# MG RX-1 MC-E Review (Pics.. Outdoor beamshots..indoor shots.. high runtime added!)



## csshih (Apr 13, 2009)

For inclusion in the review section…


Hello Everyone, again!
This will be my second review.
Up for review is the MG RX-1 MC-E, one of the latest offerings from Bryan over at ShiningBeam.com

I purchased the light from Bryan on 4/10/09, and I received it today, 4/13/09. Light was well wrapped up in bubble wrap, and included accessories. There is no presentation box for the light.


here is a quick summary of the specs, taken from Shiningbeam (link is here.):


Features a Cree MC-E emitter, M bin with WC tint
700+ lumens on high mode
Comes with tactical momentary-on switch(forward clicky) and regular switch
Compatible with 1x18650, 1x17670, and 2xCR123A
3 Modes: Low > Mid > High
Current output: 200mA on low, 1000 mA on medium and 2500 mA on high
Regulated circuit for constant current output
Built in Voltage protection, will cut off at 2.8V
Reverse-polarity protection prevents wrongly installed batteries from damaging the circuit
The memory feature will memorize the last mode
53 mm x 42 mm orange peel reflector for flawless beam pattern
A bit of background:
The light was announced on 4/9/09 in this thread.
Bryan over at shiningbeam notified me of receiving the lights a day beforehand, so I told him I would review one.

This light is built to have an even balance of flood and throw, being a quad die LED light.






Here is the light up for review. 





Here is the name of the product, and the serial of my specific light.





A view of the accessories that came with the light.. an extra tailcap, a GITD tailcap, Lanyard, Forward clicky, and switch retaining ring.





A view of the light disassembled.. the back of the reflector, strangely enough, seems dirty. I can’t tell what the grime on is made of.. maybe some form of adhesive.
2 Orings at the tailcap :thumbsup:
On the far right Is an unprotected Samsung 18650 cell.





A view down the head of the light without the reflector installed.
Here is the Cree MC-E LED installed. The LED circuit board is covered by an adhesive black disc.





Here a picture with the black disc removed. Strange.. seems the solder pads on the top and bottom were poked at. Also, the LED seems slightly misaligned with the board.





A view of the tailcap.. currently, the reverse clicky is installed.





A shot down the head. I apologize for the bad picture. The reflector is rather well textured. 
Note: the LED seems slightly misaligned :shrug:





From Left to right:
MG RX-1, Nitecore D20, Jetbeam II IBS, Nitecore EZAA, Panasonic unprotected 18650, L91 AA cell, AAA cell, CR123A cell.











*Indoor Beamshots*
On the left is the nitecore D20, right is the MG RX-1
hmm.. sorry for the weird blobbing.. the camera was set on medium quality.. somehow.

These shots are on high:






















These shots are on low





























Shots ~11 feet away from wall, in attempt to show a donut hole.. this light doesn't have too much of one.












Comparison to the Tiablo ACE-G
MG RX-1 is on the left, Tiablo is on the right.














*Outdoor Beamshots*

Distance to the back fence is ~85 Feet.
Nitecore D20 is on the left, MG RX-1 is on the right.




































Runtime:
currently having some problems with reliable 18650s.. if anyone can donate a reliable AW cell, it would be most helpful.

Got 1 AW cell! need more! 

Note.. I am not using any equipment specifically designed for measuring runtime.. just a camera using CDHK, and a script provided by *jirik_cz *
He led me through the process, and helped me a lot.. THANKS!

Also, I have changed the way I graph the runtime.
Now, the graphs use the raw lux values from the camera!

Here it is, on high!
hmm... 
the runtime I get is like this:





but!
through another tester.. he got 60-so minutes.. the AW cell I have may be older than I thought!

mine isn't flat, though it should be.



*PLEASE DISREGARD RUNTIMES FOR NOW.. CURRENTLY HAVING AN ISSUE REGARDING ACCURACY.*


This light is very well regulated, according to another tester.. 

also, there is a sudden drop after 2.9V, the light stays on in an flashing emergency mode! (camera samples every 2 minutes) so no drops in output shown, but the light is indeed flashing.

