[Review] Magicshine MOD20

rookiedaddy · 2019-12-29T16:07:51.000Z

Very grateful to Magicshine on receiving a review unit of MOD20 handheld flashlight. This is a High CRI model with manufacturer's quoted ~1100 lumens of output. Magicshine also kind enough to include a charging-discharging kit: MAS-C1 in the package for testing. First off, let's take an overview of the specifications:

It comes in a retail display box:

and upon pulling out the inner package:

everything is neatly secured in its own allocated space.

the MOD20 flashlight is further secure by a small piece of card to prevent the lights from falling in case if we pull the package up-side down:

to remove the MOD20 flashlight, just slide the card out:

contents of the MOD20 package:

MOD20 flashlight, user manual, spare o-ring and a wrist-yard. no battery included.

Magicshine generously included a set of optional MAS-C1 kit in the package for testing, a charging and discharging module for MOD/MTL series of flashlight

the input/output port is of Type C USB, they included a USB-A to USB-C charging cable and an option USB-C to USB-C discharging cable. If you need to use MOD20/MAS-C1 to charge your device, you need to select the correct discharging cable. In my testing, I order another USB-C to Micro-USB cable to test.

the different sides of the MOD20 flashlight:

MOD20 together with the included holster:

The side switch of MOD20:

actually, instead of calling it side switch, it is more proper to name it mode-switch as we can't use it to turn-ON the MOD20. The on/off is solely at the tail-switch alone. it also functions as battery indicator signal:

it flashes Red when battery is low.

there are 3 different color status at the "side-switch" when we turn-ON the MOD20:

Green == ≥75%

Flashes Green == 50% - 74%

Red == 49% - 25%

Flashes Red == ≤24%

during my runtime testing, the Low battery status not only causes the side-button LED to start flashing Red, the LED also "dancing" in flashes too:

LED used in MOD20 is CREE XP-L2 Neutral White 90-CRI

the tint on this XP-L2 90-CRI is leaning towards greenish when compare to Magicshine MOH15 headlamp that uses CREE XP-G3 90-CRI.

I wish Magicshine would have a stainless steel bezel ring to strenghten the MOD20 flashlight from drop:

quite a beefy fins design:

these pattern at the tailcap ease the loosening and tightening of the tailcap:

bi-directional (2-way) pocket clip:

no deep pocket-carry here. the pocket clip is less firm than those from Fenix PD-series but similar to those from Olight S-series. due to the protruding tail-boot, no tail-standing for MOD20:

the tailcap battery contact:

battery are inserted positive towards the head. head contact for battery:

as can be seen here, both side of the battery contact are spring loaded, this should provide plenty of cushioning if drop.

machining on the bare thread is really good:

I would say it's butterly smooth... one of the best I've handle. also due to the bare aluminum thread, no mechanical lock-out is possible.

the included MAS-C1 module:

this side should be install towards the MOD20 body:

while the tailcap will thread-on this side of the MAS-C1:

after installing the MAS-C1 on MOD20:

there is a silicon cover for the USB-C port. when remove/open, the USB-C port is exposed:

do take note that if you are not getting the USB-C cable from Magicshine, the cable you get elsewhere must not be thicker than 6mm at the USB-C connector side:

due to the opening of the USB-C female port is ~6.1mm wide.

connecting the discharging USB-C to USB-C cable:

connecting the USB-A to USB-C charging cable:

the blue LED will flashes when charging the battery installed in MOD20, it will stay lit when battery is fully charge. when discharging, the blue LED will stay lit. I tested MAS-C1 to be able to discharge at a rate of 2.5A, that's better than a lot of wall-charger in the market:

but I do secretly wish Magicshine to kick-off their new line of flashlight with 21700-size battery though, because with capacity as high as 5000mAh for 21700 battery available, MAS-C1 module would be more practically used as backup power-bank.

comparing to other lights in similar category:

and comparison with MAS-C1 installed:

picture shows the battery used in the testing of MOD20:

the runtime quoted by Magicshine is based on 3500mAh while in my testing, I'm using 3400mAh battery. below is the runtime tested using a button-top 3400mAh 18650 battery:

and measured output on different modes:

the usual disclaimer: I do not claim the above measured lumens as authoritative nor an indication of over/under-stating the number given by manufacturer. My home-made light-box is calibrated against known light output (e.g. SureFire, Elzetta, etc.) so take it with a grain of salt and just as a relative reading.

there are 7 modes available on MOD20, with 5 main mode cycling from Moon, Low, Medium, High and Turbo by clicking on the side-switch. There are two secondary mode: strobe and S.O.S accessed through press-and-hold of the side-switch (when we are in secondary mode, to switch between strobe and S.O.S, just click on the side-switch). To exit the secondary mode, repeat the press-and-hold step on the side-switch.

a few beamshot comparing the Magicshine MOD20 with Olight M2T Warrior and Fenix PD35 Tac:

Magicshine MOD20 throw as good as Fenix PD35 Tac and slightly more than Olight M2T Warrior.

however, due to the smooth reflector used, the beam of MOD20 is more ringy compare to others:

In conclusion, this MOD20 is a solidly built handheld flashlight and offer good Turbo runtime (~6 minutes in my testing), with 90-CRI to sweeten the deal. I would however like to see that Magicshine offer direct access to Turbo mode without cycle through all the modes to get to Turbo, something that resembles Olight's time-tested S-series UI would be great and not the Fenix all mode cycling UI. The MAS-C1 is a bonus optional kit to MOD/MTL series, and it's special due to its modular design and capable of high charging and discharging rate.

Rdubya18 · 2019-12-30T13:19:08.000Z

Thanks , as always , a good review . Don’t recall hearing the Magicshine name before . Will take a look at them .

rookiedaddy · 2019-12-31T09:26:39.000Z

Thank you for the kind words @Rdubya18.