Ultrafire Flashlight

[Canon Photo]

Ultrafire Flashlights are far from being reliable, I don't recommend them if you are looking for a high quality product. The chances you receive a defective or not fully functional Ultrafire product is about 30%. Ultrafire brand is from China. They don't have a website, but I could say dealextreme.com is the biggest ultrafire dealer in the web.

There are a LOT of high quality flashlight that will provide 200-240 lumens and not 1, but at least 2 hours of runtime with a single 18650.

These are the brand names and models you must look for:

Fenix: TK11R2 $75
Eagletac: T20C2 Mark II $85,
Jetbeam: RRT2 $110 If you can higher your budget, definetly get this one.

These three have proven reliability and won't dissapoint you. There are more options than these but if you look at too many flashlights you will either end up buying them all or not buying any because you can't decide.



You may want to start a new topic on the LED flashlights forum to talk about this, we will be glad to help you

Just to continue on the above. Can all users point out why 'Ultrafire' not reliable? In what ways? I'm a new user venturing in the wonderful world of flashlight. At first, I want to upgrade my maglites and pelican torches to higher lumens one but after reading more, it's not that simple of changing the bulbs to a high lumens led. Many other factors like heat issues and battery issue will arise.


Now I thought of purchasing my 1st high lumens torch. Looking at 'Ultrafire' bcos it looks identical to the higher ends models (at least identical to my layman eyes). And bcos it's much cheaper then many other models. But someone mentioned it's unreliable. I hope to understand more and hope experience users can shade more lights to me.



Thank you,
Canon

 

[John_Galt]

Ultrafire and other ****Fire lights are cheap rip-offs of designs from many other quality manufacturers, including Surefire, Fenix, etc.

Most people who insist on purchasing lights from DX/KD usually find one of two things: 1) they don't work right out of the box (and shipping/returns take months) or 2) they are cheap crap, and usually they move on to better quality lights.


It's a simple matter of economics. No business exists to provide a cheap, good product, at the expense of their own profits. A manufacturer who is aiming for a pricepoint of $15-25 simply cannot use high quality materials or safe, modern, expensive machining practices. Cree LED's are ~$1.50-5.00 apiece in bulk from the manufacturer. A semi-decent driver will probably cost $2.50-10+ apiece. A flashlight battery tube will probably cost ~$2-20+ (depending upon material choice), plus the cost of machining each unit, utilities cost, and workers pay. A flashlight at that price point is simply not possible to be made by a quality company, and retain any profits.

People complain all the time about how expensive Surefires are, and try to compare them to cheaper (although not necessarily cheap) lights. But, Surefire spends massive amounts of time and money on research and development, testing, re-testing, and re-re-testing their designs, purchasing quality electronic somponents, machining and anodizing in the US (in a state with high taxes, no less), and has the best customer service and support in the business.

In short, UltraFire and other ****Fire brands are cheap rip-offs of better companies products. They are able to provide low costs because they scrape the bottom of the barrel in terms of components, machining, labor, materials, etc, and don't have to spend any money in the R+D departments. They just spend a couple hundred buying up better products, reverse-engineering them, and making very, very bad copies.

Yes, some of these lights can be initially expensive. Price-point is often the first things noob's worry about on these forums. But if you actually take some time to research and search both the yea's and the nay's of each product you like, you'll quickly be able to see the value you get for your money.

 

[gcbryan]

It's not as simple or as black and white as the post that you've quoted implies.

You can certainly find an Ultrafire flashlight on DX that will output 200 lumens on a 18650 for 2 hours. That's not the difference between a DX budget flashlight and a potentially higher quality one.

You may wait for a month after ordering the Ultrafire before receiving it. Another light you may receive in a few days. You have a higher chance of something not working quite right and can of course return it but now you will be waiting for another month.

You will have better workmanship and quality of material in another light and you will probably have more/better features such as the user interface.

That said, if you can wait for the longer shipping time and if you like the Ultrafire product then it may be a good deal for the money. Many of us on here have plenty of Ultrafire products. It does help if you can have a different mindset when buying a $20 light than you would when buying the same product for $60. In other words you may need to take it apart and clean it up, tighten things, etc.

I've never had a product from DX that I couldn't make work and most have worked without me doing anything. It's a personal decision and an item by item decision just like deciding how to balance the cost/quality decision on anything else in life.

