Jaxman X1 Review, Teardown & Modding

LED Flashlights – General Info 26650 Flashlights
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Another Jax flashlight has arrived! The new Jaxman X1 is much like its Z1 zoomie brother, but packs a reflector and a sharper design. If I’m correct I’m the first one to order this flashlight, almost immediately after it was announced. No coupon, no discount, no free shipping. Why? Because I really fell in love with it the first time, the bold design and those fins… something I’ve been expecting in a long time. It’s a pity they decided to include a AR/AF coated glass now after I have ordered mine with a plain glass… Jax are you reading this?

The Jax X1

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Build Quality and size:
Very consistent anodizing, it has a matte finish like the Z1. flawless machining and square threads with smooth twisting. Feels very solid in hand and the weight is just right for the size. The X1 is built a bit different than other 26650 lights, the head and body being a single piece and all the internals are contained in a pill, similar pill as in the X6 Hunter, if not the same. Jaxman says they did this to help with heat transfer but then they used a brass pill instead of copper. I guess the difference will be noticeable only when running the light for extended periods.

Perfectly centered LED with the new type of centering ring, similar or same to what’s in the convoy L2.

My collection of throwers, SS/CU X6 as a bonus light, it can’t really compete with any of those in terms of throw.

The head is similar to the M3XUT in diameter, but the reflector is smaller, more info below.

Big Jax & Little Jax. See how they have the same pattern in the body tube? I like when a brand have consistency in their product line.

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Performance:
It has a very simple UI with 3 modes, nothing remarkable to write about. With a fully charged 26650 I get 2.85A on high, 0.54A medium and 0.04A low. In stock form it performs better than most lights this size except for dedicated throwers. Because the amp draw is on the low side, manufacturer rating of 800 lumens feels about right. Ran it for 5 minutes and it got barely warm, those fins really do their job.

Lux readings converted to cd, at 5 meters.
-SS/CU X6 stock: 62kcd
-Convoy C8 FET, XPL HI, AR glass: 104.5kcd
-Jaxman X1 stock: 110.7kcd
-M3X-UT LED swap for XPL HI V3 2B: 235.7kcd
-Courui D01 FET, dedomed XPL V6 1A, UCLp: 252.2kcd
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Teardown
Aluminium unibody, brass pill, plain glass and a rather large reverse clicky.

Reflector external diameter 54.8mm, 38.7mm tall

Despite the fact the head seems to be the same size as the M3XS-UT, the ID of the reflector is significantly smaller: 50.35mm vs 56.7mm. This is the “working” area if the reflector, the part that really matters.

The plain glass, soon to be replaced by an UCLp

MCPCB 20mm, Driver room 22mm. Stock mcpcb is supposed to be copper DTP, I have no way to confirm this yet as there are two screws that I can’t remove. However they do absolutely nothing at all to secure the mcpcb, because even when fully tighten the mcpcb is able to move freely. I tried removing the screw to put a noctigon in there but they wont budge a bit… Will have a drill them out later.

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Modding
My target kcd is 200 but I don’t think it’s going to be easy to achieve. Even if I double the amps it doesn’t mean I’ll double the output and throw.

11/2/16 first steps: I removed a 5A LD-2 driver from a sinner titanium with a single nichia 219C because it couldn’t handle the heat and the output dropped in less than a minute. The I build this so quicky that forgot to take pictures and the driver is already potted to the pill. Basically I just used a blank 22mm FET pcb and piggybacked the LD-2. All of my 26650 batteries are button top so instead of using a spring I soldered a copper ring instead. Also did a 22awg spring bypass. Everything worked fine after assembly and I got 5.08A with a fully charged KK 26650.

Results: 6220 lux at 5 meters which translates to 155kcd (stock 110kcd). Not bad I think, but it can do more. Now I can call it the C8 killer :slight_smile:

Back end of a pill, a LD-2 is potted inside. LED remains the same.

A quick beamshot at 70 meters:

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What’s left to do:
-Install a UCLp, this should free 5-10% of the output. (Already ordered)
-Swap for a noctigon and reflow it to the pill. Not that I don’t trust the stock mcpcb, but a noctigon is a noctigon!
-Sand down and tune the centering ring, I hope for another 10%
-Fill the little thread gaps with thermal paste (after all adjustments made)

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Thanks for the pictures. I really like the looks of it, but I probably won’t be buying based on difficulty to access the driver pocket.