First Impressions:
This light’s anodizing is nice! Even though it does not have HA, the coating feels.. solid, and slightly texture-y.This texture makes the light comfortable and easy to grip.
All the threads on this light came well lubed, there were no problems opening it up to feed.

Booting up:
The classic Cree "Donut Hole" is hardly noticeable, until close ranges, though I doubt this was built as a close range light.
Low and medium are at a decent level, though this would probably be too bright for night adapted eyes.
Low and medium are also achieved through "PWM", and the "stroboscopic effect", as coined, is visible.
The frequency of PWM is decently high, so that's not an issue.
Though, I do not see myself using the other modes on this light.

Notes:
The connection between the head and the battery tube is sealed. According to the manufacturer, 
this is because if the pill is adjusted, MC-E might get scratched... (this is not the case on the single die versions of this light)

Conclusion:

This will make a great introduction to MC-E lights for the lower budget users.... knock your socks off if you're used to poorly driven DX single die lights. 

It will probably be better than those "DX" MC-E lights, too :nana:
I would say this is a great pocket rocket.. but it isn't exactly pocket sized for most people... (but hey.. I pocketed it for a night walk..aimed the light mainly at the sky too see the beam)

Combined with Bryan's great support, fast shipping, this is a great deal!


*Come on guys! Comments are needed, as I develop my review style.*


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## Mattole (Apr 13, 2009)

*Re: MG RX-1 MC-E Review (Pics.. more to come later)*

Thanks for doing this review! Yes beamshots would be great, especially showing how far the effective throw distance is. I have been very curious about this light. I would also be curious to know the runtime of the light in the various modes. 

Thanks again!


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## sol-leks (Apr 13, 2009)

*Re: MG RX-1 MC-E Review (Pics.. more to come later)*

Thanks for the review and I would lvoe to hear any more thoughts you might have on this light. Could you tell us a little more about the PWM, because a bad pwm kinda worries me. I have never been able to notice the pwm on my fenix lodce, would I be bothered by the pwm with this light?


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## csshih (Apr 14, 2009)

*Re: MG RX-1 MC-E Review (Pics.. more to come later)*

Fenix lights use Current based regulation for dimming, not PWM. They do not have the problems of "strobing".

The PWM in this light is set to a high frequency, when using it outdoors, I can barely notice it.

Outdoor beamshots posting now.

note.. I tried doing a runtime graph, but I do not have any reliable 18650 cells. all mine came from discarded laptops.
the graph came out completely different from what Bryan got.

anyone with a spare reliable AW 18650?


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## sol-leks (Apr 14, 2009)

*Re: MG RX-1 MC-E Review (Pics.. more to come later)*

Maybe the larger models use current based regulation, but I'm pretty sure the LODCE uses PWM. I've read it in this forum a dozen times and it says the same on light-reviews.com
But regardless, I'm glad to hear the PWM is a high frequency, Im confident I won't notice it.


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## Mattole (Apr 14, 2009)

*Re: MG RX-1 MC-E Review (Pics.. Outdoor beamshots..more to come later)*

How far is the back wall in your beamshots from the camera? Which of the beamshots looks the most like what you saw with your eyeballs? Thanks again.


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## csshih (Apr 14, 2009)

*Re: MG RX-1 MC-E Review (Pics.. Outdoor beamshots..more to come later)*

whoops.. sorry, updated its ~85 feet to back fence.

yes, indeed your are right about the L0DCE, the LD01 also uses PWM, but at a higher frequency... I think.

and.. with that "eye" comment.. I think that would depend on how night adapted your eyes were.... The human eye can also see better, I think.. it is not completely dark around the spill.. but I'd say between 1/2 sec, and 1 sec are close=ish


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## sol-leks (Apr 14, 2009)

*Re: MG RX-1 MC-E Review (Pics.. Outdoor beamshots..more to come later)*

Do you own any other MC-E or P7 lights to compare to this one?


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## csshih (Apr 14, 2009)

*Re: MG RX-1 MC-E Review (Pics.. Outdoor beamshots..more to come later)*

I apologize.. I do not.


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## sol-leks (Apr 14, 2009)

*Re: MG RX-1 MC-E Review (Pics.. Outdoor beamshots..more to come later)*

Oh well, no worries. Thanks again for your great review.


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## Ryanrpm (Apr 14, 2009)

*Re: MG RX-1 MC-E Review (Pics.. Outdoor beamshots..more to come later)*

Can you give us some dimensions of the reflector, bezel, etc....

And even take some long distance white wall shots so we can see what kind of donut hole there is?

Thanks again for your review.


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## csshih (Apr 14, 2009)

*Re: MG RX-1 MC-E Review (Pics.. Outdoor beamshots..more to come later)*

I will be doing white wall beamshots soon.
Roughly how far away do you want the beamshots?

The donut hole on this light is not too noticeable.. the manufacturer got the reflector done decently.

Using a cheap caliper, I measure diameter of the bezel to be 53mm, 
diameter of the reflector around 43mm
and I estimate the reflector to be also 42mm deep.


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## I came to the light... (Apr 14, 2009)

*Re: MG RX-1 MC-E Review (Pics.. Outdoor beamshots..more to come later)*

Thanks for the review. Two minutes ago I saw this on shiningbeam.com, and I thought, wouldn't it be nice if I could read a review on it? :thumbsup:

The main concern I have about budget lights (besides build quality) is regulation. Hope you get some good cells soon (sorry, I only have two, which I'm using).


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## csshih (Apr 14, 2009)

*Re: MG RX-1 MC-E Review (Pics.. Outdoor beamshots..more to come later)*

According to Bryan @ shiningbeam,

1 minute 27,600 lux
6 minute 26,800 lux
11 minute 26,600 lux
20 minute 25,500 lux
26 minute 24,700 lux
29 minute 24,600 lux
33 minute 24,600 lux
38 minute 24,600 lux
45 minute 23,300 lux
49 minute 18,600 lux
52 minute off

Regulation is pretty good.

I have tried doing a runtime test, but alas, my 18650 batteries, coming from discarded laptop battery packs, are not very good.. It seems they all have developed high internal resistance..
I'm in need of a high quality AW cell or something of the sort for runtime tests.


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## Ryanrpm (Apr 14, 2009)

*Re: MG RX-1 MC-E Review (Pics.. Outdoor beamshots..more to come later)*



csshih said:


> I will be doing white wall beamshots soon.
> Roughly how far away do you want the beamshots?




30-50 ft will work.

Thanks for the dimensions! That is exactly the dimensions of the Sunlite 16w reflector. Well, the 16w has 44mm reflector diameter.....

I might pick up this MG MC-E to do a comparison against the 16w.........
If this light has a true 700 OTF lumens...then that is great! And that is off of one 18650...


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## lightbug (Apr 14, 2009)

*Re: MG RX-1 MC-E Review (Pics.. Outdoor beamshots..more to come later)*

csshih, 
Excellent review, wish you have an AW 18650 battery to test out the run time yourself.


Ryanrpm,
At 2.5A, the output of MC-E emitter is probably close to 790 Lumens, so if you factor in the lost in circuit board, reflector and lens, the out of the lens output is probably 580 to 620 lumens.


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## csshih (Apr 15, 2009)

*Re: MG RX-1 MC-E Review (Pics.. Outdoor beamshots..more to come later)*



Ryanrpm said:


> 30-50 ft will work.
> 
> Thanks for the dimensions! That is exactly the dimensions of the Sunlite 16w reflector. Well, the 16w has 44mm reflector diameter.....
> 
> ...




Lightbug.. thanks for the comments! I estimate roughly the same thing, though I don't have any other MC-E, P7 lights to compare.

Ryan.. I can't exactly take a picture indoors, 30-50ft away from a white wall 

So.. I only have ~11ft from the wall. sorry.

