Foy,
I wanted to ask you if you were like me when you first opened the box and picked this flashlight up and held it in your hand if it was heavier than what you expected it? It’s a very hefty flashlight and weighs more than what I expected.
the beam shot comparison is helping a lot…
thanks Foy!
The MTG2 model is expected to be more floody, but because of sheer output there will definitely be some throw. Picture something in between a SRK and the S1100, if that makes sense.
I have never dropped this sort of cash on a light. But Foy’s review of the S1100 here has me thinking very hard about the S2200. Really want an MTG2 and this line looks to be extremely well made. (Crelant 7G10 looks pretty boss too.)
I’ve done some digging and found a review of the Niwalker by Selfbuilt comparing their XM-L2 to the MT-G2. In his finding on that particular light the XM-L2 was the thrower, reaching past 700meters while the MT-G2 hit 542meters in his tests. That’s the standard measure of lux at end game. I don’t have the stuff to do that kind of measuring or even really understand it fully, but that works for me!
So my idea of where to test the light for beamshots was not realistic, it won’t hit 770 yds downrange. I do have something in mind though, we’ll see if it’ll hit a beige/white small building at 610 yds.
Tracking is in limbo, still just registering it leaving San Francisco with no new data. 
Yeah those Niwalkers look nice, but a tad larger. And I am no small guy… but I really prefer 3x18650. Much more manageable. Wonder if the higher cell count means the Niwalker is driven harder than the Solarforce? If so, then throw would obviously be less, but not by a huge amount.
Niwalker’s 2S2P battery configuration for their MT-G2 light puzzles me. Selfbuilt found that it drops out of regulation after just 15 minutes or so. I was under the impression that 2S Li-ions provide enough voltage overhead to fully drive an MT-G2 with decent regulation. One more reason to wait for more info on the S2200 because it has a 3S battery config (better regulation than Niwalker, possibly).
I personally like the looks of the Solarforce much better, and the UI as well is more to my preference. Keeping the cell count to 3 is also more better in my book, but I guess all of these are a matter of preference.
Hope it’s ok to link this, thought some might like to see how the MT-G2 stacks up against it’s lil bro.
You’ll see in there that Selfbuilt found a lumen output of 1200 for the XM-L2 and 2350 for the MT-G2, so this light appears to be pulling similar power from it’s 4 cells that the S2200 is from 3. Selfbuilt apparently doesn’t have an area to test the lights at distance though, as his beamshots are from short range, mostly wall shots and indoors.
I’ll try to remedy that with some Texas elbow room! 
As an example of how much of a tank the Sxx00 is, the battery tube OD with 3x18650 is 1.930", while a 4x18650 SkyRay King's tube is 1.975".
From my understanding, buck drivers need input voltage a minimum of ~1-1.2v above the LED's Vf, so the 2S2P setup falling out of regulation I think is pretty much expected. S2200 still does (just) over an hour continuous runtime on high before the battery indicator goes from green to red (S1100 with the same cells will just break 2 hours in the same conditions which makes sense, seeing as 3v@3A is half the power of 6v@3A - actual Vf for both is higher than that, but you get the idea). With either your hand will start smoking after about 30 minutes anyway. Strangely, the heat buildup doesn't seem any quicker after the MTG2 swap.
When you gave the tail amperage reading you said that it read 1.2A (3.6A to emitter). How did you derive the 3.6A? If it’s by multiplying by the 3 cells then I’m confused. My S2200 is pulling 2.21A at the tail, so by this math the MT-G2 is getting 6.62A and that just can’t be right.
I spoke with an engineer that told me when cells are run in series, the voltage is multiplied. When run in parallel, the amperage is multiplied. So which is it?
Thanks to whoever can explain this so it makes sense!
It would be 6.62A to the emitter... if it were still using a ~3v LED. Add the voltage into your equations to get the total power (in W) and you'll see it all works out.
I don’t know electronics, I don’t know how to figure the voltage of the emitter into the stacked voltage of the cells (3 x 3.7V or 3 x 4.2V?) or what kind of driver it is, whether it’s boosting anything or even for that matter the difference between buck and boost. I’m assuming the MT-G2 is a 9V variety as that’s the only way I can see it making the claimed 2200 lumens from 3 Li-ion cells. But I don’t know how it all figures out.
In the same way that 700mA driving an XP-G2 doesn’t appear half as bright as 1.6A driving the same emitter (not as bright, certainly, but not half either). I see it, I can get the readings from my DMM, but don’t know why it’s so. And I WANT to know!
Is this right? The MT-G2 is getting 3.094A from the 3 18650’s when pulling 2.21A at the tail? Because, 3x4.2x2.21/9=3.094? (3 cells at 4.2V = 12.6V , 12.6V x 2.21A = 27.846 watts, 27.846 watts divided by 9V emitter is 3.094A at the emitter. Right?
Doing it through calculations based on tailcap readings alone will always be only an approximation, as you have to guess at the input voltage after a load is applied vs. the open circuit voltage, and another guess at the driver's efficiency. Placing an ammeter inline with one of the leads going to the LED will give you the actual current, and a voltmeter across the LED's connections will give you the actual Vf of that particular emitter at that particular drive current (Vf increases as drive current increases). Those readings, along with tailcap readings, allow you to compare input vs. output and then calculate the driver efficiency.
