Klarus is a major manufacturer of lighting tools in China. The tactical flashlight has two switches, three switches, and 360° switches, which are impressive. Recently, the XT21X on the right side of the picture below is more famous. Today I want to talk about the newly launched small straight flashlight with 21700 battery – G15.

When I got the G15, I thought it was unremarkable, but when I turned the lamp head around, I was really excited. I actually used an XHP70.2 lamp bead. The yellow light emitted by the huge quad-core lamp bead is particularly eye-catching.

The maximum luminous flux of G15 reaches 4000lm, and through the shallow orange peel light cup, it brings large floodlight illumination in the dark night, which is very practical for paving and expanding the field of vision. Below, we will introduce the main features and performance of G15 in detail.

Start with high-brightness lighting

A flashlight is a tool for lighting, and the G15 is a high-brightness violent little straight. Of course, we must start with this kind of lighting that seems to be daytime.

This is the second-generation XHP70 lamp bead of CREE, the generator of such brightness. The orange-yellow translucency contains a huge power of light.

Even in a street lamp environment with better lighting brightness, when the G15 is turned on, the lighting effect of the street lamp and flashlight will be judged.

G15 is very easy to use in open areas, the field of vision is very wide, and the brightness transition from the center to the edge is relatively uniform, there is no obvious junction of light and dark, and it will not bring discomfort and staggered sense of vision, which is very practical for floodlight flashlights.

Thanks to the efficient constant current circuit design, G15’s five always-on gears have no stroboscopic and whistling, which can effectively protect the user’s eyesight.

In terms of the spot on the wall, G15 can form a perfect circle spot, and the spot area is large, there is a relatively obvious low color temperature zone between the main and auxiliary spots, the overall lighting brightness is uniform, and the viewing is more comfortable.

From the front, the brightness of the G15’s extremely bright gear is very dazzling, even surpassing the headlights of the car. Turning on the high-frequency strobe mode will definitely be able to preemptively strike the bad guys.

G15 has a total of five always-on gears. The 1lm moonlight gear is very suitable for use at home at night, and the remaining four gears are suitable for outdoor use. Then let’s take a look at the lighting situation of G15. In fact, the closer distance and the relatively closed environment make 500lm medium brightness, which is enough. Turning on higher brightness can ensure better lighting effect and longer illumination distance. .

Speaking of distance, let’s take a look at the long-range effect of G15. For a building about 130 meters, when G15 is turned on, the surface of the floor and the trees and bushes in front are illuminated. Thanks to the large luminous flux, G15 can also achieve Lighting from a distance.

In open places, G15 can ensure clear lighting in the field of vision, with high brightness at a distance of tens of meters, and illuminate the entire area from near and far, which is more convenient to use.

Because the G15 is a floodlight flashlight, you must be at a relatively close distance to feel the feeling of the burst of light. When you watch the light spread from near to far, you can understand why the night will give us a pair of black eyes.

Appearance design features

The lighting effect is one aspect. At the moment when the appearance is justice, let’s take a look at the appearance of the G15. The G15 is packaged in the classic white hard carton of the Keruizi family. The product model, main features and product appearance are all reflected on the front. first impression.

The accessories are relatively simple but absolutely sufficient. In addition to the flashlight, hand rope, battery, and charging cable, a high-quality flannel bag is also standard.

G15 adopts aluminum alloy with light weight, high strength and fast heat dissipation as the shell material. The barrel adopts CNC technology, and is designed and processed with a new wide hexagonal prism shape. The edges are passivated and won’t scratch your hands. The barrel is made of black three-level hard oxidation, which on the one hand has high wear resistance and scratch resistance, on the other hand, it can also ensure the feel and durability during use.

As a lighting equipment using 21700 batteries, the volume control of G15 is relatively reasonable and compact, with a total length of 121.2mm, a barrel diameter of 24.7mm, a slightly larger lamp head diameter of 27.5mm, a light output diameter of 22mm, and a weight of 141.6 grams with the original battery. , overall more portable.

G15 feels like this when you hold it in your hand. The 21700 barrel is thicker than the 18650, so it is more comfortable for larger opponents. The barrel can be fully held, and the thumb is easy to operate by pressing the switch. , The effect of preventing the cylinder body from sliding axially between the palms is good.

There is a platform at the neck of the lamp, and the side switch has a large area, which is convenient for blind pressing to quickly find the position. There are three heat sinks on both sides of the switch. However, the 70.2 full power generates a lot of heat, and the effect of the heat sink is not too big. It will be introduced in detail later in the test.

G15 has a compact body, so there is no tail cap, only the lamp head can be unscrewed from the lamp neck, and the negative gold-plated spring can be seen inward. On the one hand, it can prevent the spring from being oxidized and corroded by air. The G15 comes standard with an original 5000mAh 21700 battery that supports 15A high current discharge.

The lamp head is designed with double springs to further reduce the resistance. At the same time, the thread is conductive. Fortunately, it supports the switch locking function. Press and hold for 5 seconds to lock the switch, and quickly unlock it with three clicks.

