BLAH BLAH ABOUT ME
I have EDC’d an Olight warrior of any variety for most of my flashlight life. The Warrior2 mini spent the most time with me until the Warrior 3s came out and dethroned it. I also EDC rather heavy. My full battlerattle is maybe a bit much, but I have been reducing and working on it. To that end, I find a powerbank surprisingly useful and a flashlight that can be an emergency powerbank reduces my load and feeds my prepper-twitch. This kicked off my search.
The warrior 3 has a proprietary charger and battery. Normally they are just fine and the charger works great…but I am not EDCing a USB-C cable AND an olight cable when I can find a nice USB-C flashlight. The proprietary battery really sealed my desire to change. If I could toss a USB-C 21700 Vapcell in it, I would likely never replace the flashlight.
That lead to my list of needs.
-Tail switch Turbo (if I can use it locked, bonus points!)
defensive (i have used it for such in the past) or emergency without fiddly locks
-Side switch to avoid complex tail switch nonsense and more reasonable hold for normal use.
self-explanatory
-Moonlight mode .5lm or less
Despite my Rovyvon E8, my light on my watch, or my phone, I really find myself using this often.
-18650 (prefer 21700)
I want the option to put a USB-C battery+powerbank in it.
-Super Durable and waterproof
Obviously
-Not expensive (sub $80)
I am fine with spending a ton on gadgets…but EDC should be losable. My EDC knife is only 30 and not a $400 Benchmade.
Lesser needs
-Decent throw/flood mix, not trying to impress anyone, same with brightness
I mostly use flood, but a throwy hotspot is actually welcome (useful for outside during the day for looking into dark spots).
-Magnetic tail cap
being able to stab my knife into a tree and stick my flashlight to it is fantastic. Same with car work. I also cant tell the number of times I have stuck it to the base of a screwdriver to either get a screw that fell into a tight space, or to hold the screw to the driver as I lowered it into a tight space to drive it in.
-two-way pocket clip
I carry inside upper pocket. the W3’s twoway clip becomes a wonderful external clip point for anything with a keyring
-2+ emitters (that can still function if one fails for whatever reason (crazy prepper brain, I know it is dumb))
this is stupid, but a MINOR consideration
-I love Anduril2, but I am fine with basic (like Olight’s)
i just like anduril2…
Dont Care About
-CRI
COME AT ME! seriously though, I have avoided becoming an audiophile of light…lumiphile?..I am very utilitarian, not trying to appreciate art at night. If I can work with green nighttime operational lighting, I can suffer low CRI just fine.
-Flavor profile
i am hilarious
ACEBEAM EC35g2 (killzone with Luminus SST-20 4000k 95+ CRI)
SO FAR, this is the best option, though not perfect. It looked and sounded comparable to my Warrior3. It is very close to the same size. My only prior Acebeam is a rail-mounted weapon light (p15? something like that).
Build quality seems fine at first glance. I have seen the Warrior take buckshot at close range and still work fine with chipped glass, and fall off the top of a Bradley onto rocks. My expectations may be ridiculous. I might bash it around tomorrow to see if it will fail under a bit of pressure…rather it do so in testing and not in use.
The Ace has a smaller circumference and i could take it or leave it, my hands are big. The knurling is much softer than the W3, but it is that super-grippy fine pattern. I think the W3 is more glove friendly, but the Ace is just fine for what I need it for.
The clip is sad and sits low on the tube, so there is an inch of it sticking out above the pocket. I prefer very deep carry. It is also one-sided…meh. In testing the fit in my pocket I discovered an interesting thing about two-way clips that I took for granted. When I put the W3 in my pocket, I get the head in then slide my fingers so I grip the SIDE of the end of the clip between my thumb and index and give it a light pull away from the body as I slide it down. This happens in one smooth, admittedly long-practiced, motion. The loop-back where the clip turns back on itself gives me a wide ‘surface’ to grab. The single clip on the Ace is a fight to get in my pocket and clipped. I will be seeking any replacement (W3 clip wont fit, W2mini is tight but doesnt reach around far enough, i’ll try my Wurkkos two-way later).