Posting, formatting pictures now.please wait ~5 minutes


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## DigitalEternal (Apr 15, 2009)

*Re: MG RX-1 MC-E Review (Pics.. Outdoor beamshots..indoor shots added)*

I just mine in today and I have to say Im quite pleased with it, i dont noticed the PWM at all, its really not noticeable, havent gotten a chance to go test the range of throw on it yet but it looks like it will be fairly decent, very nice beam pattern to for a mc-e, all in all an excelent light.


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## FlashlightsNgear.com (Apr 16, 2009)

*Re: MG RX-1 MC-E Review (Pics.. Outdoor beamshots..indoor shots added)*

*Got my MG RX-1 MC-E's today, they all look very nice in Gray and the weight is surprisingly lite for its size and build quality is very good. The threads are amazingly smooth and well lubed and the double-oring end cap really was a nice touch ( wishing every light was like that ). The threads on the head were alittle rough but cleaned up good, the BIG surprise was Triple-O-rings on the body were the head screws on, sweeettt!! I dont currently own another MC-E Flashlight to compare it with but the beam is very similar to my EagleTac T10LC2 Q5 but much more intense and alittle larger in size, hard to compare beams but I took some pictures and will post tomorrow. It didnt come with a bag but it fits perfect in a Crown Royal bag, looks like the bag was made for it. The packaging on all were bubble wrapped very well and 3 days shipping was fantastic, thanks Byran, I will order again soon.*


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## shiningbeam (Apr 16, 2009)

*Re: MG RX-1 MC-E Review (Pics.. Outdoor beamshots..indoor shots added)*

d1live,
Good to hear you like them bud.


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## lightbug (Apr 16, 2009)

*Re: MG RX-1 MC-E Review (Pics.. Outdoor beamshots..indoor shots added)*

d1live,
Thank you Bud, I'm glad you like them. 

The top part budy tube of the RX-1 MC-E version is glued down. You shouldn't twist it loose. The bezel part however could be easily disassembled. The reason of glued down the head is to prevent user from twist it too much and cause damage to the LED doom.


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## csshih (Apr 23, 2009)

*Re: MG RX-1 MC-E Review (Pics.. Outdoor beamshots..indoor shots added)*

runtime added.. but...its rather strange to be so high...

running a second test.

second test conclude.. same results?!


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## kojs1901 (Apr 30, 2009)

Thanks for your great beam shots and review.


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## upriver (May 3, 2009)

Good review, very thorough.

I'm surprised this light isn't getting more attention...seems to be almost as good as the MC-E lights commanding ~$150.

Question for OP: It's hard to tell from your outside beamshots, which are a little small (bandwidth, I know...), but did the RX-1 MC-E look 3x as bright as the D20? It looks brighter, but not THAT much brighter.

Since you reviewed both, how bright is the RX-1 compared to the ACE-G (I saw that you mentioned in the ACE-G review that its beam is more focused than the RX-1, but how about overall brightness?)


Also, has anybody tried running the RX-1 on CR123's for a runtime estimate?


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## csshih (May 4, 2009)

Hi upriver,

thanks for the comments!

yeah, this light is pretty good for it's price.

the MG RX-1's hotshot does look considerably brighter than the D20's.. i'd say the 3x isn't too far off. but then again, the D20 is more flood than spot.

the RX-1 compared to the ACE-G.. whoops! I forgot to post the comparison beamshots in this thread! uh.. kinda busy right now.. see the Tiablo ACE-G review for more info.. heh. links in my sig.

imo, I think the ACE-G has a slight bit more output, due to its larger beam.
BUT... the rx-1 throws slightly farther, having a considerbly deeper reflector.

cr123as are not recommended to be run for a long time in the rx-1.. shiningbeam said the light will get pretty hot.


