Zebralight SC700d 21700 XHP70.2 90+CRI

[Connor]

Since ZL is known not to go overboard with lumens/heat .. what's the best 21700 to use in this light? Assuming 20A or less current.

 

[moozooh]

Re: Zebralight new 21700 flashlight

That's a 10% increase in length, and a 25% increase is diameter! I don't think that's a pocketable light anymore, except in a jacket with large pockets.

Which, incidentally, is the only pocket I ever put my EDC SC600 in. It's too bulky for almost any of my pants, anyway, and I don't use it often enough to keep there. I carry it in a jacket, backpack, or a Jack Wolfskin purse with my 8" tablet. The extra 8 mm of girth won't affect any of those significantly, as far as I can tell (although it'll be a snug fit at the bottom of the purse).

That said, this is a pretty large reflector ZL is planning for this light—the largest they've ever made for a single LED.

And, not everyone will be moving from 18650 to the 21700 cells.

"Moving" makes it sound more dramatic than it is. For instance, I'm going to buy a couple for this light alone (to be fair, one would be enough, but charging is going to take a while) and keep the rest of my 18650s for devices that use them. I don't really keep a bucket of spares and don't advise it to anyone considering Li-ion cells become better and cheaper every couple years.

I'd be more intrigued by this showing up on the spreadsheet were it not for the fact that both the C3 and the Eco series have been on the spreadsheet for a year or so.

But neither of those ever had a release date or body dimensions on the spreadsheet, and this one does.

 

[markr6]

I've been wanting ZL to make a larger cell light, but now that they might, I kinda wish they kept it 18650 since the SC600w Plus I just got was nasty tint. Either way, I'm still excited for this one!

 

[twistedraven]

I wouldn't be excited. XHP70.2 makes for rainbow beams when paired with any kind of reflector that doesn't have a frosted lens over it. Maybe they will put a frosted lens over this one, but the combination of an xhp70 sized LED in such a small light plus frosted lens will make for something that might as well be a mule.

21700 also will probably make it not jeans pocketable in my eyes. I adore and use my SC600 MK3 HI so much because it's very powerful and flexible while still easily fitting in my pocket for every day cary. A 21700 host will ruin that niche and turn it into a jacket carry/purpose light, and at that point I have something like a ROT66 at hand.

All of this is just me projecting my hypothesis though, won't know for sure until it comes out.

 

[marinemaster]

Can a 21700 battery be charger in a 18650 charger ?

 

[kj2]

Can a 21700 battery be charger in a 18650 charger ?

If that charger supports 21700 batteries, then yes.
Depends on the charger you have.

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

Can a 21700 battery be charger in a 18650 charger ?

It depends on the charger. Most multi-slot chargers I've seen don't have a enough room to fit a 70mm long cell. Or at the very least, it will be a very tight fit. So, you'll probably have to buy a new charger too.

 

[markr6]

21700 no problem in the Opus 3100 I'll be using. All/most Xtar too.

https://www.imrbatteries.com/blog/chargers-which-fit-20700-21700-cells/

 

[holygeez03]

Why not stick with XHP50.2 and have an SC600 IV Plus with a beam that is a better balance of throw/flood (with significantly better runtime and heat management as well)?

 

[shdeu]

Zebralight is wrong to marry itself entirely to CREE chips imo.
There are many emitters that make more sense for this form factor. And that was the case with SC600W IV, as well.

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

Why not stick with XHP50.2 and have an SC600 IV Plus with a beam that is a better balance of throw/flood (with significantly better runtime and heat management as well)?

Well, we don't know yet what the beam profile will be like. With a larger reflector, but larger emitter, it could be more or less floody than the 600w Plus. IMO, I wouldn't want it more floody, as the Plus is already a big flooder.

As for heat management, it will probably be similar to the Plus. That is, not great. It will be brighter, but it also has more mass to absorb the extra heat.

