List Price: $39.98
Sale Price: $8.02
Today's Bonus: 80% Off
I like this light. It has shortcomings and isn't "perfect". It will be great for camping! The light itself isn't too bad. It is less than $20 and uses AAA batteries, along with the "special" large mah rated batteries. This is the main reason I purchased it, because my full-size MagLite is heavy and large for backpack camping and hunting.
Brightness:
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I purchased this after seeing a friend's similar 1000lm light. I figured 1800 > 1000 right...? The major issue I have with this light is how that light fails to be transmitted through the lens. There is no mirrored parabolic dish, so moving the lens away from the LED focuses the light beam in such a way that it "clarifies" the light... The "zoom" feature (a movable lens) isn't the same as a zoom on say a Maglite flashlight. What this means is that at the 1x "zoom" you can actually see an image of the square LED on the wall... clear enough to see the circuitry! Add to this that you have virtually no "cone" of light around the bright center. This is a bit distracting because the spaces in-between the LED circuits are displayed against the wall, making a projected shadow effect as if someone were covering the light with a mesh screen. This projected shadow works against the whole idea of projecting an intense beam of light! It appears to block the light, making it very distracting and difficult to quickly distinguish what you are viewing. The light should have been built to prevent a "1x zoom" because at about mid-range the image is blurred, making a more consistent field of light. Ideally it should have been "3x 2000x" zoom.
Another effect of the lack of parabolic mirrored finish on this light is that the LED, being a grid of squares, projects a SQUARE light. This looks strange in a round light field, but it only a distraction. Minor nitpick.
When you zoom "out" (up to x2000 according to the legend) you get a wide field of dispersed light with no highly focused center... the edges of the field are as bright as the center. This is VERY useful for camping/outdoors use! However the light intensity appears to be dispersed... leaving you with less than 1800lm brightness. Compared to my friend's 1000lm light with a mirrored parabolic reflector, and this light appears dim. HOWEVER, my friend's light is a fixed pattern that has no "zoom" feature. The mirrored dish on his 1000lm AND on my MagLites provide both a large field of light that has a focused center. The trade-off of this zoom feature (less intensity vs. fixed zoom) should be considered. Having both styles of lights, this zoom feature will be a nice addition to my camping gear.
The "reflector" around the LED is extremely shallow and not polished. The mold marks from the machining process are clearly visible, like tracks on a record. This means that for every raised machining groove facing the light, there is a groove in-between that is not reflecting the light outward. Futhermore, mine has what appear to be glue smudges that further exasperate the issue.
Waterproofing:
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The "waterproof" feature on mine is questionable... when unscrewing the lens to wipe it clean, there is plainly a recess for an O-ring that is not present. You can see small dimples in the metal cap that push into the side of the lens (or recesses in the lens) It appears the only thing preventing water from touching the LED's is the pressure of the screw cap, and the pressure from the "dimples" around the lens. There does not appear to be any gasket or waterproofing compound around the lens, so I think that "dimple " pressure around the lens is the only thing holding it in place. I question what would happen if this were dropped and the lens was slightly jarred... I think this will be OK in a damp camping environment, but if water gets past the lens "dimples" or the threads, then the LED's will be immersed in water and the light will probably fail. Some rubber cement should fix this problem. I plan to get an O-ring from a local hardware store to address this issue. The rear of the unit has a rubberized button cover that should hold up to damp water, but doesn't appear to be water-tight if left immersed. The battery compartment O-ring is present. The front of the light moves to provide the "zoom"... there appears to be an O-ring in-between the pieces of the light to prevent water entry.
Batteries:
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Batteries this is one of the few "super bright" lights that can use standard sized batteries. My initial testing was done with AAA rechargables. Thinking my dim light issues could be due to the batteries, I purchased an Ultrafire 18650 (3000mah) battery, charged it, and... same behavior. The light does NOT appear brighter with the 18650. However I have yet to determine how long the batteries last on full charge... that is a future test :) The size of the light allows for the larger 26650 battery. I plan to try that as well. These batteries all appear to have control circuitry to regulate output to prevent LED damage, leading me to believe they will provide longer battery life and will not affect the brilliance...
