[Review] AceBeam Rider RX (EDC, Fidget, USB-C 14500, 219F 5000K Hicri)

[Budda]

I received the Rider RX from AceBeam for the review.

The Rider RX is a EDC flashlight, with a Nichia 219F neutral white (5000K) emitter, powered by an included 14500 USB-C rechargeable battery. The Rider RX also works with regular AA batteries. The most distincrive feature of the Rider RX is the mechanical slide mechanism that is used to take the light apart, or to play with it as a fidget.
The Rider RX is available in 2 finishes, a brushed one, and a blackened one. I got the first one.

The Rider RX comes in this carboard box, with instructions.

The Rider Rx measures 96mm in length, is 18 mm wide at the body, 26 mm with the clip.

The forward mechanical switch at the tailcap

The Light comes with a nice protective film on the glass with anti reflection coating.

Once removed the 219F emitter shows itself at the bottom of the optic lens.

The Rider RX uses the nested construction that we saw from other AceBeam models, a stainless steel brushed outer cylinder, with a blue anodized aluminum one inside. The clip is made out of stainless steel and can be used tip up or down.

The inner cylinder can be rotated and pushed outward, using the mechanical mechanism activated by acting on the clip.
First, the clip can be rotated slightly to the right,

And then pushed down, making the head of the flashlight protrude from the body.

During the travel of the clip from left to right and viceversa, the part of the clip that rests on the body travels on a milled portion, without making any extra marks.

Now the head can be untwisted from the body, showing the included 14500 USB-C rechargeable battery from Acebeam. Note that the inside of the head is made out of copper for increasing heatsinking.

The UI is pretty simple. The light has 4 modes: ultralow, low, medium, high. The light has memory mode and you need to use the forward mechanical switch to advance through the modes, in loop. After 2 cycles, you will have an hidden SOS mode.


The included 14500 Battery is rechargeable both via a standard 14500 battery charger, or with the USB-C port on its end. I tested it both for charge with a SKYRC MC3000 charger and then discharged with the same charger.

 

[Budda]

Output and runtime

The variation during the runtime test are not visible at all by eye, and are likely caused by my luxmeter acting up.

Beamshots
The beam has a good mixture of flood and throw, thanks to the small 219F emitter and the optic.

On my sample the temperature of the beam is actually closer to 4000K, a great thing cause I prefer warmer tints. Look how the green sprouts pop up from the brown wintery background, it's the magic of warm, HICRI tints.

My thoughts
The light is well built and finished.
The UI is fine for an EDC, with 4 levels that are well spaced enough for the output.
The regulation is fine, I like that AceBeam did not over drive the emitter, but kept it at an acceptable output where the 2 stepdown are reasonable for the user.
The Beam is well suited for an EDC, and the light has some throw for its size. The tint, as mentioned above, is really nice for me.
After many years in the flashlight industry as a customer, is nice to see a light with a different construction from the standard ones. The Rider RX combines the design appeal of the double nested construction with the novelty of the fidget feature.
The included good quality 14500 battery is nice, especially with the updated USB-C port charging capability. Remind to not use a super fast USB charger to charge it, best use a usb port of a computer or a slow charger to not cook the battery.
I wish the groove on the outer cylinder was also dug vertically, to prevent scratches when the clip moves vertically.

Thanks to: AntoLed, Ledo, Won.

 

[fulee9999]

great review!

only two things that I would've loved to see
( nitpicking here, not really an issue )
1, spectral data / TM30 report
2, beamshot comparison to something we already know/have

 

[Budda]

great review!

only two things that I would've loved to see
( nitpicking here, not really an issue )
1, spectral data / TM30 report
2, beamshot comparison to something we already know/have

Thanks for the input.
The spectral data requires a machine I do not own.
The beamshot comparison is a hard thing to do because I don't get the full lineup models of flashlight from manufacturers, just a few models. If I'm not mistaken, the last AA powered light I reviewed/received was the Manker E05, that was in june of 2020.
It wouldn't be fair or useful to the users to compare the Rider RX (or whatever other light i'm reviewing) with a model of the same segment but with 2-3-4 years of age.

 

[fulee9999]

It wouldn't be fair or useful to the users to compare the Rider RX (or whatever other light i'm reviewing) with a model of the same segment but with 2-3-4 years of age.

I mean Zero uses the - long out of production - BLF348 as a baseline for years now, but I get your point.