Object/Subject Review: Sunwayman V10R XM-L (Anniversary Edition)

Bigmac_79

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Sunwayman's V10R has been a favorite for many for quite some time now. Recently, they released an Anniversary Edition with a Neutral XM-L emitter instead of the previous XP-G.

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I'll be reviewing the V10R in two sections: first, I'll discuss the light objectively (the facts about the light itself), then I'll discuss the light subjectively (my impressions about the lights performance when used for specific applications. This light is considered an "EDC" class light.

Objective

Here are the manufacturer's specs on the V10R AE:

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● CREE XM-L T5 LED, with a lifetime of up to 50,000 hours;
● Digital Sensor Magnetic Control system, Infinite Variable Output Switch- slightly twist the Rotator Ring from left to right for Min to Max output.
Turbo Mode: 408 Lumens (uses one 16340 battery to drive, runtime 25min; CAUTION: Do not run the light continuously at turbo mode for more than 5 minutes.)
Max: 150 Lumens (2hrs)
Min: 1 Lumen (40hrs)
● Constant current circuit, constant output
● Effective range of 115 meters
● Uses one single 3V CR123A Lithium battery or RCR123A, 16340 battery
● Working voltage: 0.9~4.2V
● High quality reflector maintains great throw distance and spread with an ideal beam pattern
● Dimensions: 83mm (length) x 23mm (head diameter)
● Weight: 46g(battery excluded)
● Aerospace-grade aluminum alloy
● Military Specification Type III- hard anodized body
● Waterproof, in accordance with IPX-8 standard
● Ultra-clear tempered glass lens resists scratches and impacts
● Tactical forward click switch with momentary on
● Tail stand capable- can be used as a candle
● Accessories: Clip, O-ring, rubber cap, lanyard

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This Anniversary Edition is one of only 80 pieces made. So, why do a review of it? With enough interest, we can hope that Sunwayman will make the V10R available with neutral XM-L emitter in the future. They confirmed that for now they will continue to offer it with XP-G, but I haven't seen anything one way or the other about future XM-L versions.

The V10R was one of Sunwayman's first lights to use the magnetic control ring. To turn the light on and off, you use the forward-click tailcap button. Because it it forward click, you can half-press for momentary on or full press to click it into constant on. The stock switch has a long travel and is rather stiff, so it is easy to use the momentary on function without fully clicking into constant on. The brightness is controlled by the red control ring on the head of the light. All the way to the left is minimum brightness, all the way to the right is maximum brightness (the light cannot be turned off by the control ring).

The Anniversary Edition comes packaged in this carrying case with a lanyard, two latches, the model name and Sunwayman's logo:

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Inside the case you find the light and accessories (clip, holster, lanyard, spare o-rings, warranty card and user manual):

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Photos of the accessories:

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The V10R runs off of one CR123A or 16340 lithium ion battery. I always knew it was small, but I was still surprised at how small it really was when I first held it. It's not the smallest of 1x16340 lights by any means, because the control ring adds so much extra length to the light, but it is still extremely small for the amount of light it can put out.

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There is no knurling on this light, so the only grip comes from 4 flat sections on the body. This makes it a little hard to take the head off, but not too difficult. The battery is taken in and out by unscrewing the head between the control ring and the body. The threads are square cut and anodized, and an o-ring gives the light its waterproofness. Because the threads are anodized, unscrewing the head about a quarter turn will lock out the light.

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The picture above also gives a good view of the cooling fins in the head, along with the control ring. The ring is flush with the body, and has small indentations that give it grip. It can be a little hard to fing in the dark until you get used to what it feels like.

Looking down the body of the light, you can see the spring that makes the negative contact with the battery:

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And with a battery inside, it sits slightly above the top of the body.

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The positive battery terminal in the head is very slightly raised, so it is possible that flat top lions would work with this light (though I don't think this light has built-in over-discharge protection, so you'll probably not want to use unprotected cells).

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The emitter is well-centered, and the reflector has a very light OP (orange peel) texture. This makes the beam slightly smoother, but doesn't sacrifice too much of the throw.

