Review: Skilhunt M150 (14500, LH351D 90CRI, high-cri EDC)

LED Flashlights – General Info 1 x AA / 1 x 14500 Flashlights
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I would like to present you my review of the Skilhunt M150 with the high CRI LH351D led.

Disclaimer: I have received the flashlight from Skilhunt free of charge for the review. This review reflects my honest personal opinion.

Purchase link (non-affiliate)

Aliexpress: Skilhunt M150

Introduction

The Skilhunt M150 is a compact 14500 flashlight suitable for every day carry (EDC). There are three led or color temperature choices offered, which are XPL2 cold white, XPL2 neutral white and LH351D neutral white and high cri. I like the color rendering of high cri and the XPL2 has the famous yellow tint shift so I chose the LH351D high cri. In this review I will compare the Skilhunt M150 to the Sofirn SP10S which is also a 14500 flashlight with the LH351D 90CRI. With 750 lumens and 5000K 90 CRI the Skilhunt M150 should be a nice bright EDC.

What is included

- Skilhunt M150

- 14500 800mAh 2A protected Skilhunt battery

- Manual

- Magnetic charging cable

- Clip

- Lanyard

  • Spare o-rings



Specifications


The manual


The UI diagram should come here but it was moved to the ‘Modes and UI’ section to avoid posting it twice.

Modes and UI

This is the UI diagram that can be found in the manual. For the lumen and runtime specifications refer to the section ‘Specifications’ above, the tailcap current measurements are reported below.

The UI is actually quite simple. A single click for on and to cycle through the modes and with a double click you can adjust each mode level. This is quite a useful feature as most flashlights have a problem with irregular mode spacing. Also you can decide how low you want the moonlight and if you want a less powerful but longer lasting turbo. The one of the two possibilities you choose will be memorized and you have your own mode sequence. A long click turns the flashlight off. In the mode B you can’t set the modes and it is a bit simpler. The Skilhunt M150 always cycles through the modes in a loop from low to high and then back to low.

Measurements




Tailcap current (ampere draw)

Low: L1: 0.01A L2: 0.02A
Med: M1: 0.04A M2: 0.12A
High: H1: 0.35A H2: 0.75A
Turbo: T1: 1.8A T2: 1.1A

When the battery gets lower, the turbo current goes down to 1.1A. I also measured 1.5A for T1.

Appearance

Do not forget to remove this transparent protective battery cover before using the flashlight.










It has a nice strong magnet in the tailcap.

The Skilhunt M150 with lanyard and clip.


The glass lens is AR-coated.

I was not able to unscrew the battery tube from the head. I have noticed what seem to be glue residues in the groove.

Battery and charging

The battery is a protected 14500 with 800mAh capacity and 2A maximum discharge. The protection board is at the positive pole because there you can see a small groove and it has a golden button top added.



The internal magnetic charging charges the battery at 0.9A. That is 1C charging, which is a bit high. I charged the battery from 3.6V and my USB tester showed 526mAh which includes losses from heat and the charging circuit. I suppose the rated capacity is accurate, but I would need to verify it in a charger. The battery was charged in about 50 minutes to 4.186V. It is great if chargers stop slightly before 4.2V because unprotected batteries don’t like overcharging. There is a steady red light on the charger during charging and a blue light when finished. The flashlight can be used while charging so you could even carry it around with a power bank.





Comparison

The Skilhunt M150 with the Skilhunt E3A:

The Skilhunt M150 with similar small EDC flashlights: 14500 Skilhunt battery, Skilhunt M150, Sofirn SP10S, Sofirn C01S

Here is the Skilhunt M150 compared to some famous flashlights: Skilhunt M150, Lumintop GT micro, Convoy S2+, Emisar D4

Beamshots

Control

Low (L1 – L2)

Med (M1 – M2)

High (H1 – H2)

Turbo (T1 – T2)

Animated

Sofirn SP10S

Sofirn C01S

Skilhunt E3A cold white

Lumintop GT micro

Animated

A whitewall beamshot to show the hotspot size and beam pattern

Comparison of the Skilhunt M150 with the Sofirn SP10S:

From left to right: Skilhunt M150 LH351D, Lumintop GT micro NW, Sofirn C01S

Teardown and internals

Unfortunately there will be no teardown this time as the battery tube is glued to the head. I need to further evaluate if the bezel ring is glued as well. It might be difficult to get hold of it as it is small and I don’t have this special three parts opening device.

I’ll report back with some pictures if I manage to get the bezel off.

Conclusion

The Skilhunt M150 is a rather compact 14500 flashlight, it is even shorter than the Sofirn SP10S. I really like the tint and color rendering of the LH351D 90 CRI. It produces a big hotspot and a creamy neutral white light without disturbing green or yellow like the XPL2 version would have. The Skilhunt M150 is bright for its size. The design is flawless with grippy knurling, square cut threads, AR-coated glass lens and magnetic charging. I don’t like the glue and the switch is a little difficult to distinguish from the opposed magnetic charging contact that feels very similar. The modes are quite ingenious with two selectable and memorized levels for each mode. The second low is a true moonlight which is a plus.

