tenfour
Newly Enlightened
FIRST I will say that these types of lights spark lots of controversy. This review is purely observational - based on functionality. Forget about price, manufacturer, or other emotional / philosophical comments.
I KINDLY ASK THAT IF YOU WANT TO ARGUE THE MORAL / ETHICAL / EMOTIONAL / PHILOSOPHICAL DETAILS OF RIPPING OFF THE SUREFIRE DESIGN/NAME, START YOUR OWN THREAD. It's all been heard before, and I'd hate to see a technical review thread turn into the same old mush of complaining.
Ok I finally received the DealExtreme U2 clone. Ordered 1/18/2007, Received 1/30/2007.
It looks almost EXACTLY like a U2. SureFire logo and everything.
- It has a cheapy thin glass lens
- Smooth reflector
- No pocket clip
- tail clicky works differently than U2 and is difficult to use
- the "selector ring" is just for show, it doesn't even move
- 18650's work just fine in both modes
I have no way to do a runtime graph so don't expect that.
The light has 2 levels. The first level is just about equivelant to the U2's higest (level 6) mode.
The 2nd level is about equivelant to the U2's level 4 mode.
The parts fit together well. None of them are loc-tite'd. The "selector ring" is glued onto the body; i could not remove it (in fact i broke my vice trying)
The tail clicky sucks. You have to press it at like a certain angle to make it click, otherwise it feels like it jams and won't budge. Gross.
There is no momentary-on... 1st click = high level, 2nd click = low level, click again = off. The only gripe about the UI is that the light turns on when the switch is on its way back OUT. So, when you press it IN, the light is still off. When you let go of the switch, then it turns on (reverse clicky).
EDIT: The tail cap can be fixed - it can be disassembled from the inside, and there are lots of loose-fitting parts. Mine were all shoved off to the side, making the switch barely work. centering them made it work just fine, but i have yet to actually secure the parts centered. some other time when i'm not so lazy i guess...
If you remove the reflector, you can get a really nice wide clean flood of light - I might actually prefer it this way for some things.
EDIT: a few more comments:
- the tailcap is not compatible with the U2, and vice-versa
- the beam is pretty good. a little messy, but no big holes, donuts, stuff like that. there's less spill than a U2, and a tighter hot spot.
- the "selector ring" is aluminum
- the light is cast, not machined.
EDIT (2nd revision): Water resistancy. I dunked the light under my full kitchen sink of water for a few minutes, clicking like mad on the switch. SEEMED to work like a charm, but found that the LED was just barely lit while the light was off. I opened the tailcap again and found that water had gotten into the switch. So, it's NOT water resistant unless you find a way to seal the tailcap rubber.
Pictures... Note that my U2 is a lux lotter loser, and I have a relatively blue beam as it is.
Here is the packaging.
Inside the white box, the light was taped in bubble paper:
Compared to my U2. The clone is on top. Yep that's the surefire logo there, and surefire-looking serial number. The serial number is fake. Other people that have purchased this light also got A02621...
Compared to my U2 again. The clone is the top one.
Down the barrel!
Again.
Tail clicky is shorter. Notice the surefire.com link there... Also note that my U2 has Nekomane's z58 tailguard on it. That mod will not work with this clone, because the tailcap is all 1 piece.
Head assembly; apologies for the blur.
Without the reflector. Looks like an easy modee...
The tail cap - notice there is no spring. That is a spring-loaded piece of metal there.
Down the battery shaft. The head does not detach like the U2's. I am using my U2 to light the tube =)
Again...
High level, 1 meter away.
Real U2 on the left
Clone U2 on the right
High level, 1 meter away - exposure 1/1000 sec to compare beams.
Real U2 on the left
Clone U2 on the right
Low level, 1 meter away
Real U2 on the left (at level 4)
Clone U2 on the right (on low level)
Low level, 1 meter away - exposure 1/1000 sec to compare beams.
Real U2 on the left
Clone U2 on the right
I KINDLY ASK THAT IF YOU WANT TO ARGUE THE MORAL / ETHICAL / EMOTIONAL / PHILOSOPHICAL DETAILS OF RIPPING OFF THE SUREFIRE DESIGN/NAME, START YOUR OWN THREAD. It's all been heard before, and I'd hate to see a technical review thread turn into the same old mush of complaining.
Ok I finally received the DealExtreme U2 clone. Ordered 1/18/2007, Received 1/30/2007.
It looks almost EXACTLY like a U2. SureFire logo and everything.
- It has a cheapy thin glass lens
- Smooth reflector
- No pocket clip
- tail clicky works differently than U2 and is difficult to use
- the "selector ring" is just for show, it doesn't even move
- 18650's work just fine in both modes
I have no way to do a runtime graph so don't expect that.
The light has 2 levels. The first level is just about equivelant to the U2's higest (level 6) mode.
The 2nd level is about equivelant to the U2's level 4 mode.
The parts fit together well. None of them are loc-tite'd. The "selector ring" is glued onto the body; i could not remove it (in fact i broke my vice trying)
The tail clicky sucks. You have to press it at like a certain angle to make it click, otherwise it feels like it jams and won't budge. Gross.
There is no momentary-on... 1st click = high level, 2nd click = low level, click again = off. The only gripe about the UI is that the light turns on when the switch is on its way back OUT. So, when you press it IN, the light is still off. When you let go of the switch, then it turns on (reverse clicky).
EDIT: The tail cap can be fixed - it can be disassembled from the inside, and there are lots of loose-fitting parts. Mine were all shoved off to the side, making the switch barely work. centering them made it work just fine, but i have yet to actually secure the parts centered. some other time when i'm not so lazy i guess...
If you remove the reflector, you can get a really nice wide clean flood of light - I might actually prefer it this way for some things.
EDIT: a few more comments:
- the tailcap is not compatible with the U2, and vice-versa
- the beam is pretty good. a little messy, but no big holes, donuts, stuff like that. there's less spill than a U2, and a tighter hot spot.
- the "selector ring" is aluminum
- the light is cast, not machined.
EDIT (2nd revision): Water resistancy. I dunked the light under my full kitchen sink of water for a few minutes, clicking like mad on the switch. SEEMED to work like a charm, but found that the LED was just barely lit while the light was off. I opened the tailcap again and found that water had gotten into the switch. So, it's NOT water resistant unless you find a way to seal the tailcap rubber.
Pictures... Note that my U2 is a lux lotter loser, and I have a relatively blue beam as it is.
Here is the packaging.
Inside the white box, the light was taped in bubble paper:
Compared to my U2. The clone is on top. Yep that's the surefire logo there, and surefire-looking serial number. The serial number is fake. Other people that have purchased this light also got A02621...
Compared to my U2 again. The clone is the top one.
Down the barrel!
Again.
Tail clicky is shorter. Notice the surefire.com link there... Also note that my U2 has Nekomane's z58 tailguard on it. That mod will not work with this clone, because the tailcap is all 1 piece.
Head assembly; apologies for the blur.
Without the reflector. Looks like an easy modee...
The tail cap - notice there is no spring. That is a spring-loaded piece of metal there.
Down the battery shaft. The head does not detach like the U2's. I am using my U2 to light the tube =)
Again...
High level, 1 meter away.
Real U2 on the left
Clone U2 on the right
High level, 1 meter away - exposure 1/1000 sec to compare beams.
Real U2 on the left
Clone U2 on the right
Low level, 1 meter away
Real U2 on the left (at level 4)
Clone U2 on the right (on low level)
Low level, 1 meter away - exposure 1/1000 sec to compare beams.
Real U2 on the left
Clone U2 on the right
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