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The tail is raised around the button in a full circle (no cutouts) so it can do an extremely stable tail stand. The button boot has Saunwayman's logo. Around the tail are four holes 90 degrees apart to attach a lanyard or the included lanyard with clip.

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However, with a lanyard attached, you loose your ability to tailstand well. It can still do it, but it's pretty unstable. This could be improved if the holes were placed closer together, so a lanyard could go in one hole and out the other, preventing it from needing to come out the top of the tail. Also, you can see the clip can attach either to the front or back of the light.

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You can see that the tips of the clip poke out a little bit from the body of the light. A lot of people have complaints about the clip. I'll see how it holds up over time.

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The light fits snugly in it's holster, and is pretty well covered up.

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In hand the light feels very small (I have big hands).

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I've found it's hard to operate both the tail switch and the control ring using only one hand without shifting grips. It's possible, but very hard.

And now, beamshots!

On max (with an Ultrafire 16340):
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On minimum (with an Ultrafire 16340):
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Left: V10R AE on minimum, Right: myTouch 4G cell phone screen:
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Operation on a white wall:


On a bookshelf:


In a room:



Ti AA Extender

The AA Extender is an optional accessory for the V10R. It's made out of titanium, because Sunwayman made this extender specifically for the V10R Ti. When I asked them a few weeks ago, they said they currently have no plans to make any AA extenders for the aluminum V10Rs because "the V10A is already available." So, for you cheapskates like me, you can get the Ti AA Extender and put it on whatever V10R you have, because it will fit.

The extender comes in this nice case:

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The extender itself is creatively labeled as "Ti.AA EXT." and comes with a few spare o-rings.

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With the extender, it is obviously slightly longer. I actually kind of like the extra length, and the hex on the extender adds some extra grip. On the non-Ti versions of the V10R, it will look a little mismatched.

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One thing to clear up about the specs: Sunwayman lists a "turbo mode" available only on lithium ion batteries. This isn't really a mode exactly. When you run it on 3V (CR123A primary) the light is infinitely variable up to 200 lumens. When you run it on 4.2V (lithium-ion rechargeable) the light is infinitely variable up to 408 lumens. Sunwayman cautions not to run at 408 lumens for more than 5 minutes at a time, and from my experience it gets noticeably warm after just a minute or two.

So, without the extender you can run the V10R AE on a CR123A or 16340 lion, and with the extender you can run it on a AA or 14500 lion.


Coming soon:
runtime graph
current draw
outdoor shots



Subjective

General

The V10R Anniversary Edition is a pleasure to use. I know a lot of people will prefer the XP-G in the V10R for greater throw, however, for double the overal output, I think the XM-L has been a pretty good deal, and I think Sunwayman would benefit a lot from making the XM-L version of the V10R regularly available. I'm sure you're all wanting some beam shots to compare the XP-G with the XM-L in the V10R. However, I don't have an XP-G V10R, so if someone would be like to send me one I would gladly post comparison shots.
:devil: Aside from the greater output, the neutral white tint is just really nice on the eyes. I'm no tint snob, but I can appreciate the neutral when I have it.

As far as I know, the magnetic control ring is the same as on older versions of the V10R. The travel from min to max is about 100 degrees, and it feels really smooth. The ring has a few indentations cut into it for grip, but it could really benefit from some more grip. As I mentioned earlier, it can be hard to find the ring in the dark until you get the hang of how it feels compared to the rest of the light. Also, I'm used to the ring on the V20C, so it seems intuitive to me that turning the ring all the way to the left would turn it off, but it just turns it to minimum and you have to use the tail switch to turn the light off. That's important to remember, because the low is so low that during the day you wouldn't notice it was on.

A note: I always run it on 16340's. I'm not sure why I wouldn't unless I forgot to charge them.

Another note: I've decided the clip needs work too. Not only does it seem flimsy, but when it's on it gets in the way of turning the control ring easily. I've been using the lanyard lately, but that makes the tail stand pretty unstable, so I'm not sure how much longer it will stay on mine.

