780 Lumens 4Sevens Quark Burst Mode QP2L-X

[UnknownVT]

Courtesy of 4Sevens I have a Quark Pro QP2L-X with Burst Mode for review.

That disclaimer over -
I mean a spec'd 780 lumens from a flashlight? -
this is like a 40-60watt light bulb concentrated out of a flashlight!

Yes, it's only spec'd to be driven at 780 lumens for 1 minute - then it ramps down to 1/2 that 390 lumens - over the next 30 seconds -
that's pretty gradual and probably imperceptible -
most of the time I don't use a flashlight on max for long durations -
so I probably won't even see the ramp down in any real usage.

OK preamble over -
Size - it's a standard 2x CR123 body


Head -


So how bright is it?
The brightest 4Sevens light I have is the 4Sevens Quark AA-R5 - but used with 3V -
ie: on a Quark 123 body (hence the showing in the size comparison pic).
Remember 4Sevens (3V) Quarks have Buck/Boost circuitry -
which means even if I were to use rechargeable LiIon 14500 (for AA size) or RCR123 -
the nominal 3.7V will not make the Quark AA-R5 head any brighter - since the 3.7V would be bucked down to the correct Vf.

OK, ok....
vs. 4Sevens Quark AA-R5 on 1x CR123 (using Quark 123 body)

Holy moly!
There is no doubt that the Quark QP2L-X Burst mode is significantly brighter that the Quark XP-G R5 on 1x CR123

QP2L-X High (the 300 lumen mode) vs 4Sevens Quark AA-R5 on 1x CR123 (using Quark 123 body)

even on high (300 lumens) it is still brighter than the R5 on CR123.

It is only when dropping down to Medium......
QP2L-X on Medium vs 4Sevens Quark AA-R5 on 1x CR123 (using Quark 123 body)

Not surprising, because Medium is spec'd at only 55 lumens.

Specs:

Now the interesting part - for me.....
we know that Rechargeable LiIon batteries will not make a 3V Quark any brighter because of the buck circuit -
but what about using a single LiIon 3.7V (max 4.2V) with this QP2L-X - it is within specs to drive the head
and therefore the 780 lumens Burst mode?

This mean I could use the QP2L-X Burst head on either a single AA body using a LiIon 14500
or a single 123 body using a LiIon RCR123.......

Does it work?

QP2L-X using single LiIon14500 (AA size) on single AA body vs 4Sevens Quark AA-R5 on 1x CR123 (using Quark 123 body)

QP2L-X on single LiIon RCR123 on 123 body vs 4Sevens Quark AA-R5 on 1x Lion 14500

It's YES and YES! The Quark QP2L-X will work with a single LiIon - 14500 or RCR123 and it is able to output the 780 lumen Burst Mode -
so one can use the QP2L-X head with either single cell AA or 123 bodies as long as a rechargeable LiIon cell is used and get the Burst mode.

I know I've said this already - 780 lumens out of a pocket flashlight? - like the innovative emitter self-centering mechanism introduced by 4Sevens -
it is good to see 4Sevens maintaining its forefront leadership......

 

[MichaelW]

The previous 4Sevens burst mode gave you three minutes, with an abrupt drop down. So after step-down, it seems like the steady state output is only brighter by the the difference between xm-l1 & xm-l2 bins would suggest.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?321913
It does seem like a good marketing move, can't let the ET D25LC2 steal the show.

 

[cbxer55]

Just ordered one, thanks for the review. First new light since I bought an Olight M30 several years ago.
$75.00 shipped. Not bad at all.

 

[cbxer55]

Got the light in the mail today. That was fast, ordered it Early Thursday morning, in my mailbox on Monday. Nice light, very easy to use. Comes with a nice holster, lanyard and two CR123 batteries. WIll have to wait to see how the light output is, it's still daytime here.

 

[cbxer55]

Question, if anyone is paying attention. This light came with two CR123 batteries. This light also will not cycle into the 780 lumen mode. When the bezel is tightened, it is pretty bright. When the bezel is loosened to allow access to all the various settings, it does not cycle into burst mode. When the bezel is loosened, the light comes on in Moon. After that there are four other brightness settings before the two strobes come into play. This means that from Moon, one click gets low. Two gets Medium. Three gets High. Four Gets Max. I am not getting that fourth brightness. It goes into strobe after the third.

