[Review + Update] Jetbeam Jet-PC20

Mocarny · 2019-10-12T17:38:59.000Z

Jetbeam Jet-PC20

3 in 1 review. At the end there will be a summary for those who like only particulars, in each topic I will color the key sentences for those who read a little more, and a long waffling for everyone else. Enjoy!

For VERY large photos: click -> on the photo page right click -> "Open image in new tab"

This flashlight was provided by Jetbeam free of charge, thank you! :-)

Please note that if you don't like me going offtopic and you don't like funny reviews, read only colored things, this way the review looks like it was written by someone normal ;)

Table of Contents:

- General parameters
- Package content
- Appearance, parameters
- UI, runtime and charging
- PWM
- Waterproof
- Light pattern, tint
- Beamshots
- Usage and my experiences
- Nitpicking
- Gallery
- Summary

General parameters

LED: XHP35
Peak Beam Intensity: 19600cd
Max lumens: 1800LM
Throw: 280m
Modes: Eco, Low, Mid, High, Turbo,Strobe
Lumens: 12LM, 80LM, 360LM, 1060LM, 1800LM
(Modes cycle from Turbo to Eco)
Runtime: 140h, 27h, 6h45min, 2h, 1h55min. /
Battery: 1 x 21700 (included) /20700 / 18650 battery
Impact resistance: 1m
Waterproof: IPX-8 (2m underwater)
Reflector: SMO
Weight: 99.5g
Size: 145mm x 27.1mm x 27mm (length x head x tail)
(I'd add... Forward switch)

Package content

Flashlight came in that box

Some important info on the front, more on the back.

And this nice lovely handle

When coming back from work, exhausted and depressed, we don't need to think where to put our box anymore. It's simple that the best way is to hang it.

Maybe in the toilet

Oh, I caught a falling drop

It's like in this review I've caught a fish that was pretending to be a bird. Everyone has dreams...

And during a shower we can hang this box nicely to be with us

Very good idea with this handle, previously when taking a shower I had to hold these boxes all the time, they got wet, uch it wasn't funny.

Flashlight manufacturers seems to think of our needs more :BLUSH:

In the box were:

Flashlight
USB C cable
Lanyard
spare o-ring
Clip
Manual
Warranty card
Certificate of approval

Keep in mind that my set is different from what I saw for sale currently. Maybe it's because I've got early batch? I have this rubber ring, not sure how to translate it, but it's this thing already attahed to the flashlight, I have one o-ring instead of two and I don't have spare rubber switch cover.

Certificate: This product was approved for sale. Well, good to know, I guess. ;)

Manual

Mhm, oh yeah, that's what I like

Firstly, you have to read carefully and keep in mind all potential risks and extremely important things

And also the subconscious message of the manufacturer that the flashlight is tactical/military. You see?

Bushes, bushes, bushes everywhere and in the middle Jetbeam

And that information on the bottom:

It is...99.5 of...some kind of...maybe toy helicopters, and in brackets are...an umbrella, like a house with sloping roof, such a window with a hanger and...like a sun shining on the boat with a sail... I know! It is instruction for using this toy helicopter - keep away from rain, can be used indoor or outdoor and on the boat. Yesss

Everything is very clear and understandable.

Appearance, parameters

Size: 147mm x nearly 28mm head
Weight with a battery : 168.4g

From left to right:
- Aluminium? bezel, nice gray color, the same as a side switch.

After fully screwed there's a gap, that would collect mud and other things (money and rocking chairs)

- AR coated lens, very thick glass

- SMO reflector, and a XHP35 HD LED, cold white

- Side switch, illuminated. Green or red color.

Well made, flat, not rised

and changing modes you can hear a silent and soft "click". The backlight also is a battery indicator:
green: fully charged
flashing green: medium charged
red flashing: low battery
red: battery almost empty

During charging:
flashing red: charging
green: no longer charging

- On the opposite side, a USB type C charging port, secured with a rubber cover.

- Driver

- 21700 battery included, it says 5100mAh, let's...not believe it ;)

But this flashlight can't fit thicker cells, like yellow Liitokala 4000mAh.

Definitely was going to the gym and working out hard. If your flashlight can fit yellow Liitokala 4000mAh, it's probably the high time to send it to the gym. Stop lying on this shelf and go outside!

