Only saw your reply till now. heh... Actually in the first post, i already posted this : This is a review copy which I paid for it but the retail copy/packaging and pricing should be firmed up after Chinese New Year (23st Jan).
Note Review and Retail. I don't want to use Engineering set, which i have encountered many from Blackberry/Nokia/Samsung/etc as a telco worker....hehe
You are correct to say that. However that is OTF lumens output. When we look at the throw it's a different story. In terms of his measurement, it is 55k cd for the Xtar S1 and 45k cd for the SR92. That's a difference of 20%. (very small difference in reality only). Take Selfbuilt's output to be 380 units for his 55k cd measurement (think he measures after 3 mins), even if it drops to 300 units, it'd still be 43.4k cd, close to SR92. So probably both lights are quite near in candela. I am not sure if anybody would use this as a thrower or as a high output tool, that i leave it to the individual. I guess this is good for medium distances.
Another question from you : does the Xtar S1 lens have AR coating?
Ans : No. As reported earlier in the second post, the lens cuts 10% (so i am covering up anything and purposely leaving out any points, same for the PWM). 2 x UCL lenses are coming, and I will report back to see if they fit properly.
XTAR will be doing some changes to the driver for the retail version. One confirmed change is a short pause at lowest point so that it's easy to select.
PS to others. Maybe i have missed your question as many were asked, but i hope i managed to answer all major questions asked. PM me if you have something important to ask.
In addition to the things that various reviewers (on BLF and elsewhere) have pointed out as shortcomings, I've emailed xtar to ask for the following changes in a future version of the S1. The person I contacted said that these are more difficult changes to implement, so no guarantees. Do any of you think they'd be good additions? Maybe if more of us speak up, Xtar might be more willing to make the changes:
- Provide at least 2 steady modes: High and Low. We could use the Preset mode for “medium”. But I would still prefer 3 or 4 steady modes in addition to the Preset mode.
- Give us a choice of neutral white LEDs.
- Make the selector ring difficult to push past High and Preset, so that you don't accidentally get to Strobe and SOS modes, and don't accidentally get to the Select position, which would change your Preset mode.
- Search & Rescue people might need the SOS and Strobe modes, but many other people don’t, and many people would never use those two modes. Maybe you could produce another version of the S1, for "regular people". You could omit the SOS and Strobe modes, so that turning the selector ring to the left gives you Low, Medium, and High.
I agree with all, however I do not think that a thrower is necessary to be available with NW LEDs. But then again, this is a different breed of flashlight that can do more than throw, so NW may be a good addition indeed.
2pcs of the UCL 72.7mm x 1.85mm thick gives 1.48% cut in output. (each one is 0.74%). Original glass is nearly 10%. AR tint is green in colour. No rattle, the bezel screws back on ok but there is a very slightly bigger gap between the bezel cap and body than before. Original glass is 3.5mm and this is 3.7mm, a minor difference of 0.2mm. In reality you won't notice it.
2100 (and anyone else who owns both the Xtar S1 and the Dry), now that you've had both lights for a while, what kinds of things do you use each one for? Do you use one much more than the other?
Does anyone know of a beamshot comparison between the Dry and the S1?
I had both lights. but have S1 only now.
S1 is heavier and larger than Dry(mine was neutral version). I can say S1 is a thrower monster. 
Thanks candle lamp. Can you tell me more about what you use the S1 for please? And also why you preferred it over the Dry? One of the things I use my bright lights for is walking my dogs at night in the woods and on trails beside the river. It's completely dark in some places there because of tree cover, so having a lot of light is useful, but it's good if the beam is narrow so that I don't get too much reflection off nearby trees. On the other hand, sometimes there are more open areas, and then I like more flood, so I don't have to "paint" the light around so much.
I already have a decent thrower (5x XR-E light) but the beam is so narrow that it's only really good for seeing far into the distance. For medium distances it requires too much painting. So I'm hoping that the S1 is a decent thrower (significantly better than the Dry), but not so narrow a beam that I'm always painting it around.
I'd also like to know what you put the S1 in when you have it with you but you're not using it.
Hi peteyboy,
The main reason why I like S1 is I can use it on high mode continuously more than 20 minutes. I had measured the surface temp. of the light w/o cooling and got 48 degrees at the head side. I think the light has no big problem for the heat of the body within appr. 20 mins running on high brightness.
It has very bright hot spot and smaller medium size spill beam than Dry.
I don't know if the beam profile is acceptable in a short distance for walking with your dog at night. Maybe you can use it on the lower brightness.
You can see some beamshot relating to S1 here. Hope this is helpful.
Of course, I like S1 exactly. But I don't have special thing to put it in.
I don't know if the above link is not a problem here.
P.S : Mine is pre-release production, and I've seen the news updated version will be relased.
Thanks very much, candle lamp. Nice review too.