Review: Fandyfire G36 3 x XM-L T6/ 2 x 18650 *pill pics added*

LED Flashlights – General Info 18650 Flashlights
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Frugal Fan(tastic)dyfire Fun!

I received the light in perfect condition after only 10 days. It was shipped in a bubble envelope, with little sign of trauma. My initial impression was ’wow, this thing is small!“, which it is, and very nice looking for a triple plunger.

Bottom line: For $35 US, you get a fun, very bright, compact 2x18650 triple XM-L light with great heatsinking. Very attractive looks along with good build quality…plunger-style lights aren’t always thought of as being attractive, but I have to say this one is an exception. It is deceivingly small, being not TOO much larger than a C 8 in some respects. It is conservatively driven at approximately 1.5A, which has both good and bad points. This light has become a daily user for me - while not quite as bright as my SRK, it provides more light than I know what to do with while sipping 1.5A. The medium and low modes are fairly well spaced, and provide added versatility. I see this as a great camping or walking light.

Summary:
BIN: T6
Tint: Cool White
Number of Emitters: 3
Voltage Input: 8.4~12V
Circuitry: Digital regulated 4000mA
Runtime: 1~2 hours
Mode Arrangement: Hi > Mid > Lo > Fast Strobe > SOS
Lens: Coated Glass Lens
Reflector: Aluminium Smooth/SMO
Strap Included: No
Clip Included: No
Battery: 2x18650
Switch: reverse tail clickie
5 Modes: Hi-Med-Lo-blinkie-stinkie
Mode memory: yes
Tailstands: Yes
Price Paid: provided for review by Crystal at lightscastle
Dimensions: 8.07 in x 2.17 in x 2.17 in (20.5 cm x 5.5 cm x 5.5 cm)

Cost: $34.80 US Fandyfire G36

The box is a bit heavier than the typical boxes we receive, and is also branded:

First, a little size comparison with a Jacob A60, the G36 and a C8 - as you can tell, this thing is very small for what it is:

Side by side with an SRK:

The head is a machined unit with three cavities for independent floating aluminum reflectors:

The reflectors are a bit smaller than a standard P60 reflector:

G36 on the left, P60 on the right:

The ” star”

Heatsinking is excellent as it is simply milled into the head, plus the LED’s have centering rings:

The deeply recessed driver is 26mm wide:

The light has square threads, came unlubed and very slightly rough:

And now, onto performance…

I tested the light with two protected Tenergy flat top cells charged to 4.19v. On high it pulled a consistent 1.52 amps, on medium it pulled .79 amps and low pulled .19. Visually, the modes provide fairly nice spacing. The low is decent enough for everyday use around the house at night, though I’d hardly call it a firefly mode. The head heats up fairly quickly, but even after 15 minutes indoors it isn’t too hot to touch. I found it interesting how quickly it cooled down after being shut off. This of course is a sign of good heat dispersion. The beam is fairly floody, as would be expected, but carries fairly well. I’d guess the output is somewhere around 1500 lumens, though I have no way of measuring that. It definitely has the ‘wow’ factor that we crave.

Beamshots were taken with the trees at about 15m distant. I used a Nikon D40 with a 35mm prime lens at f1.8, 1/10th sec shutter speed and iso 200.

G36 on high:

SRK on high:

HD2010 on high:

G36 on medium:

G36 on low:

In conclusion, the G36 offers a solid budget choice in a bright triple XM-L. It is a very compact, attractive and well-built light, and an alternative to the SRK or Trustfire 3T6 (who am I kidding, we need all of them!), and as a great host to mod. More than anything, this is just a fun light…every kid should have one!

!!

EDIT:
Sorry for the delay, but I finally got the head taken apart (with the kind help of Hoffig) and have added a few pics. It’s quite simple to pull this apart, I thought it might be glued but it wasn’t…I wrapped the nut-like end in leather, put it in a wood vice and it unscrewed easily. The driver is held in place by the nut, so replacement would be a piece of cake. The stock driver is 26mm wide and approximately 13.6mm thick, with the cavity being 12mm deep from the ridge that the driver rests on. Please ask if there are any other questions, I’ll be happy to add pics as well.

One piece head/pill:

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Nice review, wish I’d sprung for one a while back now.

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Great review Dave, thanks for sharing.

While not the most beautiful light, it’s exceptionally well made. I like the idea of the floating reflectors and the heat sinking potential looks fantastic.

It didn’t quite make the claimed 4000mA but with the way the LED’s sit directly onto the milled head, there’s some nice potential for mods.

Just curious, what was the tailcap design like ?

Cheers

Spas

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Thanks for the review soytnly. looks like it would give you a good run time with a reasonable light output.

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Thanks for the information and doing a nice review. I like how the head is blacked out all but the reflectors. Very tempting to get one of these.

Thank you

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I’m well-pleased with my G36. I ordered it from Lightscastle when they were having their special discount a while ago. Paid $29+ for it, and I think it’s a
pretty darn good buy. Pity about those blinky modes though… One thing that surprised me is just how small this 2 x 18650 light is. Here’s a pic of the
G36 next to my STL-V2 Skyray

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its a well built light should be in everyone’s collection, its great for bicycling too :slight_smile:

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It has a pretty standard tailcap but has a 16mm rubber boot

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Thanks soytnly for the review! I like this light, but it needs to be driven harder.

-Garry

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looks pretty nice, especially for the price… i wonder if you could piggy back a few resistors on that driver to bring it up to 3 or 3.5a per led J)

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Thanks Soytnly.
Good pics.
Square threads eh.

Any O rings at the front ??

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Nice review! Good looking light but for the money I'd get a TR-3T6 instead without a moment's hesitation. It seems very underdriven @ just over 3A total. Very floody but probably doesn't put out more than 1000 lumens. Runtime should at least be very good, even with just 2 cells and it certainly does look like it has potential for some serious modding. The small size is the biggest appeal IMO. Pretty cool!

Can you get some pics of the pill removed? One of your pics shows the exposed face of the driver but it doesn't look like it removed from that direction. The pic from the MCPCB size doesn't look like it comes out there, either. Does the driver area separate from the main head? I'd love to see some further breakdown pics if you have the time. :)

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I'm intriqued by the floating (easily replaced?) reflectors. What are the dimensions of the reflectors? I wonder if it would be easy to locate some compatible OP reflectors to turn this into a flood-beast...

http://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10001275/1208702-aluminum-orange-peel-reflector-for-cree-xm-l-emitt

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Great review, thanks!

The light looks interesting, I like especially the small size combined with good heatsinking.

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Sorry for the delay, the reflectors measure 22.0mm wide and 15.34mm deep…OP would be fantastic on this.

Suncoaster, yes, there is a good o-ring at the front under the glass.

Johnny, I will try to pull it apart again. I’m pretty sure that the fitting directly behind the fins separates from the head, but it’s pretty tight. Not sure if it’s glued, I’ll crank on it and let you know.

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Just stipple it, the O-L way:

That is what I did today with my SWM R20A reflector (after modding that light with high CRI Nichia)

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In case anyone is interested in this light, Crystal at lightscastle has made available a coupon code worth $3 US off…use code X0GLZ

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Thanks very much for the review! Frontpage’d and Sticky’d.

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“pill” pics added, though there really isn’t a pill.

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The most “wow” to me was the small size of the light.
I also especially like the extra wide spill and pretty large hotpot.

Maybe I have a wide angle of eye sight or something like that but when using the default EDC P60, I always feel like I’m watching through a narrow tube…