- Next we have this rubber thing that isn't mentioned when buying, o-ring (very - I mean VERY thick) and well lubricated square cut threads

This rubber thing works nice with a forward switch, but...is not listed anyway

And I think you will not get it...I'm not sure, if you need one, better ask before buying

- Two lanyard holes

One is enough, but two is even better, on the opposite sides. Finally someone thought about it! It's perfect for hanging your flashlight in a tent or everywhere else, maybe on the tree or in the garage instead of sticking it with a magnet (it doesn't have a magnet).

- Forward switch. Tactical, like the whole flashlight, different, but it's nice to have something different ;)

And it can't tail stand :(

UI, runtime and charging

UI
Forward switch, slightly press for momentary on, click for on, click for off, side switch for modes changing. Mode memory

Modes:
Turbo 1800lm
High 1060lm
Mid 360lm
Low 80lm
Eco 12lm

Strobe 1800lm after holding the button for about 1s, with the flashlight is on. Faster and slower flashes alternately - very effective in dazzling. Internet says that from the off position 2 click also gives a strobe, but my version does not have it (so probably in the final version they added it). But an accidental strobe 1800lm from the off position is not something I want. Uch ... but if you buy this flashlight you will have it! : D
I really like the transition in modes - normally it is a hard jump from e.g. Low to Turbo, and here the transition is smooth, the flashlight very quickly (but smoothly) increases or decreases the brightness from e.g. Eco to Turbo. Such ramping lasts maybe 0.2s and it is a nice change from what we got used to.

Runtime
High mode, 1060lm, and also something like that from my measurements

About 3.5h to off, quick brightness drop is due to overheating, it was testing in a cardboard box, so keep in mind it would perform better outside

You can see it was considering giving up

But powering through for about an hour more

Because it's military/tactical flashlight ;)

I ended runtime test and it turned off after couple of minuts. Voltage on the cell was 2.64V, so pretty low. Better turn off the flashlight after first step down.

Tryb Middle 360lm

About an 7.5h to turn off.
Ciekawe, że w miarę rozładowywania tryby są nam zabierane z pętli, tzn. jeśli bateria jest słaba i latarka zmniejszyła jasność do poziomu trybu Middle, to mamy już tylko 3 tryby do wyboru, Eco, Low i Middle. Czyli nie przeskakujemy na High i Turbo które by i tak świeciły tak samo przy tak rozładowanej baterii. Nie wiem, może to normalne w latarkach a tylko mój stale używany modowany Solarforce ciągle daje możliwość przeskakiwania na wyższe tryby o takiej samej jasności...

Charging
Integrated charger with USB type C port, and cable included

Charging indicated by red flashing light

When it's charged, green light is visible

Charging current 0.9A

Discharged to 2,64V cell started charging 0.08A, then 0.9A and charging stopped at 4,21V on the cell.

PWM

No, any PWM on the lowest mode

On the side note, it reminds me of this

You see? Exactly as in the movie

Flashlight's falling asteroid. So moving... :((

This review is not sponsored by director of "Your name". But I'm open for cooperation. Ball's on your court, Makoto Shinkai ;)

Waterproof

It says IPX8, so there should be no problem when submerging it on 30cm for 2h, right?

Right?

Well... Not good. Moisture on the lens. I was clicking the side switch when submerged, maybe it's why. But it's a common situation, to change modes during rain or underwater. C'mon, very thick o-ring that is hard to unscrew the tail, and on the other hand leaking somewhere. And I don't know for sure it's because I was clicking.
It works at least

Maybe 30cm underwater for 2h was too much?

So let's say 5cm underwater for 1min

Uch, even worse. Let's leave this topic alone

Light pattern, tint

The dot in the center is the center of the beam (approx.), each line at an interval of 15cm. Nice spill/spot ratio for me for the purpose of this flashlight.

Beamshots

ISO200, t2s, f/3,5 WB: sunlight

Let's light up for a better view

You can clearly see this second pole is significantly shorter and smaller... Maybe they've had a reason for that

Usage and my experiences

My 95% of flashlights using is for hiking in the forest and sometimes in the mountains. I took the flashlight to the forest a few times and what can I say: it will not be my main flashlight into the forest, because the color of the light disturbs me (cold white). I also don't like this mode order, from Turbo to Eco, and for me it makes no sense with High mode, because in fact it is almost no different from Turbo. It should be removed or should have like 800lm. No tail standing, as well as poor water resistance when changing modes underwater (and probably in the rain). But what about positive experiences? I like the forward switch - I like the momentary quiet shining as well as the illuminated side button for changing modes, easy to find in the dark, but not too bright. I liked the light distribution because it throws quite far but not pencil beam like, spill is good as well. Two holes for a lanyard, but in my case would be used to attach this metal handle to hang later on a tree or anywhere. Threads well made, very thick O-ring on the tail. I'm sure it will satisfy those who are looking for a tactical flashlight.

