The Urnabeam Beacon has been flying under the radar and I'm not sure why. I haven't seen or heard much about it, but it's a nice light in a comprehensive rechargeable package for around $90 or $80 w/ free shipping for CPF'rs (http://www.liotec.com/CPF-page.htm). John at Liotec was nice enough to provide me one to review, so here we go..
In all honesty I expected about the same performance as several other lights I have in the same form factor w/ a Q5 after seeing the specs listed for the light (below). But fortunately, there were some surprises in store for me..
Specs
When I opened the box and took the light out, it didn't have that sleek or tactical look that just grabs you right off the bat like maybe a CL1H. But the more I handled the light, the more I realized how well this light was designed.
The first thing I really appreciated with this light was the knurling. Of all my lights, the aggressiveness of this knurling is second only to my SureFires. I would classify the grip as excellent, but slightly less skin-ripping than the various SureFire lights I own. This is good, because it has a very compact body for an 18650 light. You won't drop this light…
The next very obvious thing you'll notice with this light is the huge reflector for a light of this size. Looking at the light you wouldn't guess it because it looks very average in size, but I would place a bet that this light has the largest reflector of any light in this form factor. I thought the CL1H had a pretty big reflector, but it's not even close! After seeing this, I had an idea of what I was going to see in the throw department. More on that later..
Compared to a CL1H:
The light is hard anodized in black with a slight sheen, and threads are all anodized as well. The anodizing was even and matching throughout, and there were no nics or blemishes that I could see. I was happy to see that the threads were also very nicely lubed, with no gritty feel whatsoever when unscrewing the tailcap or head.
I'm a Wolf-Eyes fan, and one of the big reasons is the inner brass tube used for carrying the current. I really like that design, as it allows the threads to be anodized for protection and allows for great conductivity. This light has the same design with an inner tube for transferring the current, but I'm not sure what metal the inner tube is made of. It looks like polished stainless, but I can't be sure. It's this type of extra attention to design for reliability that I appreciate in a light.
This light has a forward-clicky tactical switch, which has a nice tension without being hard to press. It has some tactical feedback when clicking for constant on, but not as much as I normally like. It feels much closer to a Wolf-Eyes switch than a SureFire.
Overall this light has a solid, well balanced feel, and is lighter than you would expect. I actually carried it in my front pocket very comfortably due to its compact size and design.
I asked about upgradeability because it doesn't appear that the module is removable. I was told that you would have to replace the head to upgrade, but I'm not sure what the cost would be for a new head on this light.
As for the holster, at first I was very happy with it due to the strong nylon construction and the velcro + snap belt closure. However, it doesn't fit the light very snug. It is too long, and there is slack at the bottom of the holster. If you squeeze it in, you can fit the light completely down in the holster which would make the lid overlap too much for the velcro to attach.
Performance
The light I tested is the single-stage version, but Liotec will be carrying a multi-stage version in a couple of weeks. I'm not exactly sure of the bin, but it is very white leaning slightly to the cool side. The Cree emitter is perfectly centered in the reflector (see pics), and has virtually no gap between the emitter and the reflector hole. As I already mentioned, the reflector in this light is huge for a light of this form factor, so I was prepared to see some serious throw – and I did. The reflector is an OP. I don't know if an SMO reflector is available in this light, but it would be in the thrower class (probably up there with the Regalight) if one was available. As far as heat, the light got only slightly warm after about ten minutes of continuous run.
I compared the Beacon with the following lights in a couple of outdoor shots:
These first set of shots were against a white garage wall at 40 ft to compare the size and intensity of the hotspot. They were taken using manual exposure with fstop 2.8 w/ 1 step underexposed. The Beacon was the clear winner here, with a very intense hotspot that was surprisingly brighter than even the CL1H. There have been very few lights of this size I've seen or had that compared to the CL1H in brightness, but this one definitely surpasses it – at least in the hotspot.
WE Sniper Q5 on left / Beacon Q5 on right - 40 ft
Solarforce R2 on left / Beacon Q5 on right - 40ft
CL1H on left / Beacon on right - 40ft
These second set of shots were at a tree at 140 ft. It is clear again that the Beacon maintained the brightest intensity at that distance, but the CL1H seemed to light up more of the area directly around the hotspot, and also had a larger and brighter spill. The Sniper had the largest spill by far, but a very week hotspot. The Solarforce did fine, but it's supposed R2 emitter didn't impress.
Control Shot - ambient light - 140 ft
WE Sniper - 140 ft
Solarforce R2 - 140 ft
CL1H 3SD Q5 WC - 140 ft
Urnabeam Beacon Q5 - 140 ft
Sniper-->Solarforce-->CL1H-->Beacon
Overall the Urnabeam Beacon is a high quality light with a well thought-out design. It has class-leading throw characteristics due to the very large reflector, with plenty of bright spill for close to medium use due to the OP surface. This light comes with the complete rechargeable package which will benefit those who would like a rechargeable light but don't want to purchase all the extras to get it. In my humble opinion, this is definitely one light that needs to get on the radar as it offers a complete package, high quality construction, and at least in throw, stands above the rest.
UPDATE:
I was just found out that there is a new generation 3-stage Beacon coming out in about 3 weeks. It has a very cool selector ring on the tailcap that allows you to select the desired mode: High -> Low -> Strobe.
It looks like a very cool integrated design. Here's a pic of the new model:
In all honesty I expected about the same performance as several other lights I have in the same form factor w/ a Q5 after seeing the specs listed for the light (below). But fortunately, there were some surprises in store for me..
