like about 15 days total.

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02/03/16 - So, USPS has the package finally and it will be delivered on the 5th, as I suspected, so 15 days for fast shipping, that ended up being the same or worse than economy shipping, but only because of USA customs. I wrote customs and asked how long it took to pass a package and they said their maximum, before doing any checking, was 45 days to pass customs. 45 days folks, before they would start a search. How wonderful to know.

Anyhow, I will not review it till the 10th or 11th of February, so by then it will be closer to a month. Sort of a pain in the arse and one of the many reasons I had given up doing anything with Chinese lights. It's just too much of a pain to deal with.

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02/0416 The light came today!

Palight Boss1 4x26650, XM-L2 Spotlight/Flashlight - purchased for $54.83 USD, from Gearbest.

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http://www.youtube.com/embed/MIMpneAMB3Q

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I have a video as well as photos this time, in case some cannot see the video.

  • OAL 175mm
  • Head OD 100mm
  • Reflector OD at large end 89.8mm
  • Reflector Height 57.9mm
  • Reflector LED hole diameter 9mm
  • Lens OD 89.7mm and thickness 2mm
  • Driver OD 67.38mm
  • Modes are L/M/H/Dual strobe - NO mode memory. Always starts on low mode!
  • Amps are .45amp on low, 1.16amps on medium, 1.88amps on high. With One MNKE 26650

Also read Tom E's post on this light. He got very different readings than I did, so it's good to look at all the info you can get.

From Tom E - I documented my results in post #138 here: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/36643

and here, in this thread https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/37800#comment-892834

Packaged in an outer plastic sack.

Then a box and...

another box inside that, with the light in bubble wrap.

First thing I thought was how heavy it was.

Second thought was how ugly the handle was, with the rubber cover pushed over top of the steel handle.

The lens is coated glass, but not AR coated, just plain green glass coated. I call it green glass, but it is pretty much the standard glass used on most everything.

The big reflector looks good. No blemishes to be seem.

Tail cap - did I say the handle looks ugly?

2# 6.4oz without batteries, or 1100 Grams.

3# 3oz or 1450 Grams with four 26650 cells.

Driver plate

Inside body

Tail switch on the back plate.

4x26650 or 5x18650, if you used 4 sleeves on the outer 18650 cells, then a 5th could be added.

Very few threads on the body, especially on the body to head end.

Other side of the driver.

LUX @ 2 meters. It settled at 33,600. The meter is set for x100, so 33,600 LUX @ 2 Meters. One of you guys can figure out the kcd from that right? My mind can never get around that stuff.

Beam from around 12 feet on high. Camera shows a larger hotspot than my eyes do. By my eyes, the center spot is about 15" in diameter.

I am jaded. I have seen so many lights over the years, that it takes a lot to impress. I am not impressed. The machining is good. The Anodizing is good. The threads are average and not lubed. The amp draw on high is Way too Low. Only about corrected 9+mm space between driver and led shelf, which leaves a little space for modding a thicker heat sink. Not enough threads on the body to head threads. Driver with positive contact points instead of a contact ring, causes possible alignment problems when screwing the body on, with cells. Mine was misaligned upon getting it. Plain coated glass lens.

It is an ok light and for the average non-flashaholic, it will probably be fine, but for us, it just does not cut the $50 price range. It needs to be more around $35 or $40, unless you feel the 4x26650 is something to rave about. Modern 18650 cells match amps with most 26650 cells anyhow, so the 26650 novelty doesn't warrant the price hike. The beam is not as tight as I had hoped for, nor is the output anywhere near what I had hoped for. It should be hitting at least 3 amps and more like 3.5 to 4 amps. instead of the measly 1.88 amps it does on high. It might be good for a mod to XP-G2 dedomed or something, to get a more intense spot. As is, it is just an average spotlight at an above average price.

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More tear down photos.

LED shelf just sits in the bottom section of the head.

Other thoughts

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Beam shots are with four fresh cells and on high mode.

Seeing is believing for me. To me, it's not all that much of a light and of course, I don't care for throwers at all, so I will turn it into an XHP70 floody light, if I do anything at all with it.

Tom E had great success with it and he's much better with lights and readings than I am, so do as much reading as you can before making your own decision. As I said, I am jaded. Once you make a light that puts out more than 10,000 lumens, any regular light just kinda sucks.

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After being completely turned off on ordering stuff from China, I have started to order some select items again too.
What had turned me off was very poor quality, loooong shipping times or lost shipments. I need to look into this tracking system that you have presented here. Tracking a shipment looks like a new hobby in and of itself :slight_smile:

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Well, as you can see, nothing has been updated. Now, it is 5+ days from the time it supposedly went on a plane and there has been no movement, so it has already failed the 3-7 day test and is obviously no better than any other shipping method. Looks like the only way to get things quick is paying through the nose for DHL, which I already knew, but I was hoping GB had found a better way, since their track record stinks. This new IB way has turned out no better than the rest, for me. At this point, I contacted IB and I am waiting for a reply. I do not expect any good news to come.

