LiteFlux LF3XT Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS, COMPARISONS, and more!

[bondr006]

Hmmm, I hadn't planned to do that, since the Min output mode on primary is about the same as the Novatac 120P on level 2 (i.e. one step up from its Min mode). I would expect it to last quite a very long time at this level ...

Sorry selfbuilt. I guess I was confused. :duh2: I assumed that the word "pending" next to the lights without results meant the testing was still in progress. Where can I find the runtime for the 120P on level 2? Thanks.

 

[selfbuilt]

Sorry selfbuilt. I guess I was confused. :duh2: I assumed that the word "pending" next to the lights without results meant the testing was still in progress. Where can I find the runtime for the 120P on level 2? Thanks.

Yeah, I've been meaning to change that word since it gives the wrong impression. I mean "pending" in the sense of an ideal world where I had unlimited time on my hands.

I don't think there is a posted runtime for the Novatac that low. But based on an earlier HDS runtime thread in CFPMP (where I seem to recall that many months was observed), it would simply take too long to test. Suffice it to say, I would expect at least weeks of continuous runtime for the LF3XT on its lowest level.

 

[madi05]

another great review , congrats ,, i still love my lf3xt :thumbsup:

 

[DHart]

The LF3XT is one of my faves... alongside my EDC (Romisen RC-C3)

 

[BabyDoc]

I add my thanks to those who appreciate your testing all 3 samples.
It's nice to know that the quality control, except for sample #1, is fairly consistent. I guess that doesn't surprise me considering most people aren't complaining about any consistent problem. Your sample #1 failing in the way it did seemed unique, at least among those who have reported problems here. I wonder if we will ever hear back from LiteFlux with regards to what went wrong with #1 after they get the chance to examine it.

While I hear people asking Khoo to select warm or neutral samples, it is my impresson from people's descriptions, that the tint doesn't vary that much between units. Most people say their lights are neutral to cool. Do you see any tint variability with the samples you were sent?

 

[Lite_me]

While I hear people asking Khoo to select warm or neutral samples, it is my impresson from people's descriptions, that the tint doesn't vary that much between units. Most people say their lights are neutral to cool. Do you see any tint variability with the samples you were sent?

Let me jump in here real quick.

Selfbuilts sample shots look very similar to me. I have experienced 2 samples of the LF3XT. Mine and my brothers. Both were purchased from EliteLED about a week apart. Ours are vastly different in tint. Mine is mostly white looking with an ever so slight rose tint to it. Most noticeable in the spill. Not at all bad tho, I like it. My brothers is very warm. It's the warmest Q5 I've ever seen. It's almost as warm as my one Rebel light. And being that warm, it's not as bright looking as mine either. When compared, they are very different. About as vast of difference as I've seen in two samples of the same light. I was quite surprised when I saw his. He's trying to get used to it. He prefers mine, and frankly, so do I.

 

[bondr006]

I have also seen a difference in the tint of different LF3XT's. When I was over to Geoff's(Flying Turtle) house, we compared ours, and my LF3XT was quite a bite warmer as opposed to his very neutral white tint.

 

[selfbuilt]

I have experienced 2 samples of the LF3XT. Mine and my brothers. Both were purchased from EliteLED about a week apart. Ours are vastly different in tint.

I agree, and would expect tints to vary. Although my 3 samples are all very close, Khoo knows that I prefer warm-tints over cool, so he may have been selecting that for me (he typically offers that service to any who ask - within the limits of what he has available, of course).

Of my 3 samples, I would say #1 was indeed slightly warm, where as #2 and #3 are about as neutrally-white as you could expect for this class of emitter (with #2 being the ever so slightly warmer of the two). The comparison beam pics capture the difference well.

Now that I've done the runtimes, I will be sending the original defective light #1 back to Khoo for Liteflux to examine. I will let you know if I hear anything back in regards to the source of its failure.

And sample #2 is now on my belt as my new EDC for the time being, replacing my NiteCore D10 GDP which has occupied that spot for the last couple of months. I will let you know how my EDC experience with this light goes over the next few weeks.

P.S.: The battery voltage read-out feature is fun, since I plan to run on RCR for the next little while.

:wave:

 

[DHart]

selfbuilt... it would seem that with your experience with so many lights that your choice of the D10 and LF3xt as your EDCs, that these are among the 1-cell lights receiving your highest acclaim? Or do you just rotate EDC lights frequently to check them out more long term?