Gallery

Summary

Jetbeam PC20 is a good flashlight. The quality and design are at a good level. The XHP35 HD diode in the SMO reflector gives a good range, but it does not shine like a typical thrower, which I consider an advantage. The tactical tail forward switch and the side switch for modes changing work well together. The green illumination of the side switch is very useful at night, it'd be difficult to locate that switch without an illumination. The only thing that bothered me was the order of the modes, from Turbo to Eco. A cold white tint above 6000K is not my favorite, I'd rather see 5000-5500K here. Water resistance, or rather the lack of it is a problem. Maybe this is the reason of clicking this side switch under water, or maybe my pre-sale version had it underdeveloped but they have already fixed it. (You know, like in this "Fix you" song)

Pros:
+ integrated charger
+ forward tail switch + side switch works well together
+ square lubricated threads, thick o-ring and overall good quality

Cons:
- bad waterproof
- cold white tint
- does not fit thicker 21700 cells
- lack of tail standing
- price in my opinion is too hight for what we get... $79

About host - threads, knurling o-rings and so on
Rating: 7.5/10

About light - UI, tint and so on
Rating: 7/10

1 - very bad flashlight hurts to look at, terrible quality, not worth any (even very low) price
5 - average flashlight, at a reasonable price and for occasional (in its category) use - for the average person "great". Or better flashlight, but overpriced
10 - flashlight meets all my expectations in a given category (e.g EDC, headlamp, thrower), it's durable and neatly made, perfect light tint, worth its (even slightly inflated) price - just pure perfect, so I doubt any light can get a 10 from me

I hope you enjoyed!

Mocarny · 2019-12-20T21:41:13.000Z

Reserved for updates

I decided that short time given to post review is indeed too short to give full experience. And I want to make sure you’re getting pure truth, not just first impression. So I decided to use this light for bit and then update you with more precise thoughts

EDIT: So this is the time for updates
Soooo……… I turn it on. Then drop it into the river. It turned off. Just. Everything was screwed well, charging port was covered, everything was ok. It just stopped working for a while, I was unable to turn it on. After couple of minutes, when I turned it on, it shined, starting from very low brightness and brightening for a while. And it was behaving like this for a whole day, and after taking the flashlight apart, leaving for couple of hours to let all the moisture to evaporate, it started working fine.
But it is not a good “military” flashlight then.

Maybe you have better experiences? In my opinion this flashlight is not worth the price.

SKV89 · 2019-12-21T03:31:13.000Z

I tested the PC20 using Texas Ace lumen sphere with Maukka calibration. Lumens measured at 2 seconds using fully charged Jetbeam battery.

Turbo, 1776 lumens, 7344K, DUV –0.0013, CRI 70.9, R9 –15.1, R12 48.9, Rf 66, Rg 98
2nd highest, 1061 lumens, 7189K, DUV –0.0005, CRI 70.8
3rd highest, 349 lumens, 6875K, DUV 0.0017, CRI 70.8

I much prefer the Olight M2R Pro Warrior and Fenix PD36R over this light.

Mocarny · 2019-12-21T09:57:06.000Z

Thank you for updating review with that measurements

So declared brightness is quite correct - that is good. But everything else - without “wow” effect. Forward switch was nice, something different. I enjoyed it. And two lanyard holes was also good for me. Side switch was ok, rubber tactical tail ring was nice, thick glass lens…but if I can’t rely on a flashlight because it behaves like that, it is not a good flashlight for me.

SKV89 · 2020-01-02T22:34:56.000Z

Measurements taken with Texas Ace Lumen Tube calibrated with Maukka lights at 2s from turn-on.

Jetbeam PC20	Turbo	1,776 lumens	7344K	-0.0013 DUV	70.9 CRI	-15.1 R9	48.9 R12	66 Rf	98 Rg
Jetbeam PC20	2nd highest	1,061 lumens	7189K	-0.0005 DUV	70.8 CRI
Jetbeam PC20	3rd highest	349 lumens	6875K	0.0017 DUV	70.8 CRI