Eagle Eye X1 Flashlight Review

Preface
Official Specs
Versions
Price
Short Review
Long Review
  What's Included
  Manual and Packaging
  Build Quality and Durability
  Size
  Retention
  Power
  User Interface and Operation
  LED and beam
  Tint vs...
  Beamshots, Runtime, etc table.
  Comparisons
Conclusion
  What I like
  What I don't like
Up Next
Notes

Preface

I’ve liked Eagle Eye lights before (the X2R was a personal favorite!). So when I saw this smaller Eagle Eye available, I asked GearBest for it, and they obliged.

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Official Specs and Features

Best I can tell, Eagle Eye doesn’t have an official website.

Versions

There are a couple of emitter options: CW 6000K-6500K, and NW 5000K-5500K.  And there are two body colors:  black and army green (seen here).

Price

Around $10 on GearBest right now, and I doubt it’ll get much lower.

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Short Review

This is a fun little light, but not quite as exciting as I’d hoped.  The UI is…. interesting and the switch is a bit hard to press.  AA/14500 cell options is nice.

Long Review

What’s Included

• Eagle Eye X1
• Split ring

Package and Manual

The package is typical of this genre of lights; just a simple cardboard box with a sticker label, and a GearBest inventory sticker.  The light ships in bubble wrap inside the box.

There actually is no manual whatsoever.

Build Quality and Disassembly

As far as $10 lights go, this isn’t built too badly.  It’s not top tier, but neither is the price.  The anodizing seems good, and the trapezoidal threads are anodized too.  They’re quite smooth.  The diamond knurling is grippy and even, but not flat across the top.

As for disassembly, this one like the light I reviewed before it, is a bit tough to tear down.  The tailcap seems very tight – even threadlocked.  The head unscrews of course, for swapping the cell.

The driver is held in by a circlip.  With the right tool, that should come out very easily, allowing access to the driver.

Size

Officially 9.30 x 2.00 x 2.00 cm.  It’s not the smallest AA light I’ve seen, nor is it the largest.

 

Retention

This is a pocket light plain and simple.  There’s no pocket clip, and really not even a good connection point for one.  There’s no lanyard, though there is a loop on the tailcap where a lanyard could go.  The included split ring would indicate that this is a good keychain light, but it seems a little big for that.

Power

The X1 runs on AA sized cells. It’ll work with AA (primary), NiMH, or 14500 (Li-Ion) cells.  I’ve tested with an Eneloop and an unprotected Efest 14500.  Note that there is no LVP on this light – in both tests output stopped when the cells were around 0.9V.  That’s fine for NiMH, but that’s not good at all for Li-Ion.  As such I wouldn’t really recommend carelessly running 14500’s in this light.  It should, however, work with longer cells, including protected 14500’s.

Between 80 and 90 minutes I stopped the test to check the cell voltage.

User Interface and Operation

There’s a single button on the light; a reverse clicky tail switch.  The metal tailcap is a bit rounded, and the button itself is proud.  This light will in no way shape or form tailstand.  Also the button is nearly flush with the tailcap, and really a bit hard to press.  It’s plenty big, but it’s an unusual setup for mechanical switches (in that it’s so protected).

The UI doesn’t really lend itself to my normal table style.

Here’s the UI: Click for on.

Now that doesn’t cover the modes, does it…. well there are only two: high and low.  To switch between them: loosen the head for low, tighten for high.  I found the low to be hard to hit (it’s a small zone) with an AA but strangely seems to work much better with 14500.

I want the UI to work much better than it does, but it’s just not great.  The twisting to low is very much too specific and hard to hit, and when it’s near the right zone it flickers on and off.

LED and Beam

The emitter of choice in this Eagle Eye X1 is a Cree XP-G2, at 5000K.  The lens is a stippled TIR, which softens the edges of the beam quite a bit.  This is very much like the TIR on the Nitecore TINI which I just reviewed.  I like TIRs a lot, and this one is fine.  One thing I typically like about TIR is the hard edge with little spill, on a generally broad spot.  The stipples ruin that for me.  Still a good beam, though.

Tint vs BLF-348

14500 in the left photo, AA (NiMH) in the right.

Beamshots, Runtime, and Lux Measurements

Eagle Eye X1
Emitter		Cree XP-G2
Emitter Notes		5000K
Cell	14500	AA
Glamour Shots	Beamshots [0.3″, f/8, ISO 100, 5000k]
Runtime	Chargetime (none)
LVP?	No
Claimed Lumens (lm)	420.0	140.0
Lux (Measured)	79 lux @ 2.721 m	14 lux @ 3.302 m
Candela (Calculated) in cd	584.9	152.6
Throw (Calculated) (m)	48.4	24.7
Throw (Claimed) (m)	–

Random Comparisons and Competitive Options….

There’s some good competition in this category, but nothing as inexpensive.  For example the Fenix LD11 also has a tailswitch but the modes may be cycled by the switch.

Conclusion

What I like

• Multi-chemistry support
• Steady output with NiMH
• No strobes
• Fairly small

What I don’t like

• Twisty UI isn’t good
• Tailcap switch is too hard to press
• Only two modes
• No pocket clip option, and no lanyard included.

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Up Next

I’ll have the Zebralight SC63w on Friday, and I hope to wrap up another item this week too! Stay tuned!

Notes

• This light was provided by GearBest for review. I was not paid to write this review.
• This content originally appeared at zeroair.wordpress.com.  Please visit there for the best experience!
• Whether or not I have a coupon for this light, I do have a bunch of coupons!!  Have a look at my spreadsheet for those coupons.  Note I’ve upgraded that sheet so that now, you may subscribe and get notifications when the sheet is edited!!