Battle of the 18650s, maybe 26650????

Greetings all, am looking for a nice compact single batt light. Having the olight m22, m2x, sr92 and sr95s ut, i have a good balance of throw vs flood in both large and small form factors. A good way to look at this question is for an m22 replacement. Keep in mind i didn't go for m23 because i like a balance beam in that form factor. Of i need a small thrower, the m2x does it. Basically if anyone has both the tm03 or klarus xt11gt, would love to hear your take. Looking to keep at least same throw as m22, if i can gain more then great, but id like something brighter that is also useable, meaning a 20 sec burst on max is a bit short... (this is why i like the big olights...high can run and run if i want, albeit i dont run them on high for longer than 15 to 20 min...) the tm 03 throw is just a bit shallow, no? Certainly seems considerably brighter than xt gt though. Any and all thoughts welcomed, any 26650s also worthy of feedback, but i am liking the tactical tail clickies. Many thanks!!

The TM03 is not really an option as it works only with special battery you cant buy seperatly so far.
in the 1700OTF lumens range the XHP35 LEDs are pretty much the best you can get for a compact thrower
the larger the LED emitting area is the bigger the head has to be

I got an XT11GT incoming, in the past I didnt buy the TM03 and the Klarus G20 bcs they are pretty floody and get hot too fast, I wanted to get the XT11GT with Hi LED but when I ordered they shipped me the new model thype with domed LED, maybe I will replace the chip if its too floody.
I searched on not too expensive lights and found only the Klarus XT11GT seem to fit in that specification would have bought it as 26650 light as well.

The Olight 26650 with XHP50 seem to be a good option, but not tactical.
The Acebeam EC60 is also good but not tactical.

For long runtime and maximum throw of a XHP35 the Acebeam K70 may be a choice but it uses 4 18650.

Many thanks for the feedback Lexel! The proprietary battery isn't as much concern, I'll pick up a few of them when they do becaome avail for sale.
The XT11 GT sounds good - I beleive the stock non high version hits something like 40K candela range which is about 2x the M22, so that could certainly work.
Price is also not of too much concern, so am happy to pay more for a better light. Would love also your feedback when the XT arrives. If any TM03 owners out there would love to hear your thoughts, I'm sure I'm not the only one deciding between both these lights - I just think they are so relatively close, that getting them both would be a waste..

The 26650 offer a higher fuel tank capacity over 18650 although not really developed that much. As demand for 18650 is higher, more time and money has gone into these cells. However 4000-5000mah is pretty common in 26650 format and also make a comfortable in hand feel. The R50vn offers a nice mix of flood/spill from the shaved dome xhp50, built in USB (only works with their cell, although others will work but can not be charged in house). Real nice solid build, typical olight.............with a current bump and shaved dome makes it more special.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?421250-R50vn-Best-26650-Light

Upgrade to m22. I did that with a foursevens mmu x3. More power , balanced beem, its a bit old now though. Id prob go with the olight r50 now . 26650 lights feel so much nicier in the hand too.

Many thanks for the feedback! Ven, the vn version with shaved led sounds interesting, does the beam turn into a pencil spot though? Any beam shot links greatly appreciated.

RCLumens said:

Many thanks for the feedback! Ven, the vn version with shaved led sounds interesting, does the beam turn into a pencil spot though? Any beam shot links greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

No pencil beam, due to the already large shallow reflector you get lots of generous spill going on. The shaved dome xhp50 pushes the light to around 45kcd(so no pencil beam thrower here), but a very usable amount of light OTF.

My beam pics are not the best, so take with a pinch of salt on what gets picked up(more for what does not get picked up at distance). Tint is not that accurate either, its a nice cool tint in real life with no angry blues etc


Pretty compact too


Rough n ready beam pic


close up type beam


More distance of which is around 150/160m to the tree. Now as its a phone, it picks up only little light due to the distance..........and being a phone. To the eye, it is lit up quite a lot more than shows.


Its small enough to slip in a pocket, big enough to be comfortable in hand...........and help a little with the heat when you want to blast away the darkness.