 

[kramer5150]

FWIW I only own two and use them along-side my more $$$ lights.

IMHO they are not complete junk, in the sense that they fill a need... cheap loaners and lights that will not kill my wallet if they get lost or damaged. In that sense they are well made, using good quality materials (aluminum reflectors, glass lenses, sillicone switch boots, typeII and in some cases typeIII, O-ring gaskets...etc)

unfortunately the build quality stinks. My experience with any of the clone-fire lights specifically from DX has been a 50% DOA rate.

The 2 ultrafies (specifically) I own, one was a DOA and the other was fine. The DOA (silver one) I had to take it apart, grind down the tailcap and re-route the ground path. After doing that its been 100% reliable. While I was at it I swapped the driver board. Its an XRE-Q2 driven at 1.4A. bigchelis measured it at ~175L in his sphere.

So While I am happy with mine, I can not openly recommend them. Unless you ar ehandy with DIY modding and are willing to invest the time and effort to get them up and running.

The olive 503B on the other hand has been a perfectly serviceable P60 host. Every bit as reliable and almost as well made as my solarforce. I don't use this light nearly as much as my 6P, but its well made and I feel confident recommending it. I have owned this light for about a year. Its been measured in both bigchelis' and MrG's spheres over that time and it consistently hits ~205L ,and drops slowly to around ~185L after some warmup. Its hosting an XRE-Q5 at 1.4A. It could gain about 15L if I switched to a UCL lens.

With Lighthound selling solarforce L2 hosts for $13... that is clearly a better option. Shiningbeam also has a very good selection of romisens and ITP lights for tighter budgets, and they have a good warranty and CS in the event of a DOA.

I speculate that Bryan inspects 100% of his (shiningbeam) lights personally.... or at the very least has a business partner that does. The inside of my 2-year old RC-N3-Q5 has some dremel marks where I can see someone de-burred the back of the reflector. I am positive it did not leave the factory in China that way. Its been one of my favorite EDC lights.

 

[gcbryan]

I've purchased 3 dive lights...(2) W200's with no problems. ..(1) MCE-dive light that had a spring that was too long to allow the lens sealing o-ring to completely compress so I had to cut one coil off..now no problem.

For regular lights I've got two Akoray K-109's (5 mode and 3 mode). I've had no problems with either but the 3 mode is much brighter than the 5 mode on CR123 primaries. I have a Ultrafire AAA 602c...no problem. I've also had no problem with my Uniquefire L2.

I ordered 3 Romisen RC-K4's and two were fine and one had an intermittent clicky switch. I bought two of them to give as presents and kept the one with the intermittent switch. I modified that as a dive light.

So, I haven't had any that were DOA. I had one with a bad switch and one with a spring that needed to be clipped. I've sent nothing back.

This should give you some idea of what to expect.

 

[Hrvoje]

Ultrafire have a website:

http://www.ultrafire.net

http://www.ultrafire.hk.cn

Some of their flashlights are very good (WF-500 incan for example). So far all my Ultrafire flashlights works without any problem.

Hrvoje

 

[jenskh]

I have three Ultrafire lights, and many other lights of which most costs several times more. None of the Ultrafire lights have failed on me, but a couple of the other more expensive has. That said, I must admit that the other lights have been used far more, but based on my experience, I have a feeling that some users exaggerate the problems with cheap flashlights.

 

[march.brown]

If you want a good cheap torch then I would recommend Solarforce ... I have two L2 and one L2i and can thoroughly recommend them ... If you want to change the dropin , it will only cost about £8 or £9 for the Solarforce ones ... My L2s cost £18-36 each including postage ... The L2i was £14-66 ... You may be able to find them even cheaper on Ebay.

I must be one of the lucky ones who have bought several times from DX and had no problems at all , other than the four weeks wait for the torch to arrive.

Over the last couple of years , I have bought several very cheap torches from the Far East and only one was faulty ... It was replaced free of charge with no problems , even though it was less than £3 to buy including postage from Hong Kong.

So go for Solarforce , particularly the L2 in the beautiful sand colour.
.

 

[BeeMan458]

...and has the best customer service and support in the business.

Not to poke your comment with a stick but I hate giving Surefire a call as the gals who answer the phones aren't nice to talk to and they make me feel like my product questions are a bother. They have their jobs because of customers and I stay as far away from Surefire as I can although I've bought a boatload of their products in the past for my use and to give to others.

