Inova X1 (3rd Gen) First Impressions

Candle Power Flashlight Forum

Help Support CPF:

Here's something else to throw out there, I just did some DMM measurements of current pull from the battery (ie, these measurements are NOT what the LED sees but what the driver pulls from the cell) on my two Gen 3 X1s and here is what I found:

Titanium Black
680mA 650mA on Alkaline cell measuring 1.59V
790mA 700mA on Lithium cell measuring 1.75V
690mA 620mA on NiMH cell measuring 1.36v
1990mA 1650mA on 14500 Cell measuring 4.04v

Compare this to the Gen 2 light:
Titanium Black
230mA 200mA on Alkaline cell
240mA 210mA on Lithium cell
120mA 120mA on NiMH cell
430mA on 14500 cell

Did I take crazy pills, or is this new LED radically ineffecient?
sick2.gif


Also, while there is a slight variation of current pull from two different Gen 2 lights, there seems to be a pretty big variation between the two different Gen 3 lights. The tints are quite a bit different, but one doesn't really look radically brighter than the other one.

I'll keep them, but I'm starting to like the Gen 3 X1 less and less. It's a solid product and as I've said, I like the beam it throws... its sort of like the hotspot is tiny... not really even a hotspot, but more like one teensy area is brighter than the rest, but the spillbeam is very nice. If this were the only >$2 light I'd ever owned, I'd likely be quite happy with it but other than the improved tint over the Gen 2, it's not a very attractive light at all.

It's sort of like deciding between two cars with identical internal sizing, external sizing and looks. But one car gets 40 miles per gallon and does 0-60 in 8 seconds, and the other one gets 12 miles per gallon and does 0-60 in 7.5 seconds. Just doesn't seem like much of a trade-off.

(Edited for spelling and clarification.)
 
Last edited:
I too was very unimpressed by the X1 .it is not at all bright and has a green tint to it. I did a comparison with my L2d on LOW and it is two to three times brighter than X1. I think I may send back or chuck it in the wifes car. not happy at all. On the other hand i bought a bolt 2AA and am very happy with it. go figure!!!!
 
I would love to know more about this light that Matt was talking about that will use the Luxeon Rebel.
 
I did some measurements with DMM on a gen3 and a gen2.

gen2
205mA 200mA on Alkaline cell measuring 1.59V
This is about the same as cratz2 but my gen3 was only about 210mA-215mA.

On the self there were 3 gen3 x1's. I compared them all and chose the whitest one. The other 2 were very green but they all apeared to have the same brightness.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for that cratz2... to me it is just another nail in the coffin for this 3.0 version of the X1. Ordered 3 of the old Generation 2.0 X1’s from batteryjunction the other day…while they are still around in abundance… V.2.0 may well turn out to be the last great single 5mm LED light… a bit dramatic sounding I know, but… that’s the way it’s looking right now. This new V.3.0 X1 is so inefficient… wonder where the juice is going… into heat waste I suspect... this 3.0 must get warm after a while.
 
I ran both of my X1 v3.0s for two hours last night on NiMH cells... just to sorta break the LED in a bit. They get slightly warm, but nothing even remotely close to what I would call hot. I just think the LED is very ineffecient.

Also, I'm 99% certain that the X1 v3.0 and the Bolt 2xAAA lights use the same boost circuit so that means it needs to allow for anything from about .8V up to about 3.4V... That may reduce the effeciency of the circuit.

We were recently in St Louis and I stopped by two Target stores while there - the Mid River mall and some store a few miles east of that, but still in St Charles. That 'other' store actually had all three versions of the black X1... A single Gen 1 with the optic, two or thee of the reflectored ones with the Nichia CS and three of the new '2 watt' ones. It's kinda funny to think that Inova keeps building new versions the X1 and we have to assume Target is the largest reseller of the X1, yet they still seem to have some that were made over a year ago.
 
I was at Target today looking for the semi-gloss finish RR AA1W lights, since mine is a flat black one (Grr!) and I FINALLY saw the new X1's. There were three and I tested each. The first one had this sick-green tint that looked simply horrific. The other two were dull/dim blue tinted. Utterly unimpressive. Glad everyone else tested them before me. And I'm a big fan of Inova and I wouldn't want this light.

Hopefully they'll do a ver. 3.5 and replace that crap LED.
 
I went to my local target store yesterday and they have the X1 gen2's but did not get one after my dissapointment with the gen3 but bought the river rock 1AA and was very impressed by it, a nice little light for $22
 
I bought one of the new Gen 3 X1's yesterday along with the 1watt 1AA River Rock as well. I love the X1's immaculate fit and finish, but the output is nothing to write home about. I was more impressed with the River Rock instead. Nice output for a $22 light, indeed!

