Preface
The M30R is the newest tactical flashlight with power bank feature from FiTorch.
There was an issue with our initial review sample but FiTorch was quick to resolve it – read on to find out what it was.
That said, the eagerness of a company to fix an issue promptly is definitely a thumbs up in our book.
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Packaging & First Impressions
This is what the light will come with as shown below.
- The threads and o-rings were mildly lubricated. Threads were rather smooth and clean (no gritty feeling).
- The tail & side switches require a firm and deliberate press to activate and helps in preventing any unwanted activation of the light.
- The tail has lock mechanism – twisting the tail will switch between (Lock – Unlock – Lock) for the 2 tail paddle switches.
- The clip has sufficient tension to ensure that the light will stay clipped to any material to prevent the light from falling out.
- Anodizing of the light is uniform without any missing specs.
- The provided lanyard is able to support the full weight of the light and should hold up to the test of time.
- Holster provided is of decent quality and should withstand day-to-day abuse without issue.
- Battery compartment holds the provided non-proprietary Micro-USB rechargeable 18650 3400mAh battery with sufficient room for a slightly thicker battery width. Fatter 18650 3500mAh batteries should be able to fit without issue as well.
Note: Before using the flashlight for first time, remove the transparent plastic from the battery’s terminal first (unscrew tailcap first).
Front:
Back:
Sides:
Top:
Bottom:
Box Contents:
Quick Overview (Manufacturer Specifications)
- Body Material: Black HAIII Aluminium
- LED: XHP35 HD
- Battery Format: 1 x 18650, 2 x CR123A ONLY
- Output & Runtime (with included FiTorch 18650 3400mAh battery):
- Low (20 lumens / 146h)
- Mid (130 lumens / 13h)
- High (460 lumens / 35h)
- Turbo (1800 lumens / 40min)
- Max Beam Distance: 328m
- Beam intensity: 26,300cd
- Waterproofness: IPX-8 Standard
- Impact Resistance: 2m
- Dimension: 159mm (length) x 28mm (body diameter) / 36.5mm (head diameter)
- Weight: 169.8g (excluding batteries)
- Battery reverse polarity protection
- Accessories Included:
- 1*FiTorch UC34R (18650 3400mAh) battery
- 1*Micro-USB Cable
- 1*Micro-USB to USB Adapter
- 1*Clip
- 1*Spare Rubber Switch
- 1*Spare O-ring
- 1*Lanyard
- 1*Holster
- MSRP: ~$97 *** Click HERE to see where to get this at a special discount at $29.70 off! ***
UI (User Interface)
UI for this light is suitable for both Every Day Carry (EDC) and tactical usage as it is somewhat simple to use after the initial learning curve.
There is a total of 4 switches on the M30R – 3 of them are on the tailcap (2 PADDLE switches and 1 MAIN rubber switch) and 1 SIDE switch. Both of the PADDLE switches has the same function.
From OFF:
- 1/2 Press (MAIN) – Direct access to MOMENTARY TURBO; releasing it will switch the light OFF.
- 1 Click (MAIN) – Direct access to TURBO.
- 1 Press (SIDE) – Light will switch ON to last brightness level used (last mode memory).
- 2 Press (SIDE) – Direct access to STROBE; 2 Click again will switch to SOS or 1 Click again to return to last brightness level used.
- 3 Press (SIDE) – Battery Capacity Indicator (Switch LED will flash GREEN or RED)
- Each GREEN LED blink signifies 1V and next RED LED blink signifies 0.1V.
- Hence, 4 GREEN LED blinks, followed by another 1 RED LED blink – signifies 4.1V.
- Flashlight will switch ON to LOW mode after displaying battery level.
- 4 Press (SIDE) – Location Beacon is activated – Side Switch will blink GREEN to indicate flashlight location; 1 Click (SIDE) to deactivate Location Beacon & flashlight will switch ON to LOW mode.
- HOLD (SIDE) [~1 sec & release] – Direct access to LOW.
