Imalent has graduated from my "wait and see" list, to my "ok/fine" list, a few months ago, when my flashlight supplier gave his nod of approval to the R90TS. I grabbed the R90TS right away, as soon as it received that nod of approval. The light is ok/fine, no problems. I then inquired about the MS18, he said that he tested it, he said it is ok/fine, so I grabbed it, and sure enough, it is ok/fine, no problems. Word in the forums is that with the introduction of the R90TS and MS18, Imalent has much improved their quality.
A recent reviewer posted in this forum that he tested the MS18 in the rain, no problems.
The two most serious problems was on two DN35 flashlights, one dead on arrival and one sporadically functional. Those two flashlights was bought about two years ago.
SOLUTION
When I recently contacted Imalent about thous problems, they agreed to repair the two DN35 and send them back to me without cost. I payed the transportation to Imalent factory, and fees for mail handling in my own country when they returned repaired and ok.
In fact, Imalent now showed an excellent customer service and I actually changed my perception of the make Imalent.
After the problems I had, I thought Imalent was a flashlight brand that should be avoided. But after this example of good aftermarket response, I have no hesitation in buying products from Imalent again.
My replacement head for my DX80 arrived two days ago. I screwed it on to the battery but it wouldn’t come on. It looked like the aluminum of the head was bottoming out on the aluminum of the battery pack and not making it all the way to the electrical contact. I marked up the battery side of the connection point with a marker and screwed it all the way down, then pulled it back off. No marker wore off the contact.
I made up a spacer to put in between the battery and the head and tried again. This time it works, but if I set the light to turbo it stays on for 2 seconds and shuts off. Won’t come back on until I disconnect the battery and reconnect it. Tried several times with the same result. Battery was at about 60 percent.
Charged the battery fully, and now it seems to work normally. We’ll see how well it holds up.
I wouldn’t exactly call it a win but it’s better than nothing. I now change my opinion of imalent from “wait and see” to buy but only if the price is really good.
If the MS18 ever hits $400 again I’ll probably buy it.
Day one of use, flashlight is leaking water into battery compartment, causing light to completely fail - multiple LEDs flashing and not turning on randomly, battery compartment and batteries soaked. It was submerged less than 10cm. Went home and tested it in a shallow pot of water and it got soaked on the inside again. Have video proof.
The light is supposed to be IPX-8 standard waterproof (2 meters submersible), but Imalent explicitly makes excuses in an email response that “the light can not operate underwater”. They repeatedly “play dumb” during email exchanges, making excuses as to why the light isn’t turning on and why the indicators are going crazy, saying how it’s because the battery charge is low etc.
Imalent offers the following options:
$20 compensation to keep a dead leaking flashlight, explaining that “they think the light will be fine from now on as long as I don’t submerge it”.
return it to china, they’ll only cover $8 in postage. Also requesting me to under declare it at $8USD value.
It took months to get to me, and will likely take months to ship back as well in this COVID climate. Argued to the point whereby they’ve agreed to have me send it to a local distributor. Opened a case on Paypal to oversee negotiations.
One more reason why I avoid social networks. :-D Jokes aside, would you mind sharing a screenshot of their insulting messages (personal data disguised, of course)?
It seems The_Flashoholic (popular YT video reviewer) made similar experiences with a non-working Turbo mode in Imalent flashlights.
Same here. I have an MS18, an MS03, and the LD70 and all have performed flawlessly. There’s nothing quite like seeing the MS18 on turbo when you’re standing on top of a hill when it’s pitch dark and no moon
Also, you can only appreciate the higher quality of certain brands when you actually hold the product in your hands. I am not defending a certain OEM here, but you can’t feel the build quality or features through youtube and BLF alone.
That would be like knowing how a car drives just because you watched a Doug Demuro video.
Along all the faulty lights I have seen, the ones without any faults so far were Imalent, Convoy, and Wuben.
Ive often thought im unlucky buying online but i nearly always use a discount code, maybe that means they give you the dregs. Ive only bought five items over 50 quid and many had faults. Zebralight sc600 was only annodised properly on one side.
E07 had a stripped screw on the pcb which i replaced myself.
One faulty ms03 and one dead replacement.
Nitecore lr50 camping lamp had a weak solder joint and needed repairing.
Im so careful with my stuff too.
Maybe i’ll change my name haha.
Acebeam x80gt and niwalker dual mtg2 have been solid.
I have an MS 18 that failed after a month and when I sent it in it took six months to finally get back and they sent me one that was in horrible shape and not my original. They refused to send me anything different so I ended up with a horrible looking and functioning flashlight! Not trustworthy!!
That really sucks… I might take my MS18 out tonight for a walk. I wonder how soon someone will come out with something significantly more powerful than 100K lumens
Same here, two HR20 headlamps. I got them to work finally, but the internal quality (wiring, etc.) was sad indeed.
That is my only experience with Imalent.
How do you respond when the manufacture uses the excuse: “Well, it’s made in China”; and then makes no further concessions to rectify their warranty failures. Apparently they’ve never heard about QC, but rather specialize in customer dissatisfaction !!
Have a LD70 and the lcd screen stopped working. Light still functions properly but there is no readout as to what lumen level or charge percent. Ilve send multiple emails with pics and video showing the issues and received ZERO response. Will never buy another imalent product or recommend to others.
