XO3 vs. Cree, and budget throwers?

[Hellbore]

A friend of mine has been out of the flashlight scene for a while. He has an Inova XO3 that he loves. He really likes the throw. It's one of those older XO3's with the TIROS collimating lens.

The whole Cree craze happened while he was gone. Any suggestions for a good upgrade from his XO3, or does the old XO3 still hold its own against newer Cree lights?

Also, are there any newer Cree lights around the same price point or cheaper that have the throw that the XO3 has?

Appreciate any input, I haven't kept up either on the lights that have come out in the last couple of years.

 

[Outdoors Fanatic]

A friend of mine has been out of the flashlight scene for a while. He has an Inova XO3 that he loves. He really likes the throw. It's one of those older XO3's with the TIROS collimating lens.

The whole Cree craze happened while he was gone. Any suggestions for a good upgrade from his XO3, or does the old XO3 still hold its own against newer Cree lights?

Also, are there any newer Cree lights around the same price point or cheaper that have the throw that the XO3 has?

Appreciate any input, I haven't kept up either on the lights that have come out in the last couple of years.

Tell him to get the new Inova T3 or the T5. (2008 version). Or any SureFire with the TIR lenses: SureFire E1B Backup or E2DL (the longest throwing LED from SureFire).

 

[Hellbore]

Cool that e2dl looks neat, what emitter does it use and can it run on 18650? I might need one for myself

 

[phantom23]

Newer Inova's have more floody beam.

E2DL uses Cree XR-E (probably not the newest bin) and cannot run on 18650.

 

[asdalton]

Newer Inova's have more floody beam.

E2DL uses Cree XR-E (probably not the newest bin) and cannot run on 18650.

The Inova T2-MP is an exception--it is more tightly focused. It might be a better substitute for the XO3 anyway, since it uses only 2 cells.

123A-based lights that can use 18650 are rare, unless they were designed for that purpose. The Inova lights (and the recent Surefire lights) won't even accept a protected 17670 cell.

 

[Gunner12]

From Flashlightreviews, the X03 throws around 2850 lux at 1 meter. A budget thrower like this one hits over 15000 lux at 1 meter but it has a much larger reflector. Something around the same size as the X03 should hit 5000-10000 lux at 1 meter depending of reflector/optic.

 

[Outdoors Fanatic]

Newer Inova's have more floody beam.

E2DL uses Cree XR-E (probably not the newest bin) and cannot run on 18650.

Newer Inova's have more floody beam.

Only the T1 is floody. The rest of the T series are pretty much throwers with decent spill.

 

[Hellbore]

From Flashlightreviews, the X03 throws around 2850 lux at 1 meter. A budget thrower like this one hits over 15000 lux at 1 meter but it has a much larger reflector. Something around the same size as the X03 should hit 5000-10000 lux at 1 meter depending of reflector/optic.

Whoah, only 2850? It doesn't sound like the XO3 is really all that great of a thrower after all... Why is that? Is the Luxeon emitter just that much dimmer?

Sounds like I need to help my friend get a more up-to-date light!

 

[phantom23]

Whoah, only 2850? It doesn't sound like the XO3 is really all that great of a thrower after all... Why is that? Is the Luxeon emitter just that much dimmer?

Sounds like I need to help my friend get a more up-to-date light!

It's 2-3 times less efficient than Cree/SSC.