Disclosure.
I received this light from Fasttech for half price to do this review. A full refund was offered by by Fasttech after the review was completed but this was declined.
Link to the review light.
https://www.fasttech.com/p/6040700
The review.
This light created quite a bit of interest in the Fasttech thread when it was announced as it appeared to be a copy of the popular Nitcore EC4 light. As the light was in my budget I requested if I could do a review for them which was accepted.
The light was ordered on the 31.10.16, dispatched on the 23.11.16 and received on the 2.12.16.
The gift set includes a holster, Two x 3300 mAh batteries and charger all packaged in a green plastic container.
All included paperwork was in Chinese which I cannot translate. The two batteries were shipoped in the light.
The light looks quite attractive and well made from initial inspection. It only has a single electronic switch.
The holster itself is made from what appears to be some sort of imitation leather of a very thin nature. The belt strap itself may not take much abuse as its the same thin material with single seams. The retaining strap was sewn on slightly crooked which did not allow the strap to sit squarely over the head of the light. The strap has a press stud on it which appears quite sturdy but I do sense it may rip the male part from the holster when unclipping the strap.
The batteries had Kapton tape on the negative ends to prevent the light accidentally turning on during shipping.
The batteries themselves were the usual cheap Chinese batteries. The negative ends had dents in them as standard.
On discharge testing the batteries one had a capacity of 203mAh at a 2 amp discharge rate using a ICharger 208B. The second battery tested at 1199 mAh at 1 amp discharge.
The battery charger was your usual $2.00 item that is shipped with lots of cheap lights. They charge the batteries in parallel at a very slow rate. Termination voltage was 4.268.
The tailcap itself. The batteries are run in parallel. The middle thread picked up in the housing at one stage until some penetrating oil was squirted in which allowed the threads to free up and the tailcap to be removed.
The tailcap seal looked quite good.
To follow along with the dodgy thread was the anodising internally. You can decide whether you like the quality or not.
The positive contacts for the batteries inside the light appeared to be made from steel. The only batteries I had that would work in this light were the ones that came with it, The plastic is raised around the positive contacts only allowing batteries with the smallest in diameter button tops to make contact.
The light itself was not disassembled.
The led was well centred. The tint from the XML2 led was very cool. The bezel could be unscrewed and the plain glass lens and oring removed but no amount of persuasion would remove the reflector which looked quite respectable. It is possible that the housing has been crimped not allowing the reflector to come out. Could be wrong on that though.
The closest light I had to this light reflector size is the BLF Starrylight SA22. This has the 3C tint led.
Next is the TanLu TL-20G. High measures .75 amp. Modes run as the following. switch on, high, med, flashy and next click from the electronic switch is off. I have no idea why they build lights with this type of setup.
This is the Nitecore EC4S which has the XHP35 led and was taken with slightly flat batteries so this picture is only the second highest mode. This light was kindly lent to me by lostheplot to compare with TantLu.
And finally a Convoy C8 which has a much larger reflector.
The next few pictures are of the review light and Nitecore EC4S.
The TanLu left and Nitcore right. The difference in the switches can be seen here.
The TanLu left and Nitcore right.
The TanLu left and Nitcore right.
The EC4S has the two batteries in series.
This light would have to be one of the most anticipated lights this year that I thought would be a good thing. Unfortunately the exact opposite is the case.
I would not recommend this light to anyone. It is badly let down by the substandard quality of the light in nearly all respects which follows on to the batteries, charger and holster.
Finally I would like to thank Fasttech for supplying the light at a reduced rate for the review.
