mefistofele86
Newly Enlightened
Predator xp-g2 v2.5 was supplied by Armytek for review
The Predator was the first flashlight produced by Armytek featuring a fully programmable UI and great throw capability. Today i will compare the first Predator version with the latest xp-g2 V2.5.
Link to first Predator review
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...-XP-G-R5-review-with-BEAMSHOTS-and-COMPARISON
-Led Cree XP-G2 cool white 5500K.
-Spot 5° spill 40°
-Ultra-transparent and tempered glass with anti-reflective coating . The transparency is 98-99%.
-Aviation-grade aluminum T6061-T6, hardness: 350-400HV
-Armytek Predator is designed with the impact-resistant bezels from both sides, the steel bezels are also covered by titanium coating with a hardness of 2000-3000HV.
-Dimensions:
Lenght: 155mm
Head diameter: 39,5mm
Body diameter: 25,4mm
-Powered by 1x18650 Li-Ion, 2x16340 Li-Ion, 2xCR123A.
-4 brightness levels: 670 lm (1h 20min), 200 lm (7h), 70 lm (20h), 6 lm (155h).
-Compatible with batteries with a flat contact.
-Advanced electronic reverse polarity protection.
-Threads and o-rings lubrication by Nyogel 760G .
-IPX8.
Package isn't changed and it contains the flashlight in its holster and some extras: a lanyard, spare o-rings and button, a clip, a manual and a rubber ring. You can use the rubber ring instead of the cigar grip ring so the Predator results more compact whereas the big and deep reflector.
I notice some changes; the tailcap is different, with new button more comfortable to use, the body is now smooth inside and the head is a little bit larger.
CONSTRUCTION
The black, matte and rubberized anodization is an Armytek trademark. The Predator has also coated stainless steel bezels on both sides. The head bezel is thicker so the head is larger. Reflector is large and deep and houses a xp-g2 r5 led. Anti-roll design works very well, threads have triangular section and they are anodized on tail side allowing the lock out by unscrewing the tailcap a little.
There is a covered spring on negative side and we find a forward switch with a larger button. Button is more comfortable and less hard than first Predator.
The cigar grip ring is made of rubber and i find it too soft so i removed it. You can mount it on tailcap and the Predator is able to tailstand.
There is a short clip. It's difficult to install because of its hardness.
USER INTERFACE
The UI is the same of Barracuda UI with brightness difference.
The switch allows the momentary-on function by a slight button pression.
The Barracuda has 4 brightness levels.
With the head tightened, you can turn on only at maximum level. With the head unscrewed by 1/8 of a turn, you can use the other 3 levels.
With unscrewed head, the light turn on always at high level. You can cicle between levels by turning off and on quickly. The cicle is lower low-low- medium.
From off you can press slightly the button, release and press slightly again in order to cicle between levels. It needs a full pression to turn on the light.
The 4 level are well spaced:
Max 670 lm
High 200 lm
Medium 70 lm
Low 6 lm
It's available the PRO version with a fully programmable UI.
OUTPUT
Brightness
Predator is very bright. It has an outstanding throws but also brightness is pretty good.
Tint
Great cool white (5500k) without hints of colours.
Beam
Throw monster for its size and this not means lack of spill. More than 30000cd in a 4cm head. It's beyond my expectations
MEASUREMENTS
I estimate runtime and output by ceiling bounce test. I try to be accurate to have the same conditions for every test. This time i used a pc cooling fan.
Used battery: AW 18650 2200mah
Estimated lumens after 3 minutes
465 lumens
Lux at 6m after about 30s
889
converted to cd
32004cd
Runtime to 10%
78m30s
I didn't expect 32000cd, it's really an exceptional value for this kind of flashlight.Brightness is pretty good, i expected a similar value. Runtime graph shows how STEP stabilization works. After the first step, brightness is still high (about 348 lumens) for long time. In the last ten minutes we can see all other steps. After 78minutes and 30seconds brightness goes below 10%. I stopped the test after 85 minutes.
The STEP stabilization allows you to not remain in the dark suddenly; at the end of test brightness was reaaly low but it last several minutes.
Predator was not hot at the end of test.
BEAMSHOTS
First Set 32 meters from garage (18mm f/3.5 0,6s ISO 400)
Control
Predator V2.5 xp-g2
Predator xp-g
Barracuda xm-l2 u3
Second Set 48 meter from garage (18mm f/3.5 0,6s ISO 400)
Control
Predator V2.5 xp-g2
Predator xp-g
Barracuda
Third Set 66 meters from garage (18mm f/3.5 0,6s ISO 400)
Control
Predator V2.5 xp-g2
Predator xp-g
Barracuda
Fourth set – Predator comparison
Predator xp-g / Predator V2.5 xp-g2
CONCLUSION and impressions
PROS
-Throw
Since the first versione, Predator was famous for its throw capability. Well, the Predator V2.5 is much better. If you want a lot of throw in relative small size, the new Predator is perfect.
-Strength and build quality
Armytek level is high. The first Predator was already great and now i found a better tailcap and thicker head and body.
CONS
Nothing in particular
OTHER
-Strobo
No strobo in this version. If you want it, you can take the PRO versione with programmable UI.
-STEP stabilization
STEP stabilization has some advantages but you have the max brightness for 25 minutes (i use 2200mah battery so you can have max brightness for more time with different battery)
If you loved the first Predator xp-g than you will love the new xp-g2 V2.5 which has some improvements and more throw. The real first Predator successor is the PRO version.