Pressure Switches:
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Pressure switches this is a multi-mode light. Meaning every time you toggle it on, you are moving it to the next mode: High-Medium-Low-Flashing-SOS. There is no way to "fix" it to a certain mode, making this useless for any weapon or equipment-mounting solution. Even if you were to use it for a remote mount solution, there is no remote switch. The "Remote Pressure Switch for UltraFire C8 CREE Q5 / R5 / T6 LED Torch Flashlight" DOES NOT WORK! The threads don't match. The only information on the light is "UltraFire XML-T6". So far there are no remote switches for this light.
What else is there to say? There are no-name copies of this avaiable on auction sites that come with the battery and charger for the same amount of money, but all the reviews of the off-brand batteries they come with indicate you are getting what you pay for... I prefer to pay only a few extra dollars to have the name-brand stuff that has proven to perform better. This thing is pretty inexpensive to start with! The overall size and weight of the light is nice. It is larger than 1" diameter, closer to 1 3/8". The included lanyard is nice. The knurled grip surface is deep and provides a very positive grip.
I like this light. I will to keep this in my backpack with some spare batteries for camping and hunting use where my huge D-cell MagLite used to be. To restate:
Not a bad light by itself
Doesn't compare in brightniess to some of the other "super bright" lights
Small, portable, economical.
Multi-mode
No remote switch option
Can use AAA batteries in a pinch! >>>> HUGE win for my needs!!!!!!
To UltraFire:
If I were to change one thing, I would put a parabolic mirror on it and limit the range of the zoom feature!
If I were to change two things, I would also make a single-mode version with remote switching option for weapon/equipment mounting use.
Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>
The maximum brightness of an XML-T6 emitter is 1000 lumens rated by Cree and the nominal brightness is 800 Lumens so unless this is a magic light it is not possible to get 1800 Lumens out of an emitter that's max output is 1000! I've been selling flashlights for over 10 years and build my own and can say with confidence that this light puts out a max of 5 or 600 lumens max if you're lucky and have high amperage batteries. The zoom feature magnifies the light to make it seem brighter by condensing it but if you put it next to a real 1800 Lumen light with a SMO (mirrored reflector) it would amaze you what a real 1800 lumen light looks like.Best Deals for Ultrafire 1000 Lumens Zoomable Cree Xm-l T6 LED 26650 18650 3x AAA
The lumen rating is ridiculous; it's fraudulently overstated. This flashlight is slightly brighter than a generic 200-lumen flashlight that I purchased at Sam's club ($20 for a 3-pack) Also, the tail clicker has no memory. it turns on at the next setting, you will have to cycle through settings every time you turn it on. Don't waste your money on this lousy light.Honest reviews on Ultrafire 1000 Lumens Zoomable Cree Xm-l T6 LED 26650 18650 3x AAA
how do companies get away with selling products that are in fact not what they say they are. hoping most consumers will just chalk it up as a loss and not demand a refund. if this was a store you could literally walk into and they were puling this scam it wouldnt last long before someone would put a stop to it. one way or the other. what youre doing is wrong. stop selling this product as an 1800 lumen flashlight. dont buy it if thats what you expect it to be! TWO THUMBS DOWN!!!Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Ultrafire 1000 Lumens Zoomable Cree Xm-l T6 LED 26650 18650 3x AAA
I have an 800 lumen flashlight and was excited to find this one at 1000 more lumens at $18.98. Upon receiving it, however, I was totally disappointed. It is much dimmer than my 800 lumen one. I had intended to use it to see on a bike, but I don't even find it safe to use it for being seen. When I turned it on at 'high' on my bike, pedestrians walking around didn't even notice. When contacting the seller for return, they said this low price is promotional--in other words, it's cheap not because it's a fake... They ask me to ship it back to China at my own expense. Knowing how expensive the int'l shipping is, they sure can make some money selling a misrepresented product absolutely one-way.Addendum: Just saw this response the seller Highly posted to a buyer feedback: " Please use 3AAA battery, the torch will be more bright. Exceeded 1800 lumens! ! !"
LOL!
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