A Micro-USB charging circuit is integrated on the opposite side of the switch, and the rubber cap is tightly sealed to ensure good waterproof performance.

The grip of the G15 is somewhat similar to the E1, but it is still about 7mm away from the tail of the barrel. The concealment effect is not as good as that of the E1, but it can also ensure that the mounting is firm and easy to use. Personal suggestion, the tail is so wide and flat, it will be more practical if a tail magnetic function is added.

Performance measurement

1. Gear illuminance test

Fully charge the original 5000mAh battery, turn on the illuminance meter to record the illuminance data, and connect the thermocouple to the lamp head and the barrel to measure the temperature. The lamp head is about 40 cm away from the illuminance meter, and the test is started.

The 5 always-on gears of G15, the corresponding illuminance steps are shown in the figure below. The overall distribution of steps is relatively uniform, but it only takes five or six seconds to turn on the extremely bright gear, and then it starts to downshift. It seems that the high power of 70 lamp beads The running heat is indeed considerable, and a quick downshift is good for safety.

2. Extremely bright battery life test

Recharge the battery, do downshift and endurance test, turn on the extremely bright 4000lm, downshift in about 6 seconds, and then drop to a slightly lower illuminance than the high-brightness gear, then downshift again by a large margin, the temperature control circuit can be seen in the figure below At work, the illuminance fluctuates with temperature changes.

In the early part of the second hour, I turned on a fan to blow on the lamp head, in order to test the effect on the brightness when the heat dissipation conditions are good.

It can be seen that the fluctuation range of the illuminance is significantly increased, and the brightness, that is, the power of the lamp bead, can become higher, but it will also be downshifted to reduce the heat generation. After two rounds, I double-clicked the switch several times, and I could turn it on for a short period of time. In the second half, the battery voltage drops, the power decreases, and the illumination gradually decays.

Starting from the third hour, the brightness is obviously not as good as before, but you can double-click to increase some brightness, and then automatically reduce it. The battery lasts for 2 hours and 10 minutes, and the G15 automatically shuts down.

Then take out the battery, the cut-off voltage of the G15 circuit is just 2.9V, which not only uses the battery power to the maximum, but also does not overdischarge the lithium battery.

3. Heat dissipation

While doing the extremely bright endurance test, use a thermocouple thermometer to measure the temperature of the lamp head and the middle of the barrel. As shown in the figure below, data is recorded every 10 seconds, and 120 sets of data are recorded for 10 minutes. The initial room temperature is about is about 22.9°C.

Draw a line and compare the data with the illuminance map. It can be seen that after the extremely bright gear is turned on, although the gear is downshifted quickly, the heat is still accumulating rapidly. When the illuminance of the high-brightness gear is downshifted, it reaches a maximum of 49.1 °C; after that, the brightness of the lamp beads decreases, and the temperature also decreases. The dynamic situation of the temperature changing with the brightness change can be seen in the figure. The temperature of the barrel body is not very drastic, it has been slowly rising, and the highest temperature is about 41.1 ℃. This temperature is well controlled. It is warm when you hold it, and it will not cause skin burns at all.

Without artificial heat dissipation, the equilibrium temperature is roughly 47°C for the lamp head and 42.6°C for the barrel, which will not cause accidental burns.

Turn on the fan to simulate the outdoor ventilation and heat dissipation conditions. When balanced, the temperature of both places is about 34°C. If it is used in an outdoor environment, the G15 can achieve higher brightness under the premise of ensuring temperature control.

In addition, I also measured the trigger temperature of the G15 when the fan is turned on, and the automatic upshift and downshift of the G15 are roughly 37.3°C and 34.2°C for the lamp head, for reference.

4. Waterproof test

Klarus’s flashlight has been used a lot, and the waterproof level is almost IPX8. Directly turning on the light and throwing it into the stream to wash it has no effect at all. After taking it out, all operations are normal, and it will not cause damage during heavy rain. Outdoor all-weather can be used with confidence.

5. Charging test

Although it is Micro-USB charging, the charging efficiency of the G15 is still good. The measured initial charging current is as low as 0.13A, which is the circuit that activates the battery with a small current.

In the middle of charging, the charging current can exceed 1.8A, and the charging power is close to 9.5W. During charging, the red power indicator inside the switch is always on.

After 3 hours and 29 minutes, the battery is fully charged, with a total charge of about 4636mAh and 23.53Wh. The charging speed of the G15 is relatively moderate, and the battery capacity is not false.

Experience summary

A lot of good and bad things have been said above, and finally a brief summary. Personally, as a small straight tube, G15 uses a single lamp bead with the largest luminous flux as the light source, which is a positive attempt. The brightness, battery life and lighting effect can all meet my expectations. Personally, I feel that if I can increase the magnetic attraction Tail, and then increase some temperature control trigger value, the performance should be stronger.

After many days of use experience, I personally feel that Klarus’ G15 flashlight has the characteristics of small size, high brightness and large floodlight, which is very suitable for outdoor activities, plus long battery life, fast charging speed, and 1lm The minimum brightness is also more suitable for home use. You can start with one for emergency use.