# Jetbeam T6 (4xXP-L HD V6, 4x18650) Review



## candle lamp (Apr 12, 2016)

The T6 is the latest high-output, 4x18650 light with 4xXP-L HD V6 emitters installed from Jetbeam. This features low voltage warning, power indication and thermal regulation. The light comes in a nice cardboard box with built-in packaging foam.
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T6 comes with warranty card & manual, shoulder strap, and spare o-ring.
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*Manufacturer Specifications* from Jetbeam website & manual :

• LED : CREE XP-L
• Maximum output : 4350lumens
• Max beam distance : 750meters
• Max runtime : 300hours
• High strength aero grade aluminum alloy body
• Premium Type III hard-anodized anti-abrasive finish of grey
• Toughened ultra-clear mineral glass with double-sided anti-reflective coating
• New circuit design provides double intelligent protections for LED and battery to
maximize their lifespan
• Built-in advanced efficient power management circuit, max runtime endures 300 hours
• Low voltage warning/ power indicator
• Overheating protection to avoid high temperature of flashlight housing and increase
lifespan of LED
• Latest high performance optical system, max beam distance up to 750meters
• Ergonomic double switch design
• Features strobe, SOS and memory functions
• Side switch for selecting different modes
• Compatible with 4x18650 batteries
• IPX-8 waterproof rating
• Impact resistant up to 1.5 meters 
• Dimension : Head (88mm), Tube (52mm), length (163mm)
• Weight : 543g (excluding battery)





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The hard (type III) anodizing is a matt black and consistent throughout with no blemishes or flaws on my sample. Labels are not as bright white (i.e., light gray) as some other lights, but those actually help to make them less obtrusive. The knurling is present over battery tube.
The light has no tail switch. Overall fit and finish looks very high.
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The light has 2 parts. The body is one piece with the head (i.e., the head is integrated into the body tube and is not removable). The light opens at the tailcap only. 
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The light has a shallow scalloped bezel. There are lots of cooling fins on the head. The light doesn't have anti-roll features on the head, so the light does roll very easily on its side. The dual-side switch is conveniently located right below the cooling fins to control the light. These are both electronic switches. The upper is the on-off and mode changing switch, and the lower is the flashing switch. The side switch cap is a silicone rubber. The switch cap is slightly protruded from the body. There is a blue LED indicator beneath the switch area between upper and lower switch. You can know the battery power from the blue LED signal.

The switch has a good feel to touch and has typical travel, which produces a nice clicking sound when pressed. 
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If the power is above 20%, there is no blue signal. Slow flashes indicate that battery power is between 10% and 20%. Quick flashes signify less than 10%, and it means the battery power is close to depletion. In this case, you need to change or charge the cells.
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The light doesn't use a battery carrier, instead has cut-out wells for the cells. The cells are arranged in 2S2P. Half of the positive terminals of the cells are going toward the head. You can run the light on 2x18650 or 4x18650, thanks to the working voltage 8.5V.

Note that the small positive (+) battery contacts in the head are raised from the blue contact board. These raised contacts have a electrical reverse polarity protection function. *[*Edit 16.11.7*]* But true flat-top unprotected cells will not work in the light due to their short length.*[*Edit 16.11.7*]* The built-in cut-out wells do accommodate my longer and wider 18650 cells without any problem.
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It seems there is a black thick C-shaped waterproof o-ring between the bezel inside and reflector. The light uses AR coating lens where the purple hue is reflected on it. 
The T6 has a large head and uses four XP-L HD V6 emitters, each emitter is almost perfectly centered in its own deep and smooth reflector well. The reflector is well polished with no noticeable finishing flaws, but it's not aluminum. 
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The body tube has knurling, and there are a reasonable number of grip elements along the body. Knurling is not so aggressive, but the grip is good. The cooling fins on the head and side switch on the body help further as well.
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There is a tripod attachment point in the head (i.e., on the opposite side of the dual-switch).
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The screw threads are square-cut of good quality. Both male & female threads on the battery tube and tailcap are fully anodized, but it doesn't really matter since the current is carried through the PCB and contacts in the tailcap (i.e., not body wall). However lock-out is still possible when unscrewing the tailcap two full turns or more in my test. As supplied, threads are well lubricated. Screw threads action is smooth with no cross-threading or squeaking on my sample. 
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T6 features the rotating contact disc with body locking pins in the tailcap.
As mentioned above, the cells are arranged in 2S2P, with connection being made by contacts and PCB on a disc in the tailcap. This disc can spin freely, and locks in place to a couple of holes in the body that line up with metal locking pins in the tailcap. 
There are three shoulder strap attachment points at the tail end. The light can tailstand stably. 
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*User Interface* 

There are two modes (i.e., general mode & flashing mode). 

