Tiablo ACE (700 lumens) Comparison Review

UnknownVT

Flashlight Enthusiast
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Dec 27, 2002
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Courtesy of 4sevens is this 700 lumens Tiablo ACE.

What can I say, 700 lumens in a hand held LED flashlight?
It wasn't that long ago we thought that the Luxeon was bright at 30 lumens, and many of us still use the ArcAAA......

Size -
ACE_sz.jpg
ACE_A10.jpg

it's got a big head - but it is not enormous -
the body is for 2x CR123 and there is a supplied extension to make it a 4x CR123 light.

Head -
ACE_hd.jpg

this is my standard scanned pic of the heads - but because the head is big and deep the LED emitters are out of focus.

Emitter in focus -
ACE_hd2.jpg


Close up of Tiablo ACE head (left) - A10 head (right)-
ACE_hdO.jpg
A10_hdO.jpg


Emitter details ACE - Cree MC-E (left) - A10 R2 (right)
ACE_CreeOd.jpg
A10_R2Od.jpg

The Cree MC-E is a 4 die emitter.

The Tiablo ACE specs are not clear to what lumens ratings apply to what battery configuration - or if the 700 lumens applies to all battery configurations.

But I can tell you this sucker's BRIGHT!

2x CR123A -

vs. Tiablo A10 (R2) rated 260 lumens Max - both on 2x primary CR123
ACE2_A10.jpg
ACE2_A10U2.jpg

it's pretty obvious that the Tiablo ACE is noticably brighter - even in the full normal exposure. The -2 Stops underexposed shot will need some explanation (see later in the 4x CR123 configuration**)

vs. Fenix P3D- RB100 Turbo (rated 200 lumens) - both on primary CR123A -
ACE2_P3Drb100.jpg
ACE2_P3Drb100U2.jpg

what is a pretty bright pocketable flashlight - the Fenix P3D-RB100 (rated at 200 lumens) is dwarfed by this Tiablo ACE.

4x CR123 -
this configuration should be the brightest possible as the light is running on 12 Volts

vs. Tiablo A10 Max -
ACE4_A10.jpg
ACE4_A10U2.jpg

Afain it's very obvious that the ACE is noticably brighter than the A10.

The -2 Stops Underexposed shot might not be quite valid here or above**
because I managed to take this -2 Stops Underexposed shot literally less than a minute before -
ACE4_A10missed2U.jpg

because the shutter speed was very high (1/800 sec) due to the brightness of these lights -
it managed to miss the PWM light pulse -
resulting in showing the beam as black -
yes, the A10 even on Max is still pulsed/PWM - albeit a fast one -
I can easily see the pulsing on the LCD screen of my digicam, which made me double check the brightness setting.

So PWM makes humans see different levels of brightness by different duty cycles - and our eye/brain combination averages the light out.

But unless the camera catches a few pulses - it is not averaging -
case in point is my dark beamshot -
so I do not know how valid the -2 Stops Underexposed comparisons are for A10.

However the Fenix P3D-RB100 is constant current regulated -
ACE4_P3Drb100.jpg
ACE4_P3Drb100U2.jpg

This set looks similar to the comparison with the ACE on 2x CR123A

So from this qualitative/subjective comparison - I would guess that the 700 lumens rating applies to 2x or 4x CR123....

Like I said this sucker's BRIGHT!

Just to put things into context 700 lumens is somewhere between a 40 and 60 watt standard household light bulb - GE rates its 57 watt softwhite light bulb at 770 lumens and we know a 60 watt light bulb will light up a whole average sized room - imagine that light focussed ....
well, you don't have to - just try a Tiablo ACE

Index to follow up parts -

Standardized Stairway beamshots in Post #4

Re-Do of -2 Stops Underexposed shot for the A10 comparison in Post #27
 
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Ohh wow, yea...I`d say it`s noticably brighter :eek: I wonder what the total cost would be for the light, two lithium batts and the required charger would be. How many power levels does this light have?

Opps...thanks for the review, got to clean the slobber off my keyboard now :eek:
 
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Standardized stairway beamshots -
StairTiabloACE2.jpg
StairTiabloACE4.jpg

StairTiabloA10.jpg
StairP3Drb100.jpg

It's pretty obvious as in the side-by-side comparison beamshots that the Tiablo ACE is a lot brighter than the Tiablo A10 -
afterall it is 700 vs. 260 lumens......

However it's interesting to see that Tiablo ACE on 2x CR123A looks like the same brightness as using 4x CR123A.
 
hmm, we have to find out of its brighter on 2x batteries or on 4x batteries! if its honestly the same brightness, i wil buy this light! with an extention tube needed for 4x batteries, the light will be too long for me. i hope with 2x batteries my predictions could be true. how about some outside throw beam shots with 2x vs 4x batteries? thanks!
 
Thanks UnknownVT for the great review and pictures!

I see at http://www.light-reviews.com/tiablo_ace/ that the regulation is great and you will gain much with using 4 cells than 2. The brightness will be slightly higher and the runtime with stable output more than twice! Actually it's much more efficient with 4 cells.
I like the textured reflector and the wider hotspot of the ACE in comparison to A10. The question is how this light is compared to the soon offered Fenix TK40 with similar output using 8AA cells, but also with several modes?

You say: "It wasn't that long ago we thought that the Luxeon was bright at 30 lumens".
Actually it wasn't that long ago I thought my Maglite 6D was the brightest available flashlight... :D

Addition: also the price for the ACE isn't much higher than I payed for my A9 a year ago. That's good!

Regards, Patric
 
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wow, i almost didnt want the ACE due to the lack of throwing power compared to the A10.....but woahhhhh.....now im not sure...

Crenshaw
 
Wow! Very impressive. Thanks for the great review. I was planning on waiting to see the reviews of the TK40, but it will be hard to resist picking up an ACE now.

My wife asked me if I really need another flashlight. Of course, I don't NEED another flashlight. I'm not sure what her point was.

optodoofus
 
optodoofus,

I also wonder if I shall get an ACE or wait for TK40...
Or maybe get ACE to play with during the time I am waiting for the TK40!
For a flashoholic every new great flashlight is a need... :twothumbs
 
From post1:
So PWM makes humans see different levels of brightness by different duty cycles - and our eye/brain combination averages the light out.
Yes, I have noticed that fact when I tried to look at the shutter of an slr-camera from behind with the "backdoor" open. Looking towards some bright object you actually can see the object even with 1/2000s. When comparing different shutter speeds of very short time you will not experience that 1/2000s is shorter time than 1/1000 or 1/500s. Instead the object appears to be dimmer.

Regards, Patric
 
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hmm, we have to find out of its brighter on 2x batteries or on 4x batteries! if its honestly the same brightness, i wil buy this light! with an extention tube needed for 4x batteries, the light will be too long for me. i hope with 2x batteries my predictions could be true. how about some outside throw beam shots with 2x vs 4x batteries? thanks!

I think I have already shown that 2x is as bright as 4x CR123A by both side-by side comparison beamshots with a "control" Fenix P3D-RB100 in the opening post, and standardized stairway beamshots using 2x and 4x CR123A in post #4.

Outdoors - gets us distance - so I tend to use for throw comparison - there are lights that get great throw but are not necessarily very bright - they are just focussed well to a concentrated hotspot - I have a classic example of the Dorcy 1watt 3D designed as a very good thrower - albeit an over-achiever, it is still only a 1watt Luxeon.

Since a distance of about 15 feet (stairway) is not showing any significant difference (if anything the 2x stairway may have looked a fraction brighter in those shots) - outdoors is unlikely to show any significant difference either.
 
Is there any battery rattle when using primaries in the ACE? This is pretty common on lights designed to run on both primaries and 18650s, so I'm curious as the experience with the ACE.

Thanks in advance.

optodoofus
 
Is there any battery rattle when using primaries in the ACE? This is pretty common on lights designed to run on both primaries and 18650s, so I'm curious as the experience with the ACE.

No rattle normally (light shaking?)

But if shaken vigorously there is some noise.

So one can deliberately make it rattle - but I don't think it does "normally" -
eg: it's about the same as a Fenix P3D or L1D -
which I had never noticed rattled, until shaken just now.
 
So does it run (dimmer I'd wager) on 1x 18650?

I'd love to see an outdoor shot if it isn't too inconvenient. :grin2:

Interesting that it apears to uses PWM at that output level. :thinking:
 
So does it run (dimmer I'd wager) on 1x 18650?

It does according to the Tiablo ACE specs -

" 3. Working voltage is 3.7~12v. Support 1 x 18650,2xCR123A, 2 x RCR123A, 2x18650, 4xCR123A (Remark: when use 1 x 18650, the highest current is 1.8A, so it is safe to use 1x 18650) "

- and it does not seem to be dimmer on a single 18650 -

" 4. Max output 700lumen, runtime: 45minutes( 1pcs 3000mAh 18650) and 3 hours (2pcs 3000mAh 18650) "

This would kind of make sense since it seems the Tiablo ACE has to be using a Buck circuit - and the Cree XLamp MC-E LED (pdf) specs say the typical Vf @ 700mA is 3.4V - so even a single 18650 probably is still being stepped down?
 
Yup that's what I'm thinking. I'm hoping to see a runtime graph of the Ace soo to see how well it regulaes on 1x 18650. 2x 18650 option is icing on the cake imo.
Cant wait to see a shootout of the MCE lights. DBS, Sniper, Jetbeam, Lumapower, and this Tiablo... :sigh: If only I had $1K to blow (and a better camera).

Anyway thaks for the review and the answers. :D
 

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