What I like

- Compact 14500 flashlight but bright for its size

- LH351D with 90 CRI, not too green and slightly below 5000K

- Floody beam with big hotspot, even creamy white

- Grippy knurling on battery tube and tail cap

- UI can be adapted to personal preferences, two levels for each mode

- Long click for true moonlight (L2)

  • Might be giftable with a protected 14500 battery and magnetic charging

What could be improved

- Do not use glue. The glue may be necessary for non-flashaholics but I don’t like it.

  • The switch is difficult to find in the dark. It should have a permanent or blinking backlight or feel somehow different than the magnetic charging contact.

Thanks to everyone for reading my review. :slight_smile: For any questions or suggestions please feel free to ask and comment below.

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Reserved

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So it’s available again?
thx for review

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This sample is first version. Now M150 V2 version is available

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Whats the difference with the V2 vs V1 version?

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The most different is the UI

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What exactly? Cannot find any difference in UI

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M150 V2 UI is same as M200/M300/H04 series

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I don’t have a M150 V1 to compare with. But I have the M150 V2. :slight_smile:

M150 V1 UI:

M150 V2 UI:

Enter and exit Lock-out mode:

From off:

Hold for 3 seconds until you see 3 fast flashes. Release.

Switch between Mode Group A and Mode Group B:

From off:

Hold for 5 seconds until you see 3 fast flashes followed by 3 slow flashes. Release.

Which mode is the flashlight in?

From off:

Single click on. The flashlight should be on. If the flashlight turned on momentarily and then off when you released, then you’re in Lock-out mode (exit lock-out mode!).

Single click again. If the flashlight turned off, then you’re in Mode Group B.

Mode Group A

There are more details on:

Mode Group B

From on, you can hold to ramp up between the enabled steps. Each step can be toggled off and on. The order from lowest to highest is L2, L1, M2, M1, H2, H1, T2.

M150 V1 UI ramps up from Low to Turbo and down to Low?

From off:

Single click to turn on. This enters the last memorised step.

Hold for a few seconds to enter L2 (or the lowest step).

Double click to enter Turbo.

From on:

Hold to ramp up between the enabled steps.

Double click to enter Turbo.

Triple click to Edit Mode Group B steps.

Edit Mode Group B Steps:

From on:

By default 4 of 7 steps are enabled (L2, M2, H2, T2). The flashlight will cycle through from lowest to highest: L2, L1, M2, M1, H2, H1, T2 while editing. A red light will appear if that step is enabled.

Click once to toggle a step on or off. The red light will turn on or off.

Hold for one second to save your preferred steps. You should see 3 fast flashes and the flashlight will remain on.

You can now ramp up between your preferred steps.

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Some photos of my Skilhunt M150 V2 (arrived yesterday!):

Skilhunt M150 V2 AA 14500 High CRI LH351D ~4500K

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My Skilhunt M150 V2 arrived without (any?) glue. The head screwed off easily. :+1: :smiley:

The switch is still difficult to find in the dark. I keep pressing the charging port on the opposite side of the switch. A pocket clip might help distinguish between the two.

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M150 V2 is charging my Vapcell H10 14500 at around 1A after using Turbo. The charging current then reduces to 800mA, 700mA, 500mA etc.

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what is that blue thing?

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It’s a Ruideng UM25C USB Meter:

I ordered a RD TC66 for USB Type C but it didn’t arrive. After 90 days I was able to file a dispute. AliExpress asked me to wait a little longer… so after about 100 days they provided a refund. I’ll order again on 11.11. Hopefully it arrives this time. :weary:

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so these things are used to measure flashlights? or batteries? or both? i dont know how these things work. and how much is the RD TC66?

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I use the RD UM25C USB Meter to measure the voltage and current used by small chargers (e.g. Xtar ANT MC1 Plus) or devices with built-in charging (mobile phones, flashlights).

It can help with verifying what current can be drawn from a particular USB port. E.g. The USB port on my radio in my car only provides 5V at 0.5A. Charging a mobile phone from that can be slow. However, the USB port in the cigarette socket supports 5V at 2.4A.

Modern USB Meters may also be able to detect whether a device is using QC2, QC3, USB PD etc.

I wanted to use the TC66 to see what my MiniWare TS80 soldering iron is doing. As shown on eevblog:

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ok, sounds a bit too technical for me lol…

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Thanks for the review. I have be thinking of this light.
Does the battery indication work with primary cells ?

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No, only with 3,7V 14500s

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I would like Skilhunt to make a Headlamp based on this light. Small, same UI. Same LED. Mag charging. etc etc.