Review of JetBeam Jet-I MK: XP-G2 AA/14500 For submission in the reviews forum

For submission in the reviews forum.
I received the Jet-I MK from gearbest for the review.

Specifications:
LED: CREE XP-G2 LED
Power Source: 1 x AA OR 1 x 14500
IPX Rating: IPX-8 (Waterproof and submersible up to 2 meters)
Impact Resistance: 1 meter
Brightness Outputs:
Turbo (14500 Only) - 480 Lumens - 30 Min.
High - 150 Lumens - 1 Hour 6 Min.
Medium - 30 Lumens - 9 Hours
Low - 1.5 Lumens - 100 Hours
Peak Beam Distance: 130 meters
Peak Beam Intensity: 4200 cd
Dimensions:
Length - 3.28" (83.2 mm)
Head Diameter - 0.55" (14.0 mm)
Body Diameter - 0.77" (19.5 mm)
Weight: 0.59 oz. (excluding battery) (16.7 g)

The Jet-I came in a plastic box, that can be opened without cutting any plastic.

Inside each box you will find: the light with the clip installed, spare o-rings, lanyard, instructions and warranty card.

The anodization is on the grey side of the spectra.





Rather smooth body, with knurling on the head and a peculiar tailcap design. There is a tripod mount drilled in the tailcap.




Physical polarity inversion protection at the head, so no flat top cells.


Threads came well lubed.


The stainless steel clip design is ok, but was lacking of tension (nothing a bit of pressure could not fix).

The XP-G2 CW emitter with the smooth reflector.


Some comparison pics with the other lights (Manker E11, Manker T01, Klarus Mi7).
The Jet-I is long 83 and 20mm wide and weights 17 grams.
Overall the sizes are comparable.


UI:
Fully twist the head to turn it on, untwist to turn it off.
Quickly untwist and twist again for changing the level (in high, mid, low, high, mid, low loop).
The light has memory mode.
There are no strobe/flashing modes.

Runtime and output
All the tests have been done using Eneloop Pro 2500mAh AA and a Efest IMR 14500 650mAh. Be careful with using unprotected 14500 batteries: when I stopped the runtime test of Jet-I high mode, I found my EFEST IMR at 1,2 volts. Ouch.

I measured 1017 Cd with the Eneloop PRO, and 3095 Cd with the Efest.

Sampling rate is 6" for the high mode, and 90" for mid mode.


Details of the plot



Beamshot at 0.5 meter from the wall





My thoughts:
This Jet-I is a simple old school twisty light. It is affordable and well built. On the rather long head there is a big portion of knurling, it makes really easy to twist the light.
The 3 output are well spaced. The high level is on the conservative side, ie not high in output as other lights, however is bright enough and very well regulated.
I think it would be a great for a gift: works with commonly available batteries and is easy to use.
Also, this light can be very easily opened. I opened mine by untwisting the front bezel with the back of a mousepad. There was some blue Loctite but it didn't make enough resistance. I plan to keep the XP-G2 die format, but I will use a LED with more warm tint (according to my taste).

Thanks to: AntoLed for the LuxMeter and the Camera.

Thanks for the review. I have too many lights as is,,,,still may consider this down the road!

This seems to be a well put together little light. I don't have any experience with these lights, are they quality and durability?

CanadianSurvivalCompany said:

This seems to be a well put together little light. I don't have any experience with these lights, are they quality and durability?

Click to expand...

I own this one and its smaller brother the Jet-U (AAA). Both seem to be rugged. I own far too many lights, but these are among the best built twisties I have and I have found the run times are better than advertised.

For the record, I purchased mine retail and I am not affiliated with any flashlight manufacturer, retailer or wholesaler.

anyone has tried changing the led emitter, i want to change it to nichia, but can't twist the benzel ring
no idea to mod it now

579 lumens!!! eeeyow! The performance charts look stellar! What a little light! Had I not just gotten the Jet II Pro I would buy this. Thanks for the review!

Thanks for the review. It helped me decide to buy a handful of these to use as handouts.

Glad I could help.

Almost 15 hours on 27 lumens is great.
Wonder how it would do with the newest L91 tested by a member at around 3250 mAh.

Deleted

Just dedome my jetbeam, now the tint change to about 5500-5000k(according to my 5000k xpl led)

Thing seems to get worse
Now the len and even the reflector has a fog
I cant get rid of it, and it reduces the output much, especially the hotspot

Just picked one of these up. Using AA battery, operation is smooth, but buggy - flickering, incorrect mode switching, etc. Using an Olight 14500 the modes seem to switch appropriately, but I find it is very tight and cannot be used with one hand. Anyone else experience this, or have a solution to the overtight threads?

Also, does anyone know if this light requires a button top battery, or do flat tops work?

As stated in the review
Physical polarity inversion protection at the head, so no flat top cells.

Nice review. Thanks for including the graphs (showing the fall off in lumens over time). I'm sure they take a lot of effort to produce, but they help a lot with the decision making!

mrheosuper said:

anyone has tried changing the led emitter, i want to change it to nichia, but can't twist the benzel ring
no idea to mod it now

Click to expand...

I unscrewed bezel in mine and found out, that LED is sitting on 8mm PCB. Didn't have any in such size so I ordered XP-G3 7C on 8mm PCB from Fasttech. Will report how my mod ended up when LED arrives.

Generally - great EDC light for it's price!