If someone were to say truck, a lot of
people would probably imagine this. Okay
maybe not exactly this truck. For some people this truck isn't good enough.
If when I say "truck" you think of
this truck for example, pay close attention.
I promise this is a flashlight video.
Acebeam, a flashlight manufacturer
is a company who gets that second kind of person. Which is why they've
introduced a new flashlight called the K40M.
And while it doesn't say "big pimpin" on the side, that's what
engravers are for, right? The K40M uses a brain melting
MTG2 emitter by Cree, that pumps out a claimed 3000 lumens.
Acebeam lets you run the K40M off of three 18650 rechargeable
lithium ion batteries,
because as far as I know diesel engines are not currently a way to power
flashlights.
This beast is made of high quality aluminum
and covered in a nice scratch resistant type three hard
anodization. I think mainly because market research reveals
soft anodization sucks. So up front you'll
see a big shiny polished reflector covered by a thick
AR coated glass lens. And there's tons of semi aggressive
knurling which is a texture added by machining and not a terrible skin
irritation- like you may have thought.
So what comes in the packaging, other than
an insanely bright flashlight? It comes in a hard case with three extra
slots for batteries that are NOT included
so that's handy. A large high quality holster,
a manual,
a warranty card that states 24-month warranty coverage,
a lanyard because everyone doesn't have enough of those right?
A bag of spare o-rings and a spare switch cover.
Oh and a bag of silica gel that I guess you're not supposed to eat??
The K40M consists of three main pieces.
The battery carrier, the battery tube, and the head.
The K40M has seven modes which are selected by its magnetic control ring.
While a magnetic control ring might sound like a dangerous cult
probably found in Florida or questionable science from
a B-Movie... it's actually a nice way to operate a flashlight.
To operate a light: but the batteries in the carrier,
put the carrier in the flashlight, and then tighten the head down.
Then press the button on the tail which is the main
on/off switch and finally turn the ring to find the output of your choice.
From the left to the lowest and the right to the highest.
That was easy huh? Now, how are the modes laid out, and what does
Acebeam say about what the modes output and the runtime of each mode?
For this I set my camera to manual so you can see how far apart visually the
modes are spaced in terms of light output.
To be clear the runtimes and lumen claims listed here
are manufacturer rated specs. Alright so starting with the light turned all the
way to the left you get level 1
which is about .9 lumens for 1000 hours
Level 2 is 42 lumens for 70 hours.
Level 3 is 430 lumens for 11 hours
Level 4 is 1150 lumens for 4.5 hours.
Level 5 is 1900 lumens for 1.5 hours.
Level 6 is 3000 lumens for .9 hours.
After Level 6 there's an off space
position
on the ring and then the last click all the way to the right
is "freakout strobe" which is definitely not what the manual calls it.
Now even though there is an off position on the ring that separates level 6 from
the strobe, it's best to lock the light out
by turning off the tail switch when not in use.
Because that off space on the magnetic control ring has a slight
parasitic drain. One thing that's good about the tail cap/magnetic ring combo
is the ability to use the rear switch as a momentary on, on any of the outputs.
Which is great for people who like morse code, or a more constructive activity
for people who just love "pushing buttons."
A lot of flashlights actually can't do this now because mode operation
and on/off are controlled by the same switch. So you get into presses
and half presses
and you might accidentally change modes if you turn it off and
then on to quickly and then you're gonna look like a complete amateur
to all your flashlight friends. Which may or may not be good depending
on your definition of the word "amateur"
or how much time you spend on the Internet. Next I will test three of the
brightest modes to see the length of the runtimes
and how they match up with the rated manufacturer specs:
Because these are probably the modes you're gonna be using the most
on this type of light. For the two brightest I set up an expensive camera
and set it to manual so you can see how it behaves for the entire run time.
The footage was of course sped up, otherwise the video would be several
hours long
and it already feels like that right? You'll see the hours and
minutes listed in the frame.
So on level 6, I get about 50 minutes
before the light begins to signify the batteries are getting low
Acebeam claims .9 hours so I guess 50 minutes and .9
hours are close to the same thing.
Level 5 runs about an hour and a half on the mark which matches
Acebeam's estimate.
Now level 3 only ran about 3 hours and 20 minutes which is quite a bit
shorter than Acebeam's estimate of 4.5 hours.
I had to do this one on an iPhone time-lapse, really expensive, complicated
program.
And the numbers you see in a corner either the time speed stamp of the time
of day the test took place... or maybe it's a secret brain washing code?
You will just have to watch the rest to the video to find out.
So let's see how this light compares to my modified Sky Ray King with the custom
driver that outputs 2000-3000 lumens.
Sorry I'm not more accurate, but I don't have a way to test actual lumen output.
The K40M is quite a bit brighter, but the Sky Ray King has a lot more
spill light, so it makes a more useful for illuminating the areas directly
around you or in front of you.
Now the K40M out throws it by quite a bit and is
is useful for seeing distant objects better in case you need narration to
point out the obvious thing you see in the photos.
Alright so let's give you a few more beam shots.
So what about my opinion. This is the opinion part of the video- the part
you've been waiting for right? Ok... no? Oh wait. How about the control ring?
It has nice clean clicks and doesn't take too much effort to turn,
but it's also not loose like some lower quality light's with magnetic control rings.
All six brightness modes are spaced very well, and the
7th blinking mode is cool for people who are into them. I guess.
The high is a face melting output level.
And the low is actually very low for this size of light.
The light is big and heavy with the batteries but that's to be expected
for it's size. It's a nice light for your truck, or toolbox, or work
But maybe not for backpacking.
or gifting to a two-year-old. Or giving
to people who hate flashlights. Also Acebeam recommends to use 2600mah
protected batteries that's how they got their ratings they claim.
The light is waterproof to IPX8 standards which means it will survive
drops in a few feet of water
or rain, which I tried and it was okay.
You see in the video I walked through the rain with it.
So that's about it. Thanks for watching.
Don't forget to subscribe to my channel for headlamp and flashlight reviews with
bad jokes like in this video. This light was provided for review by Acebeam.
But all opinions in this video are mine.
Shot, edited, and narrated by M. Hanlen. Shot on the iPhone 5s.