Mecarmy PT16 preliminary test and impression

Mecarmy is a brand that is known for their diminutive rechargeable flashlight half the size and thinner than an AAA battery. They recently released the PT16, a triple CREE xp-g 16340 flashlight that they advertise as having 1000 lumens. Being curious myself and fascinated with the claim and capabilities of the light, I bought it online.

Here are my preliminary test and impression.


First of all, its a heavily built flashlight. For it's size, it feels more substantial than my Zebralight SC62. It feels like a mini Nitecore MH20 with its big head and charging feature.



LED's are all well centered. Even the bezel is centered with the button making it nice to look at. The o-ring is the best I've seen. The rear has two o-rings, while there is only a single o-ring in the micro-usb/head portion. The two o-rings, alongside the square-edge threads on both ends, make this flashlight exceptionally built.

Speaking of overbuilt, comparison photo's below show how thick the aluminum wall of the body is. I compared it to my Olight s10 and was shocked to find that it has around twice the body wall thickness as found in the already well-built s10. My only complain so far is that the tail cap is not perfectly in-lined with the button. It's just a pet peeve of mine as I like my flashlight to look aesthetically pleasing and mirrored equally in both side.

Anodizing is excellent, with a more grey titanium color than Zebralight sc62. A+ in my book!:twothumbs


Now the issues. The user interface is something to be desired. By default, the flashlight turns to the highest output. If a user wants a lower output, they need to run their desired output for three minutes straight for the flashlight to memorize. If that's not problematic enough, even with the memorized mode, the flashlight will still go through the highest mode, until the 0.5 seconds of holding the button down reverts it back to the memorized mode. Basically, you run the risk of blinding yourself in close quarters. :fail:













See the bezel and the triple LED's, its in-line with the button!! A+ perfection.




Square-edged threads on both side, with an overly exaggerated dual O-ring at the rear and a single o-ring at the front













Comparison to my Olight S10 Neutral



My only pet peeve, the tail cap is not perfectly in-lined with the head switch. Arghh!!!



Button is recessed as compared to the protruding (thus pocket problematic) S10 button.



That big head along with the short stature makes this light look cute and squat.






Thickness of the aluminum body is substantial! This is the epitome of overbuilt!






Beam shot comparison based on the tint and claimed lumen output. By default, my settings are equal across the board. 5000k color temp setting, 1/20th sec shutter speed, and an iso 160.

The test shows the highest manufacturer's claimed lumens



Mecarmy PT16 1000 lumens Zebralight SC62W 930 lumens

Fenix E50 780 lumens Nitecore MH20 1000 lumens

Olight S10 Neutral 360 lumens


So, what do you think of the tint and brightness of the Mecarmy PT16? Though not as warm as the Fenix E50, it's a tad warmer than Nitecore MH20, probably because of the XP-G? As for the claimed lumens, it looks close to Zebralights sc62w, but is in no way 1000 lumens. Probably in the same lumens ballpark as Fenix E50, so 780-850 lumens sounds just about right.

That being said, will a higher amp 16340 increase the output more? I have a 4sevens 750mah 16340, a nitecore 650mah one, and the 650mah battery the flashlight came with. I'll charge all of them first before comparing them between each other if the battery makes any difference. I highly doubt it though, as these batteries may as well have the same draw of amps. We'll see.






Just a nice comparison, but the second highest mode of the Mecarmy is a claimed 420 lumens. I compared it to the 360lumens of the Olight s10 and found that is lower than the 360 of the Olights. Mecarmy is above, while Olight is below.






Final note: When I was looking at the tint of the pt16, it looked familiar. I realized a few minutes after checking my flashlight collection that it has an almost identical tint as my Fenix E05 2015 85lumen AAA keychain light. I always considered the tint on my EO5 as the way a cool white should look like without being considered neutral tint nor bluish as cool white's are known for.

Thanks for the review on this. The UI is a deal killer for me. Vinh posted a pic on FB today showing several MecArmy lights and that they are coming soon. I'm hoping a different driver will be available.

Tac Gunner said:

Thanks for the review on this. The UI is a deal killer for me. Vinh posted a pic on FB today showing several MecArmy lights and that they are coming soon. I'm hoping a different driver will be available.

Click to expand...

I agree on the problematic UI. Instead of helping us see in the dark, the first thing this thing will do is blind you. That being said, I cannot emphasize enough on how robustly build this flashlight is. It's insanely well made that, as one comment said in another PT16 forum post, it's build like a custom light. The exaggerated lumens claim is also another downer, though it's still impressively bright for something that runs on 16340.

Here is my second test comparing the high 2 of zebralight sc62w (claimed 577lumens) and the "1000" lumens of PT16 respectively. Just below is the highest output of 920 lumens from the Zebralight. Seems to me the PT16 straddle between the 577 and 920 lumens of Zebralight, probably closer to 600-650 lumens.

Thanks for the review. Think this has just sold me on a Nitecore MH20

Just received mine.
Sick!
Insanely bright for its size + nice upgraded U.I. which is now "totally operationally friendly" unlike a few previous reviews I read prior to purchasing.
Built like a tank, cool white no tinting.
Killer strobe!
Only con = for the price should be a glass lens not a high impact poly-carbonate.
Used a G.G. discount code + free shipping.
Will now sell my Olight S10R II which I barely used, never liked and replace it with this.

The lens is a plastic single-piece triple-TIR optic.

It's very common for small triples to not have glass lenses in front of the optic. Optical acrylic is tough stuff.

Update: after just under two weeks it started acting erratically, then a day or two later just died and would not turn on, battery fine fully charged.
Must have been a faulty switch I would guess.

G.G. sent a new replacement out and received it in 3 days, working great, knock on wood.