Eagletac D25 Clicky Series Round-up Review (D25C, D25A2, D25LC2 - XM-L & XP-G)

[BWX]

D25LC2 with XM-L U2 here and orange stripe.

[Chicken Drumstick]

I bought a twisty D25LC2 last year and love it. One of the best design features has to be the clip. Solid and ideal for deep carry. I really don't understand why EagleTac have changed this for the clicky series? The D25C clicky seems to retain this awesome clip arrangement and looks just as compact as it's twisty counter part. Is there a reason the D25LC2 clicky is so different from the twisty?

I also don't really understand how EagleTac could let some of these not tail stand without wobbling, an extra 1-2mm of aluminium would surely solve this?


That said, they do look like nice lights.

With regard to the D25C clicky, running it on an RCR it direct drives the LED, does it retain any other mode, is there a low still?

Thanks.

[selfbuilt]

With regard to the D25C clicky, running it on an RCR it direct drives the LED, does it retain any other mode, is there a low still?

Yes, the D25C clicky retains the absolute lower Lo mode level on 1xRCR. But all other Lo/Med/Hi levels disappear, and the light is run in max brightness. See the output summary tables at the end of my review for more info.

[arkan]

Reading though the threads I'm still a bit confused on the UI, specifically D25LC2 Clicky. So Group 1 (loosed head), full click Turbo, Full click Strobe? Group B (tight head), half click to switch between low -med- high. But what's the default level in Group B when you fully depress the clicky? I'm aware that D25LC2 does not have memory mode.

Thanks

[loquutis79]

No, full tight is full click = turbo and soft push is strobe.
Loose head is full click is on on low. Soft push to medium, soft push again to high. Repeat low, medium, high, then about seventy five hundred different strobes, etc.
Love the light, wish they buried the flashy thingy strobes more deeply.
But really, I love this light. So powerful yet so tiny. Best EDC.

[arkan]

Thanks for the explanation exactly what i was looking for. Just one thing stopping me right now from ordering it is the UI, i can't imagine using the Turbo in night fishing trips and low is probably too low so i would have to change the mode every time i turn it on which sound like big inconvenience for me. If only they had memory in D25LC2

[TweakMDS]

@arkan, it's really easy in practice actually. I usually have the head loosened on mine; then it's full-click-press to turn it on in moonlight, and immediately after I can soft-press for medium.
I normally just use low (moonlight) and medium on the head loosened mode on my D25A, so I never come across the blinky modes.
To get back from medium to low (which rarely happens in practice, think about when you would need that), I long-press the button. If I want to go from medium or low to high, I simply twist the head to tightened.

[shelm]

Has anyone ever tried to lego the Clicky head (e.g. XML U2) onto the Twisty body? Do the threads match (for which D-series models) and what happens then?

[Humminbird]

Thanks for the explanation exactly what i was looking for. Just one thing stopping me right now from ordering it is the UI, i can't imagine using the Turbo in night fishing trips and low is probably too low so i would have to change the mode every time i turn it on which sound like big inconvenience for me. If only they had memory in D25LC2

What I did was cut a washer from 1mm thick cardboard. The outer diameter is cut so that it nicely fits inside the head. The washer has a hole in the center so that the AA battery can make contact. The light is now Group B even with the head tightened all the way. I don't miss the turbo mode at all. I have the D25A, so no memory. IMHO the low mode is very usable even with neutral white XM-L. If I need more light, it's just one soft click away. I'm more than happy with D25A Clicky after this modification.

[sidecross]

What I did was cut a washer from 1mm thick cardboard. The outer diameter is cut so that it nicely fits inside the head. The washer has a hole in the center so that the AA battery can make contact. The light is now Group B even with the head tightened all the way. I don't miss the turbo mode at all. I have the D25A, so no memory. IMHO the low mode is very usable even with neutral white XM-L. If I need more light, it's just one soft click away. I'm more than happy with D25A Clicky after this modification.

That is a great idea; using your wits and imagination is what I call intelligence.

