[Review] - Imalent MS18 - 100.000 lumen, 18xCREE XHP70.2, 8x21700 - by Lock

lock · 2019-11-16T18:22:48.000Z

Today I have the pleasure of reviewing the Imalent MS18: the most powerful torch in the way with a declared Turbo of 100.000 lumens, with 458000cd max brightness and a beam with maximum distance 1350m.
The following link shows all the information about the Imalent company and here you can find the details of the flashlight

Packaging and content

The Imalent MS18 comes in a beautiful rigid suitcase with a practical carry handle. The package contains:
• The Imalent Torch MS18
• Battery Pack (8x 21700 4000mAh Samsung 40T)
• Charger
• Carrying strap
• 2x spare O-rings
• User Manual
• Carrying case

Main features

• Uses 18 CREE LED XHP70.2 HD, with a lifespan of 50000h
• Maximum declared output 100.000 lumens
• Integrated charging system for fast and safe charging
• Battery pack composed of 8x21700 quality lithium batteries
• Eight levels that can be selected quickly and direct access to the Turbo
• Memory Mode function, remembers the last setting used
• Display Oled which shows the current output and battery pack voltage
• Charge status indicator + light indicator near the switch
• Aerospace aluminum body with type III anti-scratch anodizing
• High efficiency circuit for a constant current supply
• Built-in thermal protection module that regulates the output avoiding overheating
• Built-in radiator (with liquid inside) for effective heat dissipation
• Equipped with a pair of waterproof fans (one in and one out), which guarantee optimal ventilation inside the head
• Side switch, user-friendly interface for output management.
• Super transparent lens with anti-reflective treatment
• Multiparabular reflector in aluminum with orange peel (Orange Peel) treatment
• Water resistance according to IP56 standard
• Impact resistance up to 1.5m in height
• Dimensions: 265 mm (length) x 129 mm (head diameter) x 59 mm (body diameter)
• Weight: 1890g (battery pack included), 1090g (head), 800g (body / battery pack)

Official technical features

User Interface

The User Interface is very simple and easy to remember. Thanks to the side switch, all functions can be accessed.

Switch On / Off and Select Level: To turn the flashlight on or off, simply click on the side button. When the torch is on, keeping the button pressed, the various levels will be cycled starting from the lowest one.

Direct access to the Turbo / Strobe: with the torch turned on, press the button two consecutive times quickly to access the Turbo. With another two quick clicks you will go to the special Strobe level. Neither the Beacon nor the SOS is present.

Auxiliary Led
Press and hold the switch with the torch off to activate the auxiliary LED above the switch.

Intelligent Thermal Control: When using the torch on high levels, for example at the Turbo, the temperature rises dramatically. When the limit threshold (55-60 ° C) is reached, the torch automatically reduces the output avoiding dangerous overheating and preserving the life of the LED and the electronic parts.

Memory Mode: The flashlight will remember the last output level used except for the Turbo and Strobe levels.

Lock-out: When the MS18 is off, press the power button 5 times in a row. The screen will show the word "LOCK". 5 more clicks to unlock the interface. In this case the display will show an open padlock icon.

OLED display
From light off with three quick clicks on the switch: the MS18 will show the cell voltage on the screen.
During the use of the MS18 the screen shows the selected output level in terms of lumens: 700 -2000 - 5000 - 10000 - 22000 - 30000 - 60000 - 100000. After two seconds the cell voltage is displayed. The low battery icon is also shown on the display.

Charging the battery
As we have seen, the MS18 is equipped with a high-performance 8 cell 21700 Samsung 40T battery pack. Supplied comes a 19V 2A (38W) power supply that allows a full charge in just 4.5 hours. During the charging phase I did not notice any excessive overheating on the torch.

The MS18 has 8 output levels spaced as follows:
Turbo: 100000-25000 lm declared (measured 78900 - 18690 lm) – 60s + 52min
High III: 60000-25000 lm declared (measured 55320 - 18800 lm) – 70s + 55min
High II: 30000-25000 lm declared (measured 22340 - 19050 lm) – 3.8min + 60min
High I: 22000 lm declared (measured 15600 lm) – 67min
Mid II: 10000 lm declared (measured 8070 lm) – 3h 40min
Mid I: 5000 lm declared (measured 4320lm) – 6h 50min
Mid-Low: 2000 lm declared (measured 1990 lm) – 9h 15min
Low: 700 lm declared (measured 900 lm) – 14h 62min

The discharge curve for the Turbo level is shown below.

The measurements were taken with non-professional equipment, therefore they could deviate from reality. Given the high powers involved, the Ceiling Bounce technique was used, comparing the results detected by the luxmeter with reference values of other lights with known ANSI data.

