PeaceOfMind
Enlightened
for submission in the Reviews forum
Hello CPF,
Today I would like to review some of the new FourSevens "Burst Mode" enabled lights - the Maelstrom MM-X and the Quark Tactical QT2L-X, both with 'Burst Mode'.
These are both "tactical-style" lights in a 2xCR123 format.
First I will go over some of the features of the lights, along with many photos.
Afterward, I have a set of outdoor beamshots, where I tried to capture how the lights appear in real-life use.
I also have some comparison outdoor shots pitting the MM-X against the venerable Surefire LX2, as well as comparing the latest Quark XM-L with Burst against an older XP-E equipped model of the same product.
Note: the two Burst mode lights in the review were provided by FourSevens. The comparison lights were purchased by me, including the older FourSevens' light shown.
Packaging and Accessories:
The most recent FourSeven's product packaging is quite attractive, with the lights "floating" in clear plastic.
In the package with the MM-X is a pretty complete set of accessories: A set of batteries, a large lanyard, a bezel down holster with snap closure, spare O-Rings, and an "alternate" black bezel ring and optional replacement for the grip ring.
The back of the MM-X holster is outfitted with both a hook-and-loop type belt attachment and a fixed attachment. The holster is quite large and carries the light bezel down only. The MM-X is quite secure in the holster even with the snap open.
The Quark Tactical QT2L-X was accompanied by a similar set of accessories, except instead of the MM-X's bezel ring, there is a rubber "Hand Grip". The hand grip works very well. Although I've never found myself using any of the FourSeven's hand grips in day-to-day use, I could imagine that for some people using the light for long periods, this could be very convenient.
The QT2L-X holster includes a single fixed loop attachment point on the back (no hook-and-loop removable attachment point like the MM-X).
Outside Features:
In terms of build quality and cosmetics, both of my samples looked and felt very nice. Both lights have a fairly generous amount of knurling with a medium amount of aggressiveness.
Compared to other 2xCR123 format lights, the MM-X is on the larger side of average, and the QT2L-X is quite compact.
Despite it's slightly larger size, the MM-X is still quite pocket-able for anyone wearing fairly loose pants.
Both lights fit quite nicely in the hand. The MM-X is particularly easy to hold on to, due to it's larger size, and doubly so when using the included grip ring.
The grip ring of the MM-X contains a small lanyard attachment point. Both lights have very strong, removable pocket clips.
A Look Inside:
Disassembling the parts of the MM-X reveals a fairly beefy construction. The electronics in the head are well protected and the battery tube includes an additional ring that prevents batteries from impacting the base of the head. The tail-cap has a large "peg" style electrical contact that is set on a spring internally. I think this provides some protection to the tail-cap switch from being impacted by the batteries.
The battery tube of the MM-X uses two o-rings on the tailcap side, and a single o-ring at the head.
By comparison, the QT2L-X construction is a bit less beefy than the MM-X, allowing it's much smaller size.
The Quark series has an interesting feature where the pocket-clip can be setup for either bezel-up or bezel-down carry simply by interchanging the head and the tail-cap.
Comparison of the QT2L-X with older generation 2xCR123 Quarks:
I have several previous generations of the QT2L-X product. To see how it has evolved over the years, here are some side-by-side pictures with a one of the first generations - the Quark Tactical XP-E version.
On the outside, there have been some obvious branding changes. The newer lights have a more under-stated style of branding, going so far as to leave the flat sides of the body tube blank.
Looking into the lens, it's easy to spot the change from the very-small-die of the Cree XP-E to the huge-die of the Cree XM-L.
Looking at the back of the head, I noticed that the circuitry has obviously evolved as well. The newer Quark (left) has gained some wider circuit traces - always a good thing in my opinion - as well as a new spring at the positive battery contact. I assume the addition of the spring is to help protect the head electronics from impact from batteries or perhaps to provide more reliable electrical contact if the batteries are shifting around.
User Interface: Quark Tactical/QT2L-X
In my opinion, the Quark Tactical user interface is one of the best out there.
My favourite UI's have two basic characteristics: 2-4 well-spaced brightness levels and ability to select the mode *before* powering on the light.
That's why I love the Quark Tactical UI. In this UI there are two modes: head-loosened and head-tightened. The user can program the brightness of each head position to their liking. After this, controlling modes by having the head either tight or slightly loosened becomes easy.
User Interface: Maelstrom MM-X
I was hoping that the Maelstrom MM-X UI would be able to overtake the Quark Tactical for the spot of being my favourite interface.
The MM-X UI is quite straight-forward: Tighten the head for max brightness. Loosen a little bit for medium brightness. Loosen a little more for low mode. And loosen even more for moonlight mode.
(There are also some special modes that I won't get into).
Although the MM-X UI is good, the problem I find with it is that there's no feedback of how loose the head is - no click as you turn, no markings, etc. Because of this, it can't quite meet my second 'ideal UI' criteria above. That is, it's difficult to select the desired mode before turning on the light.
If something was added to the light - like some markings that you could feel, or indents to make a click as the light hit each position, this would be, to me, the perfect ideal UI.
As it stands, the UI is extremely intuitive, but not perfect in my eyes.
Burst Mode:
The main reason that I wound up writing this review in the first place is because of FourSevens' new Burst Mode feature.
Burst Mode is interesting because it is a simple way of allowing a light to push the LED to its limits, without requiring the user to manually limit use to prevent heat build-up.
The operation of Burst Mode is easy: Turn the light on at its Max setting, and enjoy an initial 60 seconds of double the "sustainable" amount of output. After the first 60 seconds, the light spends 30 seconds gradually ramping down to an output that it can maintain without overheating. This gradual reduction in output is actually fairly difficult to see (unless you're watching really intently for it), because your vision adapts to the slowly changing light level.
For those who don't know, dealing with heat in LED applications is a big deal. Not only is an LED much more susceptible to damage from heat than, say, an incan bulb, but increased heat also significantly reduces the efficiency and brightness of the LED.
Looking at Cree's datasheet for the XM-L LED, going from room-temperature to the LED's maximum temperature results in about a 20% loss in brightness for a given drive current. Not to mention the fact that overheating the LED is a recipe for destroying it in the blink of an eye.
Due to these characteristics, and the limited space for cooling and heat-sinking in a portable light, we are doomed to under-power LEDs in order to avoid heat build-up. That's why it's fun to let these lights demonstrate what modern LEDs are really capable of, using Burst mode.
There's a couple situations where I think Burst Mode is uniquely suited to:
Beamshots:
I've tried to provide some beamshots that reflect what the brightness looked like, to me, in real life. Camera settings for aperture/ISO/shutter speed were kept constant between comparison shots at the same spot. White balance was set to "Daylight".
Here are the lights involved:
A shot of MM-X Burst and for comparison, Max mode on an older 2xCR123 Quark XP-E. :
Another MM-X Burst:
Here I tried to capture the difference between the Burst and after the Burst. It's fairly difficult to see despite the big lumens difference:
Here is the MM-X Burst compared to the Surefire LX2. The 900 lumens of the MM-X make the focused 200 lumens from the Surefire TIR lens seem pretty dim by comparison. This gives you an idea of just how bright the MM-X really is, despite being about the same size as the LX2 and providing similar run-time. :
Again, here is the MM-X (left) and the LX2 (right), combined into one shot. Note the large, very usable spill created by the XM-L LED in the MM-X. By contrast, the LX2 displays the very tight TIR beam shape.:
Here is a comparison between the older XP-E Quark (left) and the XM-L Burst mode Quark (right). The XP-E LED provides quite a bit of throw, due to the small die size, but the XM-L in Burst mode is putting out a lot more light, in a wider pattern. :
Here is the MM-X Burst mode spotted towards an alley-way:
And the QT2L-X in Burst Mode, outshining some local street lights:
Conclusions:
The FourSevens' Maelstrom MM-X with Burst Mode is, for its size, extremely bright. It provides a very wide, very usable beam pattern. The User Interface is quite intuitive, although not quite perfect. The build quality is excellent, and after inspecting the design, I feel it should be quite durable.
The QT2L-X is also extremely bright for its size, also providing a nice, wide, usable beam shape. It is smaller, and thus more pocket-able than the MM-X. Its smaller size means that it does not include the same level of "beefiness" that the MM-X does, but the construction is still solid. The Quark Tactical UI used on the QT2L-X is, in my eyes, one of the best flashlight interfaces available in terms of flexibility and simplicity.
My experience with Burst Mode was very positive. The initial burst puts out a LOT of light initially, and the gradual step down to lower brightness is surprisingly difficult to see (I had to watch carefully to catch it changing, and found the change difficult to perceive).
I truly think it is a great to see Burst Mode lights demonstrating the raw power available in modern LEDs.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend either of the two lights reviewed here as an addition to your flashlight arsenal.
Hello CPF,
Today I would like to review some of the new FourSevens "Burst Mode" enabled lights - the Maelstrom MM-X and the Quark Tactical QT2L-X, both with 'Burst Mode'.
These are both "tactical-style" lights in a 2xCR123 format.
First I will go over some of the features of the lights, along with many photos.
Afterward, I have a set of outdoor beamshots, where I tried to capture how the lights appear in real-life use.
I also have some comparison outdoor shots pitting the MM-X against the venerable Surefire LX2, as well as comparing the latest Quark XM-L with Burst against an older XP-E equipped model of the same product.
Note: the two Burst mode lights in the review were provided by FourSevens. The comparison lights were purchased by me, including the older FourSevens' light shown.
Packaging and Accessories:
The most recent FourSeven's product packaging is quite attractive, with the lights "floating" in clear plastic.
In the package with the MM-X is a pretty complete set of accessories: A set of batteries, a large lanyard, a bezel down holster with snap closure, spare O-Rings, and an "alternate" black bezel ring and optional replacement for the grip ring.
The back of the MM-X holster is outfitted with both a hook-and-loop type belt attachment and a fixed attachment. The holster is quite large and carries the light bezel down only. The MM-X is quite secure in the holster even with the snap open.
The Quark Tactical QT2L-X was accompanied by a similar set of accessories, except instead of the MM-X's bezel ring, there is a rubber "Hand Grip". The hand grip works very well. Although I've never found myself using any of the FourSeven's hand grips in day-to-day use, I could imagine that for some people using the light for long periods, this could be very convenient.
The QT2L-X holster includes a single fixed loop attachment point on the back (no hook-and-loop removable attachment point like the MM-X).
Outside Features:
In terms of build quality and cosmetics, both of my samples looked and felt very nice. Both lights have a fairly generous amount of knurling with a medium amount of aggressiveness.
Compared to other 2xCR123 format lights, the MM-X is on the larger side of average, and the QT2L-X is quite compact.
Despite it's slightly larger size, the MM-X is still quite pocket-able for anyone wearing fairly loose pants.
Both lights fit quite nicely in the hand. The MM-X is particularly easy to hold on to, due to it's larger size, and doubly so when using the included grip ring.
The grip ring of the MM-X contains a small lanyard attachment point. Both lights have very strong, removable pocket clips.
A Look Inside:
Disassembling the parts of the MM-X reveals a fairly beefy construction. The electronics in the head are well protected and the battery tube includes an additional ring that prevents batteries from impacting the base of the head. The tail-cap has a large "peg" style electrical contact that is set on a spring internally. I think this provides some protection to the tail-cap switch from being impacted by the batteries.
The battery tube of the MM-X uses two o-rings on the tailcap side, and a single o-ring at the head.
By comparison, the QT2L-X construction is a bit less beefy than the MM-X, allowing it's much smaller size.
The Quark series has an interesting feature where the pocket-clip can be setup for either bezel-up or bezel-down carry simply by interchanging the head and the tail-cap.
Comparison of the QT2L-X with older generation 2xCR123 Quarks:
I have several previous generations of the QT2L-X product. To see how it has evolved over the years, here are some side-by-side pictures with a one of the first generations - the Quark Tactical XP-E version.
On the outside, there have been some obvious branding changes. The newer lights have a more under-stated style of branding, going so far as to leave the flat sides of the body tube blank.
Looking into the lens, it's easy to spot the change from the very-small-die of the Cree XP-E to the huge-die of the Cree XM-L.
Looking at the back of the head, I noticed that the circuitry has obviously evolved as well. The newer Quark (left) has gained some wider circuit traces - always a good thing in my opinion - as well as a new spring at the positive battery contact. I assume the addition of the spring is to help protect the head electronics from impact from batteries or perhaps to provide more reliable electrical contact if the batteries are shifting around.
User Interface: Quark Tactical/QT2L-X
In my opinion, the Quark Tactical user interface is one of the best out there.
My favourite UI's have two basic characteristics: 2-4 well-spaced brightness levels and ability to select the mode *before* powering on the light.
That's why I love the Quark Tactical UI. In this UI there are two modes: head-loosened and head-tightened. The user can program the brightness of each head position to their liking. After this, controlling modes by having the head either tight or slightly loosened becomes easy.
User Interface: Maelstrom MM-X
I was hoping that the Maelstrom MM-X UI would be able to overtake the Quark Tactical for the spot of being my favourite interface.
The MM-X UI is quite straight-forward: Tighten the head for max brightness. Loosen a little bit for medium brightness. Loosen a little more for low mode. And loosen even more for moonlight mode.
(There are also some special modes that I won't get into).