 

[selfbuilt]

selfbuilt... it would seem that with your experience with so many lights that your choice of the D10 and LF3xt as your EDCs, that these are among the 1-cell lights receiving your highest acclaim? Or do you just rotate EDC lights frequently to check them out more long term?

A bit of both activities, frankly.

Although I can't EDC everything I get, I do try to test out significant new lights for a couple of weeks of EDC use to see how I like them (and find out how they perform in real use). I then typically update my reviews with any relevant new observations. FYI, that's how I discovered the narrower beam of the LF5XT wasn't a problem in use - I simply automatically adapted how I carried it to suit my needs.

In-between testing, I have tended to revert to the D10 (originally Cree version, then later the GDP, carried in the Fenix L1D holster). I like this light for its interface, ease of use, battery flexibility and size - very small, but still comfortable in my hand (in contrast, I find the EX10 a bit small for my relatively long fingers, but YMMV). I generally prefer 1xAA-size lights, and run on Li-ion. Prior to that, the NDI was probably my other longest-running EDC.

The LF3XT has a great interface and relatively good size (about the minimum length I like, and the maximum width). I'm trying it out in the Fenix P3D holster. We'll see if I revert I revert back to the D10 after this, or carry on with the LF3XT ...

Lemme think .. EDC's I've known and (mostly) loved ... Fenix L1D, JetBeam C-LE, Rexlight 2.1, Novatac 120P, Nitecore Defender Infinity, JetBeam Jet-I MK IBS, NiteCore D10-Q5, Liteflux LF5XT, NiteCore D10-GDP ... and the beat goes on.

 

[DHart]

Good to know... and thanks so much for your great contributions to this forum!

 

[kraz]

Selfbuilt,
Thanks for another great review. I could resist no longer and bought the LF3XT rationalizing the purchase as the only light I knew of that has LiFePo battery protection built in!
The tint on mine is very warm, looking almost yellowish in my white door comparison to my NDI-GD, EX10-GD, and even the Bitz Ti.

It's a feature packed, versatile light and brings out my repressed flashaholism:devil:. Always good to come out of the closet even if it is darker in there

 

[PetaBread]

:twothumbs to EliteLed for the fast and safe shipping of my LF3XT. Arrived in 4 days.

 

[BabyDoc]

And sample #2 is now on my belt as my new EDC for the time being, replacing my NiteCore D10 GDP which has occupied that spot for the last couple of months. I will let you know how my EDC experience with this light goes over the next few weeks.

I know it's only a couple of weeks since you started carrying the LF3XT as an EDC. I am anxious to hear your impressions after living with this light for a while.

The only problem I am having with my light is I like it so much I haven't been thinking about buying another new light for quite a while. While I don't think a flashaholic ever gets cured, the LF3XT certainly has put me into a long remission.

 

[selfbuilt]

I know it's only a couple of weeks since you started carrying the LF3XT as an EDC. I am anxious to hear your impressions after living with this light for a while.

I have made a few observations.

First and foremost, I'm still really impressed with the beam - it's beautifully smooth, with none of the tint variation of my D10-GDP (I had switched from the D10-Q5 to the D10-GDP because I liked the lack of rings and smoother corona of the GDP version). This is more of a plus for me than I expected - I really enjoy the beam pattern every time I turn it on. Also, I don't find the spillbeam too narrow (like the LF5XT, I seem to have just automatically adjusted my carry method).

Functionally, the light has also worked smoothly and reliably every time I've reached for it - no surprises (something I insist on in an EDC). I also like the battery voltage read-out, since it gives me an easy way to estimate battery life (I run in on an AW RCR, just like I ran my D10 on an AW 14500).

A few quirks - the most serious of which is accidental activation of the light a couple of times when I went to holster it (i.e. switch is very sensitive, activated as I was sliding it into my Fenix P2D holster). I caught it every time this happened, so no biggie - but it is something I watch for now.

Perceptually, I've also noticed that the brightness steps at the very low end of the ramp are more noticeable on the LF3XT than I remember them being on the D10 (i.e. I'm more conscious of it actually stepping up from minimum on the LF3XT, whereas the D10 seemed a bit smoother for the first few fractions of a second). Hardly a big deal, but there does seem to be a subtle difference I can detect.

All in all, a pretty smooth ride so far. I'm going to keep EDCing it awhile longer before making up my mind.