From the measurements made it is clear how the Turbo and the high levels are well away from what was declared. The Turbo, on ignition and with a fully charged battery, suffered a peak of more than 80000 lumens, almost a flash that evolves within a few seconds with a very rapid decrease in output, reaching around 76000-78000 lumens. From here on, the output decrease becomes linear but with a very high slope. It then quickly passes, within a minute, to about ¼ of the initial power (about 19000 lumens). After the output decreases slowly until the LEDs go out completely after about 1 hour.

The body and the materials

The Imalent MS18, data in hand, is the most powerful portable torch ever made. It is a powerful Searchlight with a large head and a powerful battery pack consisting of 8 cells 21700 in 8P configuration. WoW !!!

The weight is abundant, about 1.9kg, but the dimensions are not exaggerated, about 19cm the diameter of the head and 26cm of total length. The MS18 is very similar to the younger sister MS12 which however has "only" 53000lm to the Turbo.

The build quality is excellent, the materials are of quality, the thicknesses are abundant and the finishes are cared for down to the smallest detail. On the touch it offers a good feeling of solidity and strength.
Before use we must remember to remove the protective film placed to protect the lens.

The optical part is made up of 18 XHP70.2 HD LEDs, a multi-reflector with orange peel treatment and a super transparent lens with anti-reflective treatment.

The satin steel bezel protects the lens very well.

Near the head there is a hook to fix the strap for transport.

The tail has a screw cap that hides the charging interface. Under the power plug there is also a small status LED that lights up red or green during recharging operations.

The MS18 can be disassembled essentially in two parts:
• the head, on which all the circuitry, the optical part and the switch are located
• the body that contains 8x 21700 batteries inside

The head is obviously very large, truncated pyramid with a series of slits that allow the passage of air inside the head. To help in the dissipation there are two impellers, one that pushes the air inside the torch and one that throws it out. These are activated when the output is set from 22000 lumens upwards.

Through the slots on the MS18, a copper radiator can be seen inside the head. This, in combination with a liquid present inside it and with the two small fans, allows a rapid and excellent heat dissipation.

Using the torch at the Turbo and at HIGH levels the heat produced will immediately become very high. Fans and radiator can only delay the inevitable overheating by a few seconds, but nothing more. To protect itself, therefore, the MS18, having reached the temperature threshold (around 60 ° C) will decrease the output avoiding the overheating and thus preserving the life of LEDs, circuits and batteries.

The battery pack is cylindrical and has horizontal and vertical grooves that act as dissipation fins but above all improve its grip.

The words "Battery Pack MRB217B 3.6V 92.2Wh" appear on the metal cap that covers the charging interface.

With a simple calculation, considering the 3.6V battery pack and its 92.2Wh (3.6x3200x8 = 92160mWh = 92.2Wh) it turns out that the batteries have a capacity of 3200mAh. But being 21700 Samsung 40T 4000mAh, there must be a mistake
With these cells, in the 8P configuration, the battery pack would have to carry the word 3.6V 115.2Wh. I therefore asked for explanations directly from Imalent who promptly replied, confirming the accuracy of my calculations and therefore the battery pack is actually 115.2Wh.

Anodizing is perfect everywhere, smooth but not glossy, to the touch it offers a nice feeling and also a good grip.

The switch is lateral, slightly protruding, wide, metallic (steel). At the pressure it emits a ringing "click", it is very precise and offers excellent tactile feedback. In the dark or using gloves you find it a bit difficult to find it.

Below the switch is a small OLED display that indicates the selected output level.

Above the switch, mounted on the head of the MS18, there is an auxiliary LED to be used as a locator. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture. I will add it as soon as possible.

The fillets are precise, sliding, well lubricated and thanks to the anodization they allow the physical lock-out of the interface by slightly unscrewing the head and thus eliminating the risk of accidental ignitions and the annoying parasitic drain. A large O-ring placed near the threads guarantees perfect waterproofing.

Small Note: sometimes it happens that the pressure of the switch and with the body unscrewed for the physical lockout, the torch makes a small flash (a single flash), probably due to the capacitors in the circuit still loads that allow a brief lighting of the LEDs. If I am not mistaken the same thing was also accessed in the MS12 and in the R90T.

In hand the MS18 is quite comfortable and well balanced. Given the very wide handle and the weight of about 2kg, after a little tired time. Taking advantage of the bundled shoulder strap there is no problem in using the torch for hours.

The tail is flat so the MS18 can also be used in tailstanding

Beam, Tint e Beamshots
The MS18 mounts 18 XHP70.2 LEDs well centered inside a multi-parabola with orange peel finish. The beam is very wide, flood with a brighter area in the central part. The color is uniform, cool but not too cold.
The geometry of the beam has no artifacts, the shot is really monstrous: lighting up a day at a distance of 500-600 meters is not a problem!