Could this be weak batteries as provided? Not enough oomph to kick it into Burst Mode?

 

[WilsonCQB1911]

Question, if anyone is paying attention. This light came with two CR123 batteries. This light also will not cycle into the 780 lumen mode. When the bezel is tightened, it is pretty bright. When the bezel is loosened to allow access to all the various settings, it does not cycle into burst mode. When the bezel is loosened, the light comes on in Moon. After that there are four other brightness settings before the two strobes come into play. This means that from Moon, one click gets low. Two gets Medium. Three gets High. Four Gets Max. I am not getting that fourth brightness. It goes into strobe after the third.

Could this be weak batteries as provided? Not enough oomph to kick it into Burst Mode?

Sounds like normal operation to me. Burst/Turbo is only when the head is tightened.

 

[cbxer55]

Sounds like normal operation to me. Burst/Turbo is only when the head is tightened.

That is not what the instruction sheet says. It says Max (780 lumens) is available on the fourth click when the bezel is loosened. Maybe the instruction sheet is a missprint? Guess I'll try and scrounge up a few new batteries and try it out. Probably going to order a few 18650's and a charger as well.

Edit: Never mind, you are correct. Must have been the booze affecting my reading comprehension. ;-)

 

[UnknownVT]

That is not what the instruction sheet says. It says Max (780 lumens) is available on the fourth click when the bezel is loosened. Maybe the instruction sheet is a missprint? Guess I'll try and scrounge up a few new batteries and try it out. Probably going to order a few 18650's and a charger as well.

Edit: Never mind, you are correct. Must have been the booze affecting my reading comprehension. ;-)

Glad you got it, and thanks to WilsonCQB1911 for answering so quickly.

Anyway Burst mode is basically the first 1 minute of Max -which is simply tightening the head bezel -
as per the instructions -

An easy way to check if the batteries are still capable of driving the Burst/Max mode is to have the head loosened - set the light on High (3 taps)
then tighten the head and see if the light is noticeably brighter.

A spec'd 780 lumens out of the front of a flashlight is pretty bright -
the hotspot is comparable to the bright 55watt halogen headlight on a car.

 

[cbxer55]

I'll check it when it gets dark tonight. AS for batteries, an 18650 is the equivalent to two CR123's, correct. I thought I read on another review elsewhere that this light was capable of accepting that. Might have been 4Sevens ad itself. Guess I'll go check it out.

Never mind once again. The review of the previous version of this light says the tube will not accept 18650's.

 

[LightWalker]

An AW 17670 should fit.

 

[CampingMaster]

Sounds like normal operation to me. Burst/Turbo is only when the head is tightened.

You mean Burst/Maximum because there is NO such thing as Turbo setting with FOURSEVENS Quark flashlights. Yes there is a Turbo flashlight and this Turbo flashlight has NO Turbo mode but Maximum setting. Turbo is not a good term for Maximum, Maximum is Maximum and Turbo means nothing.

 

[UnknownVT]

I'll check it when it gets dark tonight. AS for batteries, an 18650 is the equivalent to two CR123's, correct. I thought I read on another review elsewhere that this light was capable of accepting that. Might have been 4Sevens ad itself. Guess I'll go check it out.

Never mind once again. The review of the previous version of this light says the tube will not accept 18650's.

There's discussion of various batteries that can be used in QP2L-X burst -in the thread over at 4Sevens MarketPlace -

FOURSEVENS Burst Mode XML Flashlights!

FWIW I think an 18650 is actually a nominal 3.7V -
2x CR123 is about 6V.

But a single 3.7V LiIon will drive the QP2L-X and get the burst/max mode.

You don't need to wait till dark to see this switching between High and Max/Burst - any darkened room or even with subdue lighting, will do.

 

[cbxer55]

Guess I'll just stick with 123's and order some rechargeable ones for it. Been running my old Olight M30 on rechargeable's for several years with no issues. Either that or just buy another huge bulk quantity of primary cells.

This is a really nice little light. I like that it is as bright, if not brighter than my Olight M30 in a package a whole lot smaller.

 

[AnAppleSnail]

Guess I'll just stick with 123's and order some rechargeable ones for it. Been running my old Olight M30 on rechargeable's for several years with no issues. Either that or just buy another huge bulk quantity of primary cells.

This is a really nice little light. I like that it is as bright, if not brighter than my Olight M30 in a package a whole lot smaller.

