Review: OxyLED HD50 AAAx3 18650 flashlight

Amazon link to flashlight for sale. $19.99 and eligible for Amazon Prime.

I was approached and given this flashlight to review. I was a little hesitant at first but agreed after seeing all of the positive reviews on Amazon.

It is the OxyLED HD50 LED flashlight. Details below are from Amazon

Features:

- Uses Cree LED with a lifespan of over 50000 hours

- Use one 18650 rechargeable Li-ion battery or 3 AAA batteries

- Zoomable function to meet requirements of various scenarios —Head of the flashlight can be pulled out to focus the beam

- Three brightness levels plus Strobe, SOS to meet different needs of lighting

  • IPX-6 waterproof—work normally in heavy rain

Specification:

- Size: 5.31’’ (Length) * 1.57’’ (Diameter)

- Weight: 14.11oz (package); 6.63oz (flashlight + 18650 battery)

- Charger: 110-240V input

- Material: Aluminum alloy

  • Color: black

Packaging list:

- 1 X flashlight

- 1 X 18650 Li-ion rechargeable battery

- 1 X AC charger + charger base

- 1 X white tube (used to fix the 18650 battery in flashlight)

- 1 X AAA battery holder

  • 1 X user manual, warranty card

Now on to my review. It arrived in standard Amazon packaging, brown box with the smile on it. Opened it up and everything is tucked in a plastic case.


Opened case and contents

Flashlight broken down into its parts
AAA adapter shown in this picture. The anodizing on the flashlight is average. There are some minor imperfections in the finish, but what do you expect in a lower priced flashlight.

Tail cap and switch
Green switch cap. I don’t have a preference about switch cap color. Threaded retaining ring to hold the switch in place. once removed, the switch is not on a board. It has tags on each side to contact the retaining ring. The switch spring threads onto 2 tabs to old it in place. Out of the light, there is some play between the spring and the tabs that hold it. It is not noticeable once everything is in place, but this is a weak point that over time could cause loss of contact between the spring and the switch potentially failure of the light to work.


A view from the top (lens and LED)
The LED is relatively centered. The lens is plastic and did have a small mark or two on it, but nothing that would affect the beam. The lens is either glued or press fit into the bezel. I didn’t attempt to force it out as I really had no need to. There is an O-ring groove on the bezel that has no O-ring. There should be one there to help prevent moisture from entering into the head.

Tail threads and head
Not much to say here. Threads appeared to be slightly lubricated. They are partially squared off, and it does screw on easily and without any grittiness.

LED and pill
The pill had lubed O-rings and threads. It is not a hollow pill and has a decent area for potting the pill or upgrading drivers. There is approximately 18-20mm of empty space between the driver and the top of the driver area which is the floor for the LED and MCPCB. The driver is 20mm and press fit into the pill. I’d like to see the pill have a retaining ring to allow easier upgrades. The LED is a XM-L2, unknown BIN, on a non-DTP 20mm aluminum MCPCB. It is held to the pill with an aluminum retaining ring. There is a plastic spacer to prevent the retaining ring from shorting the contacts on the MCPCB. The surprising thing is there is absolutely no thermal interface between the MCPCB and the pill. No thermal adhesive, no thermal compound, nothing. At least there wasn’t a piece of paper there like I have seen on another flashlight.




Driver
It is a 5 mode driver, High, Medium, Low, Strobe, SOS. With stock battery it gave 2.12A on high, 1.26A on Medium, and 0.67A on low at the tail. With a Sony VTC5, it gave 2.82A on high, 1.68A on Medium, and 0.86A on low at the tail.


Battery and charger
I am not impressed with the charger or the battery. I typically do not like included batteries and chargers, and this is no exception. The battery is a KY-18650 rated for 1800mAh. It has a discharge mAh of 1385 at 1000mA, so it has an overrated capacity. The charger is a conundrum to me. It is model XY-186B. There is no light on the actual charger to indicate it is doing anything. There is a light on the plug in adapter, but it turns green as soon as it is plugged in. There is no way to know if the battery is charging, completed charging, or anything. There is also some free play of the cord connected to the plug in adapter. It is rated 4.2V and 500mA. It actually charges at 340mA. Below are pictures of the charger plugged in with a battery, plugged in without a battery, and unplugged with a battery. Notice that the light is on in all of the pictures.





Beamshots
First one is of the emitter on a wall. Next two are taken at 10 feet.


Overall, this isn’t a bad light, just not great. I will take measurements at the tail cap, but I assume it is under driven. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing considering there is no thermal interface between the MCPCB and the pill. The light has some potential if modded correctly. The fact that it comes with a newer XM-L2 and not the last generation XM-L is a plus. The pill allows for 20mm stars and drivers, and has a nice overhead clearance for the drivers. I wish that they offered the light in a cheaper package without the battery and charger. A similar light is available at Fasttech for $11.17 with an XM-L emitter and no battery/charger. With the XM-L2, I think the OxyLED HD50 would be priced about right at say $15 for just the flashlight without the case and charger and battery on Amazon.

For modding, I think it would be a legitimate light if the buyer did the following:

  1. reflowed the LED on a Noctigon or Sinkpad and used some Arctic Silver
  2. changed the switch out to something more promising
  3. new driver with bigger wires running the LED either direct drive or at 4-5A

These mods are true for most cheap lights though. For the average, non-modifying flashlight user, this light will suffice around the house, or in the vehicle, or for jogging. It is an appropriate size for all of these uses and many more, and the output would be more than adequate for these. With Amazon Prime for the price, there is no wonder why it is a popular light with the average Joe. For the modding community however, I think there are better options in the same price range that would allow better performance.

I would dump battery and “charger” for sure. It looks to me that there is no charger circuit in this “XY-186B” and there are only contacts for the cell. The power adapter is designed to deliver 4.2V (constant voltage) and the current is limited by design to ~500mA. It’s a very simple way to charge a LiIon and not the best for sure. It strongly depends on how accurate the power supply can deliver its voltage. Maybe you could open-up the “charger” and prove that I’m right…
At least the light and esp. the pill look ok to me but I would presumably not buy one. I already have some zoomies in my collection and find them not that attractive anymore. The usefulness of the zoom function is limited by the loss of light that comes with it (at least with the usual design with one lens only).

P.S:
The Body looks almost the same like the UltraFire E06 currently on sale for $9.99 at Gearbest (also with batt. and charger, but only XML)…

Good to see they cut the hole for the emitter flat all the way across, instead of with a divot out of the center under the LED as cheaper “solid” pills do.
Can you measure how thick the aluminum is at that point? I recall the early good ZeusRay was a rare thick one, and some other lights have very thin aluminum there.

Can I use CR123 batteries with this light?

You would have to use two of them. I don’t recommend it as cr123a’s aren’t rechargeable and they will only last about 1/4 the time of an 18650 battery

Okay, thanks a lot. :slight_smile:

Nice review and pictures. Probably better than some lights of that style. For mod. I definitely prefer the CNQ Zoomy Host. For as is, I have still not seen anything of this sort as good as a Sipik SK-73, except in some ways the ZeusRay, sometimes.