- HOLD (SIDE) [till LED flickers] – LOCKOUT mode is enabled; 3 Click (SIDE) – Battery Capacity Indicator is activated and LOCKOUT is disabled when the flashlight is switched ON in LOW mode.
- PADDLE switch – the tail lock mechanism must be twisted to unlock before the following can be used (see pictures below).
- 1 Press (PADDLE) – Direct access to MOMENTARY STROBE; releasing it will switch the light OFF.
- HOLD (PADDLE) [~1 sec] – Direct access to STROBE; 1 Press again will switch the light OFF.
From ON:
- 1/2 Press (MAIN) – Direct access to MOMENTARY TURBO (if light was switched ON with SIDE switch); releasing it will switch the light OFF.
- 1 Click (MAIN) – Direct access to TURBO OR the light will switch OFF (if light was switched ON with SIDE switch).
- 1 Press (SIDE) – Mode change per every press (light cycles through TURBO, HIGH, MID, LOW, MID, HIGH, TURBO).
- 2 Press (SIDE) – Direct access to STROBE; 2 Click again will switch to SOS or 1 Click again to return to last brightness level used.
- 4 Press (SIDE) – Light will switch OFF and Location Beacon is activated – Side Switch will blink GREEN to indicate flashlight location; 1 Click (SIDE) to deactivate Location Beacon & flashlight will switch ON to LOW mode.
- HOLD (SIDE) [~0.5 sec] – Light will switch OFF.
- PADDLE switch – the tail lock mechanism must be twisted to unlock before the following can be used (see pictures below).
- 1 Press (PADDLE) – Direct access to MOMENTARY STROBE; releasing it will switch the light OFF.
- HOLD (PADDLE) [~1 sec] – Direct access to STROBE; 1 Press again will switch the light OFF.
One thing to note – if the light is activated using the SIDE switch, any operation of the PADDLE or MAIN switch will activate the MOMENTARY STROBE or MOMENTARY TURBO mode and letting go of the switch will switch the light OFF. In general usage, this would seem like a UI flaw but seeing this is marketed as a tactical light; it is an understandable decision made by FiTorch to make it more tactical-orientated.
Form Factor
For flashlights that are intended to use on a daily basis (EDC)/tactical EDC and for possibly a long period of time, form factor is extremely important.
Although this flashlight is larger than most single 18650 tactical flashlight, it feels well balanced in a medium sized hand (not head/tail-heavy). Switching between overhand and underhand holding method is easy with its form factor. The knurling on the light enables the light to be sufficiently “grippy”, even with wet hands/gloves.
The slightly protruding tail switch takes away the ability to tail-stand stably. However, it is still able to tail-stand if the centre rubber switch is activated (TURBO mode only) which does defeat the purpose of tail-standing since the light cannot be left long by iteself in that mode. If tail-standing is extremely crucial in your usage, slotting the light into the side of the holster would help tremendously.
The light fits into the the holster snugly even with the lanyard attached.
Charging Process
Flashlight Charging
With the provided Micro-USB Cable, the battery was charging at ~1.69A.
The light is capable of operating on all modes (using the SIDE switch only) even when charging (at the expense of a slower charging rate).
The blinking GREEN indicator depicts charging in progress and solid GREEN indicator depicts charging has completed.
Battery Charging
With the provided Micro-USB Cable, the battery was charging at ~0.73A.
The RED indicator depicts charging in progress and GREEN indicator depicts charging has completed.
Discharging – Power Bank Function
This is probably one of the key specialty of this flashlight – the ability to use it as a backup Power Bank with the provided Micro-USB to USB Adapter.
The flashlight was discharging at ~1.03A, which is close to the stated 1.0A discharging rate.
The M30R will still be able to operate in LOW and MID modes even when discharging. The Side Switch will flash GREEN and RED when discharging.
Beam Style/Beamshots
For this light, the spill, corona and hotspot is somewhat predictable due to the rather deep Smooth Reflector. But due to the LED used, the beam is still “throwy” for recognising items in the near to mid-range distance.