The Predator was the first flashlight produced by Armytek featuring a fully programmable UI and great throw capability. Today i will compare the first Predator version with the latest xp-g2 V2.5.
Link to first Predator review
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...-XP-G-R5-review-with-BEAMSHOTS-and-COMPARISON
-Led Cree XP-G2 cool white 5500K.
-Spot 5° spill 40°
-Ultra-transparent and tempered glass with anti-reflective coating . The transparency is 98-99%.
-Aviation-grade aluminum T6061-T6, hardness: 350-400HV
-Armytek Predator is designed with the impact-resistant bezels from both sides, the steel bezels are also covered by titanium coating with a hardness of 2000-3000HV.
-Dimensions:
Lenght: 155mm
Head diameter: 39,5mm
Body diameter: 25,4mm
-Powered by 1x18650 Li-Ion, 2x16340 Li-Ion, 2xCR123A.
-4 brightness levels: 670 lm (1h 20min), 200 lm (7h), 70 lm (20h), 6 lm (155h).
-Compatible with batteries with a flat contact.
-Advanced electronic reverse polarity protection.
-Threads and o-rings lubrication by Nyogel 760G .
-IPX8.
Package isn't changed and it contains the flashlight in its holster and some extras: a lanyard, spare o-rings and button, a clip, a manual and a rubber ring. You can use the rubber ring instead of the cigar grip ring so the Predator results more compact whereas the big and deep reflector.
I notice some changes; the tailcap is different, with new button more comfortable to use, the body is now smooth inside and the head is a little bit larger.
CONSTRUCTION
The black, matte and rubberized anodization is an Armytek trademark. The Predator has also coated stainless steel bezels on both sides. The head bezel is thicker so the head is larger. Reflector is large and deep and houses a xp-g2 r5 led. Anti-roll design works very well, threads have triangular section and they are anodized on tail side allowing the lock out by unscrewing the tailcap a little.
There is a covered spring on negative side and we find a forward switch with a larger button. Button is more comfortable and less hard than first Predator.
The cigar grip ring is made of rubber and i find it too soft so i removed it. You can mount it on tailcap and the Predator is able to tailstand.
There is a short clip. It's difficult to install because of its hardness.
USER INTERFACE
The UI is the same of Barracuda UI with brightness difference.
The switch allows the momentary-on function by a slight button pression.
The Barracuda has 4 brightness levels.
With the head tightened, you can turn on only at maximum level. With the head unscrewed by 1/8 of a turn, you can use the other 3 levels.
With unscrewed head, the light turn on always at high level. You can cicle between levels by turning off and on quickly. The cicle is lower low-low- medium.
From off you can press slightly the button, release and press slightly again in order to cicle between levels. It needs a full pression to turn on the light.
The 4 level are well spaced:
Max 670 lm
High 200 lm
Medium 70 lm
Low 6 lm
It's available the PRO version with a fully programmable UI.
OUTPUT
Brightness
Predator is very bright. It has an outstanding throws but also brightness is pretty good.
Tint
Great cool white (5500k) without hints of colours.
Beam
Throw monster for its size and this not means lack of spill. More than 30000cd in a 4cm head. It's beyond my expectations
MEASUREMENTS
I estimate runtime and output by ceiling bounce test. I try to be accurate to have the same conditions for every test. This time i used a pc cooling fan.
Used battery: AW 18650 2200mah
Estimated lumens after 3 minutes
465 lumens
Lux at 6m after about 30s
889
converted to cd
32004cd
Runtime to 10%
78m30s
I didn't expect 32000cd, it's really an exceptional value for this kind of flashlight.Brightness is pretty good, i expected a similar value. Runtime graph shows how STEP stabilization works. After the first step, brightness is still high (about 348 lumens) for long time. In the last ten minutes we can see all other steps. After 78minutes and 30seconds brightness goes below 10%. I stopped the test after 85 minutes.
The STEP stabilization allows you to not remain in the dark suddenly; at the end of test brightness was reaaly low but it last several minutes.
Predator was not hot at the end of test.
BEAMSHOTS
First Set 32 meters from garage (18mm f/3.5 0,6s ISO 400)
Control
Predator V2.5 xp-g2
Predator xp-g
Barracuda xm-l2 u3
Second Set 48 meter from garage (18mm f/3.5 0,6s ISO 400)
Control
Predator V2.5 xp-g2
Predator xp-g
Barracuda
Third Set 66 meters from garage (18mm f/3.5 0,6s ISO 400)
Control
Predator V2.5 xp-g2
Predator xp-g
Barracuda
Fourth set – Predator comparison
Predator xp-g / Predator V2.5 xp-g2
CONCLUSION and impressions
PROS
-Throw
Since the first versione, Predator was famous for its throw capability. Well, the Predator V2.5 is much better. If you want a lot of throw in relative small size, the new Predator is perfect.
-Strength and build quality
Armytek level is high. The first Predator was already great and now i found a better tailcap and thicker head and body.
CONS
Nothing in particular
OTHER
-Strobo
No strobo in this version. If you want it, you can take the PRO versione with programmable UI.
-STEP stabilization
STEP stabilization has some advantages but you have the max brightness for 25 minutes (i use 2200mah battery so you can have max brightness for more time with different battery)
If you loved the first Predator xp-g than you will love the new xp-g2 V2.5 which has some improvements and more throw. The real first Predator successor is the PRO version.
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