Forest Tiger SLH-H510 XR-E Q5 Thrower
Overall Rating: ★★★★☆
- Battery: 1 x 18650 li-ion (included with charger for car and wall)
- Switch: Side-switch clicky
- Modes: 5 modes (high, med, low, strobe, and sos)
- LED Type: XR-E Q5
- Lens: Glass
- Tail-stands: Yes
- Price Paid: $19.20
- From: Deal Extreme
- Date Ordered: 09/23/13 (arrived on 10/5)
Pros:
- SUPER throwy
- serious competition for its nemesis, the Jacob A60.
- Rugged and unique form factor.
- A side-switch (if that's your thing)
Cons:
- Very budget quality (came with dirt and dings on it).
- Battery that came with it was doo-doo (low-capacity - only 27-minute runtime).
- The charging unit and plug leave MUCH to be desired.
Features / Value: ★★★★☆
While it provides wicked competition for its arch-nemesis, the Jacob A60 in the throw department, it's lack of availability as a single unit and overall higher price inclusion of an inferior charging system and weak battery put it a tad behind the Jacob A60 in overall value.
Design / Build Quality: ★★★☆☆
For those wanting alternative "pencil beam" thrower competition to the beloved Jacob A60, fear not. It has arrived in the form of this light, which showed up, seemingly from out of nowhere around October of 2012 on sites like Banggood and DX. When it arrived (well packaged and in a timely manner from DX), I wasted no time in opening it. When I got it open, I had some mixed feelings.
First noticed was the obviously dirty condition and a few dings throughout, as well as some very small marks on the lens. These budget lights are not generally known for their machining quality, but that becomes a bit more of an issue still with the Forest Tiger. The box looked like it had been in storage a while with dust and jabs (no doubt from being grabbed on and off a shelf or two). I was disappointed in this regard, but then I popped the battery in and turned in on, I had other thoughts...
"Whoa, it's a laser!" At this point, the satisfaction of carrying the Jacob A60 rushed right back to my head. Then there was: "Well, the button is nice and firm." The third impression was: "Isn't this tint a bit bluer than I expected?" Followed by: "Is that a slight donut hole against the wall?" More on that in a minute.
Battery Life (with on-board battery and charging unit): ★☆☆☆☆
Bear in mind, since the battery (a "3,000 mAh" name-branded one) was included in this set, I am judging off of its use. After an initial 7-minute test, followed later at night by a 20-or-so minute walk, I know the runtime. These recycled and rebadged laptop battery cells are a disappointment to all, and this one can only drive the light at good brightness to about 20 minutes. After that, the output steadily drops off to nearly nothing.
But the battery is only one problem; what I hate worse is the charging cord that comes with it with US plug that plugs into the wall. It has two lights - green and red - and (most stupidly) these light up at the same time! So you have to wait for the red button that indicates charging to just go off to know the battery is topped off. The red light is bright and then flickers, even when the cord plugged into the light seems secure. The light doesn't take long to charge, which again indicates a low-capacity battery.
Real bummer, and that is the only thing that hurts this light as a gift to non-flashaholics who may get confused and even worried about this very cheap-feeling and odd charging device. It had me worried more than once. Even the Ultrafire ZY-009 from Buy in Coins (its competitor in the pics below and itself a super-good XR-E thrower) came with a better generic charger than this thing!
vs a 2C Mag with fresh Eneloops and stock LED (brightness differences is tremendous in real life)
Light Output: ★★★★☆
Well, remember this is an XR-E Q5, so we aren't expecting too much. The box rates the light at 200 lumens while DX rates it at 180 lumens, and I think I agree with the box. In fact, that may be undercutting it a bit, but I doubt it's as bright as the Jacob A60. Then again, I don't have the A60 anymore so I can't do a side-by-side comparison. I believe they are close, however. And since the Tiger's opponent is one of the best-driven XR-Es on the market, I deducted a star for it falling behind (if just a little - use an unprotected/low resistance cell to get slightly better output), but then there's this factor...
It pulls 1.0 amps. The good thing about this is that the Tiger is a ferocious predator of a light when it comes to not sagging under heat at all. This light barely reaches above room temperature when run on high for 20+ minutes. Some say that's a bad thing, but not necessarily. You have to second-guess yourself on whether it has warmed up at all in your hand. The Jacob A60 I had would sag after 15 minutes on high. So you get a small little tradeoff from the loss in overall light (when playing with any of my XR-Es on fresh cells, I can seldom tell a difference anyway, to be honest).
The pill is nicely sized and covered with two plastic rings to avoid any shorting. The reflector is plastic, but the lens is glass.
Throw / Spill / Reflector Size / Beam Quality: ★★★★★
Believe it or not, the A60 and the Tiger have almost the same beam quality, despite this light's frosted inner reflector area, which gives a nicer and brighter spill than the A60 and a better long-range beam. This comes from a near-donut hole when seeing the Tiger's beam on the wall at up close to mid-range distances in a house or building. But anything after 30 or more feet and it disappears into a lovely thrower beam that somehow seems more satisfying at great distances than the A60's.
And if you want to be spellbound at throw, worry not at all. The beam seems to skirt the distance almost beyond view. And it is worthy of note that the Tiger's reflector looks considerably deeper than the A60s, getting rid of some rings and profiling the beam in neatness down yonder with the small penalty of a donut up close (but it is hard to notice). I don't know which throws further - the Tiger or the A60 - but if I had to pick right here and now, it might just be the Tiger. They say a tiger can beat a lion about 60% percent of the time in a fight in the wild. ROAR!
As with most of these budgeters, I wish there was more quality control and dependability with these products, but life often doesn't give us what we want. And yet, we lumephiles will carry on somehow. In the meantime, this is a thrower that rivals the best competitor in its class toe-to-toe and offers some beautiful spill, too. I noticed it on the walk the other night and you can see it in the pics. Modded, well, don't even get me started! As usual, I will leave the serious number-crunchers to do lux measurements and other figures.
Conclusion: If you're looking for a Jacob A60 alternative, then look no further -- (but DO look at the Chinese language hiccups on the box--some funny stuff!)