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## imgadgetman (May 5, 2009)

Ordered mine on Friday, received it yesterday...very quick. I love the size and the UI, and comparing it to my TK40 was quite surprised that is was almost as bright. At this price, I don't think you could go wrong. Thanks Shiningbeam!
imgadgetman


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## skyva (May 5, 2009)

Hi everyone, the light looks pretty good. I like lots of throw, but the UI is a bit unclear. Can someone explain exactly how it works. I hate cycling through the levels to find what I want. Typically with throwers I only want high.


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## phantom23 (May 5, 2009)

Your runtime graph and AW cell are fine. This light uses AMC7135 chips and is regulated as long as emitter Vf is at least 0,1V higher than battery voltage. As we all know Cree (unlike SSC or Lumileds) doesn't check Vf - it's a lottery. You have MC-E with high forward voltage and that's why your light is not regulated. And runs longer.


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## gchand (May 7, 2009)

Hmmm,

If the light was running unregulated, I do not understand the sharp knee at the 70+ minute mark, as well as the sharp total cutoff at the 80+ minute mark. The light supposedly has a protective cutoff mode at 2.8V which is lower than any of the MC-E Vf levels. If the light was running unregulated, I would expect a very gradual dropoff in output until the MC-E Vf point was reached.

Am I missing something here?


George




phantom23 said:


> Your runtime graph and AW cell are fine. This light uses AMC7135 chips and is regulated as long as emitter Vf is at least 0,1V higher than battery voltage. As we all know Cree (unlike SSC or Lumileds) doesn't check Vf - it's a lottery. You have MC-E with high forward voltage and that's why your light is not regulated. And runs longer.


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## csshih (May 8, 2009)

thank you guys for your input...

..is it possible that heat might also do this? I'm not 100% sure that cooling that completely accurate.

also.. the aw 18650 use in the was donated to me.. he said that it was in unknown condition.. if it is very old.. is that a possibility that the runtime would be like that? I can't afford new cells, and that's my only one.


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## phantom23 (May 12, 2009)

gchand said:


> Hmmm,
> If the light was running unregulated, I do not understand the sharp knee at the 70+ minute mark, as well as the sharp total cutoff at the 80+ minute mark. The light supposedly has a protective cutoff mode at 2.8V which is lower than any of the MC-E Vf levels. If the light was running unregulated, I would expect a very gradual dropoff in output until the MC-E Vf point was reached.
> Am I missing something here?
> George



Yes you are. Have you ever seen Li-Ion discharge curve? It looks exactly like that (not very gradual). 
There is a microcontroller in a circuit board which gives modes and cut off at 2,8V. It's not too low for MC-E because Vf is measured @350mA to each die. @2,8V light is very dim = current is very low.


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## vaughnsphotoart (May 17, 2009)

Is this light no longer available? I can't seem to find it on Shiningbeam.com.


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## csshih (May 17, 2009)

Hi,

I just had a chat with Bryan.. he is currently out of stock! :O

The next batch is in production.. not sure about ETA.

in the next batch.. the light will be labeled correctly, "Brighten your world" instead of "Bright your world"

The reflector will be improved,
and...
* It will be HA!! *


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## Vesper (Sep 29, 2009)

csshih said:


> in the next batch.. the light will be labeled correctly, "Brighten your world" instead of "Bright your world"



I just got this light (silver), and it is an absolutely great light for the price. Perfect size, good flared grip/tailcap, excellent UI (remembers last level), nice beam. I find it preferable to many other lights in this class I've tried that were twice the price.

Mine, funny enough says "Brighter Your World". Getting closer.


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## csshih (Sep 29, 2009)

Vesper said:


> I just got this light (silver), and it is an absolutely great light for the price. Perfect size, good flared grip/tailcap, excellent UI (remembers last level), nice beam. I find it preferable to many other lights in this class I've tried that were twice the price.
> 
> Mine, funny enough says "Brighter Your World". Getting closer.



oo, this is an old review. I've had better ones since.. 
yeah, bryan told me that when the shipment finally came.. it was still labeled wrongly.. closer.. but still wrong.

still a great, bright light.. I still have mine!!


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