On-off and mode switching are controlled by the upper switch and flashing mode is controlled by the lower switch. 
Press and hold the upper switch for 1 sec to turn the light on at the memorized general output level. Press and hold the upper switch again for 1 sec to turn off. 

1) General mode
While on, click the upper switch repeatedly to cycle between the four general output levels in the following repeating sequence : Turbo -> High -> Med. -> Low.
The light has mode memory, and remembers the last output level used when you turn the light off and back on, even after a battery change.

2) Flashing mode
The “hidden” Strobe, SOS, Beacon are accessed by pressing and holding the lower switch.
Press and hold the lower switch for more than 1 sec to access Strobe. This works if the light is on or off. Click again to select the next flashing mode. Mode sequence is Strobe -> SOS -> Beacon. Note that the flashing mode has no memory. A single click of the upper switch exits you from the flashing modes and puts you back into general output.

3) Direct access to Low / Turbo
Double click the lower switch from either on or off to access Low. 
Double click the upper switch from either on or off to access Turbo.
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*Standby Current Drain*

Due to the electronic switch design, the T6 is drawing a small current when the batteries are installed and the tailcap connected. I measured this current on 2x18650 as 99μA. Given the batteries are in 2S2P in the light, it means that 4x2600mAh Li-ion would be fully drained in about 6 years. This is a pretty reasonable standby current level, in my view. 
Physical lock-out requires two or more turning of the tailcap, but you still have plenty of threads left to keep the tailcap attached. There does not seem to be an electronic lock-out, so I would recommend you store the light physically locked-out or store the cells outside of the light when not in use for a long period. 
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I didn't think I would need the bundled shoulder strap. But with the light, the shoulder strap pretty increases the light's usefulness.
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From left to right, VicLite 18650 (2600mAh) protected, Jetbeam T6 (4xXP-L HD V6), Nitecore TM16GT (4xXP-L HI V3), Fenix TK75 (3xXM-L U2), Acebeam K60 (XHP70). 
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From left to right, Jetbeam T6 (4xXP-L HD V6), Nitecore TM16GT (4xXP-L HI V3), Fenix TK75 (3xXM-L U2), Acebeam K60 (XHP70). 
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*Measured Dimensions*




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The gripability is good. The build feels nice (i.e., large head, but not heavier than expected), and I find handling & balance of the light is good. *Overall build quality* is very high.
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*PWM*





The light shows no sign of flicker by PWM at all output levels. I notice there is no buzzing sound at any levels. The light is current controlled.
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*Runtime*





The runtime to fall to 10% of its initial output from 30 seconds after the point the light is first turned on (i.e., based on ANSI FL-1) for Turbo with fan cooled is as above graph.

T6 has a built-in thermal sensor which is a nice safety feature for the high output light. There is no thermal step-down on Turbo, thanks to fan cooling during testing. Instead, fan-cooled light is semi-regulated on 4x18650 (i.e., slowly drop in output) as the battery drain or near exhaustion. 
You will not be able to notice the drop in output over time in practice. It's quite acceptable for the class using 4 cells with 4xXP-L HD LED. As expected, higher capacity Keeppower 18650 (3400mAh) gives you both longer runtime and higher output for an extended runtime. Overall output-runtime efficiency seems good.
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This is a comparison with cooling and temporary fan cooling to see how the light activate. The lack of cooling make the light step down sharply after 15 mins of continuous runtime. I turned the fan on with slow (i.e., very mild) cooling for about 10 mins. But, this only cause the output to start to rise very slightly. Then I let the light cool down with fast cooling for the rest of runtime. This doesn't make it come back on to original Turbo output. That said, the T6 will not recover Turbo output level once the T6 step down. This feature is similar to the Nitecore TM16 GT. The regulation pattern and runtime efficiency of the light seem good.
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The output and runtime efficiency of the light seem good.
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*Beamshot*
1. White door beamshot (about 50cm from the white door) on max. output on 4x18650 (2600mAh) VicLite protected cells 
- ISO125, F/8.0, 1/25sec, Auto white balance 














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- ISO125, F/8.0, 1/100sec, Auto white balance














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- ISO125, F/8.0, 1/800sec, Auto white balance














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- ISO125, F/8.0, 1/2000sec, Auto white balance















The T6 shows artifacts in the spill beam area due to the overlapping reflector wells. As you know, it depends on what distance you use the light. Beam pattern is similar to other multi emitter, hight output light in this class. A corona surrounding the white hot spot is slightly greenish yellow, and the spill beam shows slightly blue tint. The overall beam tint is in between cool white and neutral white. Both T6 and TM16GT show very similar beam tint.
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2. 7m Indoor Beamshot on max. output on 4x18650 (2600mAh) VicLite protected cells 
- ISO125, F/2.8, 1sec, Auto white balance




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3. 85m Outdoor Beamshot on max. output on 4x18650 (2600mAh) VicLite protected cells 
- ISO125, F/2.8, 1sec, Auto white balance




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4. 120m Outdoor Beamshot on max. output on 4x18650 (2600mAh) VicLite protected cells 
- ISO125, F/2.8, 1sec, Auto white balance




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The T6 is not an outstanding thrower, but throw further than expect. The beam shows good balance between hotspot and spill.
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*Overall Impressions*

• Build quality is very high and feel very solid
• Large head, but reasonably compact for a 4x18650 light 
• The light can stably tailstand 
• No anti-roll indentations on the head
• Small standby current drain (99uA) is inevitable, but not a concern 
• No electronic lock-out function at the dual-switch 
• Electrical reverse polarity protection function
• *[*Edit 16.11.7*]* True flat-top unprotected 18650 will not work *[*Edit 16.11.7*]*
• Metal reflector could be better
• Thermal step-down feature on Turbo
• Direct access to Low and Turbo is available from Off
• Mode memory for all output levels in general mode except flashing mode
• You can use 4x18650 only (not 8xCR123A), due to limited working voltage 8.5V
• Output-runtime efficiency seems good 
• True Moonlight (Lower Low) mode is not available
• Battery status indication and warning
• No sign of PWM flickers at any output modes
• Artifacts in the spill beam due to the overlapping reflector wells
• Overall beam tint is in between cool white and neutral white
• Good balance between hotspot and spill


The Jetbeam T6 provided by Jetbeam for review.


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## SG Hall (Apr 12, 2016)

Great review candle lamp, thanks for being so thorough. Pretty good output for a compact light, and seems to do ok with heat too. Not as throwy as I imagined, but that is what Jetbeam claimed so fair enough.


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## ven (Apr 12, 2016)

Awesome review and pics candle lamp i like the look, real nice light which other than being a little smaller is very much like the tm16(sure jetbeam and nitecore are linked or share parts!).

What is disappointing is not using the xp-lHI's, this would have been pretty much level with the tm16GT in kcd give/take.............dont know why they have kind of gone with a tm16 type over a tm16GT type......:thinking: It is what it is though and makes a nice compact S&R type light!

Cheers


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## Milw light (Apr 12, 2016)

Great review CL. I prefer single led lights so the K60 would be the one I would want.


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## akhyar (Apr 12, 2016)

Another great review Candle Lamp. Awesome!
I like that the light is shorter than Nitecore TM16 and can accept flat-top cells, but I just don't like press for around 1 second to switch on the light, just like my previous Jetbeam.


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## candle lamp (Apr 12, 2016)

SG Hall said:


> Great review candle lamp, thanks for being so thorough. Pretty good output for a compact light, and seems to do ok with heat too. Not as throwy as I imagined, but that is what Jetbeam claimed so fair enough.



Thanks. SG Hall!
Yes. From the weight & thick body of the light, the heat dissipation seems good.



ven said:


> Awesome review and pics candle lamp i like the look, real nice light which other than being a little smaller is very much like the tm16(sure jetbeam and nitecore are linked or share parts!).
> 
> What is disappointing is not using the xp-lHI's, this would have been pretty much level with the tm16GT in kcd give/take.............dont know why they have kind of gone with a tm16 type over a tm16GT type......:thinking: It is what it is though and makes a nice compact S&R type light!
> 
> Cheers



Thanks for your support. ven! 
Like the TM16GT, I expected Jetbeam used 4xXP-L HI for thrower. On the other hand, however, I think they didn't want to release the same kind of the light as a late starter.  The reflector shape and size between the two light are quite look identical.



Milw light said:


> Great review CL. I prefer single led lights so the K60 would be the one I would want.



I also hope they will introduce a single LED light. Thanks. Milw light!


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## candle lamp (Apr 12, 2016)

akhyar said:


> Another great review Candle Lamp. Awesome!
> I like that the light is shorter than Nitecore TM16 and can accept flat-top cells, but I just don't like press for around 1 second to switch on the light, just like my previous Jetbeam.



