Hi Guys,
I normally don’t do reviews because I don’t have the right equipment to take measurements or good photos but I needed to post something to enter Acebeam’s giveaway. I could have taken pictures of a single light but I wouldn’t have said anything that wasn’t already said and I figured most people are more interested in beam shots than photos of square threads and o-rings. So I gathered some the lights I thought people would be interested in and took some beam shots of them with the same setting so you could get a comparison of the lights. If you have one of them hopefully you’ll be able to relatively see how bright the others are. These are some of my favorites lights (except the convoy, I’m just including for comparison).
All pictures except the first one and the X80 color were shot with White balance = fluorescent, shutter speed = 1/2000, iso = 200, exposure = 0. This setting makes some of the shots a little dark but if I didn’t the X80 would just wash everything out and I didn’t want to have different settings for different lights. Samsung 30Q’s were used during testing and lights were about 10 feet from the wall.
From left to right is Astrolux MF01, Acebeam EC32, Acebeam X80, Acebeam L30, Nitecore EC4S, Olight SR52UT, Acebeam K40M, Supbeam K40 (before they changed their name to Acebeam), and Convoy L2.
First up, the Astrolux MF01 XPG3 version on turbo. The beam profile is near perfect. Right combination of a “hot spot” to throw the light down range with a good amount of flood to see your immediate surroundings. It steps down from turbo pretty quick though. Real life practical use - expect it to maintain about 3000-4000 lumens. It’s also pretty heavy, you can skip the gym after using this light.
Acebeam EC32
Not much to say about this one. It was my first XPL light and was excited when I first got it. It’s discontinued now, replaced by the EC35, same specs but the side switch is better I think.
Next up, the Acebeam X80 on Turbo Max
Flooder is an understatement. Every describes it as a “Wall of Light” and it’s true. It’s because of the X80 that I had to set the shutter speed to 1/2000 so it’ll stop washing out the shot. But like the MF01, Turbo Max is not practical over 2 minutes. It will get so hot so fast. I never let it step down on it’s own because I was worried the heat would damage the electronics. High mode can be used indefinitely though. I use it to play handball at night to light up the court and it stayed on high for well over and hour without any noticeable loss in output. It was only warm to slightly hot to the touch. I would have liked a narrower beam profile though. Our field of vision is concentrated towards the center so that’s where the majority of the light should be. If you’re using the X80 indoors in a narrower setting, so much of the light hits the side walls that they become pretty bright, meanwhile our center field of vision isn’t being lit up as much. But hey, on Turbo Max everything gets lit up. And much lighter than the MF01.
The color modes are perfect, no artifacts what so ever and they are super bright. Puts my SRT7 to shame.
This is one of my top two favorite lights, Acebeam L30 NW.
Great output for it’s size, 5000k NW is my favorite tint. Great outdoor and indoor use. The 20700 form factor is an excellent configuration, fits perfectly in your hand with much better capacity. All the single 18650 configurations should be replaced by the 20700 in my opinion. You can’t see it in the picture and it took me awhile to notice myself but there is a slight yellow dot at the center of the hotspot coming from the corners of the Gen 2 XHP70 die. You’ll have to hold it steady on a white wall in order to see it, the surrounding hot spot kind of blinds you and makes it difficult to see. This is going to be hard to avoid if you want a smooth reflector that’s centered correctly. But all in all it’s a pretty good light, almost perfect.
The first Nitecore in the bunch, the EC4S
Not much to say about this either. It’s light weight, no frills, just gets the job done.
And this makes up my other top two favorite lights, the Olight SR52UT
For it’s size, it’s an amazing thrower. I mean look at that hot spot, it is crazy tight and blindingly bright. The intensity … And the tint is awesome, it’s not a neutral white or a cool white, it’s just white white. The weight distribution is spot on. It feels so natural in your hand, reminiscent of the old incandescent alkaline days. Hard to decide which I like more, this or the L30. The L30 has more practical use but the SR52UT is such a good thrower.
A bit bulky but a good outdoor light, the Acebeam K40M
I always preferred cool white over neutral white until I got the K40M. Now I just love 5000k-5500k is range. At the time it came out 3000 lumens was insane. But now with the XHP70, 3000 lumens isn’t as big of a deal.
Before there was Acebeam, there was Supbeam (should’ve called it Superbeam) and this is the K40 with an XM-L2 emitter.
And finally the Convoy L2. I don’t particularly like Convoy as the quality is subpar and a few have failed on me. But so many people have buy them I figured I’d throw it in for comparison.
You can’t really see it in this picture but the beam profile just has a bunch or rings/artifacts.
Well that does it for me. I love Acebeam lights but they’re just so damn expensive and never go on sale.