The flashlight was sent to me by YLP for review.
Here's the product's link: YLP Gekko 1.0
The Gekko 1.0 comes in a nice cardboard box.
Here's a few shots of the box that list the specifications / features of the flashlight.
Other than the flashlight, the original package contains a head strap, a second magnetic tailcap, a couple of spare o-rings and a user manual.
The YLP Gekko 1.0 comes in a nice metallic dark grey finish.
The body of the light is smooth, while the tail is heavily texturized.
The Gekko 1.0 is operated via an e-switch mounted at the top of the head.
The e-switch is illuminated. The built-in LED is used to indicate the battery's charge level.
( > 70% = Green , 30% - 70% = Red and Green , < 30% = Red )
Some deep heatsinking grooves are incorporated in the head.
The head houses the TIR lens along with the Samsung LH351D 4200K High CRI emitter.
The TIR optics is used to provide maximum light flood.
Here's a shot of the optics in complete darkness.
The manufacturer includes two tailcap pieces.
One comes with a magnet attached to it, while the other one is plain.
The tailcap with the built-in magnet is also a bit thicker, in order to accommodate for the extra space required.
Other than that, both pieces are identical.
Both tailcaps are heavily knurled in order to allow for a better grip.
The tail threads are smooth and arrived adequately lubricated.
It's worth mentioning that the body of the light is glued to the head.
I was able to easily crack them apart using a pair of strap wrenches,
Here's a shot of the interesting looking driver.
The driver is marked as 'Indigo Linear V2.0', while the other markers state '2.7V...4.2V , 1mA - 5A'.
Some programming headers seem to also be available.
The YLP Gekko 1.0 is a headlamp and of course it comes with a 3-piece elastic head band.
A silicone holder with two loops is used to secure the flashlight in place.
The loops are seated into the respective grooves in the flashlight's body.
Of course, the head band is fully adjustable.
The inner part of the band contains a wavy pattern of silicon, which is used to further improve the grip of the band against the operator's head.
User Interface
The YLP Gekko 1.0 comes with a very interesting and advanced firmware.
Its firmware contains multiple operation modes,
The default operation mode comes with the following actions:
Turn on/off: Single press.
Mode cycle: Long press (Low > Mid > High > Turbo > High > Mid > Low )
Moonlight: Long press while off.
Turbo: Double press while off.
Other than the default mode, there are also 3 more advanced UIs which are also user configurable.
Switching between the operation modes is described below.
Here's a short description for each Advanced UI:
Advanced UI #1
- Stepless dimming.
- Non-latching maximum mode.
- Micro-adjustment mode for 1s after setting the "rough" brightness (via stepless dimming).
Advanced UI #2:
- Extends Advanced UI #1
- 3 x click for strobe ( with adjustable brightness ).
- 4 x click for battery check.
- 4 x click and hold for tactical mode.
- 5 x click for e-switch backlight on/off.
- 6 x click for e-switch beacon on/off.
Advanced UI #3:
- Extends the basic operation mode ( normal stepped modes ).
- 3 x click for strobe ( with adjustable brightness ).
- 4 x click for battery check.
- 4 x click and hold for memory mode on/off.
- 5 x click for e-switch backlight on/off.
As you can see, the flashlight has a very advanced UI.
Additionally, the user can also enter engineering mode that allows for adjusting a lot more aspects of the firmware (thermal regulation, temperature and battery calibration, stepped mode level adjustment, shortcut re-arranging and a lot more. Feel free to have a look at the Engineering Manual if you're interested.
Output
Here's my output measurements along with the current draw per each output mode.
As you can see, the Gekko pushes 878 lumen at Turbo, which is plenty of output for a headlight.
The mode spacing seems excellent.
Power Regulation
Here's a power regulation graph demonstrating how the Gekko 1.0 responds to different input voltages.
What we can see in the graph:
- Turbo is fully regulated down to 3.5V
- High, Mid, Low and Moonlight are fully regulated for the whole span of the battery's voltage.
The flashlight shows signs of great power regulation!
Thermal Regulation
Here's a chart demonstrating the active thermal regulation of the headlight.
What we can see in the graph:
- The full output of turbo is maintained for 1 minute.
- Past the one minute mark, active thermal regulation kicks in and slowly reduces the output to keep the temperature in check.
- High, Medium and Low are fully sustainable for the whole span of the test.
- While running on Turbo the flashlight never got too hot to the touch. Thermal regulation seems to be working nicely.
Bottom Line
The YLP Gekko 1.0 is an excellent flashlight / headlight.
I'm especially impressed by its excellent firmware and its great power and thermal regulation capabilities