MTE 5-Mode CR123A Rebel 0100 Flashlight

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kanarie

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My MTE 5-Mode CR123A Rebel 0100 Flashlight came in this morning ; So no time to wasted . Here is an mini review:


The good
At the price level of $18 this MTE has a decent quality. The threads are clean, The finish is pretty good, there are some minor faults in the adonizing/paint. The clickie works good (not to hard to press). pretty bright. It is comparable/clone (a bit rougher though) to the Fenix P2D but much cheaper and it is one of the earliest flashlights witch contains the new (100 lumens/350mAh) Lumileds Rebel.
It has a nice warm tint (it makes my Crees look blue)

remarks
To bad the reflector is not specially made for the Rebel you can see the rough edge and I prefer an orange peel more than the smooth reflector on this one.(less artifacts) The low is not low enough; about 30 percent of the highest brightness. the hotspot could be tighter for more throw.
You can take the batterycap of in one big turn; a bit strange but it feels solid enough.
When you switch It takes 1/3 of a second for next mode to kick in .

The MTE pulls from the battery 1000 mAh sharp on high and 200 mAh on low ( Dexlight X1 pulls 1550 mAh on high/100 percent and 100 mAh on low)
To my eye this MTE Rebel on high is brighter than my Dexlight X1 on normal high (70 percent/1250 mAh) and it is more efficient


MTE Rebel 0100 next to the Dexlight X1
Picture152-1.jpg


Picture153.jpg



MTE Rebel 0100 next to the Fenix LOD-CE and the Dexlight X1
All on the highest mode and running on a Li-ion -2 stop autom.
Picture148.jpg

MTE Rebel 0100 next to the Fenix LOD-CE and the Dexlight X1
All on the lowest mode and running on a Li-ion -2 stop autom.
Picture144.jpg


In total: I think It is pretty good although not a collectible.

edit:
on a unprotected Li-ion 800mAh (real life 600mAh) I get:
After 25 minutes about the same brightness and a slight increase in current draw (1050 mAh)
After 30 minutes now it begins to dim (600mAh)
After 40 minutes it is dim (150mAh) (battery is down to 3,34v at this point)

more remarks:
-I have to remind myself not to be to hard:this is a $18 flashlight not a Fenix 3x the price
-No traces of PWM
-hard to tell if in mode high, mid or low
-remembers last setting
-glass lens
-plastic reflector
-nicely centered led
-can't unscrew the head
-seems waterproof


edit2
I just opened the flashlight (difficult because of glue)
No grease between the rebelstar and the heatsink. (both very flat so no disaster)
But is has a nice AMC7135 driverboard in it (3x so about 1000mah)
Also it is easy/better to reverse the midsection so you have more thread on the tailcap
O-rings between all the different parts
 
Last edited:
kanarie - thanks for the review! Any chance for runtime charts? I almost bought the MTE 5-mode 123A Cree light until DX posted the runtime chart and it was horrible (dropped super fast). I'm wondering how the Rebel version is as I'm pretty sure it runs the same circuit.
Also, does the head unscrew and how are the threads in the head? Any chance for pics of the light disassembled?

Thanks!
 
damn you beat me to it, still waiting for my MTE Rebel in the mail. Thanks for the review :)
 
For the Dexlight, are you taking the current draw from a AA battery? Because if so, wouldn't drawing 1000ma from a CR123A battery be much more than drawing 1250ma from a AA battery?
 
For the Dexlight, are you taking the current draw from a AA battery? Because if so, wouldn't drawing 1000ma from a CR123A battery be much more than drawing 1250ma from a AA battery?
Click to expand...
Yes , but both measurement were done with the same Li-ion 3,7v battery

damn you beat me to it, still waiting for my MTE Rebel in the mail. Thanks for the review :)
Click to expand...
Looking forward to your review!

