Help me decide: Olight M20 vs. SF LX2

climbinglife

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Dec 25, 2007
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I've read the reviews, seen the beamshots although if anyone has them side by side, that would be cool:wave:

The build quality on the the Olight seems to be quite goodas are all the reviews on it and we all know about SF.

One is just under a 100 and the other is 200. Big difference IMHO.

IS the LX2 worth the extra money? I know money is subjective here but I'm curious what people think. It looks as if Olight hit a homerun with this light but the LX2 finally looks like Surefire has stepped up with a nice output light.

Argh!

Thanks,

Vin C
NYC
 

dcycleman

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Feb 16, 2009
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I'm a surefire fan, I'd go with the Lx2 if I didnt already have a bunch of SF 2 cell lights I'd have one on order.
 

berry580

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IMO, M20 is a bit out-dated, if you're gonna get it, you might as well get TK-12.
See the regulation on 18650 of the TK12 compared to M20?

As for M20/TK12 or LX2. I'm convinced in overall built quality the SF will win. But are you happy to exclusively use primaries (for the LX2) or otherwise expect lower output with less regulation?

The initial price you only pay once, so i think its relatively of a non-issue, not like we're talking about $100 vs $1000 here.
:popcorn:
 

Daylo

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Go with the LX2, no doubt about it. While I have not owned an M20 I have owned and M30 and I sold it. I have owned many lights (SF, Ra, Barbolight, Fenix, Olight, JetBeam, etc) and I believe the LX2 is the best all around usable light I have. Here is why.

- Amazing build quality fit and finish
- Simple UI
- Long runtime on low
- Very bright on high
- Lifetime warranty
- Twisty switch will not fail like clickys
- Pocketable
- Made in USA

Is it worth the extra cash? Heck yeah. I've gone through a lot of lights and this one is a keeper, it sees more use than all of my other lights combined. The LX2 Is just a great light.
 

WHT_GE8

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Go with the LX2, no doubt about it. While I have not owned an M20 I have owned and M30 and I sold it. I have owned many lights (SF, Ra, Barbolight, Fenix, Olight, JetBeam, etc) and I believe the LX2 is the best all around usable light I have. Here is why.

- Amazing build quality fit and finish
- Simple UI
- Long runtime on low
- Very bright on high
- Lifetime warranty
- Twisty switch will not fail like clickys
- Pocketable
- Made in USA

Is it worth the extra cash? Heck yeah. I've gone through a lot of lights and this one is a keeper, it sees more use than all of my other lights combined. The LX2 Is just a great light.

The LX2 is a great light no doubt, but overpriced in my opinion.

The Olight puts out more lumens 250 vs 200, longer runtime on high, 3hrs vs 2 hrs.

The low of the Olight is 7 lumens for 150 hours vs the LX2 low is 15 lumens for 47 hours. Also the Olight has a medium mode of 90 lumens for 12 hours.

I havent seen any reports of the clicky mechanism failing in an Olight M20. Looks like a really well built light.

In my opinion the Olight M20 is a better buy when you crunch the numbers and price. $95 vs $195. :shrug: Maybe im missing something. Even if your Olight exploded or was lost, you can buy another M20 and still be cheaper than one LX2.
 
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MrBenchmark

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The Olight puts out more lumens 250 vs 200, longer runtime on high, 3hrs vs 2 hrs.

It's 3 hours on an 18650, where it's not regulated, and you aren't getting the full 250 lumens. This is not a big deal imo, just trying to set things straight. Mine is a bit finicky sometimes about changing modes on 18650's, although generally it all works fine.

The low of the Olight is 7 lumens for 150 hours vs the LX2 low is 15 lumens for 47 hours. Also the Olight has a medium mode of 90 lumens for 12 hours.

The low and medium modes on the Olight are very nice. Unfortunately, you have to switch through a strobe mode to get from high->low. This is a very unfortunate feature, in my opinion. (It is the only thing about my M20 I don't really like.) The low and medium modes really are very useful and very well thought out, in my opinion.

I havent seen any reports of the clicky mechanism failing in an Olight M20. Looks like a really well built light.

I had a great deal of trouble with mine. I had to tighten it several times. I seem to have gotten it right now, but it took quite a bit of fiddling with it to get it right. I contacted the manufacturer about it at one point, which brings me to the one point that isn't stated in this thread - warranty.