[shelm]

...amazing new update to the Eagtac D25 series!
Does anyone know if the XP-G S2 model is getting fully replaced by the XP-G2 models?
Maybe someone can update this thread with sharing his/her experience with the new XP-G2 D-series models!!

I am most interested in tint performance.

Btw, the beam shot comparison is interesting .. if you look at the picture long enough, you will gradually see the typical donut hole in all three beams.

[orbital]

^

Just noticed that too,,,,xp-g2

[BLUE LED]

I am tempted, as I have the S2 and U2 versions of D25C and D25LC2.

My experience so far with XP-G2 is that it had eliminated the darker centre of the hotspot. That was in a larger smooth reflector.

[MichaelW]

I would totally like to see what the xp-g2 could do with the C2000 circuit.
Neutral xp-g2 R4 soon?

We don't need no stinkin' xt-e !!

[cyclesport]

I would totally like to see what the xp-g2 could do with the C2000 circuit.
Neutral xp-g2 R4 soon?

We don't need no stinkin' xt-e !!

XT-E indeed! I can imagine all the poor EagleTac factory workers sitting at soldering stations frantically retrofitting all the dealer returned shipments of the various iterations of D-Series Clicky's with the XT-E's horrible blue/yellow blotchy beam patterns for XP-G S2's so they could quickly get them back out to market for re-sale! I'm only half-way joking...I'm guessing this is what probably really occured.

[orbital]

+

Numbers for D25LC2

• CREE XP-G2 R5 LED
  
  • Led lumen: 530⁵/172/6
  • ANSI FL-1 lumen: 379⁵/124/5
  • Runtime C1500RC driver: 1.8/3/33/150+ hours w/ 3100mAh
  
  

~ Lux could easily be over 8000 at hotspot,, for a 4.5" 18650 edc

edit: just found this..

• XP-G2 R5
  
  • Center lux: 8500 lux
  • Center spot angle: 7°
  • Spill light angle: 64°
  • Beam distance: 201 yards / 184 meters
  
  

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[shelm]

I'm only half-way joking...I'm guessing this is what probably really occured.

The XT-E's were a story months back. They were returned to the factory long time ago afaik. If anyone did a retrofit, those are already out on the market as U2, T6 NW or S2, i guess. I am believing that the XP-G2 are planted in fresh parts. From my info sources i could tell that the D-series sells really well and has attracted a large amount of first time Eagtac buyers. Thanks to this series the company has been expanding its customer base by quite a bit.

Anyone with a D-series light can take some pride in participating in the company's recent growth and success!

[cyclesport]

The XT-E's were a story months back. They were returned to the factory long time ago afaik. If anyone did a retrofit, those are already out on the market as U2, T6 NW or S2, i guess. I am believing that the XP-G2 are planted in fresh parts. From my info sources i could tell that the D-series sells really well and has attracted a large amount of first time Eagtac buyers. Thanks to this series the company has been expanding its customer base by quite a bit.

Anyone with a D-series light can take some pride in participating in the company's recent growth and success!

First off, I have nothing but respect for EagleTac as a company, its products, and its customer serv policies shelm...they're first rate! I own 3 of EagleTac's new D-series Clickys and love em'. They took care of a flickering D25C head issue for me when these lights first shipped in the best and fastest way possible...truly exemplary. IMO JetBeam and Sunwayman could take a page from their book. I was joking (perhaps badly) about their unfortunate choice of choosing the XT-E at product launch for these models, since ET is a company who is one of the quickest adopters of new emitters...hence they probably took the brunt of whatever flak may have come their way re XT-E's undesirable beam quality. I think it's reasonable though to question ET's release of the XT-E D-series product since the beam quality was so obviously bad? Fact is, good companies sometimes make goofy mistakes and the resulting criticism is justified and isn't necessarily an indictment of the entire company.

