AardvarkSagus
Flashlight Enthusiast
Klarus XT10 - posted for consideration for the review forum
Klarus surveyed the technological landscape of userinterfaces, littered with head twists, half clicks, and ring adjustments and decided that none of the current options fit their needs. Is the XT10 simply a case of innovation for innovation's sake or does a new UI actually have something to offer?
Klarus XT10
Meat and Potatoes
The Klarus XT10 is instantly recognizable as a contender in today's duty light market. Sporting the common 2xCR123A / 18650 form factor that has dominated the high end flashlight market for the last decade, Klarus already makes a statement to the tune of 470 ANSI lumens.
To produce that kind of power, the business end of the XT10 uses a T6 bin Cree XM-L nestled in a lightly texturerd reflector to output these lumens into a meaty beam of light. The focus is slightly on the floody side, but really quite an average, multi-purpose spread. While not a thrower necessarily, thanks to the larger die LED, Klarus has managed some distance capabilities still through sheer power.
Cree XM-L
As impressive as the output is on this light, the real uniqueness of the XT10 though is in the UI. The activation end of this torch is graced with not one, but two switch buttons. The user interface here has really been designed with tactical use in mind. One button for power and the second for mode switching. There is no mode memory, so the light always turns on in high. From there pressing the slightly recessed, and alternate shaped mode button will cycle the light down through a 150 lumen Med to a simple 10 lumen low. At any point you can press and hold the mode change button and be switched into a full brightness varying frequency strobe similar to that which is found on the JETBeam RRT-1. Also uniquely available, this strobe is accessible in both momentary and constant-on states even when the light is off. I should probably note here that Klarus uses PWM to effect these mode differences, but thankfully it is a high enough frequency that it is literally unnoticeable unless you are specifically looking for it.
Dual switches
The build quality of the Klarus XT10 is, quite frankly, impeccable. It definitely ranks with some of the better built lights in my collection. Every surface was carefully tended to remove any and all rough edges and sharp corners. This attention to detail even extends into the actual design of the light as well. Klarus has added enough unique elements to the XT10 that it manages to escape the common trap of accidentally looking like every other torch on the market. Bold cuts, thick accent design, and even a few subtle curves make for what I consider an attractive tool. The thick uniform anodizing appears to be quite durable and is reminiscent of the excellent coatings found on early Sunwayman products.
Klarus XT10
Comstructive Criticism
The Klarus XT10 comes with a couple of standard accessories, including a basic spring tension clip, plastic grip ring (that is fairly decent for being just a hard plastic option, rather than the preferable rubber), and holster. Usually I rejoice at seeing a holster shipped with a duty light like this, because then I don't have to scavenger one from another light so I can carry it during my review period. The holster for this torch however left quite a bit to be desired. It is an open bottomed, bezel-up design that is just too big for the XT10 to fit comfortably in. I don't believe it can actually fall out completely, but it definitely rides so deep in the holster that it is rather difficult to remove quickly. Not an ideal situation for a "tactical" light.
The unique tailcap of the XT10 includes a partial raised ring around the two switches. This at first glance appears to be one of the ill-conceived quasi-tailstanding rings that unsuccessfully attempt to achieve the best of both worlds. If that is genuinely the case here, then it is even more of a failure than usual because it doesn't allow for tailstanding in even the most minute manner. This light has the unsteadiness of any average protruding tailcap, with the accessibility of a scalloped tailstander. Perhaps the reasoning was more about prevention of accidental activation, in which case it might be more acceptable, but I really don't know for certain what benefit there it offers either.
Klarus XT10
Conclusions
Klarus has stepped up and taken a risk in offering a new UI style to a well developed market and has actually come out with a winner in my book. The two buttons are easy to find and simple to use. Throw in the quality construction and high power and you have quite a solid product. Just be prepared to find yourself a better holster.
Provided for review by the kind folks at Going Gear.
Klarus surveyed the technological landscape of userinterfaces, littered with head twists, half clicks, and ring adjustments and decided that none of the current options fit their needs. Is the XT10 simply a case of innovation for innovation's sake or does a new UI actually have something to offer?
Klarus XT10
Meat and Potatoes
The Klarus XT10 is instantly recognizable as a contender in today's duty light market. Sporting the common 2xCR123A / 18650 form factor that has dominated the high end flashlight market for the last decade, Klarus already makes a statement to the tune of 470 ANSI lumens.
To produce that kind of power, the business end of the XT10 uses a T6 bin Cree XM-L nestled in a lightly texturerd reflector to output these lumens into a meaty beam of light. The focus is slightly on the floody side, but really quite an average, multi-purpose spread. While not a thrower necessarily, thanks to the larger die LED, Klarus has managed some distance capabilities still through sheer power.
Cree XM-L
As impressive as the output is on this light, the real uniqueness of the XT10 though is in the UI. The activation end of this torch is graced with not one, but two switch buttons. The user interface here has really been designed with tactical use in mind. One button for power and the second for mode switching. There is no mode memory, so the light always turns on in high. From there pressing the slightly recessed, and alternate shaped mode button will cycle the light down through a 150 lumen Med to a simple 10 lumen low. At any point you can press and hold the mode change button and be switched into a full brightness varying frequency strobe similar to that which is found on the JETBeam RRT-1. Also uniquely available, this strobe is accessible in both momentary and constant-on states even when the light is off. I should probably note here that Klarus uses PWM to effect these mode differences, but thankfully it is a high enough frequency that it is literally unnoticeable unless you are specifically looking for it.
Dual switches
The build quality of the Klarus XT10 is, quite frankly, impeccable. It definitely ranks with some of the better built lights in my collection. Every surface was carefully tended to remove any and all rough edges and sharp corners. This attention to detail even extends into the actual design of the light as well. Klarus has added enough unique elements to the XT10 that it manages to escape the common trap of accidentally looking like every other torch on the market. Bold cuts, thick accent design, and even a few subtle curves make for what I consider an attractive tool. The thick uniform anodizing appears to be quite durable and is reminiscent of the excellent coatings found on early Sunwayman products.
Klarus XT10
Comstructive Criticism
The Klarus XT10 comes with a couple of standard accessories, including a basic spring tension clip, plastic grip ring (that is fairly decent for being just a hard plastic option, rather than the preferable rubber), and holster. Usually I rejoice at seeing a holster shipped with a duty light like this, because then I don't have to scavenger one from another light so I can carry it during my review period. The holster for this torch however left quite a bit to be desired. It is an open bottomed, bezel-up design that is just too big for the XT10 to fit comfortably in. I don't believe it can actually fall out completely, but it definitely rides so deep in the holster that it is rather difficult to remove quickly. Not an ideal situation for a "tactical" light.
The unique tailcap of the XT10 includes a partial raised ring around the two switches. This at first glance appears to be one of the ill-conceived quasi-tailstanding rings that unsuccessfully attempt to achieve the best of both worlds. If that is genuinely the case here, then it is even more of a failure than usual because it doesn't allow for tailstanding in even the most minute manner. This light has the unsteadiness of any average protruding tailcap, with the accessibility of a scalloped tailstander. Perhaps the reasoning was more about prevention of accidental activation, in which case it might be more acceptable, but I really don't know for certain what benefit there it offers either.
Klarus XT10
Conclusions
Klarus has stepped up and taken a risk in offering a new UI style to a well developed market and has actually come out with a winner in my book. The two buttons are easy to find and simple to use. Throw in the quality construction and high power and you have quite a solid product. Just be prepared to find yourself a better holster.
Provided for review by the kind folks at Going Gear.
