Inova X5

Thanks a lot guys.... now I am addicted! I bought an Inova X5 and I am shocked by the amount of light that comes out of the little light. I always thought my Maglite was bright, but it doesn't seem that way anymore. I also love the durability of the X5. It has already been submerged under water, dropped on concrete, used as an ice ax / hammer..... and its still okay. Does anyone know how many lumens the X5 is?

As soon as I see the T4 I will get that, I can't wait... I hope SharperImage will have them in stock. I want a > 60 lumen light, but I don't want to be spending so much on batteries, so I think the T4 will be good.

Trust me, there's a worlds left of flashlights that are far brighter than the X5. Hope you have fun here!

I still think the most recent Inova X5's have upgraded LEDs, possibly Nichia CS, and put out a lot more light than the earlier ones people are basing their perceptions on. When I figure out how, I will post some real-life backyard beamshots with constant exposure I took a while back. It is a good midrange flood-type light with very even beam, one of my favorites, and is built to take abuse. Yes, there are brighter lights around, but brighter is not always better!

Hey Welcome aboard Travissg1:wave:

Its kinda like the chips thing, Its hard to stop at just one.:devil:




IF

Though I hardly ever carry one, the X5 is a fine medium output flood light. Feels great, looks pretty cool, tough as nails. I haven't heard much about upgraded LEDs... The Inova Radiant series uses brighter LEDs, but as far as I know the Inova X1 and X5 are using the same LEDs they've been using for the last couple years.

A forum member did replace the resistored low-output LEDs of the original (actually CountyComm HAIII X5T) with Nichia CS LEDs and replaced the simple resistors with a constant current DB500 regulator and the result was HELLA bright. I bought a similarly upgraded Task Force light that had 6 LEDs on a DB400 and was pretty much blown away by the output.

One thing's for sure though... if you think the X5 is very bright, you're going to be blown away by the T4!

cratz2 said:

One thing's for sure though... if you think the X5 is very bright, you're going to be blown away by the T4!

Click to expand...

Yeah, that's why I can't wait. Hopefully they will be at Target, I will be their today. The thing that really impressed me about the X5, compared to all my junk lights, was the beam. There are no odd inconsistencies or rings with it, it was worth the $30 dollars.

I would buy a SF Executive Defender, or a Centurion, but I really need a longer burn time then those lights, so I think the T4 will be good (well for now at least, until that urge comes along...)

Hi, and welcome to CPF.

Now, hold your wallet tightly, and RUN away

Seriously, high quality flashlights can be addicting.

A good site is www.flashlightreviews.com

Enjoy

I have a few of the inovas including the x5. Nice little lite for long runtime and close range flood. I would however advise you not to buy lights from sharper Image. Its just not the best place to buy lights if you value your dollar. There are alot of lnova lights on ebay for a pretty decent price. I would go there first. Enjoy your addiction!

I have an X5 that i've had for going on two years. It's specific function is to live in the car just in case I need some light. Tough light with a long runtime on two CR123A batteries that can take a lot of abuse.

I had contacted Inova by phone and the CS rep told me the X5 was 15 lumens.

Keep in mind it was a female and women don't know noth'n bout flashlights :kiss:
right?

actually..... the x5 doesnt put put out very much light.

-David

Travissg1 said:

Thanks a lot guys.... now I am addicted! I bought an Inova X5 and I am shocked by the amount of light that comes out of the little light. I always thought my Maglite was bright, but it doesn't seem that way anymore. I also love the durability of the X5. It has already been submerged under water, dropped on concrete, used as an ice ax / hammer..... and its still okay. Does anyone know how many lumens the X5 is?

As soon as I see the T4 I will get that, I can't wait... I hope SharperImage will have them in stock. I want a > 60 lumen light, but I don't want to be spending so much on batteries, so I think the T4 will be good.

Click to expand...

I thought my $30 coast cutlery led light from Costco was bright until I found this website and bought several flashlights since then.

SharperImage is quite expensive and usually charges above what an item sells for most anywhere else. You would do well to look around in the cyber mall before you head over to SI.

Hmm, my friend has a X5, nice little light. I bought a clone of it off of the Mac tools truck. Same style except, Stainless steel through out, 6 LEDs, and uses a 3xAAA carrier inside, so a little thicker, but not much really.

I cant imagine not having it around, a good flood type of light i mean, man this thing comes in handy, tough, lots of general usage light and runs for days, well mine does hehe.(and mine runs cheap batts hehe)

Still, after reading all these newer X5 threads, guess what i want to do?
Guess i should go snag one today, to compliment my X1



IF

O/T
Spongebob, dude,
We have female members that are modders an collectors here.
They may know more then, and own more then either of us combined, think of that?
So, no right here.