I find Surefire to be unreasonably expensive, their bulbs intentionally under powered and have shifted my spending habits over to JetBeam who doesn't seem to suffer from these same anti-customer like behaviors. I have nothing bad to say about their products other than their customer service and price has caused me to hit the road seeking out alternatives, which I have found. And since it's still a free market, people can still spend their money where ever they choose and if a company drives away enough customers, they end up going out of business. Either which way, the more customers a company's personnel drives away, the less the boss makes.

I just ordered up an UltraFire light for their 18650 tube in which to Leggo up with other Surefire 6P parts. Now if Surefire had been nicer and offered a better price......

:thumbsup:

 

[jenskh]

If you want a good cheap torch then I would recommend Solarforce ... I have two L2 and one L2i and can thoroughly recommend them ... If you want to change the dropin , it will only cost about £8 or £9 for the Solarforce ones ... My L2s cost £18-36 each including postage ... The L2i was £14-66 ... You may be able to find them even cheaper on Ebay.

I must be one of the lucky ones who have bought several times from DX and had no problems at all , other than the four weeks wait for the torch to arrive.

So go for Solarforce , particularly the L2 in the beautiful sand colour.
.

I have same experience with DX.
I have many Solarforce lights (L2, L2p, L2m, L2r and Masterpiece Pro) and are using them both with original and with other drop ins. I fully agree that this seems to be very good value for the money and they all work without any problem.

 

[tsask]

I am looking forward to buying one from a USA dealer with a good reputation. http://www.batteryjunction.com/ultrafire-502b.html
that SST 50 drop in looks like a great match for it!

 

[sailah]

I got my first Ultrafire light today, sku 16844, and it was a disappointment. I was just looking for a cheap truck light, and it fit the bill. There is no oring between the reflector and body so the lens was rattling. The LED is not centered. The tailcap clicky is def not straight.

Put in a battery and it was flickering, shook it around a bit and it is working I guess. For the $15 I spent, I'd rather double that and buy a mid grade light that works like an ITP.

I don't regret buying one, as I was buying a bunch of batteries, but there is def a reason that they are selling them so cheap. Buy it if you could care less if you lose it. I would cry if my JetBeams were lost...

 

[recDNA]

I've purchased 3 dive lights...(2) W200's with no problems. ..(1) MCE-dive light that had a spring that was too long to allow the lens sealing o-ring to completely compress so I had to cut one coil off..now no problem.

For regular lights I've got two Akoray K-109's (5 mode and 3 mode). I've had no problems with either but the 3 mode is much brighter than the 5 mode on CR123 primaries. I have a Ultrafire AAA 602c...no problem. I've also had no problem with my Uniquefire L2.

I ordered 3 Romisen RC-K4's and two were fine and one had an intermittent clicky switch. I bought two of them to give as presents and kept the one with the intermittent switch. I modified that as a dive light.

So, I haven't had any that were DOA. I had one with a bad switch and one with a spring that needed to be clipped. I've sent nothing back.

This should give you some idea of what to expect.

The advantage you guys have is you seem to be able to isolate the problem AND find a way to fix it. I'm lucky if I can figure out what's wrong let alone fix it. I just keep trying random "fixes". About half the time I manage to fix broken flashlights. The other half I probably make them worse.

The flashlight I have the most trouble with is the Maglite (D versions). For some reason I always end up needing to loosen the tail cap from 1/10 of a turn to several turns to get it to light. Never figured out what causes the problem. I've tried messing with the spring but that makes no sense because it always works out of the box. It's after a couple of months I run into the problem.

 

[recDNA]

I got my first Ultrafire light today, sku 16844, and it was a disappointment. I was just looking for a cheap truck light, and it fit the bill. There is no oring between the reflector and body so the lens was rattling. The LED is not centered. The tailcap clicky is def not straight.

Put in a battery and it was flickering, shook it around a bit and it is working I guess. For the $15 I spent, I'd rather double that and buy a mid grade light that works like an ITP.

I don't regret buying one, as I was buying a bunch of batteries, but there is def a reason that they are selling them so cheap. Buy it if you could care less if you lose it. I would cry if my JetBeams were lost...

My favorite sort of cheap flashlight is the Fenix E20. Always works. Batteries always available. I have lots of expensive flashlights but I keep the E20 in the kitchen where it gets lots of use....and anybody who needs to use it can figure out how to turn it on! One click -one output - always works. Can't beat it!