This light is great for indoor use. It can light up a room well enough for pretty much any task, and it can get low enough to use in a room with someone sleeping (used it to check on my 1 year old son a few nights ago). I finally have a light that can replace my cell phone as a low-low around the house light!

Outdoors, the light is still pretty great, though very floody. It can light up a large area with plenty of lumens, and the neutral makes it better for color rendering than cool would be, just don't expect it to throw too far.

Overall, this light is just plain excellent. Sunwayman's on a roll with great quality lights, and I hope they keep it up. :twothumbs


EDC

This is my perfect EDC light. It is super small. Even without loose pants, it fits easily in a pocket. I haven't used the holster much, but if necessary it's nice to have that option. I'm not a big fan of clips on my lights anyway, so that doesn't bother me too much. I don't need too much throw from an EDC, so the neutral XM-L is great.

Another great part of the light as an EDC is it's style. The red ring just plain looks good, and I'm proud to use this light in public. Not only that, but nobody expects that much light to come from such a small source. When my wife first turned the light on, she was pretty un-impressed. I think she said, "Uh, I don't think it works." Then I suggested she turn the red ring. She said "WHOA!" and dropped it.

Lastly, the versatility of the light (especially with the extender) is unbeatable. I use lions almost all the time, but it's good to know I can throw in a CR123 or a AA if I'm in a pinch.


Long Term Impressions

I'll fill this part in after carrying the light for a while. If nothing get's added here, either I find nothing else worth noting about the light, or I end up not using it often.

2/8/12
-The V10R AE isn't just my every-day-carry, it's my all-the-time carry. It's wide range of low to high makes it perfect for getting around the house at night, or lighting up the whole yard or street.
-Even with low capacity 16340's, I only change the battery on this about every week and half.
-A swapped out the lanyard for one from my Xeno E03, because it fits in a way that allows the V10R to tail stand, which is a must for my EDC. Here's how it looks:

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skyfire

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nice review, thanks!

the box, and holster are nice little additions. i had no idea about those.
 

CMAG

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Nice review and photos
Will the AA adapter fit a M10R ?(I would think so, but the old rule never assume)
I find the click e a bit hard to work with my thumb and the clip any aftermarket guys out there, low profile clip I will take 2.
 

kreisler

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interesting points:
  • Sunwayman is a company celebrating its 1st anniversary. A very young company and already hailed to heaven!!
  • only 80 copies of the product were sold (SOLD OUT!)
  • price point was ~99US$ (nice price! it's less than the JetBeam RTT-0 XML!!)
  • the product comes with an Otterbox 2000 clone
thanks for the review!!
 

Bigmac_79

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I can't say for sure if the adapter will fit on an M10R, I don't have one to check it with, sorry. Hopefully someone else can answer that.

The clicky switch is definitely pretty stiff on mine, and requires a good amount of force. This would be a light for someone with arthritis or anything like that. However, I think for normal hands it's not so stiff as to be too difficult to push. I really appreciate that I can use the momentary on easily without accidentally clicking it into full on.

I know a guy named Steve Ku makes electronic switches (easier to press I bet) and better clips (I'm not sure about the profile), along with 18650 tubes for the V10R. You can search the cpf marketplace to find his thread.
 

Bigmac_79

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interesting points:
  • Sunwayman is a company celebrating its 1st anniversary. A very young company and already hailed to heaven!!
  • only 80 copies of the product were sold (SOLD OUT!)
  • price point was ~99US$ (nice price! it's less than the JetBeam RTT-0 XML!!)
  • the product comes with an Otterbox 2000 clone
thanks for the review!!

Good points! The RRT-0 XM-L is the light that would be most directly comparable to this, as far as I know. My understanding is that it's slightly larger, with higher output, and higher price. The main advantage to the RRT-0 right now is that you can buy one ;). However, I've read that some people have had problems with it flickering when your batteries aren't fully charged. I'd like to try one out, but I'm waiting to see if that gets resolved.
 