The warranty on the surefire is significantly better than on the Olight, in my opinion. If your Olight breaks, you'll need to send it back to the maker, with a nominal fee. (I think $5 is what they told me - I may be mis-remembering that - it is no big deal though.) Even for something obvious, like a faulty switch. This is by no means a bad policy - however, the one warranty issue I've had with a SF (the switch on my M3 was faulty), they simply answered the phone, said "wow, we're sorry about that", and sent me a new switch. No fee, no questions asked.

Having used both warranties, I found the SF approach to be more to my liking. Again, not trying to overly criticize Olight - the Olight M20 is a GREAT value, and I don't regret owning it. But you should take service into account when comparing them. Having used both warranties, SF is better. (It should be - you paid for that too!)

I think the build on the Olight is quite good, although it is not as good as SF, in my opinion. (Although not as good is still extremely good.) Part of the problem, I think, is that the light is more flexible, and therefore slightly more failure prone. (Simple tends to be more bullet-proof.) Whether that is a big deal or a complete non-issue depends on your use and your personal preferences. The extra flexibility of the M20 is NICE.

I'm probably going to buy an LX2 btw - I have several other SF lights, but not that one. (Sorry I can't compare the LX2 directly to the M20.)

I think the good news here is that you don't really have a bad choice - both lights are excellent.
 

DimeRazorback

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The LX2 has better construction, output, beamprofile, UI, feel & throw.

Check out my beamshots to compare them :thumbsup:
 

DimeRazorback

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The Olight puts out more lumens 250 vs 200, longer runtime on high, 3hrs vs 2 hrs.

Evidence??

You do know that the chinese manufactures over-rate their output, and Surefire under-rates theirs don't you??

My LX2 is definitely brighter than my M20... nicer tint too.
 

WHT_GE8

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Evidence??

You do know that the chinese manufactures over-rate their output, and Surefire under-rates theirs don't you??

My LX2 is definitely brighter than my M20... nicer tint too.

Im sure your opinion is completely unbiased. I dont have any of those lights, but just putting the numbers side by side, the Olight seems like a better buy in my opinion. But again ive never held any of those lights, just stating facts.
 
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Lazyboy

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Evidence??

You do know that the chinese manufactures over-rate their output, and Surefire under-rates theirs don't you??

My LX2 is definitely brighter than my M20... nicer tint too.

+1

Agree with DimeRazorback as I have both.
 

DimeRazorback

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Im sure your opinion is completely unbiased. I dont have any of those lights, but just putting the numbers side by side, the Olight seems like a better buy in my opinion. But again ive never held any of those lights, just stating facts.

My opinions are always objective, but as a human a little subjectiveness is always apparent :nana:

I can see your point, and I would agree, but if someone has the extra cash, the LX2 is worth it.

Just to add, I am a fairly abrupt person, so I tend to come off rude sometimes :laughing:
It is far from intentional!
I apologise if I came across rude to you.
People think that because I am young I am getting smart to them... but I am just a serious person! :shrug:

But thats another story!

:D
 

Jethro

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Like I have said before, the LX2 is an amazing bargain IMHO.

And for no good reason whatsoever I'll post a gratuitous photo I took tonight of my LX2 riding shotgun with my Charge Ti:

Traveling.JPG
 

Lazyboy

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Im sure your opinion is completely unbiased. I dont have any of those lights, but just putting the numbers side by side, the Olight seems like a better buy in my opinion. But again ive never held any of those lights, just stating facts.

My LX2 definitely is brighter than the M20. A piece of advise, don't let what's on paper mislead you or marketing mislead you. If you listen to enough folk's helpful information in CPF, you'd know facts aren't always what it seems.

I won't deny the M20 is a better bang for the buck. Better buy doesn't mean it's better. If budget is the concern or you can't justify spending on the LX2, then don't. Buy the M20 and don't look back. It'll do it's job well. If you really want to know whether the LX2 is worth the money? Every bit of it.
 
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Jason_Tx

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Denton, Texas
If the money doesn't bother you -- go with the LX2

If the money is bothering you

Buy a Surefire 6P bored out host from ElectronGuru for $72
and a Malkoff M60 or M60W (warm tint- very very nice) for $55
That way you can use CR123's / RCR123's / or 18650's
And, you can change the drop in at will -- have multi modes, various tints, upgrade when new LED's come out for way less money than buying a new light.

As far as the Olight - I have nothing against it. I almost bought one myself. Bought a Fenix TK11 R2 instead but I going to sell the the Fenix and switch over to upgradeable type SureFire Hosts. I personally think the Fenix is a great light and is about the same as the Olight. I just don't like the cool tint LED's
 

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