An AW17670 should work slightly better than the 14500 single cell shown above. It's a lithium-ion cell the approximate size of two CR123s, with the voltage of one li-ion cell. The AW 17670 has about 1800 mAh capacity, about two thirds of an 18650. It will probably beat the current delivery ability of CR123s, have slightly less stored energy than two CR123s, and be rechargeable.

 

[Chevy-SS]

Thanks for the review!

Do you happen to know if the strobe utilizes burst mode???????? I would like to order the "tactical" version of one of these lights, but only if the strobe uses burst mode. EDIT: it looks like strobe DOES utilize burst mode. Thanks to 'UnknownVT' for guiding me back to my question that I had posted to 4Sevens.

Currently, I EDC the Quark 123*2 Tactical XP-G R5, and it's a terrific EDC light. If I can get a EDC light with a 780 lumen strobe, then I would be happy-happy.

Many thanks, Dave F.

2nd edit: ORDERED ONE!!!

 

[UnknownVT]

Do you happen to know if the strobe utilizes burst mode???????? I would like to order the "tactical" version of one of these lights, but only if the strobe uses burst mode.

I thought 4Sevens Customer service answered your question in in the thread over at 4Sevens MarketPlace (Post#8) -

FOURSEVENS Burst Mode XML Flashlights!

" Chevy-SS - SOS, Strobe, and Beacon (high) run at 100% burst mode when active. The lower Beacon runs at 20% of burst mode."

 

[Chevy-SS]

I thought 4Sevens Customer service answered your question in in the thread over at 4Sevens MarketPlace (Post#8) -

FOURSEVENS Burst Mode XML Flashlights!

" Chevy-SS - SOS, Strobe, and Beacon (high) run at 100% burst mode when active. The lower Beacon runs at 20% of burst mode."

Ahhhh, thank you very much. :thumbsup: I checked that thread for a few days and saw no replies. I must have forgotten to subscribe to it.

EDIT: I just checked and I was subscribed to it. Dunno why I wasn't getting notified. Oh well.......

Thanks again for the help!

Dave F.

 

[UnknownVT]

One of the things that really got my interest is this 4Sevens Quark Pro QP2L-X head will work on a single 123 or AA body with a single 3.7V LiIon rechargeable battery.

I wanted to check that under these conditions the light still gets all the modes -
it should, since a LiIon rechargeable is nominally 3.7V ( range of 3.5V - 4.2V)
and that is easily within the spec'd voltage range of 3-8.4V of the QP2L-X

I put the QP2L-X head on a single 123 body and used a single RCR123 3.7V LiIon rechargeable
and compared it with the Quark AA-R5 using a freshly charged 1.2V eneloop (NiMH LSD)

Moonlight:

Note: this is just "underexposed" to the lowest shutter speed 1 sec, at f/3.5 ISO100

Low mode:

Medium Mode - BUT comparing to Quark AA-R5 with LiIon 14500 on Max

High Mode vs Quark AA-R5 on LiIon 14500 on Max

These show the QP2L-X head does behave well with a single 3.7V LiIon rechargeable cell (ie: RCR123, 14500, and probably 17670) retaining all the modes

I realize this 4Sevens Quark QP2L-X is likely to be compared to the EagleTac D25LC2.

BUT on a single 123 body it is more like the EagleTac D25C clicky -
my understanding is the single 123 cell EagleTac D25C does work with a LiIon rechargeable RCR123 -
but it is basically in direct drive so loses all the lower modes (they all become max/Turbo)
except I think the Lo1 and Lo2 modes.

So although the 4Sevens Quark XM-L2 series does not have single cell models - but the QP2L-X can be used as both a single cell AA or 123 model, using 3.7V LiIon rechargeable
and still retain all the modes.

Even though the EagleTacs are reputed to be optimized for each type of battery -
the 4Sevens Quarks can play "lego" and this QP2L-X can be used:

with supplied 2x123 body
with 2x primary CR123, or 2x LiIon rechargeable RCR123, or LiIon 17670.
and
with single AA body with LiIon 14500
and
with single 123 body with LiIon RCR123.

I like this flexibility.

 

[wrj0]

Thanks for the excellent info provided here. Just caused me to order one!

 

[Jdunn709]

Thanks for the excellent info provided here. Just caused me to order one!

Me too! I've been on the fence for a while but this review made me finally place my order!

I'm still amazed at the warranty!