 

[Flying Turtle]

The only problem I am having with my light is I like it so much I haven't been thinking about buying another new light for quite a while. While I don't think a flashaholic ever gets cured, the LF3XT certainly has put me into a long remission.

I know exactly how you feel. Getting interested in other lights that don't offer programming or at least ramping is tough. I did break down and get a Photon Freedom, but that's as far as I've strayed.

Geoff

 

[Lite_me]

I know exactly how you feel. Getting interested in other lights that don't offer programming or at least ramping is tough. I did break down and get a Photon Freedom, but that's as far as I've strayed.

Geoff

I'm in the same boat. It's just too feature rich and with the the beautiful smooth beam, it is just too hard to part with as my EDC. I'd have to carry 2 or 3 of my other lights to match what this one light will do.

A few quirks - the most serious of which is accidental activation of the light a couple of times when I went to holster it (i.e. switch is very sensitive, activated as I was sliding it into my Fenix P2D holster). I caught it every time this happened, so no biggie - but it is something I watch for now.

I've had mine come On when setting it down on the table a couple of times. When this happens, it's doesn't respond to clicks hardly at all. It just stays On. One time when this happened I got it to jump to Low w/ a dbl click but it locked there. I have to unscrew the light to break battery contact to fix it.

Also, yesterday when I used the light, it went for about 15 sec and shut down. When I checked the battery it was at 3.25v. (AW protected) Sometime during the day it had to have turned on and ran the battery dead. I usually carry it in my pocket. I had just checked it the night before and it was ok. Not sure if it was a knock that turned it on or an accidental button press. I have a clip on it and I have had it come on by snapping the clip against the body. What's up with that!

 

[selfbuilt]

Sometime during the day it had to have turned on and ran the battery dead. I usually carry it in my pocket. I had just checked it the night before and it was ok. Not sure if it was a knock that turned it on or an accidental button press. I have a clip on it and I have had it come on by snapping the clip against the body. What's up with that!

I did break down and get a Photon Freedom, but that's as far as I've strayed.

Ironically, I've had the exact same experience of finding an EDC light nearly dead - and it was always with my Photon Freedom!

I suspect the reason there is because I carry it on my keychain in my pants pocket. A few times I've noticed a "glow" coming from my pants, and it turns out the Photon was activated. But on a couple of occasions, it seems to have run down the batteries without my noticing - I go to use it, and nothing happens.

This is why I carry all other clicky lights in a pouch on my belt. The advantage of the P2D holster is its partially open at the bottom, so you can see the light is on.

Haven't experience any mis-functioning of the LF3XT yet, but it is still early days. Unfortunately, the potential is there for any complex light with a programmable interface (or for that matter, any electronic device - I've had to remove the battery from my laptop or blackberry on more than a few occasions to restart them). Even my D10 has experienced the rare contact issue or two (often after a battery change) - these were always resolved with a quick clean of the contact points.

 

[Hondo]

Ironically, I've had the exact same experience of finding an EDC light nearly dead - and it was always with my Photon Freedom!

I suspect the reason there is because I carry it on my keychain in my pants pocket. A few times I've noticed a "glow" coming from my pants, and it turns out the Photon was activated. But on a couple of occasions, it seems to have run down the batteries without my noticing - I go to use it, and nothing happens.

That's why I keep the 3 minute auto-shut-off activated. It is not an advertised feature for some wierd legal reason. You just go into "signal" mode with at least 5 rapid presses. Then when deactivating signal by holding the button, don't let go for about 5 extra seconds after the light goes out, at which point it will flash, and the feature is active. To cancel it, just go through the signal set/unset, but let go after the light goes out. It will step down through the levels when it shuts off so you know it is coming, although when set at lower levels that happens real fast.

My LF3XT has not had any problems, and is a real "jack of all trades" light. I was hoping someone might have some update on the issue of the non-anodized holes in the sink that can appearantly result in a short to the bare wires that run through them. If I may have this condition, I would probably go in to add some insulation to the wires for safety sake.

 

[selfbuilt]

That's why I keep the 3 minute auto-shut-off activated. It is not an advertised feature for some wierd legal reason. You just go into "signal" mode with at least 5 rapid presses. Then when deactivating signal by holding the button, don't let go for about 5 extra seconds after the light goes out, at which point it will flash, and the feature is active.

Thanks for the tip Hondo - I'll have to try that on my Photon Freedom. :thumbsup: