ThruNite pre-production 3 XML flashlight




ThruNite has made many lights, this is their most powerful light to date. It has 3 XM-L leds and uses a magnetic ring for mode selection, on/off is controlled with a tail switch.
The light is made of aluminum with anodized finish.

I got an early version of the light without any accessories or engraving on the light.



The light uses a smooth reflector with a 3 XM-L leds.



The head designed includes a heat sink.



Just below the heat sink part is the ring to control the light. On my copy of the light the ring does not turn easily, but requires some force, this means that the click-stops are too weak. ThruNite has told me that this will be fixed in the final version.



The light has six brightness settings, strobe and standby on the ring.



The backside of the head has a spring for connection to the battery carrier. This spring is long and not very thick and as can be seen on the second photo, I had an accident with it. ThruNite has told me that this will be fixed in the final version.



The battery tube has triangular threads with anodizing and a o-ring to seal the connection.



Inside the battery tube is not the usual single spring, but two springs. This probably means that the light has an electronic switch and might use a small about of power for it (Measured at 2 mA when switch is on and 0mA when switch is off).
The switch activates when pressed half way down, i.e. it is a forward switch.



The light uses a battery carrier, that holds 3 18650 batteries in series. The carrier can handle batteries up to 70 mm long.



It has a small metal plate on the plus contact, i.e. it can use flattop batteries



The carrier is symmetric, i.e. it can be used both ways in the light.



Here is all the part the light can be disassembled in without tools.



Here is a size comparison to other 3 XM-L lights and a single SST50 light (That also exists in 3 XM-L version with the same size).



I like this light (Except for the two issues I mention above), it is one of the smaller and lighter 2000 lumen lights. The ring makes it easy and fast to select brightness and covers a brightness range of around 1:1000 (But the modes are a bit sparse in the low end).





Technical specification and measurements



The light is rated for use with 3 18650 LiIon batteries.

Measured size and weight:
Length: 179 mm
Diameter: 49 mm to 64.4 mm
Weight: 607 gram with 3xAW18650-26

The light uses a 3 Cree XM-L leds.



In the above table I have collected all modes. The current is measured at 11.1 volt. All the estimated runtimes are with a 2600mAh LiIon battery.
The current draw includes the 2mA used by the tailcap.



The first voltage sweep is done in high mode. The light uses the a buck regulator and because the brightness starts dropping at 10 volt my guess is that the leds are in series. To find the battery that gives longest runtime on high, check my battery comparison and find the longest cyan bar in the 3.4 volt chart (When I publish it).






There is no surprise in the lower brightness settings, they uses less power and has less brightness.



When doing the runtime it can be seen that the light reduces the brightness after about 3 minutes, this is done to reduce the heat (see below). At the high setting the light can run about 70 minutes.



To see how this light handles the heat, I did a run on my test bench with a temperature sensor on the light. It looks like the light has two ways to handle the heat. The current (and brightness) is reduced when the light gets hot and after 3 minutes the brightness is stepped down.
A longer runtime would have been nice, but the price for that would be a larger light to get more cooling and that would not be so nice.
Note: My test does not simulate actual usage conditions, but are done on a test bench with only the head of the light and no cooling airflow, i.e. the light will get hotter than during normal use.



The strobe does not use full brightness, but includes some pwm.



Filtering the pwm, makes it easier to see what the strobe is composed of. It is 14.5 Hz and 6.8 Hz, both with 50% duty cycle.
The sequence is: 10 fast, 4 slow, 10 fast, 3 slow, repeat



The light uses pwm at 1000 Hz to control brightness, here is #5 setting.



#2 setting



Lowest setting.



Comparison to other Flashlights

ThruNite pre-product 3 XM-L, NiteCore TM11, Fenix TK70:


Olight SR92, Olight SR91, Olight SR90:



For the full comparison to other lights with graphs and beamshots see here




Notes

The light was supplied by ThruNite for review.