Specs
- Specification: High efficiency electrocircuit
- Output / Runtime: 230 lumen @ 150 minutes
- Construction: Aircraft grade aluminum CNC machined,
- hard anodized finish
- O-ring sealed
- high transparency optical lens
- Switch: Tactical button switch
- charge and recharge protected Li-ion battery
When I opened the box and took the light out, it didn't have that sleek or tactical look that just grabs you right off the bat like maybe a CL1H. But the more I handled the light, the more I realized how well this light was designed.
The first thing I really appreciated with this light was the knurling. Of all my lights, the aggressiveness of this knurling is second only to my SureFires. I would classify the grip as excellent, but slightly less skin-ripping than the various SureFire lights I own. This is good, because it has a very compact body for an 18650 light. You won't drop this light…
The next very obvious thing you'll notice with this light is the huge reflector for a light of this size. Looking at the light you wouldn't guess it because it looks very average in size, but I would place a bet that this light has the largest reflector of any light in this form factor. I thought the CL1H had a pretty big reflector, but it's not even close! After seeing this, I had an idea of what I was going to see in the throw department. More on that later..
Compared to a CL1H:
The light is hard anodized in black with a slight sheen, and threads are all anodized as well. The anodizing was even and matching throughout, and there were no nics or blemishes that I could see. I was happy to see that the threads were also very nicely lubed, with no gritty feel whatsoever when unscrewing the tailcap or head.
I'm a Wolf-Eyes fan, and one of the big reasons is the inner brass tube used for carrying the current. I really like that design, as it allows the threads to be anodized for protection and allows for great conductivity. This light has the same design with an inner tube for transferring the current, but I'm not sure what metal the inner tube is made of. It looks like polished stainless, but I can't be sure. It's this type of extra attention to design for reliability that I appreciate in a light.
This light has a forward-clicky tactical switch, which has a nice tension without being hard to press. It has some tactical feedback when clicking for constant on, but not as much as I normally like. It feels much closer to a Wolf-Eyes switch than a SureFire.
Overall this light has a solid, well balanced feel, and is lighter than you would expect. I actually carried it in my front pocket very comfortably due to its compact size and design.
I asked about upgradeability because it doesn't appear that the module is removable. I was told that you would have to replace the head to upgrade, but I'm not sure what the cost would be for a new head on this light.
As for the holster, at first I was very happy with it due to the strong nylon construction and the velcro + snap belt closure. However, it doesn't fit the light very snug. It is too long, and there is slack at the bottom of the holster. If you squeeze it in, you can fit the light completely down in the holster which would make the lid overlap too much for the velcro to attach.
Performance
The light I tested is the single-stage version, but Liotec will be carrying a multi-stage version in a couple of weeks. I'm not exactly sure of the bin, but it is very white leaning slightly to the cool side. The Cree emitter is perfectly centered in the reflector (see pics), and has virtually no gap between the emitter and the reflector hole. As I already mentioned, the reflector in this light is huge for a light of this form factor, so I was prepared to see some serious throw – and I did. The reflector is an OP. I don't know if an SMO reflector is available in this light, but it would be in the thrower class (probably up there with the Regalight) if one was available. As far as heat, the light got only slightly warm after about ten minutes of continuous run.
I compared the Beacon with the following lights in a couple of outdoor shots:
- WE Sniper Q5 – AW 18650
- Urnabeam Beacon Q5 - AW 18650
- CL1H OP 3SD – AW 18650
- Solarforce R2 (SF 6P clone) – 2xCR123
These first set of shots were against a white garage wall at 40 ft to compare the size and intensity of the hotspot. They were taken using manual exposure with fstop 2.8 w/ 1 step underexposed. The Beacon was the clear winner here, with a very intense hotspot that was surprisingly brighter than even the CL1H. There have been very few lights of this size I've seen or had that compared to the CL1H in brightness, but this one definitely surpasses it – at least in the hotspot.
WE Sniper Q5 on left / Beacon Q5 on right - 40 ft
Solarforce R2 on left / Beacon Q5 on right - 40ft
CL1H on left / Beacon on right - 40ft
These second set of shots were at a tree at 140 ft. It is clear again that the Beacon maintained the brightest intensity at that distance, but the CL1H seemed to light up more of the area directly around the hotspot, and also had a larger and brighter spill. The Sniper had the largest spill by far, but a very week hotspot. The Solarforce did fine, but it's supposed R2 emitter didn't impress.
Control Shot - ambient light - 140 ft
WE Sniper - 140 ft
Solarforce R2 - 140 ft
CL1H 3SD Q5 WC - 140 ft
Urnabeam Beacon Q5 - 140 ft
Sniper-->Solarforce-->CL1H-->Beacon
Overall the Urnabeam Beacon is a high quality light with a well thought-out design. It has class-leading throw characteristics due to the very large reflector, with plenty of bright spill for close to medium use due to the OP surface. This light comes with the complete rechargeable package which will benefit those who would like a rechargeable light but don't want to purchase all the extras to get it. In my humble opinion, this is definitely one light that needs to get on the radar as it offers a complete package, high quality construction, and at least in throw, stands above the rest.
UPDATE:
I was just found out that there is a new generation 3-stage Beacon coming out in about 3 weeks. It has a very cool selector ring on the tailcap that allows you to select the desired mode: High -> Low -> Strobe.
It looks like a very cool integrated design. Here's a pic of the new model:
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