You may be right about other emitters being retrofitted in the returned XT-E lights, but I have no doubt these products were reworked for resale. It is a common practice in industrial/consumer electronics production manufacturing to retrofit or otherwise repair defective products to save waste, and protect the "bottom line". Actually, these reworked products sometimes carry less risk of failure because they're commonly subjected to complete testing of all functions after rework to assure no other problems exist.

Sorry for the bad pun.

[reppans]

Just wanted to add in, I have the EagleTac D25A clicky with a neutral white XP-G and on moonlight mode, there is very noticeable PWM. However, the only way to notice it is to look at the emitter and shake the light from side to side. Walking with the light doesn't show the PWM, I am assuming it is because the output is so low.

That's likely some sort circuit flicker. There is no PWM to speak of on any mode I examined. But flicker is always possible, depending on the tolerances of the components at lower currents. I will double-check all my samples to see if I can notice any.

EDIT: Just double-checked, and all my lights are firmly flicker-free on their moonlight/lowest Lo mode. It's likely you have a problem sample. It can be difficult to reliably produce current-control at low currents, and I've seen other makers have issues on this front. If it is distracting, you might want to consider a RMA.

Just wanted to add my experience having bought three D25A Ti Clickies in XML Neutral White, two of which I will give away as gifts.

First off, all show signs of PWM on moonlight mode but interestingly to varying degrees, which is a bit annoying since ET states all current controlled for all levels. Selfbuilt has not tested the D25A here and ET shows that it uses a different circuit than C, A2 and LC2.

One shows PWM mildly but only at lower voltages like <1.3V on a NiMh, one is only barely detectable at low voltages (the keeper), and one seems to show it majorly at any voltage level. Here is a pic of the middle mild PWM sample vs a Quark AAX on moonlight mode using my usual camera detection methods.... cellphone close-up and DSLR time exposure:



There were also other quality issues on my units:
- one was shipped without a lens
- two show pinched O-rings in 2-3 spots around the tailcap (which appears to be glued down).
- one wouldn't go into turbo easily until I effectively "re-cut" the last 1 mm of threads by cranking the bezel back and forth hard a few dozen times, of course followed by a cleaning and re-lubing.

Not sure if this typical of ET quality, and perhaps it's just the batch that I have - all serial numbers were within 100 units.

Having said all that, I still do love this light. Great beam, tint, UI, clip and it couldn't be more handsome or portable. PWM isn't necessarily a deal breaker for me but CC is much nicer, and I while I don't think my lights' O-rings are waterproof anymore, I don't really expect to use it any significant rain anyway.

Yes, it is very reasonably priced.... but IMHO, there is a reason for that.

[reppans]

First off, I have nothing but respect for EagleTac as a company, its products, and its customer serv policies shelm...they're first rate! ... They took care of a flickering D25C head issue for me when these lights first shipped in the best and fastest way possible...truly exemplary...

Very interested in where you are located, where you shipped back to, and was the dealer standing in the middle, or was this ET themselves. Reason I ask is that there was a recent thread where ET asked the US customer to ship his light back to HK for warranty repair, which of course at $40 shipping cost, effectively made the 10 warranty useless to him.

[cyclesport]

Very interested in where you are located, where you shipped back to, and was the dealer standing in the middle, or was this ET themselves. Reason I ask is that there was a recent thread where ET asked the US customer to ship his light back to HK for warranty repair, which of course at $40 shipping cost, effectively made the 10 warranty useless to him.

I'm in the US and was one of those to get my D25C shipped from LightJunction from their waiting list when the product was first launched. Upon noticing the flicker I contacted LJ who in turn contacted ET and suggested I do the same. I emailed ET in China with a description and short video of the problem and ET got back in touch w/me within 48 hours explaining that their engineers had found a problem w/the driver, was repairing all existing product, and was sending me a new head. I had it with 10 days (if memory serves) completely fixing the problem. I even got to keep the original head as a spare since its fine with CR123 primaries and even 16340 Li-ions in all but low mode (moonlight even functions as designed). I had to send nothing back to anyone. In hindsight, Imay have been just lucky w/such good service though, since I sent mine back before most others realized there was a flicker issue.

