Quite unusual flashlight. Form-factor of penlight, but with long throw and support of 14100 Li-Ion or usual 2AA, side button and EDC or Tactical UI.
Specifications
Model Name: Acebeam TAC2AA
Maximum Brightness and Range: 1000 lumens, 304m
Battery: 14100 \ 2*AA
LED driver: constant current
Waterproof: IP68
Impact resistance: 1.5m.
LED: Luminus SFT25 6500K or TN
Housing Material: Aluminum alloy
Size and Weight: 149.9 x 22 x 20 mm, 106g \ 5.9" x 0.86" x 0.78" , 3.73oz
ACEBEAM TAC2AA page at: ACEBEAM WEBSITE | ALIEXPRESS | 
PACKAGING AND DESIGN
Nothing new. The same gray-orange cardboard box with a transparent window as some other Acebeam flashlight are packaged in.
Inside we see a plastic tray containing TAC2AA (and battery inside it). There is also a multilingual manual beneath tray. The rest of kit :
- white and orange silicone diffusers
- a short USB-C charging cable
- a lanyard
- a small bag containing a pair of O-rings and a spare button
Diffusers are soft. The white one can be used as a source of camping light, while the orange one is designed for signaling. It’s portrayed as a traffic control aid in promotional photos.
Acebeam TAC2AA has a rather unusual form factor: a flashlight powered by two AA batteries (although by default it’s powered by the included 14100 Li-Ion battery). NON-rechargeable batteries! As with other similar flashlights, trying to squeeze in a pair of 14500 Li-Ion batteries will be fatal due to overvoltage. There is Acebeam K1 standing next to 14500 to illustrate size of this battery.
And, of course, TAC2Aa will be less bright when powered by two AA batteries. In other words, we get classic shape of fat inspection penlight. Remember those “pot-bellied” penlights with multiple multi-colored rods? The TAC2AA is about that size. Overall, it’s still thin and light enough to attach to a chest pocket, but its battery capacity is significantly higher than that of a typical dual-AAA inspection flashlight or a proprietary lithium-ion battery .
While the 14500 battery can be charged using an external charger, this is only possible with an advanced model with “whiskered” contacts. The photo shows that the battery’s length is comparable to that of a compact 14500/AA flashlight (like the Acebeam K1).
Under normal conditions, the battery should be charged via its built-in USB-C port. A full charge takes about 6, which is quite a lot for an 1800mAh battery; the charging current could have been higher than 0.5A. Charging progress is indicated by a standard red and green backlight next to the positive terminal. BTW, older reviews of this model show that kit included battery with less capacity - 1600mah!
Acebeam TAC2AA gives choice of several colors: black, green, blue, and desert sand as in my case. The anodizing is matte, which adds a touch of class to the flashlight, unlike a glossy finish. While the flashlight doesn’t have any fancy design features, it’s still clearly a brand-name item.
With such length , thickness and knurling , that is no surprise that the grip is comfortable and secure even without the clip on.
The clip is reversible, although I can’t imagine anyone who will use clip in reverse position. May be this is needed in the hypothetical case of attaching the flashlight to a cap. However, the flexibility of a reversible clip is always better than a single-sided one, so we went with this one - and that’s a good thing. The clip is tight, and I wouldn’t remove it unnecessarily, lest it damage the anodizing. Besides, a clip always adds a secure grip, and in the case of the TAC2AA, it also helps you locate the button.
There’s a small area with a grippy, rasp-like knurling next to the clip, it also adds firmness to grip.
The threads are short, and there’s enough lubrication. The spring is only on the tail cap side. Given its length, Acebeam TAC2AA could also have a spring on the head side as well. However, this isn’t a tactical flashlight that must withstand recoil, so a spring at head is completely unnecessary. The machining is impeccable, as expected from Acebeam flashlight.
Acebeam TAC2AA is controlled by a combination of the tail button (a spare is included) and the side button. That is better then most of penlights controlled solely by the tail button. However, most such inspection flashlights are powered by a pair of AAA batteries and are too thick to accommodate a normal-sized side button.
To be fair, the TAC2AA button could also be wider or have more tactile contrast. Yes, the good old method of placing the clip on the opposite side from the button makes it easy to find. However, it took me a while to get used to the feel of it under my finger. I have no issues with the tail button, however. It has a decently deep stroke and a noticeable click - everything is as it should be.
The button’s center is adorned with a classic red-and-green indicator LED that shows the battery level.
Flashlight’s head is only slightly wider than the body. I’ve often seen various utility bags or EDC-enthusiast duffel bags with the typical assortment of essentials: a multi-tool, a knife, a flashlight, a lighter, a tactical pen and a micro-first aid kit etc… Well, thanks to this body format, the flashlight fits perfectly in this bag, which is often too wide to accommodate a full-size flashlight with an 18650 battery, much less a rechargeable one. Well, that’s about it.
The teeth are very small, they are needed more for when a flashlight is turned on and placed on the head so that the light can be seen.
The teeth are very small, they are needed more for when a flashlight is turned on and placed on the head so that the light can be seen.
There is a medium-sized smooth reflector under the bezel tempered glass with an anti-reflective coating. You can choose between a TN LED with its wider and more convenient at close range beam and a longer-range Luminus SFT25R (like the one reviewed). There was also CREE XP-LR version, but it is out of stock now, and it has just little bit more throw comparing to SFT25R.
