JETBEAM JET TH20 FLASHLIGHT REVIEW:
Specifications:
Brand/Model | Jetbeam TH20 |
LED | XHP70.2 |
Working voltage |
3-6V |
Battery | 1x18650 / 2xCR123A |
Switch | Tail-cap |
Modes | 4 |
Blinkies | Strobe |
Mode changing | Buttons |
Anodizing | HAIII |
Tailstand |
No |
Lock-out | No |
Momentary On | Yes |
Lens | Coated |
Reflector | Orange Peel |
Waterproof | IPX8 |
INTRODUCTION:
The TH20 is a Tactical light. This means that it can be used in combination with arms. Your thumb is positioned near the switch to control the light. The Jet-TH20 (as the name on the flashlight indicates) has something special, it uses only one battery but with a 6Volt LED. It uses a boost driver to boost the voltage from 3.6V (4.2V) to 6V. Jetbeam is a popular brand in the flashlight world, but is not keeping up with brands like Acebeam, Lumintop or Fenix. But let's see what the TH20 has to offer. I have to say that the packaging is so weak that it arrived bashed. A 18650 2600mAh battery was included, as well as a lanyard, and an extra rubber boot.
WHAT YOU'LL GET:
- Blue package (flimsy)
- Lanyard
- Spare o-ring
- User Manual
- Warranty Card
- Holster
HANDLING OF THE LIGHT
When I opened the package I was a little surprised by the size of the flashlight. I thought it was similar in size as my Sunwayman V20C. But the head is quite a bit larger. It is longer and wider. It has a rear (mechanical) switch to turn the light on and off, and can be used as Momentary on. The negative side of this switch is that it is quite stiff and more difficult to press in than a regular switch on other flashlights. On a positive note, it doesnt have any parasitic drain...LOL In addition to the normal switch there are 2 little buttons that are used to change its brightness. And if the lamp is off, they are used for direct access to strobe mode.
Tailstanding?
- No! It's too unstable.
BUILD QUALITY AND ANODIZING
Anodization is the coating of a flashlight. The quality of anodisation Jetbeam is using is in my opinion one of the best in the world. When I was holding the light, it reminded me directly of my Jetbeam RRT21 while I wasn't thinking about the brand for a moment, and then realized this is a Jetbeam as well. The coating and finish are like no other, and give the flashlight a rather premium look and feel. Well done Jetbeam! The build quality is top notch. Unfortunately though, the parts of the flashlights seem to be glued. I couldnt unscrew the head from the body. So if I ever had to change the driver, that could be a little difficult. I hope this is never going to be needed though.
THREADS
The tailcap can be unscrewed and has some gorgeous threads.. LOL. Nicely done and no problems to be found. The parts screw in very nicely without any squeky sound. They came lubed.The reflector is made of aluminum and has an orange peel effect. This means that the reflector is not smooth, but has a kind of coarse finish, so that the light beam is not focused so much on one point but gives a wider beam. This gives it some smooth edges instead of sharp corona/spot/spill.
- Diameter inside of the head 33 mm
Diameter outside of the head: 40 mm
The bezel is black aluminum, and not shiny stainless steel unfortunately...hehe bling bling... The bezel can be loosened by hand without too much power! The O-ring behind the lens was unfortunately not in place, and I had to push back a little bit. The pill seems to be made of copper! THE LED (at the time of writing) is rather unique in combination with only 1 18650 battery, the XHP70.2 LED . The driver is a boost driver in order to increase its voltage up to 6Volts. Take a look at the pictures to see the LED, the reflector etc.
You can however also use 2x CR123A rechargeable batteries. 6V-8.4V?
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT:
- Length: 163 mm
- Diameter head: 40 mm
- Diameter reflector 34 mm
- Diameter body: 27 mm
- Weight empty: 235 grams

USER INTERFACE:
There are 2 types or buttons on the flashlight. The main switch, and 2 switches next to the main switch. The main switch is used to turn the flashlight on and off, and the 2 smaller switches (both have the same functionality) are used to change modes.MODES:
Turbo-High-Medium-Low. It does the reverse thing, probably because this light is a tactical flashlight, and you probably want to have the brightest setting first. Unfortunately I couldn't find a way to enter the lowest mode directly. So no short cut as far as I know.- 1 full click: On
- Half click: momentary-on (for morse coding etc)
- Long press: Strobe
- 1 short click: changes output
- Double click: Turbo
- Long press: Strobe
MOMENTARY ON:
- If you press the main switch you can use it as momentary-on. This means that you can use signals such as Morse coding. The output of this setting is the same as the last used mode (mode memory) .
MODE MEMORY:
- Yes. This setting is also used when using the momentary on setting. (half press when turned off).
LOCK OUT:
- No, it is also not necessary, because it has a mechanical switch.
- Not that I could detect
PERFORMANCE:
I couldn't get any readings on the tailcap. Probably because of the double switch. I dont know why, but I couldnt get it to work. Also the head is glued, so measuring it at the LED is also too difficult.RUNTIME:
After the runtime test, the battery showed 2.97 Volts on the charger. So it must have dropped a little more than that under load. I had to do the runtime test twice, because the Android app I used first, produced too much data that froze my pc. Next I used another app, called simply LUX. No idea anymore where that came from. This is also to remind myself of using the correct app. The light actually increases its brightness when you turn it into Turbo.. this is rather interesting. Usually its instant, but this one ramps very quickly to max output.
They dont make sense (because of my struggling with spreadsheets) between about 20 minutes and 1 hour. But you get the idea. After 1 hour and 13 minutes the light shuts off. The runtime is done with the 2600mAh battery that was included in the box.
BEAM:
It definitely is more of a flooder. The hotspot is very very wide. See the shots above.LOW VOLTAGE WARNING:
Not really, it decreases its output, and then shuts down.THROW:
I have a problem here. I bought another lux meter recently, but the numbers are much different from my old lux meter. The new shows much higher values . Measured at 5 meters:- 483 lux on the old meter and 630lux on my new meter in Turbo (with the included 18650 2600mAh battery) That corresponds to 12000cd or 15750cd. This is far from the manufactur claimed 25000cd. But it wasnt supposed to 'throw' much anyway. I might have to try on a larger distance again.
OVERALL CONCLUSION OF THE JETBEAM TH20
PROS:
- Uses one of the latest CREE Led at the time of writing, namely the XHP70.2
- One of the few lights with a 6V LED off 1 single battery
- Direct access to strobe for tactical users.
- Jetbeam has one of the best coatings and finish that can be found on flashlights
CONS
- Slightly larger than expected, but this is more of a personal taste
- Switch is a little hard to press (stiff)
- The body parts are glued, so you can not remove or replace the driver easily.
- The battery that was included is "only" 2600mAh
- Throw is less than on paper.
The light was provided by Gearbest for review.
Link to the light: https://www.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_900434.html?wid=1433363&lkid=15170581
Its currently out of stock, and the gearbest employee told me to use a discount code for 10% off.: CA%LA704