Following some Nightshot using the Turbo level

Beamshot #1

Beamshot #2

Beamshot #3

Beamshot #4

Beamshot #5

Beamshot #6

Beamshot #7

Final considerations

The Imalent MS18 is the most powerful torch I ever had in my hands.
it differs from the MS12 (reviewed here) mainly in terms of power, performance and a new heat dissipation system. In fact, inside the head we find two small fans and a copper radiator filled with liquid which, through a particular evaporation and condensation system, guarantees an efficient heat dispersion mechanism.

The declared Turbo is 100,000 lumens but in reality it is closer to 80,000 lumens at power-up and then after a few seconds it passes to about 75,000 lumens and after about 1 minute to less than 20000 lumens.

The power is incredible, with the Turbo it is possible to light up quietly at 400-500 meters away. The beam is very wide, the high levels produce a wall of light that illuminates everything in front of you.

The lowest level is 700 lumens. Strange that Imalent has not even thought of a level a bit lower like 50-100 lumens that can always be useful for example to read a map or to illuminate in the short distances.

Compared to the Imalent MS12 the charging system has been moved to the rear. This means that no it is necessary to unscrew the battery pack to charge the flashlight but it is enough to simply unscrew a small metal cap to access the charging interface. The battery pack is fully charged quickly enough. About 4.5 hours are needed.

The MS18 also has a small OLED display that shows the selected output level and cell voltage. I would have preferred to read the percentage of charge or the runtime of the selected level on the display.

On the head there is a small metal hook to which it is possible to connect the carrying strap, karabiners or key rings.

The switch is responsive and simple to activate. In the dark or if you use gloves it is a little difficult to find it.

Regarding the impermeability, the MS18 is declared as resistant to water and dirt according to the IP56 standard. The fans are in fact waterproof. I have not fully tested this feature but using the torch in the pouring rain for over 1 hour I have not found any problem or malfunction.

The package is complete: we have a spare O-ring, a carrying strap, a recharging power supply, a battery pack with 8x217004 000mAh Samsung 40T, and a nice carrying case.

If you need a torch to illuminate entire mountains or entire countries, well ... the MS18 is for you !!! Obviously it's ok for those who want to keep friends in awe! XD
Thanks for reading!

richbuff · 2019-11-20T20:37:53.000Z

Quote: "Regarding the impermeability, the MS18 is declared as resistant to water and dirt according to the IP56 standard. The fans are in fact waterproof. I have not fully tested this feature but using the torch in the pouring rain for over 1 hour I have not found any problem or malfunction."

Thank you for reporting this; I am too fearful to try this myself.

And thank you for your review, too.

ZEUSFL · 2019-11-20T21:27:54.000Z

The MS18 is absolutely insane. No matter how many times you used, when you turn the turbo always give you a wowwwww factor.

The downside is that even with the strap for walking with my dog, after 30 minutes give you fatigue and the fan is annoying after a little while. I have an Acebeam X80-GT as well and i use every day my Emisar D4SV2 in 5000K and I am in love with that light.

The 22K lumens (claimed) from the step down are more than sufficient to keep you happy.

Another bad downside that really makes me worry.

The battery pack is proprietary, We know they have 8 21700 batteries but you can not replace this without break the pack. Each pack costs $250 in amazon.

After a year with regular use, the battery will be deteriorated or a cell can come bad.

Also, MS18 has a 5 years warranty. I did the test asking for information to support about 3 weeks ago and I am still waiting for support.

Will imalent sell you a battery pack 3 or 4 years after? I have my concerns. This keep me really nervous, is a $6XX investment.

Other than that, MS18 is really amazing.

JordanZHP · 2019-11-20T21:40:46.000Z

Very detailed review, thank you! The animated before/after gifs really show how bright this light is. I’ve had my eye on this light since it’s announcement but haven’t been able to justify it.

I really appreciate that my Imalent DX80 can run at 5000 lumen for ~2 hours. I read another review saying the MS18 steps down much sooner than Imalent’s claim for the 22000/10000/5000 lumen levels. That and the fact that you can’t turn the fan on/off for any level you choose have been my only complaints. Did you encounter either of those issues?

M4D_M4X · 2019-11-20T22:37:38.000Z

still a crazy bright light with no signs to be beaten

Hoop · 2019-11-21T08:15:15.000Z

Did you buy this light? I see no mention of how you acquired it.

ZEUSFL · 2019-11-21T13:38:32.000Z

By the way. I forgot to mention. You did an awesome review, very detailed and illustrated. Thank you for taking the time for us.

NeutralFan · 2021-05-22T03:09:13.000Z

Sorry for reviving an old post, but what a crazy flashlight! I was doing some random research and came upon it. If I became rich, this would be on my list of flashlights to get. Great photos and a great review.

Tabin_Ali · 2023-10-19T19:00:49.708Z

Incredible flashlight .
Which type of LED driver it uses to drive 18 crazy xhp70.2 leds?. Simply wow…