 

[gcbryan]

I would tend to agree with one of the above posts who says that it appears that some who have problems with DX lights may be exaggerating some of the problems.

That's nothing that I can know for sure of course.

My approach is to read the product reviews on DX and go for the product in the same class that has the better reviews.

I also look at the reviews for the product I'm going to end up buying and see what the complaints concern. If it's minor or something I don't care about that improves my chances of being satisfied.

If everyone is having a problem with a flickering light I don't get that one.

Most people have been happy for instance with the Akoray K-109 (3 mode) so if I'm in the market for a CR123 with a Q5 that's what I would get.

It's no different than anything else. On here many people love Quarks and many complain about the XP-G versions having too much green in the output. If that's a particular concern for someone then don't get the XP-G or don't get a Quark if some other light that's reviewed has had less problems in that regard.

I definitely don't have any great repair skills or tools. There are some lights that I would take apart to change an o-ring or replace the glass or whatever but I don't because I know that I would break the light. The Akoray K-109 is an example. Taking the retaining "ring" out to get to the head or the tail is not something I would be able to successfully do. With other lights it's easy...just unscrew something or possibly it's sometimes necessary to use needlenose pliers.

 

[petergunn]

I am also new to modern flashlights and in the past month I've purchased a few ultrafire lights (WF-502b, 2x C3) as well as a couple of Romisens (N3, RC6) and an iTP A1.

I bought the C3s on a whim as I was ordering batteries and a charger from DX. I figured that at $10 each I could use either keep them as a backup AA light or experiment with modding - with the iTP A1 on my keychain I don't have too many worries about being left in the dark (A1 + Romisens were upgraded models from Shining beam BTW).

I've been pleasantly surprised by all my lights and I love how bright the Ultrafire C3s are when you throw in a $2 14500 battery. Now they aren't as 'polished' as the others (lacking grease on the threads, missing o-ring at the lens, no modes, etc), but there was nothing that could not be fixed with a minor amount of effort and the lights worked flawlessly out the box.

At the current prices these Ultrafires represent great value for many people like me who have no real need for a flashlight other than to retrieve the kids toys from under the couch, but if you are a caver, night skier, diver, etc. and you need a reliable tool then you probably want to pay for a track record (perception?) of reliability and access to a local dealer.

Its interesting though - I find myself buying cheap flashlights and parts from ebay and Hong Kong based internet companies when I would never do anything like that for computer parts (always newegg :)).

-PG

 

[Gunner12]

For lower priced lights, look at the recent reviews. If the reviews are good, then the light should be at least decent. There are also some good budget brands, such as Romisen and Solarforce.

If you want lower price and a good place to start, check out shiningbeam.

 

[kramer5150]

this is probably the safest route if you want a P60 host from a reputable dealer.

 

[Zook2001]

Another new user checking in here, my initial purchase was A DX Ultrafire and an ebay Ultrafire, both seem to be well made and function perfectly maybe just lucky I guess.
My third acquisition was a TerraLUX TLE-6EX upgrade for my 4D Maglite, not very impressive to look at out of the packet but seems twice as bright as a $20 Ultrafire, I definitely wouldn't rule out upgrading the Maglite just yet.

 

[Noctis]

It's quite simple really:
-Rule #1 of business is "Profits over People"
-Guideline #1 of buying any kind of product is "You get what you pay for."

Rule #1 means that there is no business that would make a quality product for a ridiculously cheap price, not unless they're suicidal. The price can be "competitive" meaning that a few others might be cheaper, but a good rule of thumb is to always suspect the cheapest or "best" deal.

Guideline #1 essentially means Quid Pro Quo. If you want something you'll need to give something of equal value. I say "guideline" because it's not an absolute rule. There will be companies who severely overcharge you for poor quality products(thus, pointing back to Rule #1) in order to increase their profit margin. Excellent example would be when I spent $300 on a Coldsteel knife when I found out the obvious design flaws(almost too heavy for pocket-carry, blade wouldn't always open and on one occasion dropped back down on my finger). I found that a much cheaper Emerson knife at $130 was a much more practical and efficient design(opened smoothly every single time, lightweight, durable, excellent grip). So price isn't always everything.

With Rule #1 and Guideline #1, you can simply make a blanket statement that Ultrafire is guaranteed to be of bad quality simply by virtue of the price.