"O/T
Spongebob, dude,
We have female members that are modders an collectors here.
They may know more then, and own more then either of us combined, think of that?"


Yes I am aware of that, :duck:

My bad:touche:


IF

I picked up an Inova X5 for Christmas, solely as a way to completely kill off discarded batteries from my SF A2. Probably won't get much use. Just humble clean-up work for the trusty A2.

Not much to see here folks. Go about your business. 5 puny li'l LEDs, no spiked defensive bezel, not dive rated, can't turn off street lamps at 1/2 mile, unable to blind drug crazed attackers bent on taking your life. Sort of a "red-headed step child" of flashlights (no offense to red LED flashlights meant). Why even sell the bloody light? Who would want such a plain and simple underachiever? Hmmm.....

Hmmm... It does light up the night well enough to take a walk or change a tire. It has a really nice flood with no artifacts and no harsh bright spot to make some types of work more difficult. It does take lithium batteries so it'll handle the cold and always be ready to go in the harsh environment of a vehicle tool box. It does light up a room nicely. Fits in a pocket or belt sheath with little notice. Seems to be built like a brick sh*t-house. And jeez, look at that run-time.

The Inova X5 has slowly become one of my favorite lights. This has to be one of the ultimate everyday utility sleeper lights around. :rock:

In this forum there are a multitude of "hot-wire junkies" and "throw freaks" (no offense meant to freaks or junkies). Sure, bright lights with stupendous throw are a lot of fun. But that's just it, for me atomic bulbs and laser like throw are mostly toys (totally dismissing the voracious diets and dismal run-times of these hopped up beasts). Don't even mention fragile bulbs that go "Poof" at the worst possible time. What I find myself using 95% of the time in the real world is something with a smooth beam, adequate light, LED based and superb run-time. "Gee Wally, that sounds a lot like the Inova X5"

Sure, there are brighter lights. Sure, you can get lights with more throw. So what??? The Inova X5 just goes on quietly and modestly getting the job done.

TR

cratz2 said:

Though I hardly ever carry one, the X5 is a fine medium output flood light. Feels great, looks pretty cool, tough as nails. I haven't heard much about upgraded LEDs... The Inova Radiant series uses brighter LEDs, but as far as I know the Inova X1 and X5 are using the same LEDs they've been using for the last couple years.

A forum member did replace the resistored low-output LEDs of the original (actually CountyComm HAIII X5T) with Nichia CS LEDs and replaced the simple resistors with a constant current DB500 regulator and the result was HELLA bright. I bought a similarly upgraded Task Force light that had 6 LEDs on a DB400 and was pretty much blown away by the output.

One thing's for sure though... if you think the X5 is very bright, you're going to be blown away by the T4!

Click to expand...

i want that upgrade with the x5. would it be easy for a noob like me to do?

how much wouldit cost?

if i did it and if somebody did it for me>

I'm with TR on this. Hey, I like the light bombs too, but for everyday usefulness give me the moderately bright (pathetically dim by some folks' standards) long-burning workhorses. This is one.

Sorry to keep but reason I thought Inova might have started to quietly upgrade LED's was strong bimodal distribution in brightness I observed in store examples, hard to explain otherwise unless there was a mob of kids in there playing with some of them for hours on end. Also did approx. lux readings with a good light meter, not up to publication standards mind you, but got pretty good agreement with Quickbeam's results except for my X5 which was out-of-line bright. Same for side-by-side subjective comparisons.

In any case, old or new, a useful tool. If you like wide, even flood, consider also Peak McKinley 1x123a with 7 snow LED's - somewhat less bright, considerably less runtime (on one battery instead of two) but more even light with even less of a hotspot. I've only had mine (an HP = high power, as opposed to UP = ultra power) for a few days but am getting very fond of this pocket utility rocket.

- Bill

idiotekniQues said:

i want that upgrade with the x5. would it be easy for a noob like me to do?

how much wouldit cost?

if i did it and if somebody did it for me>

Click to expand...

Well, I didn't do the mod but here's the thread where he modded it and here's the thread where he sold it. The Inova he modded was mine though I never saw it after it was modded. I did, however, buy the Task Force light he sold in the same thread and it was quite impressive. The most impressive 6 LED flood light I've ever seen by a long shot and his mod of the Inova would probably be just as bright if not a bit brighter.

As for cost... if you could do it yourself, there would be the cost of the light, the cost of the LEDs ($5) and the cost of the board ($10, I think for a DB400). Pretty cheap. I'd expect it would cost you about $30-ish to have someone else do the work for you if you provide all the parts.