" New to this forum "

Hello to all -

Just joined this forum as I have recently become very interested in the newer breed of small high power tactical flashlights that are becoming more and more available. I currently own an older ASP bulb type light that does a fair job of illuminating in the areas I use it for and recently purchased an Olight M20 R2 Premium LED model that puts the ASP to shame in terms of both brightness and beam throw. This thing is like holding a mini torch in your hand but then again I am somewhat of a newbie to this intriguing domain of bright lights. I am now looking at purchasing another mini torch that I had never heard of until a few days ago. It is from a company called Phoebus out of the SF bay area and the model I am considering is the MicroFire Explorer III. It is a 10 watt LED and is powered by three CR123 batteries. According to their website it throws out 500 lumens of light which is twice what the Olight does so this must be one heck of a bright little light. Not cheap by any means, over twice what the Olight cost me. I am meeting with a guy from Phoebus in the next week or two to examine and test out just how good this light is and do a shootout between it and the Olight. Just out of curiosity here, does anyone on this forum know about this Phoebus light and possibly even own one? I would be very interested to get some feedback on it if possible. Guess now I am going to have to find a place for my old arsenal of various Maglites as all of them have been dimmed in comparison to the Olight and will for sure be put totally out if I buy this Phoebus light................

Light me up Scotty..........Terry

I'm not familiar with that particular dealer, but Microfire is a popular/well-known brand here on CPF, mainly for their HID lights. The LED light you're looking at seems to be a very solid unit with a unique form factor, however I don't know if 3x123 is the best power option for that particular LED/setup. Plus the price is a bit steep for the lumens you're getting overall.

Some lights with similar output you might consider would be the JetBeam M1X (http://www.bugoutgearusa.com/jetm1x.html) which has a more sophisticated interface, accepts a variety of battery configurations, and is nearly half the price of the Microfire. Another option could be the upcoming EagleTac M2X (https://www.eagletac-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=103&products_id=717), which has a form factor closer to the Explorer.

Here's a link to the light.

Microfire is a company, so my guess is that Phoebus is the store name. But the Explorer III isn't on the Microfire page.

It does look interesting and could be a good light. The light has a Seoul P7. A Seoul P7 is essentually 4 Seoul P4s(uses the same die as the Cree XR-E in the Olight) in a single package. This means 4x the emittint area which gives you a wider hotspot for the same size reflector. You'll get more output but maybe not more throw.

:welcome:

Hey there and welcome to CPF! Prepare to spend alot of time here.

Might want to check out the Olight M30. 700 lumens... https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/225647

Hi All -

Thanks to those that responded to my initial post on this forum. I did some further checking and got some things straight from where I had first been. The flashlight I am considering is actually called the MicroFire Explorer III P7 LED and is being offered on the Phoebustactical.com website. They also offer the Terminator HID lights that are slightly more expensive than the Explorer line. Both look similar in outer appearances. I appreciate the suggestions that were given as to possible other lights with as much or even more light ouput and at a lesser cost although I seem to have learned one thing in a short period of time. That being to produce a small tactical handheld torch such as many of these lights are, there has to be some fairly sophisticated circuitry involved to monitor the LED and other components within the light that provide both stability and longevity. LEDs can last a long time if regulated properly as can battery life be extended if the same principle is applied and used. So with that thought I am going to just take my time, do some more research and read lots and lots of all your posts on this subject before I jump in with both feet and spend the bigger bucks on one of these little light monsters. For now I am totally happy with my much lesser expensive Olight M20 R2 Premium handtorch and have given many folks an eyeopening experience when I push the clickey-switch and light up their world. One guy with a 3 cell Maglite was at a meeting the other night and was showing it to some friends. He had aimed it at a wall to show the beam it had. I casually walked over and took out the Olight and at the push of a button completely covered up the Maglite beam with a much whiter and brighter spot. Needless to say the poor guy was not too happy about me doing that so I got out of there as quickly as my old legs would take me. Thanks again for your comments and suggestions here. I will be an active member in the future for sure..............

Light me up Scotty...........Terry

TOQ said:

So with that thought I am going to just take my time, do some more research and read lots and lots of all your posts on this subject before I jump in with both feet and spend the bigger bucks on one of these little light monsters.

Click to expand...

