Nice comparison showing the two light bodies and their beams side by side! Helpful, for sure, for those trying to decide which one to get. I was surprised at your comparison showing how much brighter the hotspot of the MX25L3 was, more of a difference than I thought there would have been. I have actually been thinking of also picking up an SX25L3 to have an even smaller MT-G2 light with a broader beam, but its minor "flaws" have continued to give me pause.
I saw an SX25L3 in person last year and while I absolutely loved the pleasing, neutral, smooth beam from that lovely LED, I felt that all those lumens were a bit "wasted" on such a wide a floody beam, at least for what I wanted in a light like that. In addition, like you, I also felt the SX25L3's side switch was too low a profile to find easily by touch. I also thought the straight cylindrical barrel, with no flaring at the head, made it too easy for the light to slip out of one's hand with only a slight loosening of one's grip. I decided to hold off, and then once the MX25L3 was announced, I was glad I did!
When I read about the new MX25L3, it seemed as though all the faults I had personally found with the SX25L3 had been addressed. A bigger reflector for more throw and thus less "wasted" lumens, one which also should make the light feel more secure in the hand, plus a more protruding side switch to find more easily by touch. I decided to order the kit version, which included the threaded bezel, a diffuser, colour filters and a tail-cap switch etc. The most expensive light I have bought to date, but I feel the price was well worth it. I am glad I ordered the kit since an added bonus (and a total surprise) was that the threaded bezel turned out to have standard 58mm photo filter threads, so off-the-shelf colour correction filters from Hoya, Tiffen, B+W etc. can easily be bought. The diffuser is a nice addition too, especially if using the MX25L3 as a photographic light source. While the MT-G2 being used is not really what one would consider a high CRI LED (I believe it may only be rated at 75?), it still has the best colour rendering of all of my lights and the 5000K colour temperature is nice, both visually and photographically. The tail-switch is quite useful too since even with the improved side switch, I still find it a bit difficult to locate by feel, whereas a tail-cap switch is always in a predictable location.
What surprised me the most was how well the light does throw since the beam still "feels" quite floody at close range. The first time I took it out and compared it to my SupBeam X40, with 3x XM-L2 LEDS rated to put out 3480 lumens, I was rather surprised to find the 2750 lumen MX25L3 threw a beam just as far, and because its beam has less of a blue spill than the X40, the reduced atmospheric backscatter actually allows me to see further with the MX25L3. Visually, at closer distances, it appears as though the X40 has a brighter and tighter hotspot but in the end, it doesn't really throw any better it seems. The amount of total output from the MX25L3's single LED still blows my mind
, especially when my eyes are fully dark adapted.
Overall, I think the MX25L3 is my favourite general purpose light now: still reasonably compact with outstanding throw (considering the large LED and relatively small reflector), pretty good run-time efficiency, an easy to grasp barrel that is not too thick (only 3x 18650 batteries with no carrier), four decently spaced modes accessed by tightening (brighter) or loosening (dimmer) the head, an instant turbo feature from any mode, the threaded head with filter options and, of course, that fabulous beam tint… or should I say, lack of tint. Yep… love that light!
To see some fairly high-resolution 400 meter nighttime beam-shots to compare how the MX25L3 throws against some other lights (Supbeam X40, Thrunite TN32, Nitecore SRT7, ArmyTek Predators and more), see my
blog entry. I wish I also had an SX25L3 that night to compare to. Here is a small animated GIF of the comparison shots. In these shots the MX25L3 still seems to have quite a bit of blue backscatter but in practice when handheld, it is far less distracting than the backscatter from my other bright lights...
That TN32 is friggin' amazing too, but considering how much larger and heavier it is than the MX25L3, with a very tight and a less generally useful beam, the MX25L3 still wins the "overall most useful light in my collection" award! Lastly, here is a zoomed version of the beam-shots...
As far as the new MX25L4 lights… well…? I just think their bodies will be a bit too thick and heavy to feel like a compact light... although I reserve the right to change my mind
if I ever actually hold one in person! I'm not convinced the SST LEDs are an upgrade either, although their throw capability is much greater than the larger MT-G2 allows for that reflector size. But then, I doubt their beam colour will be anywhere near as nice. No, I think the MX25L3 is just right for me… :thumbsup: