Fenix TK70 Review

I got the Fenix TK70.





* * * * * * *

Comes with a shoulder strap and 3 o-rings.



Batteries were included.





Uses 3 XM-L Leds







The head came with a plastic cover that covers the end.



This is where the positive anode of the battery makes contact.



These are the switches that control the brightness and on/off.



Left switch which controls the levels, turbo, high, medium and low. Right switch contols on/off. The switch that controls the levels you have to press down to get to each level. Holding down the switch will not cycle through the light levels.



Square threads are used through out the light.



The battery tube is long. The extender is installed. Holds 4D batteries.



Inside view of the tailcap.



Can tail stand.



This is the shoulder strap clips.













Size comparison

Left Fenix TK70. * * Right Fenix TK60



Left Fenix TK70. * * Right Fenix TK60



These are the lumens and run time from Fenix.

Note: The below-mentioned parameters (tested by four high-quality D Ni-MH batteries with a measured capacity of 9000mAh in Lab) are approximate and may vary between flashlights, batteries and environments.




These are the Lux numbers I got. I used freshly charged Tenergy Premium D Size 10,000mAh Nimh Rechargeable Batteries.

Fenix TK70, Low - 410 Lux @ 1 meter

Fenix TK70, Medium - 8640 Lux @ 1 meter

Fenix TK70, High - 26,684 Lux @ 1 Meter

Fenix TK70, Turbo - 64,990 Lux @ 1 Meter


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Fenix TK70 @ 96"





I didn't change the settings on the beam shots at 32'. I always shoot the beam shots at the same speed. Sorry if they look washed out in high and turbo.

The Fenix TK70 is Bright!!!!


Fenix TK70, Low @ 32'



Fenix TK70, Medium @ 32'



Fenix TK70, High @ 32'



Fenix TK70, Turbo @ 32'



Fenix TK70, Turbo @ 45'



Fenix TK70, Turbo @ 138'



Fenix TK70, Turbo @ 158'



Fenix TK70, Turbo @ 146' or 44.5 meters



Fenix TK70, Turbo @ @ 210' or 64 meters





This is a comparison of the Fenix TK70 vs the Olight SR90 Intimidator . The Fenix TK70 uses 3 XM-L Leds. The Olight SR90 uses 1 SST-90 Led.

Left, Fenix TK70. * * Right, Olight SR90 Intimidator



Left, Fenix TK70. * * Right, Olight SR90 Intimidator



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I used freshly charged Tenergy Premium D Size 10,000mAh Nimh Rechargeable Batteries in the Fenix TK70 and fully charged the batteries in the Olight SR90.

I used my Meterman LM631 to take the Lux readings.


Fenix TK70, Turbo - 64,990 Lux @ 1 Meter

Olight SR90 Intimidator, High - 100,028 Lux @ 1 Meter


Fenix states 2200 ANSI Lumens

Olight states 2200 Lumens. I don't know how Olight got the Lumen numbers.


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Fenix TK70, Turbo @ 45'



Olight SR90 Intimidator, High @ 45'



Fenix TK70, Turbo @ 138'



Olight SR90 Intimidator, High @ 138'



Fenix TK70, Turbo @ 146'



Olight SR90 Intimidator, High @ 146'



Fenix TK70, Turbo @ 158'



Olight SR90 Intimidator, High @ 158'



Fenix TK70, Turbo @ 210' or 64 meters



Olight SR90 Intimidator, High @ 210' or 64 meters




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The Fenix TK70 uses Type III Hard Anodize. It's finish is excellent. No flaws or mis color of parts.

The TK70 uses square threads. The threads came lubed. The threads feel smooth.

It's a large light with a long battery tube. The TK70 feels balanced in my hand when holding the TK70 near the 2 switches.

The TK70 has the issue just like the Fenix TK60 does. With one hand I hold my hand near the switches and have to rotate the battery tube with my other hand to find the switches.

The carrying strap is OK. The strap fits good on the rear of TK70. There is another lanyard included that fits in the groove of the head. The loop needs to be smaller so it can stay in the heat fins of the light. My Fenix TK60 did a better job making the loop smaller. When no slack is on the shoulder strap the lanyard falls out of the heat fins groove the the head. To solve this problem I would put a knot on larger side of the loop, to custom fit it in the fins.

When I first turned on the TK70 I said to myself "Holy F!". Man it's bright!

In the low you do see a very slight green tint around the hot spot. When I go into turbo mode the very slight green tint around the hot spot is less noticeable. Most of my cool white XM-L lights have the same characteristic with the slight green tint. Only one of my cool white XM-L light doesn't. I have 6 cool white XM-L lights.

The Fenix TK70 is "insanely" bright. I do have an Olight SR90 and it's the highest Lux light I have. The Fenix TK70 is second brightest according to my Lux readings. I have not compared the beams though. Turning on the TK70 did remind me of the Olight SR90 in terms of brightness.

It's not an Every Day Carry (EDC) light.....It's a Monster!!!


I got the Fenix TK70 from Fenix Outfiitters for $214.31 from a discount listed on Twitter.

When I was shooting the beam shots of the Fenix TK70 and the Olight SR90 Intimidator.

I had both lights on the shoulder straps because it would be easier for me to carry because I was moving to different positions.

Every time I used the TK70 for beam shots the front loop of the shoulder strap would fall out of the cooling fin when I would hold the TK70 in my hand to do a beam shot.

I found these at Cordlocks at Walmart. The Cordlock works great! It keeps the loop from falling out of the cooling fins.



I found a plastic washer I had laying around and also used that.

I tried running the Fenix TK70 in turbo with the extender off to see what happens.

The TK70 held the same Lux reading in turbo for about 10 seconds and then dropped to high. I tried again by putting the TK70 in turbo and 10 seconds later it dropped to high. It seems the TK70 needs to use the 4th D size battery to keep the light in turbo mode.


Footnote to using the shoulder strap. I took off the rear clip on the rear, the battery cap and noticed the anodizing around and inside the hole was scratched. This is from about 5 minutes of use. So be aware if you want your light to be a "shelf queen" it may not be a good idea to use the shoulder strap.

Serious question: does Fenix actually expect you to use 4 D alkaline cells in a $200+ light?

Is the battery tube coated somehow to be non-reactant with the inevitable alkaline leakage?

--flatline

At what distance did you test to get 64,990 lux @ 1 meter? I ask because I tested at 10 meter and calculated back to 1 meter and got about double your number. It makes me wonder if you actually did the test at 1 meter (in chich case the beam has not converged yet) or parhaps there is something wrong with your TK70.

flatline said:

Serious question: does Fenix actually expect you to use 4 D alkaline cells in a $200+ light?

Is the battery tube coated somehow to be non-reactant with the inevitable alkaline leakage?

--flatline

Click to expand...

no, they expect you to use NiMh D cells.

ernsanada said:

I tried running the Fenix TK70 in turbo with the extender off to see what happens.

The TK70 held the same Lux reading in turbo for about 10 seconds and then dropped to high. I tried again by putting the TK70 in turbo and 10 seconds later it dropped to high. It seems the TK70 needs to use the 4th D size battery to keep the light in turbo mode.


Footnote to using the shoulder strap. I took off the rear clip on the rear, the battery cap and noticed the anodizing around and inside the hole was scratched. This is from about 5 minutes of use. So be aware if you want your light to be a "shelf queen" it may not be a good idea to use the shoulder strap.

Click to expand...

I have the same. Used the strap 3 times, and got scratches everywhere.

tre said:

At what distance did you test to get 64,990 lux @ 1 meter? I ask because I tested at 10 meter and calculated back to 1 meter and got about double your number. It makes me wonder if you actually did the test at 1 meter (in chich case the beam has not converged yet) or parhaps there is something wrong with your TK70.




no, they expect you to use NiMh D cells.

Click to expand...