MTG2 used in the S2200 is a nominal 6v part (actual measured Vf at 3.3A is around 6.3v).
S1100/2200 driver is a buck driver, also called a step down driver. Input voltage has to be around 1-1.2v above the LED's Vf for proper regulation... less than that amount difference and it 'drops out of regulation', meaning it goes direct drive, which with depleted cells isn't really dangerous in terms of a potential overcurrent situation, but after that point light output will fall as the input voltage continues to fall. S1100/2200 driver does not suffer this problem, as the Vin even with totally flat cells (3v+3v+3v=9v) will be above the LED's Vf (6.3v) at 3.3A. This is why I griped so much about the Crelant 7G10 using a 2 series/2 parallel battery config which has a max of 8.4v with fresh cells... and 6v with flat cells. When input voltage falls to that Vf+1.2v range, which for a Vf of 6.3v means an input voltage of ~7.5v (or only 3.75v per cell... far far from being depleted, at 3v per cell under load), the light wil get dimmer, and dimmer... in other words, the current output is no longer regulated and depends solely on how much current the cells can provide, and how much current the LED will pass with the Vf constantly falling (current that will flow thru the LED will fall as the available input voltage falls below the optimum Vf).
disclaimer: All that is my best guess as to how this works based on info accumulated from folks smarter at this than me, there may be errors and I welcome any corrections/clarifications... being right all the time isn't my goal, learning stuff is.
:)
Thank You ComfyChair, that makes a lot of sense. It also translates into Solarforce reaching for straws with their 2200 lumen claim. Best case scenario it’s making 2116 by the numbers without taking into account any of the efficiencies of driver, reflector, voltage sag, yada yada yada. So, realistically, we should be seeing something like 1700-1800 lumens real world out-the-front, is this about right? But that’s powerful numbers that won’t drop over the course of the cells, or that approx 1 hour, also correct? So I have to say, “I’d buy that for a dollar!”
Wasn’t sure about buying this light. It’s sheer size alone had me worrying about it. But it’s build quality, tint quality, and sheer output make me want to keep it. And keep it I shall!
Thanks for all the help, even the offer to take it off my hands should it prove not to my liking. The engineers at Solarforce saved you $142.98! 
Well, claiming 2200L from a light that 'only' does an actual 1800 out-the-front is a lot less disturbing to me than claiming constant light output across the whole battery range from a light that drops out of regulation at only 15 minutes into the run...
I'm a big fan of the 'under-promise, over-deliver' doctrine, which Solarforce somehow always seems to get spot-on*. And lots of others completely, spectacularly fail at.
* (I do not care a bit about issues like 'but the knurling on the body doesn't match the knurling on the tailcap, I'm sending this garbage back and demanding a refund!' that some people here are so offended by)
I definately hear ya. When you have to get the light just so to see a different tonality between the tube and tailcap, who cares? You’re gonna use it at night aren’t ya? I have my lights on the shelf right above my monitor, but almost never look at em til I need one for it’s output.
Beats me. But yeah, I’m quite impressed with Solarforce quality. Have 5 L2Ps and 1 P1D and now the S2200. Quite a leap there, isn’t it? lol I’ve been trying to keep my lights useable in different areas, whether it’s tint or output or beam pattern…each has it’s own purpose. I’ve pretty much covered all the bases in the 20 or so that I have so I’m pretty good. With one custom AAA MiniMag in the mail
I gotta say, when I walked the trash down the lane last Thurs night at 10 o’clock, I was impressed with how this thing lights up the night. The cows were too, they got up and followed me around, bellering questions I didn’t have answers for! lol Freaked out some birds in the trees as well, they couldn’t decide if their roost time was up or not. 
Standing in the road it became immediately obvious, you can drive with this! I need to get the Escape out and hold it out the moonroof with the lights off, but I’m thinking it outdoes the high beams on a 2012 model Ford Escape pretty easily. Will check that out and try for some pics
Gnight
Umm… If you do that driving thing, maybe take someone else along with you, to either hold the light, or to drive, so you don’t have to try to do both at the same time :)…
I can confirm it's a passable substitute for car headlights. 8)
Lol, I did it, don’t know if I can get it on here, but I did it. Drove, held the light, took pics and video. (Come on now, I’m a photographer…camera on a tripod out the moonroof, light handheld also out the moonroof.) I’ll have to figure out the video tomorrow, but here’s a couple of pics….now this is on the fly and not wanting to get in trouble so don’t hold me accountable for quality. As an aside, we live out in the country, I saw 2 vehicles while doing this. The first one came up behind me while I was shining a veritable spotlight down the road from out the hood of my car, lol, had to cut that one short but did get a bit of video then. 2nd video has more examples. I’ve posted the pics in Joerche’s thread on the S2200 here Solarforce S2200 MT-G2 and will try to get the video linked tomorrow.
Sorry Foy, don’t mean to be walking all over your thread.
Thanks a lot for the review! Frontpage’d and Sticky’d.