Preface
For quite a few of us, one of the first few flashlight ever purchased is probably a zoomie-style light or even a Maglite focus-able light.
This zoomie light brings back much nostalgia and let’s see how it fare as we put it through the TLR’s review process!
Click HERE to skip to & see the discount code (18% off!) for this light!
Packaging & First Impressions
This is what the light will come with as shown below.
- Packaging looks rather similar to Fenix’s style of packaging.
- The threads and o-rings were overly lubricated (it is our first production light that ever had this). Threads were smooth and clean (no gritty feeling).
- The zoomable head was well-lubricated and it is easy to switch from flood to spot and vice versa.
- The tail switch can be easily accessed to activate the light and require little force to activate.
- The clip has sufficient tension to ensure that the light will stay clipped to any material to prevent the light from falling out.
- Attachment of the light to a baseball cap for hands-free usage is not possible as the clip is not reversible.
- 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 a KeepPower 18650 3400mAh battery with sufficient room for a slightly thicker battery width. 18650 3500mAh batteries should be able to fit without issue as well.
Front:
Back:
Sides:
Top:
Box Contents:
Quick Overview (Manufacturer Specifications)
- Body Material: Black HAIII Aluminium
- LED: XP-L
- Battery Format: 1 x 18650 or 2 x CR123A ONLY
- Output & Runtime (with SANYO 18650 3500mAh battery):
- Low (30 lumens / 120h)
- Mid (300 lumens / 3h 48min)
- High (700 lumens / 2h 9min)
- Max Beam Distance: 190m
- Beam intensity: 11,300cd
- Waterproofness: IPX-8 Standard (2m)
- Impact Resistance: 2m
- Dimension: 129mm (length) x 34.6mm (head diameter)
- Weight: 124.6g (excluding batteries)
- Accessories Included:
- 1*Spare O-rings
- 1*Spare Rubber Switch Boot
- 1*Lanyard
- 1*Holster
- MSRP: ~$51
UI (User Interface)
UI for this light is perfect for Every Day Carry (EDC) as it is simple and straightforward to use.
Switching ON and OFF is done by the tail forward clicky (mechanical) switch on the light, so momentary activation is possible.
From OFF:
- 1/2 Press – Mode change per every press (light cycles through HIGH, MID, LOW -> HIGH, MID, LOW).
- 2 x 1/2 Press – Direct access to STROBE; 2 Click again for SOS or 1 Click to switch OFF.
- 1 Click – Switch ON to last brightness level used (last mode memory).
- 2 Click – Direct access to STROBE; 2 Click again for SOS or 1 Click to switch OFF.
From ON:
- 1 Click – Light will switch OFF.
- 2 Click – Mode change per every press (light cycles through HIGH, MID, LOW -> HIGH, MID, LOW).
Mode memory will remember almost instantaneously whichever non-blinky mode (Strobe and SOS are not memorized) the light is in.
If the above 1/2 presses mode switching from OFF are done too quickly, the light would jump straight into STROBE instead of the next mode level.
Zoomable Function:
- Rotate Head Clockwise: Spot (Pics below)
- Rotate Head Anti-clockwise: Flood (Pics below)
Form Factor
For flashlights that are intended to use on a daily basis (EDC) and for possibly a long period of time, form factor is extremely important.
This light 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.
It fitting in the holster snugly as well as being able to tail-stand perfectly (even with the lanyard attached) without the slightest wobble is very much desired.
Charging Process (Optional Accessory)
The light was sent with a FiTorch 2600mAh Micro-USB chargeable 18650 without the Micro-USB cable.
Using an Olight branded Micro-USB cable, the battery was charging at ~0.71A.
The RED indicator depicts charging in progress and GREEN indicator depicts charging has completed.
Beam Style/Beamshots
For this light, the spill, corona and hotspot is somewhat familiar to zoomies owing to the TIR(Total Internal Reflection) optical lens used. Hence, the beam produced can be floody for very close-up usage (flood mode) and still be sufficiently “throwy” (spot mode) for recognising items in the near to mid-range distance.
The above beam profiles are rough interpretations of what is seen when white wall hunting.
In the flood mode, the beam has is simple a large circular wall of light with no discernment between hotspot and corona. However, in spot mode, the beam has a distinct circular hotspot with a slight corona and a fairly wide (perfectly round) spill. There are some slight rings in the beam (in flood & spot mode) when whitewall hunting but not visible in real world usage.
All of the beamshots taken below are done so with the following camera settings.
For Flood: (LOW: 1.3, F3.5, ISO100, Daylight WB and MID & HIGH: 1/2, F3.5, ISO100, Daylight WB).
For Spot: (LOW, MID & HIGH: 1/3, F3.5, ISO100, Daylight 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.
FLOOD Mode
Control shot:
LOW (30 lumens):
MID (300 lumens):
HIGH (750 lumens):
SPOT Mode
Control shot:
LOW (30 lumens):
MID (300 lumens):
HIGH (750 lumens):
Mode (Output) Spacing
Mode spacing appears to be somewhat progressively brighter to the eye but the MID and HIGH modes are visually too similar to each other 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 lower MID level in the region of 150 lumens and this would give a more significant bump in runtime on the MID level as well. In addition, a MOONLIGHT mode (sub-lumen or 1 lumen) for those bedtime runs or during which having 30 lumens for LOW is way too bright for the night-adjusted eyes.
However, in the flood mode, the 30 lumen “low” is more acceptable as an actual LOW mode since this light is diffused out into a wall of light as mentioned earlier.
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 60CRI ballpark.
There are tint shifts throughout the beam profile.
In flood mode, the beam from the centre to near the spill edge is cool white with a slight blueish-purple tint whilst the spill edge possesses is white with slight yellowish tint.
In spot mode, the hotspot is almost pure white with the corona being white with slight yellow-ish green tint and the spill having a slight blueish-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 (in spot & flood mode).
No signs of water intrusion in the head, switch or body was seen.
Lockout Capability
No electronic lockout but mechanical lockout is possible when needed, like during transportation in a bag.
A quarter turn (anti-clockwise) of the head or tail portion of the light will enable mechanical lockout.
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 mode spacing & tint shift is not an issue for your usage.
The zoomable setup used by FiTorch is rather ingenious, enabling both flood and spot whilst still retaining waterproofness; and it seems somewhat similar to the type used in Fenix’s FD series. The TIR optical lens’s Achilles heel is that the spot beam produced will not be focused to a point whereby the LED’s die image can be seen like with true aspheric lights – to increase the intensity candela.
As nostalgic as this light is, we look forward to the day that FiTorch incorporates a lower MID mode at least to make the light much more usable. In addition, using a dedomed LED (XP-L HI) might help to improve the tint shift issues and improving candela in the process.
Since this light would most probably be the main EDC, it is recommended to carry a backup keychain light as well.
May we suggest the Prometheus Lights Beta QRv2 we recently reviewed – high CRI and excellent lower modes.
As with all gears, two is one and one is none.
Stay safe,
The Lite Review
Disclaimer: Light & battery was provided for by FiTorch (manufacturer) for this review. No other compensation was provided.
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FiTorch P30Z
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