Begin your education here: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/172991

:welcome:

MicroFire Explorer III P7 LED

I am new to this forum and am just getting started into small high power handheld flashlights. Does anyone on this forum have info on the MicroFire Explorer III P7 LEd light? According to the various sites I have found this light advertised on, it puts out 500 lumens, operates off of 3 CR123 lithium batteries (non rechargeable) and is the counterpart to the MicroFire Terminator HID light that uses that techology to put out a mere 30 additonal lumens. I currently own an Olight Warrior Premium R2 LED that I really like but would love to have one that threw a narrow beam a bit further than this one does. If anyone can give me some info based on their owning or using one of these small MicroFire Explorer lights, it would be greatly appreciated. I am looking to the day when somebody introduces a small flashlight around the same size as the Olight but that puts out a thousand or more lumens and throws a beam across the pond to Hawaii. But then again, wouldn't we all like to own an extended beam version of Luke Skywalker's light sabre.......

Light me up Scotty..........Terry

Olight M20 versus M30

Still pretty new to this forum but learning more every day. I currently carry an Olight M30 Warrior Premium R2 LED but have read that the new larger M30 is close at hand. I am very happy with the M20 but at 250 lumens it now appears to be but a mere lightweight compared to the 700 lumen output for the slightly larger M30. Would love to see some shootouts between these two premium handtorches from some of you that do that sort of thing on this forum. I imagine if this new M30 checks out as everyone seems to indicate it will, I will be antying up the cash I don't have and buy one anyway just to have that much power available at the "flick of the clicker". I know how bright the M20 is, I can only imagine how much brighter almost triple figure might be. Hope it throws a beam a bit further also but if not that's fine, those bushes out further will just be safe from catching fire like the closer in ones aren't..........

Light me up Scotty...........Terry

Re: Olight M20 versus M30

I'm trying to decide on getting the M20 or wait for the M30 but I'm thinking of pulling the plug on the M20 because of the size. I also don't know if the M30 will go as low as the M20 and if you've read any of my previous posts you know that the low low is important to me. Do you know if the M30 will do a flash/strobe? That's also important to me.

I guess you just have to figure out what you want out of a light. If it's purely "power" then go for the biggest, brightest you can find. If you want some semblance of potential carry (at least in cargo pant pockets) and a low low, then you'd better keep your M20.

Or, as most seem to do on this forum, keep the M20 and get the M30 too. Carry one on each hip. :duh2:

Re: Olight M20 versus M30

I'm sure someone can chime in with the more precise technical specs, but to answer some of your questions... The M30 does have a strobe function, which can be activated by pressing the "S" button right below the clicky-switch. A hard press of this button, when the light is off, will activate the strobe. When the light is on, the "S" button is used to cycle through the modes: 8, 120, 700 lumens, and strobe (strobe is attainable when the light is on, as well).

Seeing as the M30 uses a quad-die emitter and a shallower reflector than the M20, it will more than likely be a floodier beam with lots of spill. I don't know the exact technical specs of the beam and reflector, but hopefully this helps a little bit.

Re: Olight M20 versus M30

gmf2010 said:

I'm sure someone can chime in with the more precise technical specs, but to answer some of your questions... The M30 does have a strobe function, which can be activated by pressing the "S" button right below the clicky-switch. A hard press of this button, when the light is off, will activate the strobe. When the light is on, the "S" button is used to cycle through the modes: 8, 120, 700 lumens, and strobe (strobe is attainable when the light is on, as well).

Seeing as the M30 uses a quad-die emitter and a shallower reflector than the M20, it will more than likely be a floodier beam with lots of spill. I don't know the exact technical specs of the beam and reflector, but hopefully this helps a little bit.

Click to expand...

The M20 has a strobe function too

I'll be grabbing the M20 specifically for portability factor. If I was living on an EDC bag, then I'd grab the M30.

Re: Olight M20 versus M30

Yep, I personally have and carry the M20 R2 with me everyday. Although the M30 will undoubtedly be a great light, the sweet spot, for me, is a 1x 18650 / 2x CR123 light. Anything above that, in my opinion, is a bit much to carry around every day.

What it all boils down to is whether or not you NEED what the M30 has to offer, given your specific requirements/desires. However, I would be contradicting the inherent teachings here at CPF if I told you anything other than... "Just buy them both."

"New Olight M30 Triton"

Question: If the new Olight M30 Triton flashlight is going to ship from one of the dealers on this forum beginning April 29th, why is it that Olight doesn't even list this light on their website as yet? One would think that surely a mfgr such as Olight would post news of a brand new light on their website as soon as the first shipment was shipping to the dealers, etc. Not trying to make any waves here as I am seriously thinking of buying one myself as soon as I see a few user reviews of this light on this forum, but I am just curious as to why the lag of introduction by the company that makes it???

Light me up Scotty..........Terry

Re: "New Olight M30 Triton"

Are you talking the USA Olight website if so they havent even got the M2 on there yet , and the main Olight website is old as the hills .

Re: "New Olight M30 Triton"

The first question is better asked directly to the dealers over in the Marketplace. You'd be surprised how many manufacturer websites are old and out of date. They generally let the dealers do a lot of the marketing and hype for them.

