Review of Xtar Moon RC2 - Impressions

Disclaimer: This light was won in a giveaway
There are several excellent reviews with the technical information so this review will focus more on everyday uses and pros/cons.

I’ve been using this light for a few months, and i’m really liking it, it has some flaws but has a different beam output then any flashlight and this format will likely become more popular if more people try it. It has several competitors in this segment but has a nice egg shape instead of rounded rectangle. It “tailstands” by definition, it actually spends most of its life tailstanding
I sometimes carry this as my EDC light, its not the brightest and has almost no throw but an excellent 80 CRI and a unique light distribution, not a flashlight, not a lantern but a combination with clip so you can attach it to your clothing as a work light keeping both hands free and its more constant, has area lighting instead of spot and its much lighter then a headlamp.

It has 5 modes in this order Low, High, Medium, Moon (30 lumen, 120 lumen, 60 lumen and 3 lumen)
Hold the electronic switch for strobe

Mine has developed a quirk a few weeks after i got it, the green light in the electronic switch is always on and goes red when the charge is low but the green does not always work, i have to press on the case or squeeze it and the green flickers back to life or only works while i am pushing on the case.



Pros
  • 80 CRI is very nice
  • Internal charging ability
  • 4 hour battery life on high seems to last forever between charges, especially for those of us used to 1 hour or less on our hotrod lights.
  • The light can be used while its charging
  • The light distribution is unique, has value as a work light and room illumination
  • Design lends itself to one handed operation

Cons

  • 150 lumen max, surprisingly decent, but as flashaholics we want brighter. How doable is this, and is the heatsinking able to take more current, i don’t know
  • Battery is built in and not removable, when this battery loses capacity in the future the light is basically useless
  • No way to determine charge level except low battery, the indicator turns red at about 10% and flashes under about 3, no more information then that (i like to keep my batteries under 80 to increase battery life). Xtar could design this light to only charge to 80%, making the battery lifetime easily double
  • Since the case is glued/plastic welded shut there is no modability to this light
  • The clip is plastic and bends, i don’t know how long it will last before it breaks.
  • The modes make no sense, i would prefer low/medium/high and hidden strobe/moonlight