I remember reading CPF threads a few mo's back where others had experienced ET cust. service that was less than stellar, and your example is completely unacceptable. Not sure why the disparity in treatment other than I was (as ET stated to me) the first to point out the flickering isuue that many lights had. Just speculation, but maybe ET was inundated with demands for new lights or repairs and their costs mounted, prompting them to put the shipping cost burden back on the customer?

I try not to be a rabid "fanboy" of any products I use or purchase as tempting as it sometimes is, since in my experience and with more companies being controled by their accounting dept's, doing what is right quickly takes a back seat to profits if the costs start sprialing out of control w/mass recalls, repairs, etc. I worked as a marketing guy/liasion w/ QA and manufacturing engineers for many years before retiring and my cynicism of corporate culture has been earned.

[reppans]

Interesting story.... guess they kinda compensated you for inadvertently becoming one of their beta testers.

[cyclesport]

Interesting story.... guess they kinda compensated you for inadvertently becoming one of their beta testers.

Haha...yeah...I suppose you're right.

[shelm]

you two talking about the Titanium lights? werent tested by selfbuilt
What do we assume about the Liion brightness of the D25A (Ti or not, should be the same?) Clicky?
The D25C has a bigger diameter reflector than the D25A but in direct drive the LED lumens should be the same:



Any opinions on that?

What would be our guesstimate for the D25A Clicky @ 1x14500? A little less than 770 ANSI lumens or much less?

[jomox]

Great review, very detailed and insightful, helps allot with potentially buying them.

[reppans]

The A has a different circuit then the C so I don't know if that will affect anything, but I personally don't bother with lights (or should I say batts) that go into direct drive. The loss of lower modes makes the light useless to me.

I'll keep my 14500s for use in my Quark AAX... not to mention that I think the D25 gets hotter on NiMhs then my Quark gets on a 14500.

[BWX]

Well my first D25LC2 was completely defective.The replacement has been EDC'd by me every day since. It flickers if on high too long, (just enough to get warm) I think because lube thins out with heat and the head fits so poorly to the body because the threading is so loose. I've resorted to thick white lithium grease, which helped.

A couple months ago something started rattling around inside the head, like behind the reflector.. didn't seem to hurt anything. Now just today it stopped operating consistently. It won't turn on everytime. I tightened tail cap switch retainer ring with needle nose plyers.. cleaned and relubed everything.. made sure tailcap was tight.. still it is unreliable.

Another weird thing is that there is a huge build up of dust and lint behind the lens somehow thay keeps getting worse, yet it seems waterproof.. I don't understand that at all. I love the idea of this compact, lightweight, 1x 18650, XM-L U2 flashlight.. but I don't think the build quality is up to par. My Fenix lights have been the benchmark, followed closely by O-Light, Xtar, 4sevens, then Spark with defective light after defective light (but a great headlamp), Eagletac with poor quality and defective lights, and finally Zebralight with 6 defective H501 all failing the exact same way -none abused.

Ironic then that I'm seriously thinking of replacing my D25LC2 with a Zebralight SC600.. even though I told myself I'd never buy another ZL. Actually, I probably won't buy a ZL... I think I talked myself out of it again..

-BUT- I want a small 1x 18650, XM-L U2 light, but not a 3rd Eagletac- even though I might get one as a replacement for the cost of shipping.. I might just stick it in a drawer and forget about it.. and just say, lessoned learned, no more Eagletacs for me.

[bemymonkey]

I was just about to order a D25LC2, but the last few posts are pretty disappointing... anyone else had issues?

[loquutis79]

Love my D25LC2. My friend liked it so much he bought one. We are both very happy with the lights and they have become the EDC for both of us.
Perfect build quality, functions well, fit of head and tailcap to body tube is great. We can't say anything bad about them.
Well, maybe the 7,346 different flashy/stroby settings, but I just don't use those.

[BWX]

I got mine fairly early on, maybe they've improved, who knows. I love it when it works right.