Generally they feature an XHP70 LCD and a 26650 battery. They’re generally ~125x35mm in size and weight ~125 grams without batteries.
I guess this is the ultralightweight ultrabright category.
In this category, which one is the best?? Defined as:
As strong light as possible (e.g. 4000+ lumen turbo if possible)
Many light modes (e.g. 20, 100, 1000, 2000, >3000)
USB charged
Does not overheat
Warm light (5000k)
Preferably can BOTH have a wide flooding light AND a focused mode for reaching far away (e.g. 400 meters)
Waterproof down to 2 meters’ depth is useful.
Some way to secure it so it won’t turn on by itself would be useful.
My analysis is this:
Acebeam EC50 gen II: Really perfect, it’s just that it overheats, and only has the wide flooding mode.
Fenix PD40R: A little long maybe. Maybe the buttons are not so convenient. ( Review of Fenix PD40R ) This lamp is weird in that I don’t see much “against” it. Maybe it feels a bit “love starved” as I can’t see anyone saying anything really good about it, so in that sense a bit like the Klarus G20. I think the light has acold temperature only.
Olight R50 Pro Seeker: Unconvenient charging mode as you need a special magnetic charger. However its thermal management is excellent. If it had a direct microUSB plug and a warmer light (rather than its very cold 6000K), maybe this would be the ultimate light afterall.
Jaunt D40F (which has no online reviews): No idea.
Klarus G20: Too weak light.
Imalent DN70: Too few modes, it goes from 300 lumen all up to 2500 lumen. That is really idiotic, I wonder if they were thinking anything at all
OLight SR Mini II: I didn’t read very much about this one. It’s the only small strong light I found that not is based on the XHP70.
Nitecore TM03: This one is a bit too long for my preference, it’s 159mm, now that there are shorter variants out there I have no reason to buy it. Also it uses the weaker 18650 battery.
All of the above leads me to understand that the Acebeam EC50 gen II is the best compromise of all the lamps, but still maybe there is some other lamp I missed.
Any suggestions or clarifications would be much appreciated!
@kiriba-ru , I do not agree that “ultralightweight”, “4000+ lumen” and “Does not overheat” not can be combined:
The Olight R50 Pro Seeker actually combines 3000 lumen with a cooling system that keeps you at 45 centegrades. Nut sure for how long it lasts, but, it will never burn you.
That may be the weakest point with the Acebeam EC50 genii, that it goes up to ~~55 centegrades in extended turbo use.
Also, “ultralightweight” and “4000+ lumen” are combinable thanks to the lovely XHP70 chip, and you know that as well already.
@The Miller, thanks! Please let me know if you have any opinions.
Im not sure that you can recognize difference between 3000 and 4000lm. I think you need to move your attension to other factors and properties - like UI, internal charger current, tint and cri and etc. They make much bigger difference in real life than listed output IMO.
@kiriba-ru , yes sure (move my attention to those other things)!
What’s your favourite? I guess I can even use another LED chip than the XHP70, but I didn’t see any other flashlights that looked any interesting.
The Acebeam EC50 gen II overheats, and i would like a distance-optimized mode somehow, but it has a lovely natural color of ~4550K, a wide flooding nice spread, many lumen levels, and you can plug a microUSB straight into it - I consider that a very useful feature as I want to bring the lamp with me everywhere, it’s not for stationary use (in which case a big clunky charger station could be more useful, which is the direction OLight R50 Pro Seeker is going in).
Let me know
Maybe in particular, are there any other models on the market that I missed (not listed above) that may be relevant??
The Olight R50 (not Pro) is based on an XHP50.
It is more throwy than the Pro (I had both) and the tailcap is equipped with a micro-USB port (as opposite to the magnetic interface of the Pro)
When I got the two for review, I choose to keep the XHP50 because of a more useful beam and micro-USB interface.
I love the finish and shape of this light, and the classic Olight UI.
However, it lacks a low low mode IMO.
The tint is greenish, I plan to swap the emitter…
Don’t like the Seeker R50
Ugly tint, and mine gets way to hot, and don’t like the UI or lack of low
Looks good, double click for turbo nice, build is high quality
I camp with the DN70 and love it.
The gap in levels IS large, but seems to work in real life.
The low setting is great for hunting around in the tent, working on the fire pit, in the camper, etc.
The 300 lumen mode is fine for night walking and the beam pattern is perfect - enough spill to see all around you walking path, with a brighter throw spot to see further down the trail.
The 2500 setting is easy to access and will light up any clearing or large open spot, and throws several hundred yards for startling that bear while it’s still a ways away, lol. Also, it seems to last a fairly long time before thermal protection kicks in.
The turbo mode at 3800 is BRIGHT, and fun for lighting up a whole campground or valley, but I don’t use it for more than a few seconds, which is easily accessible by the turbo button.
All in all, I’ve been fairly pleased with this tiny performer, and have not had any issues with operation or QC.
The emisar d4 (TK's Emisar D4 review) might not tick all of your boxes, but the boxes it ticks, ticks them real hard - 93.7 mm, 118g with battery, 3800 lumens of 5000k, infinite ramping.
@radioshaq , I can only say wow. I like this one’s specs best of all.
I hope the 68mm battery BATTERIES will fit in it, that battery itself is USB-chargeable, so neat.
There are some other USB-chargeable batteries but they’re 69-70.7mm, I guess those are too long.
Btw also, subsequently, I realized that the Acebeam H10 headlamp is incredibly practical, it’s 50 grams excluding battery, 18650-driven, comes with head straps, and gives you 2000 lumen. Nice to have a versatile lamp like that.
So I think the winners are Emisar D4 and Acebeam H10 are the winners on my chart for now!
yeah that d4 came out of left field. i wouldn’t have even noticed if it wasn’t for toykeeper (a very respected and tremendously talented member of budgetlightforum) review (that i linked to above)
regarding battery charging, how about LiitoKala Lii-100 (http://www.gearbest.com/chargers/pp_272183.html) and a regular 18650 battery? the charger is a single battery usb charger that can charge a wide range of batteries (nimh, lithium ion, 10440 to 18650 size) and also acts as a power bank.
So, if I make a choice of this features, I would replace all of them for light which can stay with high output without overheats easy or step down for a minute or so……
I will go to haikelite MT01, those reviews shows it can run in max output without overheats…
This light maybe have cons because its more thicker than you want and have no those features but you will have the most high continuos output of all those lights which you posted, benefits to “cold” operation and very good amount of energy provided by 3x18650……
You think near that I do, I hate hot lights, short autonomy and step downs but I prefer a basic big and heavy light which can work without frills on high mode
Please let me know if you have any opinions.