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Updated in the bottom of the OP.

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I will delete my post above to make the reserved post below the OP
Sorry about this OL

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Thanks, but it wasn’t a problem for me.

Well, IB seems to at least keep things updated well. Looks like I should get the package by Friday 2/5/16, so basically no different from any other shipper except DHL. Looks like about 15 days total. Since it comes late in the week, It will be another week till I get to review it. Probably not till 2/11/16

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02-04-2016 The light came today. Video and Photo review is now in the OP!

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Thanks for all the pictures. It’s a shame they only gave it 1.88amps on high.

As far as modding/lack of driver room: if people want, I can draw up a traditional FET+1 driver layout in that large size, with a normal contact ring on the back instead of nubs. That way it would hopefully be a drop-in fit instead of having to worry about piggy-backing.

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nice review, thanks
your voice is very relaxing, but unfortunately that made the sound of the unscrewing even uglier :wink:

The lack of threads, do you think this is to prevent button cells? I mean if the tube screws in further, has more travel people might just try to stick cells with button in it, and with the little bronze domes on the driver buttoned cell probably are not going to be very happy.
Or is it just to make machining easier (they did it at the tailcap as well)

For me, the Chinese marking are a huge turn off (as is the fact 1 only have 1 18650 that would fit and am not planning on getting more cells just for 1 fashlight.)
No this is not a light for me I think.

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@pilotdog68 - Yes, I figure a FET driver would leave room enough and be best for s retro fit.

@ The Miller - It might be because of not wanting people to use button cells, but I think people wouldn't know that and still screw it in and possible mess up the button cells. I think it is because of the threaded locking ring for the driver. Without raised contacts, the outer edge of the cells could rub against that ring, but a raised circle, as is done in some lights already, would have worked much better.

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What is the driver diameter?

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It’s in the OP, but wait till I tear it down after beam shots and I can check it with calipers. Guesstimated 68mm, but I would like to make sure.

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The horror of somebody screwing in 4 poorly made unprotected button cells and have 4 shorted cells heat up in that chunck of alu where the short threads mean connection to the heavy head will fail first with pressure build up inside. Or is this a bit too negative?

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That ugly handle reminded me of a buddy of mine who bought a beautiful new truck then decided to build his self a lumber rack for it out of old black gas pipe.

As soon as I saw the thread on this light I lost interest. Even if they had been well cut there are so few of them it looks like it might break apart if you dropped it.

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134kcd. Needs mo amps! :)

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Wow - not sure why yours measured out so much poorly than mine. I documented my results in post #138 here: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/36643

I'll repeat it here:

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Tail amps on one EFEST 4200 40/60 cell - measured with direct contact on the driver (14 AWG DMM wires):

Lo: 0.54A Med: 1.40A Hi: 2.4-2.5A (readings are moving around, generally go up over the first few secs)

Tail amps on four EFEST 4200 40/60 cells - measured by jumping the switch with the DMM leads:

Lo: 0.77A Med: 2.10A Hi: 3.58A (readings appear to be steadier)

On the one cell with no battery housing or tail, pretty loud buzzing. On 4 cells all closed up, but with the tailcap removed to expose the switch, the lower modes seemed silent.

Lumens on hi: 1020 @start, 962 @30 secs (my PVC lightbox)

Throw on Hi - measured indoors at 5 meters, as I always do:

163 kcd (807 meters)

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We are not even close: 1.88A compared to 3.58A, but using 4 cells as opposed to 1 cell makes a big difference. My measurements were done with the light totally stock accept for adding Nyogel on the threads. What exact cells did you use? How many? Were the cells fully charged?

Note: 33.6 lux @2 meters is 33.6 x (2x2) = 134 kcd

Our throw #'s are closer than I'd expect for such a big difference in amps - not sure what's going on there.

Also I measured 9.5 mm clearance between the driver and LED plate (post #148 here: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/36643) while you noted 3 mm. I could re-check, are you sure of this number?

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Thank you both for the info Tom E and Old-Lumens.

This doesn’t look very exciting to me for the price at either ~2 amps or ~4 amps.

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wight - my last/current status:

"696 kcd max, maybe a steady 685 kcd with the UCLp lens, measured at 10m. 685 kcd is 1655 meters, 5430 feet, 1.03 miles."

It's an easy, fairly cheap light to mod and get super throw out of. Not very useful as a stock light, but that was never the idea - for all of us considering this light, no one considered buying it as a stock light, no one at all - that's just crazy talk Smile.

Posts #241, #267 here: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/36643

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One MNKE 26650 cell using 10ga short leads on my DMM. They are soldered directly into the meter. I didn’t try multiple cells just because since they are high amp cells, it shouldn’t matter, unless the stock driver is so poor that it needs four cells just to get proper amp draw, meaning too much resistance in the driver paths. Probably so, since I have drawn well over 10 amps from those MNKE cells in testing other lights.

I guestimated dimensions, but I am changing them as we speak/type, since I tore it down after beam shots.