Acebeam K60 (1xXHP70, 4x18650) Review

[candle lamp]

Thanks candle lamp

Soon as I get some free time I will venture to the county park at night and have a blast!!

Cheers Ven

You're welcome. ven! Hope you enjoy the venture. Never flash the light in other's eye in there. :laughing:

 

[ven]

I save that for my eyes :laughing:

 

[brightnorm]

When you get just one alarmist without confirmation of an issue existing with others it always makes me think a competitor is stirring the mud.

Didn't mean to be an alarmist or mud-stirrer!
I posted that before thoroughly reading all the information here. I will delete it.

I received my K60 on Tuesday and am very impressed. It's everything I was hoping for, and I thank Candlelamp for this excellent and informative review.

Brightnorm

 

[windstrings]

Didn't mean to be an alarmist or mud-stirrer!
I posted that before thoroughly reading all the information here. I will delete it.

I received my K60 on Tuesday and am very impressed. It's everything I was hoping for, and I thank Candlelamp for this excellent and informative review.

Brightnorm

Didn't mean you, the guy who started it in your link... I can't find any other confirmation other than his post which spread like wildfire.

He comes on with statements of absolutes as an authority without reservation he could be wrong.

I'm sure he may mean well but the point is the good book says at the mouth of two or three witnesses let every word be established.

He may love to be the guy who gets to cry wolf but I can't see any credibility.

 

[Summer Heat]

I just got my second K60 in today and ran it through its first battery discharge on L6 (highest output) with no problem. So far it is working perfectly. If there is any doubts about reliability, I think Acebeam has really made a dependable light.

 

[brightnorm]

I just got my second K60 in today and ran it through its first battery discharge on L6 (highest output) with no problem. So far it is working perfectly. If there is any doubts about reliability, I think Acebeam has really made a dependable light.

Any observations about heat buildup?

Brightnorm

 

[windstrings]

They do get warm on high.. Just don't put it in your pants when done 😁

 

[Summer Heat]

Any observations about heat buildup?

Brightnorm

On level 4 (1700 lumens) the flashlight gets warm but I would not call it hot. Even after 2 hours of runtime on this level it is not too bad at all.

On level 5 or 6 (3400 lumens or 5000 lumens) the flashlight will get hot really quick, within a matter of minutes, it is pretty darn hot. When I go fishing, I can hold the flashlight for up to an hour. I just have to switch between hands or else one hand will burn up.

The hottest part of the flashlight will be the magnetic control ring (the output level selector). The battery carrier and batteries get pretty darn hot also on level 5 or 6 as well. I do sometimes get worried about the effect the high temperatures have on the batteries, but so far, I have not seen any problems with the batteries acting weird.

 

[Octavian]

How hot is the head (the radiator) ?? Is hot as the magnetic ring control or is a little colder...?
Some of the owners complain about this, and I find to be an issue that thermal dissipation is not most on the head (like can see on other power flashlights) and instead the heat is dissipated most on the ring control and the body...

I'm very interested on thins light, but what advantage I have if can not be managed in step 5 (not6...) more than 2-3 minutes...to not be able to hold in my hand...
I know that are in a different class, but in this case I prefer a "classic" TK75 for example...full power can be managed with no heat problems 10-15 minutes...

Beside big impressions (which are nice), I want also in a real situation to be able to use a big power more than 2-3 minutes without the risk of burning my hands.

 

[Summer Heat]

Hi Octavian,

Yes that is correct. The magnetic control ring on my K60 feels hotter than the head of the flashlight. The head of the flashlight will get hot as well but not as hot.

Please keep in mind though, my assessment on heat is subjective from my point of view.

For a more scientific evaluation, I saw in another K60 review where the hottest part of the K60 was measured at 71°C (160°F) without any cooling and 50°C (122°F) when switching between hands. EDITED: To remove information that may not be accurate regarding heat burns.

 

[mattheww50]

160F will certainly result in a burn very quickly, 122F is probably the upper safe limit for handling with bare hands.

 

[CelticCross74]

damn this light is HUGE! Excellent review and love that it comes with a sheath

 

[Summer Heat]

160F will certainly result in a burn very quickly, 122F is probably the upper safe limit for handling with bare hands.

You could be right. I do not want to speak for everyone. But for myself, I have used the K60 on L5 and L6 many times bare handed on prolonged uses and I never got any kind of thermal burns. When I was also doing runtime tests, I would touch the K60 with bare hands just to get a sense of the heat on the body. Just based off my experience, those temperatures do not feel like a big deal to me. But for others, that could cause problems.

 

[Summer Heat]

oops... never mind.

 

[candle lamp]

160F will certainly result in a burn very quickly, 122F is probably the upper safe limit for handling with bare hands.

In my view, the heat in the high output lights is inevitable. From my other high output lights run on mult-cell such as Acebeam K40M and Niteye EYE40, the temperature on the head reaches 66~67 degrees on max. output. But these results were obtained under the severe conditions (i.e., no cooling in the room). In real life, your light is on your hand and it's a little windly as you walk. In any case, you can manually throttle down the max. output if you find the light is getting hot to hold.

 

[windstrings]

I agree, leds are already more efficient than other forms of light, until we improve efficiency yet more, we live with heat that must be dissipated to handle.

 

[Octavian]

Hi Octavian,

Yes that is correct. The magnetic control ring on my K60 feels hotter than the head of the flashlight. The head of the flashlight will get hot as well but not as hot.

Please keep in mind though, my assessment on heat is subjective from my point of view.

For a more scientific evaluation, I saw in another K60 review where the hottest part of the K60 was measured at 71°C (160°F) without any cooling and 50°C (122°F) when switching between hands. EDITED: To remove information that may not be accurate regarding heat burns.

Thank you for reply.
I think you are not subjective. At this kind oh power the heat dissipation (my point ) should be better managed...why to others small flashlights the main heat is on the head (radiator) ?
Even if I'm repeat repeat myself, to TK75 the heat is well managed to the head and after some time all torch is hot.
Also to small flashlights , example Olight M22 dedomed (heats a little quicker than stock M22) all the heat is on the head..and than came on the body, even to Nitecore SRT6 (tested today) the ring control is colder than the head, I speak only about flashlights which I had in my hands.

My point is that the control power should be the second idem which should be colder than the radiator, some termal transfer is not made properly to K60...

 

[Octavian]

I receive the light, the other lights seem little toys now
First thing after open the box, build quality (beside the size!!), it feel sturdy and good attention to the finishing, like it a lot.

Nice throw even at level 3. To levels 4-5-6 is a monster. Good thermal handling at level 4 (1700lm), hot, but not to hot.
To level 5-6 is getting hot very quickly as you mentioned, but what the heck...it has 4-5000 lm !! I tried to hold my hand more than one minute in front of the glass, it burns...

Nice ring control (handling with one hand and good feeling ). Regarding thermal dissipation, my hunch was confirmed, it has a little issue regarding thermal dissipation, the ring is hotter than the radiator (level 5-6), but after a while, the radiator became hot as the ring.

Also nice color beam, is not very cool white, just white (example Nitecore SRT6 or MT40 has cooler white) .

It has some high frequency noise at high levels (4-5) almost imperceptible when the batteries are fresh (is normal ? )

I like it more and more with each minute past

 

[ven]

It does get warm at the control ring but presume thats right where the led and heat sinking is behind it...........so transfers around that area first although i got a nice warmth through the body too. I noticed the feel on the ring felt no different............by that i mean presuming grease behind the ring,you would expect the viscosity to change but no difference for me. The head of course gets warm too ...........presuming transferred from around the ring end under the head.

Few of the lights me and my 5yr old took out for fun(yes we had more with us)




Misty lake

Awesome spill and throw in poor conditions.........oh and poor camera :laughing:



The phone does not catch the spill and brightness fully as on auto balance,however i can tell you it light up everywhere

Guess at 400yds or so


150ft give/take

Hot spot






Viking pro v2.5 for comparison


v11r xml2-u3 on 16340 fuel


Agree with Octavian, very nice tint,mine is shaved dome so would imagine 500k or so less and find the colour rendition good,excellent compared to the cool viking pro!!

L5 to L6 is not huge,well it is 4000 to 5000lm so its expected,however its noticeable still,no doubt more noticeable if you could drop levels down instead of just advancing.

I prefer it to the tk75vn(dome on) and thats a big statement!! Beam is just perfect balance and artifact free,its a must have for anyone wanting a good value search light that has adequate throw and usable spill.........enough to light up easily a 400x200yrd field!

Noises Octavian, i have noticed no noise but then i have not listened specifically for any,however it is the norm and can vary light to light from inductor whine so i would not be concerned unless intrusive and bothering.

Mode spacing is great,again as said L3 t around 700lm makes easy use for walking around leaving plenty of light to see far ahead without the hot spot becoming over powering,next bump to around 1700lm is sufficient for most uses and searching a good way,preserving cell life in the process(over 5hrs of run time). After that..........well L5 and L6 is like a perfect beam tk75vn without artifacts and further throwing(unless its a killer throw edition).

 

[Octavian]

Nice photos ven.
I hope to came back after holiday with some photos also.

For my taste level 2 is for close range (nice throw in total darkness also at this level), level 3 for middle/long action, L4 for long action.
L5 and 6...total madness...(I'm so impressed because is my first high power flashlight, till now 8-900 lm 10000-40000 cd) .