Hi CRI LED flashlight? What's available?

What's a flashlight that comes from the factory with a high cri LED? Is the nichia 319 more efficient than the xpg in my quark mini hi cri?

EagleTac MX25L3C
3x 18650 / 6 x CR123A
6x Nichia 219 B11
2550 Lumens

Was looking more into the 1-2 CR 123 form factor

Eagletac D25C is a nichia and cr123 light. I prefer nichia as it is a more neutral tint and still has a higher R9 value than Cree LEDs.

HDS offers a Nichia 219B as a custom option in their lights, which I believe are all single CR123. They claim 200lm with a CRI of ~93 and a CCT of ~4000°K.

+1 eagtac D25c, the HDS 200lm hi cri (clicky or rotary) to name another.

Malkoff Devices MDC 1CR123A Nichia 219BV2 93CRI @ Illumn. Extreme Quality. +2 on the HDS & D25c.

There are lots of lights using the 219B emitter with an SW45 tint bin (4500k and 90cri roughly). Eagletac MX25L3C and Eagletac clicky series to name a few.
The Jaxman E2 comes with a 219BV1 emitte with an SW57 tint bin (5700k and 90cri as well.
Zebralight is coming out with a light using the XHP-50 hi cri which will be roughly 93-95cri.
Zebralight also offers some 85cri lights using the XML2 easywhite and Luxeon T.

From personal experience, if I had to rank the quality of the lights, I'd say the SW57 tinted 219BV1 is best, offering the richest red rendition and visual contrast, while the 219B SW45 tint lags a little behind, not offering quite as much red saturation, and appearing slightly tan tinted overall in comparison. Followed that would be Luxeon T's 5000k tint, which lacks a good bit of red saturation compared to the 219B and appearing slightly green. Very close to the performance of the Luxeon T would be the XML2 easywhite, appearing nice and warm, but very yellow in general.

We don't know how the XHP-50 hi cri will perform yet.

I prefer my Nichia's in the 4000k tint range. This move to 4500-5000k pisses me off.

If you want a high CRI light that can run on 2xCR123a, get a Surefire 6P or Solarforce L2 host and a Sportac Triple Nichia P60. You can't beat having a ~700 lumen wall if 92 CRI light on a budget! This setup will also work on 1x18650/16650 if you choose to use rechargeable cells at some point. Unless you plan to run the light on two rechargeable cells (16340/18350/16650/18650) or three primaries (ie Surefire 9P), get the two mode drop-in for more versatility and better single cell regulation. The single mode drop-in, on the other hand, has PERFECT regulation on two rechargeables.

in AAA Lumintop copper Tool, Lumintop copper Worm, Nichia 219B 4000K. L3 Illumination L08 N219B 4500K. Astrolux A01 N219B 4000k.

in AA L3 Illumination L10, and L11c N219B 4500K

none of the above lights use PWM, none are designed for LiIon, but eneloops work great..

fwiw, Malkoff, McGizmo, Eagletac and Zebralight all use PWM or a variation of Pulsed circuits. I would not call Zebralights High CRI.

Speaking of high CRI lights that will run on 2xCR123a, there is also the Eagletac D25C2 and D25LC2, both with Nichia 219. Neither is quite as bright as the Sportac P60 since they are single emitter lights. But they are still considerably brighter than your typical 1xAA/1xAAA Nichia fare - about on par with a decent 2xAA XM-L2 light. The D25LC2 is the better choice since it can take an 18650 for more runtime. The D25C2 can only accommodate a 16650 rechargeable.

And speaking of AA lights, if this is something you are interested in, you might consider the 2xAA Eagletac D25A2 Nichia 219. It's not as bright as the D25C2/D25LC2. But it's still considerably brighter than 1xAA/1xAAA Nichia lights.

