Review: JetBeam Jet-u - XP-G2, AAA

I received the Jet-u from gearbest for the review.

JetBeam specs:
LED: CREE XP-G2 LED
Power Source: 1 x AAA Battery (Alkaline or NiMH)
IPX Rating: IPX-8 (Waterproof and submersible up to 2 meters)
Impact Resistance: 1 meter
Brightness Outputs:
High - 135 Lumens - 48 Min.
Medium - 25 Lumens - 4 Hours 18 Min.
Low - 1.5 Lumens - 35 Hours
Peak Beam Distance: 46 meters
Peak Beam Intensity: 518 cd
Dimensions:
Length - 2.77" (70.4 mm)
Head Diameter - 0.56" (14.2 mm)
Body Diameter - 0.58" (14.8 mm)
Weight: 0.47 oz. (excluding battery) (13.2 g)

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


The dark spot on the box of the Jet-u is an autograph left by one of the couriers (was present also on the shipping envelope) with a cigarette.
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.



Thrunite TiS, UltraTac K18, JetBeam Jet-u, AAA battery

Overall the sizes are comparable: the Jet-u is 70 mm long and 15 mm wide and weights 13,6 grams.

Rather smooth body, with a wide portion of knurling on the head.



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


No tripod screw at the tailcap, while the major sister Jet-I MK has it. There are holes for lanyards and splitrings.



Also, on the Jet-I MK there is a reflector, while on the Jet-u there is a TIR lens.



I managed to unscrew the pill from the light. The plastic beige thing above the pill is the optic's casing. Modding this light is very easy.


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
Runtime and output testing have been done using Tronic EnergyEco 950mAh AAA nimh battery.
I expect the Jet-u to have better performance with Eneloop or Eneloop PRO batteries.
JetBeam doesn't speak about 10440 compatibility, so I have not tested the Jet-u with li-ion batteries.


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


The regulation is good: at high mode I got 56 minutes of constant output (there is no practical difference between 109 and 103 lumens) before the light quickly dims, ad mid mode 390 minutes.

Beamshot at 0.5 meters from the wall
A small disclaimer: after I had took apart the Jet-u and left the pieces on my desk when I touched by mistake the edge of the plastic TIR optic with the soldering iron, thus causing a small portion to melt in in one point. It is visible on the spill and a bit on the hotspot.


Jet-u with other AAA lights with reflector and around same output. The Jet-u has wider spot and spill.





I compared the Jet-u and the Quantum because they have a tir optic and roughly the same output.
The spot of the Jet-u and the quantum is the same to my eye, while the spill of the Jet-u is wider.




My thoughts:
The Jet-u is the smaller and slightly cheaper version of the bigger Jet-I MK from JetBeam: design, general construction (there are differences in the head internal construction), anodization and UI are almost the same. The main difference, apart from the different battery, is the TIR optic of the Jet-u.
The Jet-u is a small and well built light.
The Optic gives a beam better suited for closes distance, with bigger spot and spill, but less throw.
The 3 output are well spaced, max output is in line with other AAA lights, while low mode is on the low side (some people actually prefer a lower low mode).
Generally AAA lights are good EDC/keychain lights, and I think it would be a great for a gift: it is easy to use, small and works with commonly available batteries.

Thanks to AntoLed for the camera and the luxmeter.
Thanks for reading.

Re: Review: JetBeam Jet-u - XP-G2, AAA (for submission in the review forum)

Nice review. I don't have the Jet-u but do have a couple of the Jet-I MK (single AA version) and am very impressed with it for a simple inexpensive, well regulated efficient driver. I like the mode spacing on it too. It looks like the Jet-u also has a good well regulated driver. Unless you actually need a smaller light, I'd recommend the AA version as it is still very small but offers longer run time for a comparable output. Better yet, just get both of them for your collection .

Re: Review: JetBeam Jet-u - XP-G2, AAA (for submission in the review forum)

Thanks for the review Budda, it's thorough and easy to read as usual. [emoji106]

I have one of these lights and I really love it. It's so small that you don't know it's in your pocket and 100 lumens is more than enough for indoors or negotiating a path in the dark with ease. It does have some throw as well. The tint is nicer (a bit warmer) than the MK (which I also have) and the twisty switch is the best one I have used. So I've ordered another two. 🙄

I've used it twice when out and got wow reactions from non flashaholics both times! [emoji38]

Re: Review: JetBeam Jet-u - XP-G2, AAA (for submission in the review forum)

Thanks for the review. It helped me decide to buy a few of these.

Re: Review: JetBeam Jet-u - XP-G2, AAA (for submission in the review forum)

Thanks for the feedback.

Re: Review: JetBeam Jet-u - XP-G2, AAA (for submission in the review forum)

got one from gearbest recent sale. i do see a small clear thread inside the head, looks like the edge of the optic lens wasn't trimmed properly, it does throw an artifact into beam pattern, its not too bad, but not sure its worth the hassle of exchange.

For $8, its pretty decent, very floody, but that damn artifact is annoying, might give it to my mom since she destroyed another light I gave her with an alkaline

Re: Review: JetBeam Jet-u - XP-G2, AAA (for submission in the review forum)

I was comparing this light to some other AAA lights and it's not bad. It does not appear to lego with anything. My copy as very nice rather thick threads for an AA light square cut. The anodizing is Jetbeam's beautiful process, they claim HA (aka type 3) and I tend to believe them. Not many other AAA lights come with a true HA anodizing, and none looks as nice as this one.

When I first got mine, it sequenced High, Med, Low ... now it sequences Low, Med, High. I'm not sure what I did to change it. The med output seems a little on the low size but high is nice. I like the low level, but many will find it too high. For me the low is perfect as I rarely need sub-lumen levels and when I do I want red. The optic create a typical aaa-optic moon-type of beam that is artifact free.

The manual seems a bit confused it says the sequence is L, M, H and after 1sec off it reverts back to low. Then it says it has Mode memory, which mine does, so it never reverts back to Low after one second, it reverts back to memory-level. It would be cool if there was a way to clear memory.

Did anyone else notice the sequence change from H,M,L to L,M,H?

Overall a very nice light that can be found at a very good price.

Re: Review: JetBeam Jet-u - XP-G2, AAA (for submission in the review forum)

https://www.indiegogo.com/products/lantern-edc-v1--2

"There simply is no other light this small that compares!"

Re: Review: JetBeam Jet-u - XP-G2, AAA (for submission in the review forum)

I have a Jet u on the keys and usually carry a Jet 1Mk.