Sunwayman G20C Flashlight Review

The Sunwayman G20C flashlight uses a Cree XM-L2 emitter and has a dual-switch interface. It’s a tactical flashlight, suitable for EDC too!

Sunwayman G20C review

I am normally a huge fan of EDC-type lights, and I have never ventured much farther out than CR123 batteries. In fact, I normally prefer AA lights. My current EDC is a Zebralight SC5w. I love it, and it’s exactly what I need.

So my goal for reviewing the Sunwayman G20C was to pick something I would never purchase, just to see what’s out there. I have zero use for a tactical light (if the G20C should even be considered tactical), nor do I have any 18650 batteries.

Note upfront that I don’t do beamshots or electrical graphics. If you’re looking for that, I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe next time, if there’s a next time, I’ll try at least beamshots.

Comes With

The box. Some people love unpackaging/unboxing. I am not one of those people. I am not using the box for flashlighting, so whatever. The box protected the item; that is all I care about.

Package Contents: 1 x Sunwayman G20C Handy Flashlight, 1 x Spare O-ring, 1 x Lanyard, 1 x Pocket Clip

The light comes with the above items, and the pocket clip comes installed. I really thought I’d taken a pic of the o-ring and package contents, but I don’t seem to have. This one is the closest.

It comes with just one extra o-ring and should have three in the light (below the glass, between the head and the body, and between the body and the tail). I didn’t measure or take them apart, but I figure all 3 are the same size – if you needed to replace any one, you’d be able to use the spare for it. I have literally never had to do this for one single light I own.

Manual

One thing that really got under my skin about the G20C is that I had a lot of trouble finding a manual for it. GearBest didn’t provide one, but then I couldn’t even find one on Sunwayman’s site either. There are some sketchy instructions about the user interface of the light, which helped marginally, but eventually, I just gave up and winged it. I like a manual. Even if the user interface is simple, I like a manual. All Sunwayman light product pages include a bunch of text-enhanced product shots, which one might assume serve as a manual. This does not satisfy me.

User Interface and Operation

Here are the buttons.

As you can see this light has an unusual two-button interface. Initially, I thought that was great. These buttons do not appear to be user-programmable, (which isn’t abnormal) but it’d be great if they were. As it stands, the metal button is for two things: If the light is off, the metal button always activates the strobe. If the light is on, the metal button always cycles low > medium > high. This is a decent program. I never once had an accidental activation of the metal button, but I did accidentally click it a number of times which led to unexpected strobes. I expect that those who actually have a need for tactical lights will really appreciate the immediacy with which the strobe can be reached. My Zebralight SC5w has a strobe, and half the time I can’t remember how to get to it (triple-click, I believe).

The other, rubbery button, does most of the work. As you’d expect from a tactical light, it has a forward-click momentary on. That momentary-on is to the same mode as you left the light in. Probably smart but wouldn’t you rather that be Turbo? IDK, you tell me. My Nerf gun mount doesn’t need the momentary so I never tested it. Just kidding I don’t even have a Nerf gun.

With the light on, holding the metal button down locks (and leaves on) strobe. Extremely handy if you’re having a rave.

I saw a (probably official) pic somewhere describing holding both buttons and twisting the cap in order to switch between modes. I will honestly say I never figured that step out. I’m not sure if that’s a fluke or what but I feel like I was able to see the modes of the light without doing the twist action.

Power

As I said above, I don’t have any 18650 batteries. But I do have some cr123s. Fortunately, the G20C will work with both. (The light actually takes CR123A, CR123R, 18650, and 16340 (which are basically rechargeable CR123a).

Here is the tail-off with two cr123 batteries.

Clearly the tube diameter is much bigger than the diameter of a cr123 battery. If you shake the light, you can make the batteries squirm and maybe even bang around, but generally speaking the spring pressure does keep them pretty secure. I believe an 18650 is 1.6mm thicker, so the fit would be better. I feel like even with that battery you’d have quite a bit (maybe 1-1.5mm) of breathing room for the battery). I would really prefer to have an 18650 in the light just for a better fit.

However this light has a working voltage range from 2.8 up to 6 volts, so it might work “better” with cr123 because the output would be 6v as opposed to the 4.2V of a single 18650. I am not sure that practically this would make much difference; in any case, both types will work. However, a single 18650 holds more total energy than two cr123s, which might be preferable. I could be wrong about this paragraph: I am not an Electrical Engineer.

LED and Beam

The LED is a Cree XM-L2 U2. I promise not to hold my personal distaste for the band U2 against the LED. There are 3 versions (warm, neutral, and cool) but the documentation doesn’t state which one is. My guess is that it’s the cool variety, but I have been wrong twice before.

It’s designed to throw. I am not used to throwy lights, so I’m not sure what the beam should look like against a wall, for example. I can tell you that there are a few distinct colors in this light. The outside ring is distinctly purple, then there’s a wide ring of yellow light, and the center is white. At a distance, there’s a very specific spot of even color. This would make a great searchlight. Sunwayman estimates usefulness at 100-200 meters.

GearBest does mention the reflector as “orange peel” when it is, in fact, smooth. That’s the only listing issue I noted.

Retention

The pocket clip is pretty nice, though it’s really more of a “belt” clip. It holds the light vertically and very securely, though unless you stand all day every day, I can’t imagine wanting to carry your light this way. The clip is clever too, in that it allows you to retain the light in up or down orientation. The clip does look like it would be removable, but I did not have luck removing it. Seems like it should slide right out once the head/LED part of the light is removed.

Disassembly

The light comes apart in a few places. The tail can be taken off, but there are electronics housed there, so the parts can’t really be taken off to clean/access the buttons. The head comes completely off and like the tail, the electronics are inside. Remaining then is the battery compartment, which is … a tube. Further, the LED retaining ring on the head of the light (the little silver bit) does easily unscrew. The tempered “coated mineral” glass, o-ring, and reflector can then be removed.

I found the threads to be extremely clean and smooth, and also very well-oiled.

Conundrums

Is this a tactical light? First blush to me says yes. Then you look at the light and have to wonder. The bezel is not crenelated. There’s a lot of silver or white in the light. From the little I know, it does not look like it could be (or is made for) mounting on a gun. In which case, I suppose it’s more aptly described as a “searchlight,” – which makes me wonder why strobe is so prominent in its UI.

The product description says the light will tailstand. Mine does not. Probably with more use, the rubber clicky will settle in, and then the light will easily tailstand. Would you even want to tailstand a throw light? Idk, but they say it will, and mine does not.

Sunwayman notes the knurling as “anti-roll.” Well, the light won’t roll anyway with the seemingly unremovable belt clip. But the knurling does provide a fine grip, so let’s assume that’s what they meant. The inability to remove the clip does make the light feel funny/uncomfortable in hand though.

It is my opinion that Sunwayman might be better off sticking to small lights like the v11r or Mr. Elfin.

Final Thoughts

This is a great light for the right person. It’s a light I might be willing to keep in my car all the time. It’s certainly not one I’d want to carry on my person all the time. Having had it for a few days and used it, I can say that it won’t hurt my feelings to pass it along to the eventual giveaway winner. It works great and like it’s designed to do, and I have no hate for it, but it’s not for me.

Parting Shot

Because I love this shot.

Notes

This light was provided by GearBest for review. I was not paid to write this review.
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