I almost bought the MTE 5-mode 123A Cree light until DX posted the runtime chart and it was horrible (dropped super fast). I'm wondering how the Rebel version is as I'm pretty sure it runs the same circuit.
Click to expand...
I get much better results with this one
on a unprotected Li-ion 800mAh (real life 600mAh) I get:
After 25 minutes about the same brightness and a slight increase in current draw (1050 mAh)
After 30 minutes it begins to dim (600mAh)
After 40 minutes it is dim (150mAh) (battery is down to 3,34v at this point)

It seems regulated and this is what is to be expected with a 600mAh battery (ideal would be 1000mAh for 36 min and then drop dead

Also, does the head unscrew and how are the threads in the head? Any chance for pics of the light disassembled?
Click to expand...
The head doesn't unscrew, to bad
 
Off a 3.7V Li-Ion, it is being direct driven since the boost circuit is bypassed. The way to test for regulation is to use a 3V battery, be it primary or rechargeable, as the circuit will actually boost and regulate. It runs better off your unprotected cell as it doesn't lose energy to the protection circuit likely, so it runs a bit flatter discharge. More telling results of regulation would come from 3V cells, and a bit of info from protected cells also (to see how it does with more resistance from the source).

Thanks for the info on the head. Too bad it's glued shut.
 
Off a 3.7V Li-Ion, it is being direct driven since the boost circuit is bypassed. The way to test for regulation is to use a 3V battery, be it primary or rechargeable, as the circuit will actually boost and regulate.
Click to expand...
I understand but I will never use a 3.0v in this flashlight (so it will be a theoretical test) The only reason I did the test was to compare it with the Cree version of this light witch started to dim after 5 minutes. (on 60 perc. in 20 min)
This MTE Rebel version stays on about 100 percent brightness/1 A current draw for 25 minutes. regulated or not this shows a difference in usability:D
Maybe I will do some other test in a week or so.
 
Last edited:
kanarie said:
I understand but I will never use a 3.0v in this flashlight (so it will be a theoretical test) The only reason I did the test was to compare it with the Cree version of this light witch started to dim after 5 minutes. (on 60 perc. in 20 min)
This MTE Rebel version stays on about 100 percent brightness/1 A current draw for 25 minutes. regulated or not this shows a difference in usability:D
Maybe I will do some other test in a week or so.
Click to expand...

Cool. That was one big question I had, whether this rebel version regulates better than the Cree, which looked **** poor on the graph DX posted. Thanks for the info!
 
Could you compared it to other chinesse lights such as Ultrafire 602D or maybe other single RCR123 light which uses Cree, i would like to know how much brighter Rebel 100 compares to Cree P4.
 
Just got mine today, not brighter than my Ultrafire 602D maybe because of the not perfectly circle hotspot.
I am wondering whether yours has similar beam profile to me, it seems that the reflector is not meant for rebel.
At the moment i hate this light being the hotspot is not circle like most light.
 
Hi everyone,

I am a "long time listener, first time caller" here on CPF, great forum you have here, i've learned that I don't have near enough money to satisfy this "hobby".

I was just wondering if anyone can comment on the brightness of this light compared to the 1xAA version (sku#6162 -- you know where).

There was an order mix-up and I ended up with 2 of the 1xAA lights instead of 1 of these and 1 of the AA version.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Matt
 
Finally got mine.

The outside gets warm quite quick, so the heatsinking can't be too bad.

Mine has colour variations, most of the beam and spill is faintly purple, some big blotches in the spot are a bit brown.

Otherwise no complaints whatsoever at this price. It works fine out of the box, the spot is about as bright as my P1D-CE (January) but covers at least twice the area.

It cost me about UKP 9 which is a quarter what the Fenix cost. It's about a centimetre longer than the Fenix, but against that it's a clickie, which I prefer, and you can choose which mode it fires up in. I like high. It's got a really low low.

The finish is remarkably good, the LED well centred, just the reflector is slightly out of true. The finish on the body is slightly glossier than the tailcap.

It will stand on its tail, but the 2 holes for the lanyard are close together, so it's going to be challenging fitting it to a keyring. I might just butcher it. After all, who cares?

If your bag is getting a job done adequately, and even with a bit of flair, for the minimum outlay, you will like this.

I could lose it too, with barely a qualm. Going on past record, this is not unlikely. If you have one of my torches, plectrums, lighters, screwdrivers, etc., etc., ............ enjoy!

A highly desirable torch at a mass production price. Guess I won't have to design one after all. They can only get better too.

w

I already ordered another one.
 
I just opened the flashlight (difficultbecause of glue)
No grease between the rebelstar and the heatsink.
But is has a nice AMC7135 driverboard in it (3x so about 1000mah)
Also it is easy/better to reverse the midsection so you have more thread on the tailcap
 
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