As for the Gen 3 Inova X1, what can I say? I like it and at the same time I'm disappointed with it. It just seems incomplete somehow. The sad thing is that the X1 has the potential to be the cat's a$$ in small pocket-sized flashlights if only Inova would just get it right!
 
I know CPF has nowhere near the same influence over Inova that we do over the smaller outfits like Fenix and Lumapower - we may have no meaningful influence at all - but maybe we, with the help of some of our resident retailers, could petition Inova to do a sprint run of X1s with better emitters. Would you pay $25 for the X1 if it came with a Rebel? If they'd just turn the current down a bit, we could have, say, 12 lumens for around 20 hours. I'd be all over it.

Just hoping someone optimistic can convince me that it's possible. :anyone:
 
I would be all over a X1 with a Rebel, even if it cost 25 bucks. It would be my ideal carry light, but I personally would prefer 40-50 lumens at about three hour run time. That is what Matt said should be possible with the Rebel. Heck I would be happy with 20-30 lumens and three hour runtime.
 
I'd be all over an X1 with Cree for $50. I'd be all over a T1, T2, T3, T5 with Cree for $150. Oh well. Inova won't upgrade their T line till 2009 right I suspect.
 
Martini

I think that maybe we should start a thread to see how much intrest there would be in getting a X1 with a Rebel. Maybe if everyone intrested could post with the number that they would purchase the we might have some numbers to take to Inova. I am not saying that it would work but we will never know unless we give it a shot. Personally I am good for 1 maybe 2 at a price range of 25-30 bucks. Just a drop in the bucket but it is a start.
 
Hmmm, maybe if a bunch of people keep on e-mailing Inova about the suckiness of the new X1 and that a lot of people would refuse to buy an esentially degraded light that was once known for it's great runtime, maybe some petitions and what not, Inova could be persuaded by it's loyal customers and new customers that want to buy a great product like the gen 2 but will be disappointed to find that they were replaced by the ludicrous third gen (like myself). Or maybe I'm just in some fantasy land, I dunno.
 
I found the Gen 3's at target today. Also found a package that I could actually (carefully) open and take the light out. Great small size. Seems to be well made, and only $20. Then I turned it on.... I carefully put it back in the package. I usually get tempted by well made $20 lights, but this one was not quite bright enought to do that.

Thinking back about today, I wondered why do I (we at cpf) go into Target all the time looking at lights. Do we expect them to have the new Cree Surefire L5's or LP MRV's? No, they have the same Dorcy's, RiverRocks, Inovas and Maglights they always have had. I think it makes us feel superior (at least I sometimes feel that way) and glad we have access to knowledge here that the general public does not even know about.

So, will I be buying the new Inova X1? Of course not. Will the genersl public love it. Most likely. To each his own.
 
Last edited:
I have not read all of this thread however most of it so I may have missed this if it were covered already........Has anyone tried the freeze method of removing the internals of the new Inova? This light is simply a beautiful host for a well done emitter swap and if done correctly by freezing you will have no signs of damage.

I have not seen one in person however I am curious as to how Inova designed the internals as well as the reflector. I personally have always loved the Inova brand however have been dissapointed a few times but simply made it what I wanted with an emitter swap.....anyone seen the insides yet or can comment on the modding potential of this new version?
 
My Target still doesn't have the Gen3, but I did buy another Gen2 (or as I will explain, I call it a Gen2.5).
I have an earlier Gen2 in titanium finish that has a beautiful floody beam. Two months ago I wanted a black finish and ordered one online. It had a very ringy beam and was somewhat dull. I could see the LED was mounted much further forward than normal but I thought it was just an oddball.
I purchased another black finish yesterday at Target. Looking carefully at LED depth in the reflector and judging the brightness and color of the two they had.
This one seemed normal in the store, but later testing in the dark revealed that it too is substantially different than my earlier titanium Gen2, but not unacceptably bad like the first black one I bought.
So was my first Gen2 that I like so much the oddball or did they really change to a different LED for a Gen2.5 and that doesn't get mentioned much? Or did I just have bad luck with two black finish lights that came from different sources?
I'll keep looking for the Gen3 to evaluate, but I don't think I'll be buying one.
 
I have ordered the Gen2 und Gen3 at Battery Junction to do some tests.
Good service and very fast shipping to Germany. Thanks Matt!!

And about the lights?
Nice packing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top