Although the MM-X UI is good, the problem I find with it is that there's no feedback of how loose the head is - no click as you turn, no markings, etc. Because of this, it can't quite meet my second 'ideal UI' criteria above. That is, it's difficult to select the desired mode before turning on the light.
If something was added to the light - like some markings that you could feel, or indents to make a click as the light hit each position, this would be, to me, the perfect ideal UI.
As it stands, the UI is extremely intuitive, but not perfect in my eyes.
Burst Mode:
The main reason that I wound up writing this review in the first place is because of FourSevens' new Burst Mode feature.
Burst Mode is interesting because it is a simple way of allowing a light to push the LED to its limits, without requiring the user to manually limit use to prevent heat build-up.
The operation of Burst Mode is easy: Turn the light on at its Max setting, and enjoy an initial 60 seconds of double the "sustainable" amount of output. After the first 60 seconds, the light spends 30 seconds gradually ramping down to an output that it can maintain without overheating. This gradual reduction in output is actually fairly difficult to see (unless you're watching really intently for it), because your vision adapts to the slowly changing light level.
For those who don't know, dealing with heat in LED applications is a big deal. Not only is an LED much more susceptible to damage from heat than, say, an incan bulb, but increased heat also significantly reduces the efficiency and brightness of the LED.
Looking at Cree's datasheet for the XM-L LED, going from room-temperature to the LED's maximum temperature results in about a 20% loss in brightness for a given drive current. Not to mention the fact that overheating the LED is a recipe for destroying it in the blink of an eye.
Due to these characteristics, and the limited space for cooling and heat-sinking in a portable light, we are doomed to under-power LEDs in order to avoid heat build-up. That's why it's fun to let these lights demonstrate what modern LEDs are really capable of, using Burst mode.
There's a couple situations where I think Burst Mode is uniquely suited to:
- Coming from a well-lit area into a dark area: In this situation, you can take advantage of the extra lumens while your eyes are not yet adapted to the dark. Your vision will further adapt during the gradual ramp down from Burst mode.
- Any situation where you need to quickly check out a noise or something off in the distance - i.e. needing to only briefly take advantage of the boost in brightness.
Beamshots:
I've tried to provide some beamshots that reflect what the brightness looked like, to me, in real life. Camera settings for aperture/ISO/shutter speed were kept constant between comparison shots at the same spot. White balance was set to "Daylight".
Here are the lights involved:
A shot of MM-X Burst and for comparison, Max mode on an older 2xCR123 Quark XP-E. :
Another MM-X Burst:
Here I tried to capture the difference between the Burst and after the Burst. It's fairly difficult to see despite the big lumens difference:
Here is the MM-X Burst compared to the Surefire LX2. The 900 lumens of the MM-X make the focused 200 lumens from the Surefire TIR lens seem pretty dim by comparison. This gives you an idea of just how bright the MM-X really is, despite being about the same size as the LX2 and providing similar run-time. :
Again, here is the MM-X (left) and the LX2 (right), combined into one shot. Note the large, very usable spill created by the XM-L LED in the MM-X. By contrast, the LX2 displays the very tight TIR beam shape.:
Here is a comparison between the older XP-E Quark (left) and the XM-L Burst mode Quark (right). The XP-E LED provides quite a bit of throw, due to the small die size, but the XM-L in Burst mode is putting out a lot more light, in a wider pattern. :
Here is the MM-X Burst mode spotted towards an alley-way:
And the QT2L-X in Burst Mode, outshining some local street lights:
Conclusions:
The FourSevens' Maelstrom MM-X with Burst Mode is, for its size, extremely bright. It provides a very wide, very usable beam pattern. The User Interface is quite intuitive, although not quite perfect. The build quality is excellent, and after inspecting the design, I feel it should be quite durable.
The QT2L-X is also extremely bright for its size, also providing a nice, wide, usable beam shape. It is smaller, and thus more pocket-able than the MM-X. Its smaller size means that it does not include the same level of "beefiness" that the MM-X does, but the construction is still solid. The Quark Tactical UI used on the QT2L-X is, in my eyes, one of the best flashlight interfaces available in terms of flexibility and simplicity.
My experience with Burst Mode was very positive. The initial burst puts out a LOT of light initially, and the gradual step down to lower brightness is surprisingly difficult to see (I had to watch carefully to catch it changing, and found the change difficult to perceive).
I truly think it is a great to see Burst Mode lights demonstrating the raw power available in modern LEDs.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend either of the two lights reviewed here as an addition to your flashlight arsenal.