I think the Olight’s reflector is actually a fair bit bigger than the X1. You can see the head is a little bit bigger, and it has a thinner bezel around the outside.

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Yeah you’re right, the X1 bezel is much thicker than the M3X’s, and the reflector is smaller: 50.2mm vs 56.7mm (shiny area, not external diameter). The body is one piece and it uses a pill, similar in size to the X6 Hunter. 22mm driver and standard 20mm mcpcb. They were generous with thermal paste in there.

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It is much smaller than I thought. Kind of disappointing as I have been waiting for it.

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I love my C8 flashlights…

That looks a real treat though!

Bigger reflector than a C8, and 26650 support! Yum.

But is it heavy?

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Oh I didn’t realize it had a removeable pill, I thought I would have to access the driver by reaching down the battery tube.

That’s interesting. They did a solid body tube (which they advertise was at least partially for thermal transfer) but a threaded pill instead of built-in shelf.

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Will the X6 battery tube fit the X1?

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Well, the X1 doesn’t have a battery tube, so…. :wink:

(it’s all one piece)

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The X1 doesn’t use a battery tube, but at least you can make a nice dumbbell, or a 2x26650 pipe bomb: :bigsmile:

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Thanks for this! Waiting patiently for the beamshots :*

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As I can see from pictures tube and head are from one peace, so can’t unscrew it?
Wish you have new Convoy L2 first series for comparison,my guess is that they use same reflector…

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Jax X1 + Jax X6 + special driver + two Red XP-E2’s Darth Maul Lightsaber

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Or an extension? :wink: I would like it if it is a one piece billet design, quite alot of metal to lose/remove? (or is it MIM/cast :Sp )

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hi, I am so glad that the X1 review from a buyer came here so fast.

Special thanks to the writer of this review.You are so welcome.
There is little item needs to be explained:Now our trade mark is JAXMAN,not JAX. for JAX has not can be registered as a trade mark in China. :slight_smile: So we added a Man to JAX. So we are also JAX man. hehe.

As to the coating glass, This is ok just days ago. So this one is used a normal glass. I pretend to send glass free to the buyer before, when they order other flashlights later.

As the 18650-26650 tube, we now sell the flashlights with the tube together. and I can send a free one to buyers before with next order too.

I am finding cheaper express in order to reduce the shipment fees.

Best wishes to dear all.

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Which driver should I use for this mod?

-Led4power LD-2 set at 5A
-Piggyback a 17mm FET+1
–22mm FET

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This would be nice to pair up with the Jaxman Z1 Cometa zoomie group buy.

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The most important dimension on the reflector for throw is the inner diameter (I.D.). We take the measurement at the outer bezel end of the reflector. A good example of comparison is an EE X6 vs a Lucky Sun D80. Head dimensions are very close, but the I.D. of the D80 is almost 5 mm wider than an EE X6, and as a direct result, the D80 out throws an EE X6 easily, with amps/cell/LED/MCPCB being the same of course.
Take the ID of both the X1 and the M3X-UT and that will tell you a lot about the throw capabilities between the two.

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Review and teardown is up and added the new numbers after the two basic mods: driver swap and spring bypass. The C8 is no longer the pocketable throw king!

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Thanks Will,
Just ordered one of these and your breakdown showing all the components is very helpful. Measurements also help, if for nothing else than to get a feel for the light.

Looking forward to seeing if I can achieve that 200…. :wink:

Edit: Like you, I really fell in love with the design/style the first time I saw it. After learning of the one piece structure, I had to pounce. Couldn’t help myself.

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The most I got using the stock V2 1A & MCPCB, and a LD-2 set at 5A (it draws exactly 5A from the tail) and adding the double coated glass that Jaxman later sent me for free was 159kcd at 5M.

I’m sure if you work your magic on this hitting 200kcd+ is possible :slight_smile: . I wanted to swap a fet driver and play with the centerig ring height, but then just left it as is because I was happy with the result.

However I haven’t used this light much, mainly because paired with a 26650 it feels somewhat heavy in hand and the throw isn’t visually much better than a beefed up C8, but the X1 should compete nicely with the convoy L2.