As you can see, SFT25R is a small dedomed LED with trendy round shape . Coupled with its high brightness, LED should (and, yeah, it does ) provide excellent through.
UI
There are two modes to choose from: Usual\Normal and Tactical. To switch modes, hold down the side button and click the tail button.
Usual
No strobe, mode memory available
- ON/OFF by pressing the tail button (half-press is supported) or the side button (if TAC2AA was turned on by tail button before).
- Holding the side button from OFF - Moonlight
- Holding the side button from ON - Increasing brightness levels
- 2 clicks of the side button from OFF or ON -Turbo
- 3 clicks of the side button - Strobe
Tactical
The only difference from Normal mode is that the tail button does not have a mode memory; the flashlight always starts in Turbo mode when activated by the tail button. Other brightness levels can be accessed using the side button.
HOW ACECEBEAM TAC2AA ILLUMINATES
You wouldn’t expect anything more than a small, brightly illuminated hotspot and a fairly wide sidelight from this combination of a long-range LED and a relatively small reflector. The light is cool: 6000K (6500K claimed) with a CRI of ~70. There is little (nothing serioul) green tint at lower modes.
The flashlight’s brightness is fully stabilized, and it maintains excellent performance even when you turn higher modes. With a claimed 10 hours of runtime at 100 lumens in medium brightness, the flashlight lasted 12 hours. 100 lumens is plenty bright for short-range indoor work, and can also be used as a floor light.
The Acebeam TAC2AA easily maintains a brightness of 350 lumens in HIGH mode for 4 hours. And this brightness, frankly, can be excessive in many situations (like a walk).
If 350 lumens isn’t enough for you, you can activate the turbo mode. After thermal cutoff it drops the brightness to 500 lumens, level, which the flashlight maintains for two hours. This is very good brightness, comparable to what was recently the maximum constant brightness for 18650-powered flashlights. A minute of turbo mode is more than enough to see things in the distance in detail.
The brightness distribution is excellent, without any huge gaps. There is a moonlight mode, and that’s good and correct.
As for the light, as I said earlier, it has a fairly long throw; the flashlight’s range is excellent for its size. See pics below. Incidentally, thanks to its excellent throw, even the Moonlight-level brightness of 1.5 lumens provides visible light at a distance. If you look closely, you’ll even see a slight difference in the illumination on the barn wall. I’m still talking about Moonlight.
Again, take a closer look at wall, moonlight mode give some visible light even at this distance!
As for walkaround illumination lighting, the tricky part is that if you point the beam, say, 10-15 meters ahead, a meter in front of you will be completely dark, where the side light ends, as if the light was cut off with a knife - this is clearly visible in the photo from the road. If you lower the beam a little lower, so you can see the ground right under your feet, it won’t be visible in the distance. Basically, you need to get used to the light.
The only time you might encounter problems using the TAC2AA as a walkaround source of light, is when there are a lot of puddles or obstacles on the road. Then, if you’re trying to illuminate the road far ahead, you’ll have to account for that dark spot under your feet. On a flat or dry road, or if you only need to see 3-5 meters ahead, this won’t be a problem. This is generally the case for any long-range flashlight.
As for range, the flashlight is advertised to have an impressive 300 meters in turbo mode! I haven’t had the opportunity to test this, but it covers 170 meters with confidence. Moreover, it’s clear that even the High mode, with its claimed 150 meters, provides some light here.
100m
170m
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
The format of the thick inspection pen powered by 2 AA batteries is quite unusual and doesn’t offer a wide range of models. I’m not a fan of such formar, but the real question isn’t how convenient the 2AA format is, but whether Acebeam has successfully created a flashlight of this type or not. And I think they’ve succeeded.
Yes, the downside of the SFT25R LED’s excellent throw is that it’s not the most convenient light for close-up work. But here’s the interesting thing: this light is not very convenient for close-up work - but you have light for this distance. And if you take a flashlight with a good floodlight suitable for these purposes, it wouldn’t be able to penetrate into the distance at all. Overall, considering the weaknesses of both types of light, I find the long-throw flashlight more versatile.
In terms of illimination, Acebeam TAC2AA SFT25R performs excellent at distances of 10 to 100 meters, but it can be used closer, for example, when inspecting rooms if you don’t need to illuminate everything at once. It’s important to remember that I’m only evaluating the long-throw version, but the flashlight also has a version with a significantly wider, but shorter-throw TN LED beam. It’s worth considering it if you need a light with a standard light distribution, the perfect EDC for everyday use, something versatile, not a long-range piercer like the SFT25R. It’s good that Acebeam offers a choice of LEDs! Unfortunately, i couldn`t compare these both LEDs in review, it would make it way more useful.
Acebeam positions TAC2AA as an EDC flashlight with tactical potential. Speaking of tactical potential, the flashlight can produce a very bright, instantaneous, blinding light in turbo mode with good runtime. Turbo is no a decorative mode that is half less bright after 2-3 secons burst. Yeah, there’s no instant strobe, but i dont see a way how this can be achieved at all in case of TAC2AA
- Appearance
- Choice of LEDs for different light types
- Throw (for the SFT25R version)
- Brightness
- Ability to maintain high brightness
- Brightness stabilization
- No strong green tint at lower brightness levels, which is common with cold, long-range LEDs
- Runtime
- Convenient and uncluttered controls
- Tactical and everyday modes
- Brightness range
- Can also run on two AA batteries or rechargeable batteries
- Included diffusers
Charging time could be halved (at least i believe so)