The above beam profile is a rough interpretation of what is seen when white wall hunting with the crenulated SS bezel. The beam has a distinct hotspot with some slight corona and a rather wide usable (almost circular) spill. It also helps that the XHP35 HD led is perfectly centred in this sample. There are some slight rings (no dark “donut”) in the beam when whitewall hunting but not visible in real world usage.
All of the beamshots taken below are done so with the following camera settings (LOW: 1.3sec, F3.5, ISO100, 5000K WB, MID: 1/2sec, F3.5, ISO100, 5000K WB, HIGH: 1/4sec, F3.5, ISO100, 5000K WB, TURBO: 1/5sec, F3.5, ISO100, 5000K WB).
Some pictures have been adjusted slightly to depict as close as to what is seen in real life. The distance of the light from the door is 4.6m.
Control shot:
LOW (20 lumens):
MID (130 lumens):
HIGH (460 lumens):
TURBO (1800 lumens):
Mode (Output) Spacing
Mode spacing appears to be progressively brighter to the eye and the modes are well spaced enough to be able to know which mode one is currently in. With that in mind, TLR tend to view mode spacing as battery life indicators (amount of runtime left) rather than the specific output (lumens).
It would be nice if FiTorch would incorporate a MOONLIGHT mode to one that is at moonlight level (sub-lumen or 1 lumen) for those bedtime runs or during which having 20 lumens is way too bright for the night-adjusted eyes.
However, since this light is primarily marketed a tactical light, it is understandable why FiTorch omitted this mode.
Tint & CRI
FiTorch did not disclose the tint (color temperature) and/or the CRI (Color Rendering Index) for the LEDs used in their light. For this light, a guesstimate would be in the 6500K and 70CRI ballpark.
However, due to the emitter used, there are tint shifts throughout the beam profile. The hotspot is almost cool white whilst the corona possess a slight yellow-green tint; and the spill having a slight purple tint.
This is however, not as noticeable in real life.
Waterproofness
The light was subjected to warm water submersion, followed by cold water submersion and left under room temperature running water tap whilst running on Turbo.
No signs of water intrusion in the head, switch or Micro-USB port was seen.
Note: After the initial fluke review sample that failed our water tests, the replacement review sample has since passed our water tests – and the entire water tests were done twice; just to be sure.
Apparently, FiTorch replaced the Micro-USB rubber cover to a tighter-fit one, to ensure that the water stayed out of the light.
Lockout Capability
Both mechanical lockout and electronic lockout are possible when needed, like during transportation in a bag.
See above UI (User Interface), on how to activate and deactivate Electronic LOCKOUT. The Electronic LOCKOUT disables the SIDE switch only.
A quarter turn (anti-clockwise) of the tailcap will enable Mechanical LOCKOUT. The Mechanical LOCKOUT disables the PADDLE & MAIN tail switches only.
Hence, to properly LOCKOUT this flashlight, BOTH Mechanical & Electronic LOCKOUT have to be activated.
Note: Charging the flashlight will automatically deactivate Electronic LOCKOUT.
Scale Comparison (Ruler)
Summary
To sum up, we believe that the most important part of any review is if given the chance to purchase the same light for our own EDC or to gift to our loved ones out from one’s pocket (wallet), would we still do it?
For this light, it is a possible YES, if the UI is not an issue for your usage.
The direct access to TURBO and STROBE (& their MOMENTARY modes) pretty much makes it a proper tactical flashlight and along with the power bank capability are all plus points for this flashlight.
However, as mentioned earlier, its UI might need some getting used to with its various clicks and presses on the 3 different types of switches. In addition, this flashlight could really use a more “throwy” XHP35 HI LED to get the most throw out of its Smooth and rather deep reflector.
Here are some of the other Tactical Flashlight options we have reviewed recently.
From Left to Right: Klarus XT2CR, FiTorch M30R and Olight M2T Warrior.
As with all gears, two is one and one is none.
Stay safe,
The Lite Review
Disclaimer: Light was provided for by FiTorch (manufacturer) for this review. No other compensation was provided.
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FiTorch M30R
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