Re: "New Olight M30 Triton"

Thanks for the bit of enlightenment here. My background is in sales & Mktg management and I wasn't quite aware of this new marketing approach that is being taken by some of the flashlight mfgrs. What the heck, if the dealers will pick up a mfgrs. marketing expense, I would think the mfgrs are "marketing geniuses".

Light me up Scotty.........Terry

"Olight M20 vs. MicroFire Explorer....small test done"

I am still feeling my way around this forum and had no idea of how large a group this is. I just wanted to make this post regarding a meeting I had over the weekend with a guy who sells the MicroFire Explorer III P7 LED light. I have been considering buying one and he graciously agreed to meet with me to show me the array of MicroFire lights he represents, including some pretty fancy HID units. After some small talk about the world of flashlights he pulled out the Explorer and I checked it over carefully. Very well made, and runs off of three CR123 batteries stored in a triangle shaped pod. This makes the body approx the same size as a 3 cell AA Maglite. It supposedly puts out 500 lumens of light, something I question after comparing it to my meager 250 lumen Olight M20. We really didn't have the time or the place to conduct an all out test between the two but when he switched it on high and threw the spot onto a wall at about 20 feet away I was impressed at first. That was until I pointed the M20 and hit that wall right alongside it. The Olight threw a slightly smaller sweet spot on the wall due to the much smaller reflector head, but it was also a tad bit brighter than the larger and more powerful Explorer. At an MSRP of $268, and even with the 20% discount he offered me, I think I will have to pass on this one and wait for the Olight M30 Triton at 700 lumens and an MSRP of about a hundred bucks less. And it is discounted down to $240 at one dealer I saw it advertised with. I was very glad to have been able to see this light and glad also that I didn't jump in with both feet and order one from him sight unseen. I would have been really dissapointed. As stated in another post, I am waiting anxiously to see some reviews and beamshot comparisons from the "first on the block crowd". The M30 looks to be one heck of a little torch for the money and it should have the competition shaking their heads shortly once it gets out there and does its thing..........

Light me up Scotty.........Terry

Re: "Olight M20 vs. MicroFire Explorer....small test done"

TOQ said:

I am still feeling my way around this forum and had no idea of how large a group this is. I just wanted to make this post regarding a meeting I had over the weekend with a guy who sells the MicroFire Explorer III P7 LED light. I have been considering buying one and he graciously agreed to meet with me to show me the array of MicroFire lights he represents, including some pretty fancy HID units. After some small talk about the world of flashlights he pulled out the Explorer and I checked it over carefully. Very well made, and runs off of three CR123 batteries stored in a triangle shaped pod. This makes the body approx the same size as a 3 cell AA Maglite. It supposedly puts out 500 lumens of light, something I question after comparing it to my meager 250 lumen Olight M20. We really didn't have the time or the place to conduct an all out test between the two but when he switched it on high and threw the spot onto a wall at about 20 feet away I was impressed at first. That was until I pointed the M20 and hit that wall right alongside it. The Olight threw a slightly smaller sweet spot on the wall due to the much smaller reflector head, but it was also a tad bit brighter than the larger and more powerful Explorer. At an MSRP of $268, and even with the 20% discount he offered me, I think I will have to pass on this one and wait for the Olight M30 Triton at 700 lumens and an MSRP of about a hundred bucks less. And it is discounted down to $240 at one dealer I saw it advertised with. I was very glad to have been able to see this light and glad also that I didn't jump in with both feet and order one from him sight unseen. I would have been really dissapointed. As stated in another post, I am waiting anxiously to see some reviews and beamshot comparisons from the "first on the block crowd". The M30 looks to be one heck of a little torch for the money and it should have the competition shaking their heads shortly once it gets out there and does its thing..........

Light me up Scotty.........Terry

Click to expand...

This makes me like my upcoming M20 even more. Thanks for the test!

Re: "Olight M20 vs. MicroFire Explorer....small test done"

Hey TOQ, I'm glad you love your M20.

So... let's get to business and set things straight. You are comparing apples to oranges. There is significant difference between lumens (output of a light) and lux (brightness of a spot, commonly referred to as throw).

"500 lumens" is the overall output of the light. It doesn't mean that it will throw further (or have a brighter spot) than your M20. As you know, floodlights puts out huge amount of lumens but don't throw very far. How focused your spot is will determine your throw (commonly measured in lux).

As you already found out, the M20 is a thrower and puts out a really small hotspot due to focusing all it's light there. There is no doubt that a P7 powered by 3xCR123 is way brighter (puts out more lumens) but its usually floody and throws less.

It could possibly reach 500 (out the front) lumens but it's most probably 300++ to 400++ lumens.