Smooth Reflector versus Textured

I just saw a Fenix P1D on lighthound and it has the smooth reflector. What might the difference be in beams as opposed to the textured
reflector? Thanks for the info

In general, textured relfectors smooth out imperfections in the beam at the expense of throw. The smooth reflector, especially if the light has a Cree emitter, will show some rings and dark spots.

The beam will throw a bit more but it will also be ringier.

The P1D has pretty amazing throw for such a small light, even with the orange peel reflector, and the beam is pretty nice without one for a smooth reflector light, so it's not a make or break situation either way as far as I can tell.

So, the orange peel will not totally destroy your throw, and it's absence will usually not give a beam that is all that bad.

Just to put things in perspective, the worst beam I have ever seen on a smooth reflector Fenix CREE based light was still every bit as nice as my old incandescent Surefire (that was supposed to have a "perfect beam" according to Surefire).

This isn't a knock against Surefire, it's just that folks have gotten a lot fussier over the last few years, because some LED lights now sport really amazing beam quality.

Still, it's nice to have the ability to slightly tweak the lights beam pattern to match your needs, so I would think over the tradeoffs between throw and a slightly wider smoother floodier beam.

My Dorcy 3D cell light is so tightly focused that it will light up things out to more than 100 meters (and reflective street signs to more than a quarter mile), but the hotspot is so small and bright that it's not the light you would want to use to go looking for something in the bottom of a box in the closet.

On the other extreme, as the luck of the draw would have it, my brand new L0D-Q4 Fenix light is floodier than my original (now lost) L0D-CE (even though both have the same smooth reflector). At first, this torqued my jaws a little, because of the lost 'throw', but I have grown to absolutely LOVE my new L0D-Q4's floodier beam (because I can use it close up and still get all of what I am looking at into that gloriously wide hotspot).

So for close up work, I find a slightly floody beam is ideal, but others will have other requirements, and some will want more throw, no matter what. One of my friends uses a L2D to walk at night, and likes the fact that it's wide spill area is more than bright enough to see what's near your feet, while the tightly focused spot can reach out 60 feet or more to see what you are walking into.

So I guess the bottom line is that both options have their advantages, it just depends on your specific needs.

If you would like the best of both worlds, you might want to check out Olight T10,T15,T20. All 3 of their lights use a reflector that is half orange peal (the inner portion around the emitter) and an outer portion, which is completely smooth and reflective. This light gives a longer throw than the Fenix because of the smooth outer portion. The inner orange peel eliminates the donut shadows seen in lights having an all smooth reflector. While this reflector seems to have all the advantages of both, it doesn't have quite the spread of an all orange peel reflector. The outer edge of the Orlight beam is very well defined; unlike the Fenix with the all OP reflector which seems more diffused on the border.

I ordered my Tiablo A9 with both reflectors. I didn't need long time before I realised that the textured(orange peel) is the choice for me. With the smooth reflector the light beam became uneven illuminated with rings. The throw will be slightly better with the smooth reflector but even with the orange peel reflector it has great throw. For the most purposes a textured reflector is the better alternative, and I think this is true for every flashlight.

Regards, Patric

Swedpat said:

I ordered my Tiablo A9 with both reflectors. I didn't need long time before I realised that the textured(orange peel) is the choice for me. With the smooth reflector the light beam became uneven illuminated with rings. The throw will be slightly better with the smooth reflector but even with the orange peel reflector it has great throw. For the most purposes a textured reflector is the better alternative, and I think this is true for every flashlight.

Regards, Patric

Click to expand...

hi patric,

well I can't speak for the tiablo, because I haven't seen one in the flesh yet, but I can tell about the dereelight DBS. I also ordered both reflector types for that light and I actually prefer the smo over the op, simply because it throws a noticable range further. I agree that for many (probably the most) purposes an op reflector comes more in handy than a smooth one, for instance if I use my DBS as high-beam on my bike the op reflector is my first choice, because the sidespill is way better, therefore more useful. on the other hand, this can be very pleasant achived also with my P2D, especially if I use the rebel100 emitter (wonderful beam with op reflector). but my main purpose for purchasing the DBS was to have the longest throwing LED stocklight available today and that is what it is supposed to do best with a smo reflector in my opinion.


regards, holger