I took my reading at 1 meter. I'll try to take a 10 meter reading but I'm going on vacation in a couple of days.

Thanks, very nice review and pictures :thumbsup:

ernsanada said:

I took my reading at 1 meter. I'll try to take a 10 meter reading but I'm going on vacation in a couple of days.

Click to expand...

I'm curious to see what you get. ANSI standards allow the manufacturer to measure beam intensity at 2, 10 ,or 30 meters and I'm finding higher measurements at 10 meters so I am using that going forward. 2 meters just seems too close to get an accurate reading. Oh, and nice review.

This is a really great review; thank you!

Ernsanada,

Thanks for all the great pictures and beamshots!

I love my TK70. However, less than two weeks later, I've got a problem I'm going to have to shoot an email to batteryjunction about (its not their doing but hoping they can help). On low, one of the XMLs is not working. If I cycle through, it will work again but after a second (or a minute) one of the XMLs will flicker a bit and then go out again. I can't discern any difference in brightness between the three on any level other than low.

Very nice review. Since I recently bought my TK35 it'll be awhile before I can go for the TK70. Boo Hoo.....

Thanks for the great review. You've got me wanting a TK70 all over again. How do you like the new Tenergy Premium D cells? I havent found any reviews on this cell so its hard to gauge their quality and output. I have the older blue on blue colored tenergy D & C cells (also non-LSD) and they have performed extremely well in my 3 x XML lambda mag (+3A to each emitter), delivering runtimes and performance as expected by the builder.

I bought 8 Tenergy Premium D cells to use 4 at a time in my TK70. They work great. I have done no runtime tests, I just swap out a set when I feel the need. I find them to be reliable and long lasting batteries. I found that with the Tenergy D cells the light seems a little heavy. I use a MAHA charger.

ernsanada,

Very nice review. I already have the SR90 and just received the TK70. Your beamshots perfectly coincide with what I witnessed comparing the two.

If anybody is interested I took tailcap current readings.
Low - 50ma
Med - 520ma
High - 1800ma
Turbo - 8.5amps

These readings were taken with the Tenergy Premium D cells. Using the Centura (LSD) Tenergy cells current readings were almost exactly the same except turbo mode showed slightly higher current draw. This is normal as the Premium cells have always shown a slight ability to maintain higher voltage under larger loads in my testing. Very minor difference.

Thanks for the nice review, I've had my TK70 for about six weeks now and have used it everyday, it is a super nice torch and does everything I thought it would do and more.

357mag1 said:

ernsanada,

Very nice review. I already have the SR90 and just received the TK70. Your beamshots perfectly coincide with what I witnessed comparing the two.

If anybody is interested I took tailcap current readings.
Low - 50ma
Med - 520ma
High - 1800ma
Turbo - 8.5amps

These readings were taken with the Tenergy Premium D cells. Using the Centura (LSD) Tenergy cells current readings were almost exactly the same except turbo mode showed slightly higher current draw. This is normal as the Premium cells have always shown a slight ability to maintain higher voltage under larger loads in my testing. Very minor difference.

Click to expand...

i really hope the difference is minor since i have some tenergy centura that i ordered from ebay that are on the way.

liquidwater said:

i really hope the difference is minor since i have some tenergy centura that i ordered from ebay that are on the way.

Click to expand...

I have been using the Centura LSDs, no issue....you'd not get sudden kickdowns to high from turbo due to voltage sag. Never really did run time tests though, but should not be 30-40 mins kind of performance. That said, i have been using 2 x 3.7V Li-ion 32600....total run time is quite long think 5 hrs added together already. I use the 3D tube (no extension), 2 Li-ion and 1 battery adapter stuffed full with aluminum foil inside, take care to make ti as low resistance as possible.

liquidwater said:

i really hope the difference is minor since i have some tenergy centura that i ordered from ebay that are on the way.

Click to expand...

You are fine. In my opinion the Tenergy Centura are the only D LSD worth purchasing at this point. They are not quite as good as the original AccuEvolution cells but way better than what AccuEvolution is selling now.