Fenix TK35 (XM-L, 2x18650/4xCR123A) Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS, DETAILED COMPARISONS

[ergotelis]

The led tint shift is common in these emitters. It might look greenier on the low settings but on high kelvin temp goes up a bit higher.

 

[lyklyk616]

We have to admit , Fenix really can produce great flashlights ! This is a great example ! Great review !

 

[dongkoo]

Great Reveiw.
Thanks.

 

[selfbuilt]

Would it be possible to do a group beam shot with a few lights so we can see the green tint?

Hmmm, I could try that - we'll see if I can do something that matches what I see. But again, that's no guarantee for what anyone else will get.

In any case, I will be updating with external beamshots when I get the chance to do them.

The led tint shift is common in these emitters. It might look greenier on the low settings but on high kelvin temp goes up a bit higher.

Yes, that is common - it gets worse with the lower outptus. But in my case, I immediately recognized this light as having one of the greenest tints I've ever seen upon initial activation in Turbo.

 

[03roadking]

I have been waiting for this review! Looks like a great light to keep around. I think it may be my next purchase!

 

[samgab]

Update: my TK35 turned up, and I'm stoked with it. There is no discernible tint at all, it's a very neutral white - perhaps slightly coolish temp. Yes, there is a very slight rattle from the secondary button actuator, but that's just a design *feature*, as they'd say in IT. And bright...! I got 4 x protected 2600mAh Ultrafire 18650's with it, so they should do the job, 2 in the torch, 2 for backup or in the charger. All in all, win.

 

[hunter306]

Just picked one up myself and enjoyed reading through the review. Spot On with the observations.

Wondered if anyone has measured the current draw on Turbo yet?

I ask because I have 4 sets of 18650's, and only 2 of the four sets are capable of handling this light on Turbo mode. The other sets, which are red-label UltraFires with a 3000mah capacity (not verified, and at this point, not believed) cannot drive the turbo mode on the TK35 for more than 2 minutes without protection kicking in.

 

[StandardBattery]

[. . .]

Preliminary Observations

In many ways, the TK35 is something of a Goldilocks model. :laughing: Build-wise, you could argue that most of the other high-output lights are either too long, too thick, too heavy, or too light. The TK35 feels just about right in the hand – nice and compact, and well-balanced.

Same goes for the beam pattern. [. . .] :twothumbs

I think the dual control interface is generally well implemented. [. . .]

[. . .]

Another distinctive feature of the TK35 is the price. [. . .]

[. . .]

At the end of the day, I think the TK35 is a fantastic bargain with a good overall design, good mix of features and outstanding performance. [. . .]

I'm really loving this light for it's well rounded features and price/performance. The above quotes pretty much sum up my feelings.

I've been out of lights for a while so I've not played with anything new for a year or closer to two; except for some nice Zebralights as they keep updating their models.

Just by coincidence the TK35 was mentioned on another forum and it looked so good on paper I had to try it.

As far as I'm concerned I did pretty well in the tint lottery, the tint is certainly a bit different, especially on low output modes, but mine is not overly green. As a person who has mostly switched to Warm/Neutral emitters in my regular use lights I find my tint quite acceptable. Even though the light has output options, I consider the size and weight still put it in the outdoor ranage and that's where I'll be using it, unless I need to celing bounce during a power outage (man it can light a room).

I had to buy this one before reading the reviews and I'm very glad I did.

Really nice to see Selfbuilt still doing just an amazing Job on reviews of the breaking-edge lights. Great to see a lot of old timers, newcomers, and lots of activity on the forums.

While I don't need a new light or two every month anymore, I still really appreciate those in my collection, maybe more.

Thanks for the review!

 

[orbital]

+

Never owned a Fenix, the TK35 could change that.

~ I'll go out on a limb and say the side-by-side configuration becomes the go-to format
for 2X 18650 lights.
Its small enough to be easily portable, also getting valuable runtime {flat runtime on TK35.}

thanks selfbuilt,...again

 

[droeun]

Bought one and immediately sold my TK40. Size and output is perfect. Kinda wish it came with an OP reflector instead, but other than that the thing is awesome. I also got lucky with the tint lottery. Kind of warm on low, but not much different than the TK40. Very cool white on high/turbo.

 

[recDNA]

Great review...but it makes me wonder about Fenix ANSI numbers. Your measurement of Eagletac about the same as theirs but Fenix claiming 820 ANSI lumens? Hmmm

Any explanations anybody can think of?

 

[srfreddy]

Bad LED? There's always variation, and Fenix makes too many flashlights to hand select LED's, especially with the new XML.

 

[recDNA]

Bad LED? There's always variation, and Fenix makes too many flashlights to hand select LED's, especially with the new XML.

Thrunite V3 pushes 3.5 amps and doesn't attain 800 ansi lumens. Does fenix push theirs harder? No. I think the 820 is just bogus.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[srfreddy]

Thrunite V3 pushes 3.5 amps and doesn't attain 800 ansi lumens. Does fenix push theirs harder? No. I think the 820 is just bogus.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

No....3.5 amps doesn't do much except heat the led up, and a tad more lumens. Thrunite advertises 1000 lumens for it. The 820 I can trust.

 

[G_L]

No....3.5 amps doesn't do much except heat the led up, and a tad more lumens. Thrunite advertises 1000 lumens for it. The 820 I can trust.

The Fenix TK-35 is a good thrower. I have compared it to 4Sevens S12. My S12 puts out 860 OTF lms first 30 secs, and is much brighter than the TK-35.

 

[poon]

much brighter? any beamshots?
last week i compared some beamshots of s12 and tk35 and chose tk35 because of its balanced flood/throw

 

[srfreddy]

The S12 pushes over 1000 lumens at turnon, FYI.

 

[selfbuilt]

Great review...but it makes me wonder about Fenix ANSI numbers. Your measurement of Eagletac about the same as theirs but Fenix claiming 820 ANSI lumens? Hmmm

Bad LED? There's always variation, and Fenix makes too many flashlights to hand select LED's, especially with the new XML.

Again, my lightbox conversion estimate to lumens is very approximate (so I make no comment about the accuracy of the absolute value). But my results show that all the high-output XM-L lights I've tested to date are remarkably consistent in the overall output. :shrug:

Personally, I am not clear as to how Fenix could have managed to produce a higher output light, compared to the others (unless they are using a higher bin output emitter). So, the comparable results shown here are not really surprising to me, assuming they are all using XM-L T6s. But we are also talking about a less than 10% difference in Fenix's numbers compared to the others, and it is not hard to see how that kind of variation could occur in testing. This may all fall within natural variation between samples (again, n=1 for each of my light samples).

As always, I recommend people focus on beam pattern, interface and build issues when trying to choose between lights.

 

[Lightups]

Thank you for a very detailed review.

I have not used Turbo mode for more than a minute or so at a time since I got the light, but the other day I left it on Turbo for around 15 minutes, and the head was extremely hot to the touch. Is this normal? The body was also pretty warm, and the batteries(AW 2600s) were lukewarm. Thanks for any feedback.

 

[selfbuilt]

I have not used Turbo mode for more than a minute or so at a time since I got the light, but the other day I left it on Turbo for around 15 minutes, and the head was extremely hot to the touch. Is this normal? The body was also pretty warm, and the batteries(AW 2600s) were lukewarm. Thanks for any feedback.

Yes, this is normal. All the high-output lights get warm on Turbo/Max, especially if left unattended. This is why a number have internal thermal sensors, or timed step-downs (like the TK35).

Should be perfectly safe, but it is a good thing to keep in mind if you plan to pick up a light after its been left running unattended for some time.