StorminMatt said:

D25LC2, …. D25A2

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great options,
High CRI Nichia: 204 lumen, and 129 lumen high
Low CRI XPL: 430 lumen, and 211 lumen high

jon_slider said:

great options,
High CRI Nichia: 204 lumen, and 129 lumen high
Low CRI XPL: 430 lumen, and 211 lumen high

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Not sure what you are trying to point out here. But keep in mind that, when I was comparing the brightness of the Nichia light to the XM-L2, I was saying that the D25LC2 with Nichia has roughly the same brightness as the D25A2 with XM-L2.

StorminMatt said:

2xCR123a, … are still considerably brighter than your typical 1xAA/1xAAA Nichia fare
...
the 2xAA Eagletac D25A2 Nichia 219…. considerably brighter than 1xAA/1xAAA Nichia lights.

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I agree 2x CR123 is definitely higher power than 1xAA/1xAAA
and since the OP does not want AA/AAA your suggestions fit his needs well, and Eagletac offers excellent choices between bright low CRI, or half as bright High CRI

StorminMatt said:

I was saying that the D25LC2 with Nichia has roughly the same brightness as the D25A2 with XM-L2.

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great point
2xAA with high brightness and low CRI = 2CR123 with High CRI and less brightness..

fwiw, the 2xAA Nichia D25A2 has 129 lumen high, while the 1xAA Nichia L11C is 140 lumens, but no turbo.

that is to say, 1XAA = 2xAA in brightness, but the 2xAA has double the runtime, plus turbo, and also strobe options..

imo the CR123 Eagletacs are great suggestions for the CR123 power source the OP is interested in..

here is another High CRI option in 1xCR123 or 1x AA

I was interested in the Eagletac D25C but have seen notes that if you use RCR123 (16340) you lose the low and medium modes since the operating voltage isn't up to Li-ion levels. Something to keep in mind.

tops2 said:

I was interested in the Eagletac D25C but have seen notes that if you use RCR123 (16340) you lose the low and medium modes since the operating voltage isn't up to Li-ion levels. Something to keep in mind.

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your post is confusing me, due to some typos? can you link to the original info "notes" you have seen?

I do not think the Eagletac lumen specs are for 16340 Li-Ion, I think they are specs for CR123, am I mistaken?

terminology:

CaseyS said:

16340 usually refers to RCR123a's, rechargeable CR123a's. They have a higher voltage and lower capacity than primary CR123a's.

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I thought it was the other way around, 16340(3.7v nominal) you can loose the lower mode and the high turns into a turbo like direct drive. Cr123(3.2v) iirc you get all the modes as per norm.

jon_slider said:

your post is confusing me, due to some typos? can you link to the original info "notes" you have seen?

I do not think the Eagletac lumen specs are for 16340 Li-Ion, I think they are specs for CR123, am I mistaken?

terminology:

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Yeah, the D25C is rated only for CR123 and not 16340. But if you look at Illumn's product page for this light (in their specials page), they list the light compatible with (R)CR123A. One reviewer mentions losing medium mode with 16340. From memory, I think Selfbuilt also tested the D25C with 16340 and also saw the light will work with 16340, but will just not have the lower levels.

I was initially confused cause the only light I had in this class, Olight S1, is specced to work with CR123 and 16340. And it didn't help before that RCR123(a) and 16340 were different terms for the same thing. So I kept thinking most lights in this class are the same. But on closer glance saw this wasn't the case so just wanted to mention this in case someone else is interested in the D25C for use with 16340.

Sorry if I caused additional confusion as I was hoping to clarify instead!

ven said:

16340 loose the lower mode
Cr123 … get all the modes

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yes and yes , they are CR123 lights and do not require LiIon

"Eagletac site says: li-ion direct drives the LED … During direct drive, output at low and medium mode will be higher than normal."

tops2 said:

Yeah, the D25C is rated only for CR123

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Eagletac supports Voltage Protected LiIon batteries, but the flashlight has no built in OverDischarge Protection, and no Thermal Protection.

some other brands of CR123 lights offered with high CRI: Malkoff, McGizmo, HDS
those lights also have no built in thermal protection nor low voltage protection.

there are some people who will use LiIon in unprotected lights, even if the manufacturer recommends against it
I think people need to decide what battery chemistry they want, before they choose a light