Joe Talmadge

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Agree with you ... my perfect EDC. Okay, i can think of minor tweaks to make it perfect-er, but this is tops for me right now, no other light at any price comes close (for EDC specifically). Well, except for the XP-G version, which is second.

One thing I note about the control ring. When you buy a V10R, you think the control ring is a simple, easy solution. It just works exactly right. It's not until you read reviews on other control ring lights from other companies, and see lights whose ramping is too fast or too slow or maddeningly linear, or whose rotation is too big or too small, or where the low isn't low enough, or the ring is too hard or easy to turn .... that's when you realize that the ring isn't easy to get right, in fact it's easy to get wrong. It's just the V10R that makes it look so easy. Not many others have got it right. The AE's ring is a little better than my regular v10r, because the low is much lower, and the ring takes a little more tension to turn (which I like)
 

Bigmac_79

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Thanks for that input Joe! Right now I only have variable control ring lights by Sunwayman (V10R AE, V20A AE, V20C), but I've heard similar things from other people.

I'm working on a setup to measure the output at different points on the ring, hopefully I'll be able to graph that. But for now I'll just agree with you to say that the ramping just feels right. :thumbsup:
 

tre

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I have been waiting for them to come out with some nice neutral xml lights and by the time I found out about this, it was sold out. I will not buy a cool version so I guess I will wait some more.
 

Rokron

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Great review. It's too bad I missed out on the anniversy edition :scowl: because I'm fairly new to CPF and the big bright world of LED flashlights and the AE were already sold out. I did get the V10R Ti though and I like it so much I want to get a V10R for a EDC but I want to know is when the Desert Series V10R will be available?

Ron H
 

Bigmac_79

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Great review. It's too bad I missed out on the anniversy edition :scowl: because I'm fairly new to CPF and the big bright world of LED flashlights and the AE were already sold out. I did get the V10R Ti though and I like it so much I want to get a V10R for a EDC but I want to know is when the Desert Series V10R will be available?

Ron H

I haven't seen any word from Sunwayman on that yet. If they make them with neutral XM-L's it will be hard for me not to get one. ;)
 

CMAG

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I can't say for sure if the adapter will fit on an M10R, I don't have one to check it with, sorry. Hopefully someone else can answer that.

The clicky switch is definitely pretty stiff on mine, and requires a good amount of force. This would be a light for someone with arthritis or anything like that. However, I think for normal hands it's not so stiff as to be too difficult to push. I really appreciate that I can use the momentary on easily without accidentally clicking it into full on.

I know a guy named Steve Ku makes electronic switches (easier to press I bet) and better clips (I'm not sure about the profile), along with 18650 tubes for the V10R. You can search the cpf marketplace to find his thread.

Bigmac thank's for the info. Fund the clips in another thread but seems to be sold out. 18650 tube,did not see that will search some more.
 
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Echo63

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A great review, and what appears to be a great light - I have a V10R TI on the way, it looks like the perfect EDC for me.
I loved the control ring of my old SF U2, but the size of normal 1x123 lights suits me as an EDC light.

Can't wait for it to arrive (so I can get a Steve Ku switch and clip for it, and a AA extender, bored for 17500s)
 

NoFair

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Thank you for the review.

No runtime graph, but using a IMR li-ion mine pulls 2A on max. So no surprise it is very very bright :eek: Wonderful tint on mine as well:thumbsup:
 

Bigmac_79

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Thank you for the review.

No runtime graph, but using a IMR li-ion mine pulls 2A on max. So no surprise it is very very bright :eek: Wonderful tint on mine as well:thumbsup:

You're welcome! I feel bad that I haven't gotten the chance to finish all my measurements and post them for the V10R yet, but my multimeter has just been tied up with other lights I've been asked to review. Hopefully I'll get to finish this out soon.

So, 2A? That's pretty impressive. According to Cree's datasheets, that's 650-700 lumens at the emitter for a T5 binned XM-L!
 
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