You still get a donut shaped beam with the 50.2 and SMO so I assume the 70.2 is the same. It’s less extreme, but still there due to the emitter size.
Careful height adjustment can minimize it, but you get a weaker hotspot when you do that.
So it’s interesting too see what this light is going to do assuming it’s regular XHP70 and smooth reflector; we’re only going to learn from this (educational purpose to buy this light, hehe).
I can almost guarantee there will be no donut holes with this light. The reflector is just too shallow to get any kind of tight focus. Agh!
Also note that the emitters are rotated so that the cross lines don’t overlap. That also reduces dark centers.
I only got donut holes using a big, tightly focused reflector in my L6 when I was trying to get maximum throw.
Here’s an example of the 50.2. The donut hole is there, but it’s not too severe.
Here’s the same beam taken with a lower iso. It shows the shape better.
Here’s the xhp70. You don’t need to reduce the brightness to see the donut hole shape as it’s more obvious.
Once you get away from the big, tightly focused reflectors the donut shape pretty much disappeared. So I don’t think an SMO reflector in this light is gonna cause any problems at all. This light isn’t a rifle, it’s more of a shotgun. Lol
This reflector shape reminds me of the Klarus G20, except for being smooth. I’m sure it’s gonna have a great big hotspot with good spill. Hopefully we’ll get some beam shots soon.
Thanks for the pics jason. Good news, as I always liked the looks of a smooth reflector. 
I am definitely interested，but copper mcpcb and neutral white is must in my opinion :sunglasses:
I thought a copper mcpcb would be the natural choice myself, but these emitters are not being pushed very hard so aluminum seems to be doing a decent job.
Assuming it’s actually 9000 lumen, that’s only 3,000 lumen for each emitter which is 2 amps each at 12 volts. Or about 4 amps each if you think of it at 6 volts like the convoy L6 which pulls more amps than that and doesn’t get very hot.
So I’m okay with aluminium assuming it’s getting good contact to the head. Hopefully it has thermal grease and a decent shelf to press against to get the heat flowing.
i updated the OP ;)
It looks like I was wrong about there being a dark center in the hotspot. :person_facepalming: The beamshots on post 1 are pretty close up, but I’m guessing the dark spot will still be there at longer distances. How is such a shallow reflector producing such a small hotspot? Did they get the reflector geometry just right for a tight hotspot, but it also makes a dark center? Maybe they should have done the geometry for a less focused hotspot and that should give a smoother beam? IDK.
I see the Manker logo on the circuit boards so I’m guessing Manker will be releasing their version of this light soon.
Let’s hope both companies decide to go with OP reflectors to try and smooth out the beam. Or else tweak the reflector shape or height.
Max, can you try adding some kind of shim under the reflector centering rings, like some cardboard, to raise it slightly? .25 or .5 of mm might do the trick and smooth out the dark center.
8000 lumens is pretty 2016 for a triple XHP70 (great output nevertheless). My guess is that this light is going to be (hopefully) a game changer when it comes to value; I think that’s what Utorch is about. I haven’t read anything about price… so… what do you guys think? About $100 MSRP? Too high, too low?
Too high. When you can get the Q8 for $40 and it’s so much better, though not quite as high output.
Then again the regular price of the Q8 will go up after the group buy.
IDK, I always hope for cheaper. Lol
Thanks for sharing this!
This could end up being something.
But with taking the chance of sounding snarky.
What do you think is the main reason for getting this prototype, at this stage?
It wasn’t for the beam quality.
It’s not for proof of concept.
It’s not to test fit and finish.
All Flashlight makers can now knurl well, right?
I have this switch, tail-cap, and battery holder on a few of my flashlights now. As a matter of fact, that tail-cap is a direct replacement for the one on my Manker MK35.
(Broken/poor quality O-rings, overly thick non-coated glass, donut hole spot, gouged up assembly marks, LED’s mounted out of line, no grease, etc.)
I am having a hard time figuring out why this is even in the wild, at this point.
You’ve clearly seen how warm this gets, and quick, apparently. Why would there be no fins up on the head, where those huge cut-outs are? We don’t need big fins. Just some fins. A few there about the same size as the bezel, would go a long way to helping cool this thing. Especially when trying to squeeze the last 2000lm out of it, when closer to production, and keeping the run-time before kick-down, reasonable.
The only thing I can think of at the moment, is to hear them say: “We are UTorch, and we’re going to make a light like this too, and charge X.X% less for it.”
Am I missing something here? :sunglasses:
Because of the Q8, and Astrolux, $100 is too high if it comes with an inferior UI.
I think your on the money. Manker obviously has these lights in production, or at least will soon, so Utorch is trying to get the jump on them by building interest in it first. This isn’t really fair to Manker, but Utorch is in the business of making money.
Whats funny though is this light (the Manker version, MK36?) will be directly competing with their existing MK34 which is very close in size, is $129 and 8,000 lumen.
They also have 12 individual emitter dies each, as well. The MK34 has xp-g2, this one has xm-l2. (Since xhp70 is 4 xm-l2 dies squished together).
This is what I was told:
Wow, that’s good competition with the Q8. I have higher faith in the Q8 for reliability, though.
I’m not an early adopter by any means, so I will wait patiently for a finished product and reviews from established members known for taking things apart and really testing thoroughly. If quality looks good, I will buy it.
Does anyone know if Utorch will sell parts, mainly the driver, should the light fail?
I see now too, that a post over on CPF, claims to have a group buy of sorts, for this started. Including members from this forum.
Maybe more of an interest list?
Here is the title, and Link >
Thread: #GB36 Utorch UT03 3x CREE XHP70 9,000lm+ Flashlight - Official Group buy Thread
Freeme started a GB on both forums
Freeme has just stated that the manufacturer has agreed to make the reflector in an OP finish. This should get rid of the dark spot in the hotspot and blend it better.
Plus there are other improvements. We will have to wait to hear the rest.