Thanks for your support. akhyar!
Personally, I like everything about the light. But, I'm confused by different UI to two lights.


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## Jetbeam5 (Apr 12, 2016)

CL, thanks for a great review! We proudly raised our heads again after some bad comments of a year or two ago, and this is the quality of lights that we produce nowadays. It is not impossible that some imperfect products may leave our factory, but overall this is what you can expect! Thanks again, CL!


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## CelticCross74 (Apr 12, 2016)

outstanding review! Was not expecting something like this from Jetbeam I am pleasantly surprised! As for XP-L HD vs HI I have found the HD variant to be a bit higher output and it puts out a whiter tint than the HI's in my experience. The light has PLENTY of range I am not going to be one to complain about the lack of HI emitters. Good job Jetbeam!


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## Jetbeam5 (Apr 13, 2016)

Thanks Celtic!


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## candle lamp (Apr 13, 2016)

Jetbeam5 said:


> CL, thanks for a great review! We proudly raised our heads again after some bad comments of a year or two ago, and this is the quality of lights that we produce nowadays. It is not impossible that some imperfect products may leave our factory, but overall this is what you can expect! Thanks again, CL!



Thanks for your support. Jetbeam5! 
Hope Jetbeam will introduce many products of good quality to us consistently.



CelticCross74 said:


> outstanding review! Was not expecting something like this from Jetbeam I am pleasantly surprised! As for XP-L HD vs HI I have found the HD variant to be a bit higher output and it puts out a whiter tint than the HI's in my experience. The light has PLENTY of range I am not going to be one to complain about the lack of HI emitters. Good job Jetbeam!



Thanks for your support. CelticCross74!
I agree with you. Yes HD v6 gives you higher output than HI v3 does. And HI delivers more candela than HD.


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## KeepingItLight (Apr 13, 2016)

Outstanding review! You have really good macro photography skills! I appreciate the inclusion of runtime charts and a discussion of the low-voltage warning built into this light. As you know, I am fan of low-voltage cutoffs, but if you cannot get that, a warning is the next best thing.

Thanks for sharing your work with us.


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## candle lamp (Apr 13, 2016)

KeepingItLight said:


> Outstanding review! You have really good macro photography skills! I appreciate the inclusion of runtime charts and a discussion of the low-voltage warning built into this light. As you know, I am fan of low-voltage cutoffs, but if you cannot get that, a warning is the next best thing.
> 
> Thanks for sharing your work with us.



Thank you. KeepingLight!
I like the low voltage cut-off function the best, and battery warning (and automatic step-downs in output as battery power depletes) is the next best thing.


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## CelticCross74 (Apr 13, 2016)

candle lamp does the T6 have the necessary built in protections so I can unprotected GA cells? Also LOVE that for once a manufacturer has actually put the tripod mounting hole where is should be!


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## candle lamp (Apr 13, 2016)

CelticCross74 said:


> candle lamp does the T6 have the necessary built in protections so I can unprotected GA cells? Also LOVE that for once a manufacturer has actually put the tripod mounting hole where is should be!



No. T6 doesn't have the built-in voltage cut-off function, instead has the battery power indication (warning) feature.


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## CelticCross74 (Apr 13, 2016)

okay. Good enough. Protected GA's it is then....


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## brighterthanthesun (Nov 7, 2016)

Candle Lamp: Your review said that the light works with true flat top cells. I tried my unprotected GA's and 30Q's and they were too short. Do I need to use protected cells?


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## candle lamp (Nov 8, 2016)

brighterthanthesun said:


> Candle Lamp: Your review said that the light works with true flat top cells. I tried my unprotected GA's and 30Q's and they were too short. Do I need to use protected cells?


Exactly! You are right. I was wrong. I don't know why I did it.  I'm sorry.
All my flat top unprotected 18650's do not work in the light. Just have corrected my review.
You need protected 18650 cells to turn the light on. Sorry about that again. brighterthanthesun!


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## vaksata (Dec 26, 2017)

Great review :thumbsup:
Unfortunately mine T6 has some sort of flickering on the lower mode(i suppose it is not good regulated PWM). Is that a problem or just an annoying fact that i have to live with?


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## buckyball (Dec 25, 2019)

great info, i bought one and have used it a bit its a great torch, one question why did i get a green light on around the power on button ( the light grey soft buttons you press to turn it on ) in the few days ive used mine thats only happened once


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