Tail turbo and side button. There was some back and forth on if the lockout stopped the turbo, but I am fine with just not locking it out. It turns out that lockout locks everything. The side button is quite sensitive, so if I put anything else in the pocket I might use lockout, but otherwise I will have the side button turned to face tangentially to my leg and it will be fine (same for how I carry my W3 and it never turns on in there.
It doesnt tailstand unless you balance it on a level and solid surface. Any bump and it is falling over. Non-critical, but notable.
The light is obviously a huge difference. Olight is a portable sun, bright, harsh, effective light. I can light up a vehicle bay by pointing it at the ceiling and hitting turbo. It is absurd. I use level 2 of 4 for every day use and it will illuminate a room with reflected light easily. It’s throw is far enough for anything I have used it for in years. The Ace is a far dimmer, higher CRI and warmer NICHIA 219c (like any light being compared to an OLight, to be fair). It is not what I was expecting. I knew I was going from 2300 to 1000 turbo, but I dont use turbo often. I did try my W3’s 800 level (level 3 of 4 iirc) to guestimate what I was getting. The Ace gives me walmart flashlight vibes, but I have been deep in Olights, so my perspective is very skewed. I have Wurkoss, Rovyvon <3, streamlights (pistols), hanklights, a nitecore somewhere around here…so I know other light temps, but this one caught me off guard. I could see me using turbo as a standard brightness on the Ace. When I shine the W3 into my kitchen it lights up everything like daytime in there and in the room I am shining it from. When I shine the Ace in there on high it looks like a room lit with a flashlight like in a video game. It is more than sufficient for a flashlight, but I have grown to appreciate the ability to destroy shadows. Outdoors they have oddly similar throw with the W3 lighting up a notably wider area and the Ace punching out a bit further only at it’s hotspot. Moonlight is bright, but lower than the W3 and much warmer.
Now for the charging and port functionality. So…this is the selling point for me. Reiteration: I dont want to carry a powerbank, but I want to have one with me. The Ace can reverse charge from it’s port and can take any 18650 (springs on both sides of the battery compartment). A downside I have already run into is that Acebeam dropped the ball on it’s USB-C port. I am going to speak from a place of ignorance, but state what I have read as I understand it. The charging port is “Noncompliant” USB-C. From my digging this is viewed as lazy design and a negative everywhere you see it. This means it does not “tell” the power supply if it is charging or the charger. This is ‘patched’ by just using A-to-C cables because A is always assumed to be the supply side. I can verify that C-to-C cables dont work, but they also dont blow up the flashlight. Because of this, as it is referred to a lot, ‘defect’, you can only charge the flashlight with A-to-C and use it’s proprietary cable to use it as a powerbank (the usb-a side has both male and female connectors, so to charge your phone you would need this cable AND ANOTHER A-to-C cable). This is not ideal, again with carrying two cables (granted they are mostly universally usable, unlike olight cable). My Wurkkos ts25 can reverse-charge c-to-c, but is not EDC-worthy, it will remain the best bedside light for now. This was annoying, but I can put an 18650 with c-to-c charging AND powerbank functions into it and be fine with that option. Again, powerbank is for emergencies and I can unscrew the light once every 6mo without it bothering me. As I will have to carry it’s A-to-C on me, I may just get an adaptor so I can make that cord c-to-c.
Quick Edit: I noticed the power indicator light in the middle of the side button has a super dim (in a black room) LED ilumination. A good touch.
Ultimately…
I like the Acebeam EC35g2. It is a nice light. It is very different than what I am accustomed to, but with some minor adjustments it may well do the thing I want it to do. I think I am going to carry it for a good while and see how it stacks up. I am certain I will be missing my Warrior 3s the whole time, but I might just have to sacrifice to gain functionality and that is likely worth it to me (undecided).
FIN
I have no idea who this will help or what kind of lunatic will read the whole thing. I think it may have been a thought-gathering exercise more than anything…but I can say one thing for certain…THESE FORUMS ARE AMAZING, the editing features and live preview are heavenly after my existence on Reddit and other hobby forums. Great work Mods/Owner/ITGuy/whoever.
Take Care