The 700 is obviously aimed more as a utility light, rather than an EDC which Zebralight has mainly concentrated on. They might find it a more crowded market if they go to a larger format.

 

[18650]

Maybe now they'll return to having a 'd' model for the SC60 series now that there will be more differentiation between it and the 700d. Just use the 5000K Nichia 144 already! The high CRI Crees are disgusting...

 

[moozooh]

They're most likely sticking to Cree's offerings because they have the best lumen/watt ratios by far, especially among high-CRI LEDs. For a company that prides itself on extreme efficiency (in all aspects, not just electrical) this is an obvious way to go, so I wouldn't count on them using any other LEDs until they become more efficient than Cree's (not very likely).

 

[dmsoule]

The description mentions "Direct Thermal Sink". Don't all Zebralights, as well as every other high quality flashlight brand, feature this? I'm curious how this model will differ in this regard.

 

[noboneshotdog]

They will likely make a XHP35 HI version a few months after the XHP70.2 is released. THEN I will be interested. It may become ZL's first thrower!

 

[TCY]

They're most likely sticking to Cree's offerings because they have the best lumen/watt ratios by far, especially among high-CRI LEDs. For a company that prides itself on extreme efficiency (in all aspects, not just electrical) this is an obvious way to go, so I wouldn't count on them using any other LEDs until they become more efficient than Cree's (not very likely).

ZL has responded to this years ago saying that 1. Crees tint deviations are generally closer to the BBL than Nichias on paper(although we all know Nichias look better in real life since they go below the BBL line instead of above like the Crees do), 2. They found it to be hard to source good Nichias in huge batches and last but not least, they want only 1 LED in their light so they can utilise their on board TID to the max and fine tune each unit to have accurate thermal control.

 

[twistedraven]

A lot of Nichias are very close to the BBL, only the R9080 variants (their highest CRI rated LEDs with highest R9 value) are guaranteed to be rosy.

I think it's because they can tout the easywhite binning and output of the Cree LEDs. I'm sure Nichias are harder to source as well.

 

[NPL]

Comparing apples to apples, a Panasonic 18650 cell is about 3500mah, and the equivalent 21700 cell is 4200mah.

Personally, although overall performance to weight and size might be better, not interested in adopting a new battery format for only 20% more capacity.

I am always excited for new Zebralight products, and hope they continue to make the most compact and well designed lights, but if capacity increase is what they are after, would much prefer jumping to a 26650 format where mAh increase is closer to double (70% actually).

On the topic of lumens, I hope Zebralight takes a step back from unsustainable turbo levels and designs the light around useful outputs that can be sustained over extended periods of time. My H600fc mk4 on the highest setting overheats and steps down way too quickly to be of any real use in a backcountry situation. If I want a show off light, I'll buy an Emisar D4 and call it a day.

The Cree vs Nichias battle is a tough one. I have become a tint snob over the years and now even a Nichias 219c looks too yellow for me next to an e21a. My H53c is starting to look more and more unbearable as it makes the 219c look amazing by comparison. With the lumen war aside, I think Zebralight needs to select the right emiter for the light, and hopefully that means possibly considering other LED manufacturers especially for their high CRI offering.

 

[moshow9]

NPL, Acebeam has a 21700 battery @ 5100mAh (with 20A discharge capability). I would think Zebralight could source their own cell. This is very comparable, and in a smaller form factor, to a 26650. I'm all for the 21700 format myself. It will be interesting to see this light once it is released.

 

[twistedraven]

21700 form factor has the highest energy density per volume compared to both 18650 and 26650. It also seems to be the one that companies will researching going forward. It is the cell of choice for Tesla's new battery packs.

21700 gets very close to 26650 capacity and discharge capability while being closer in size to an 18650. I definitely think it's the most ideal cell, but hosts using it will probably be too large for edc in jeans/pants pockets.

I definitely want to have some kind of light sporting 5000k R9080 e21a.