Preface
Thrunite has a new light on the market. It’s an 18650 light, with on-board charging, but boasts an incredible 2300 lumens. Read on to see how this light tests, and if it hits its claim!
Official Specs and Features
Versions
There are two versions – NW and CW (though the NW version doesn’t seem to be in stock – maybe not even made yet?) I have the CW version. The package includes a cell, too, and there doesn’t seem to be a package without the cell.
Price and Coupon
The current price is $59.99. Often there’s a coupon floating around for Thrunite, but all the ones I have just expired.
Short Review
This light really churns out the lumens. It hits its claimed output and throw easily. Charging is good, too. It’s a very good light!
Long Review
The Big Table
| Thrunite TC15 | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | Cree XHP35 HD |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $59.99 |
| Cell: | 18650 |
| Turbo Runtime | High Runtime |
| LVP? | Yes |
| Switch Type: | E-Switch |
| Quiescent Current (A): | ? |
| On-Board Charging? | Yes |
| Chargetime | |
| Power off Charge Port with no Cell? | Yes, Moon + 1 mode |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 2300 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 2400 (104.3% of claim)* |
| Claimed Throw (m) | 246 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 778lux @ 5.345m = 22227cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 298.2 (121.2% of claim)* |
| All my Thrunite reviews! | |
* Standard measurement disclaimer: I am an amateur flashlight reviewer. I don’t have $10,000 or even $1,000 worth of testing equipment. I test output and such in PVC tubes!! Please consider claims within 10% of what I measure to be perfectly reasonable (accurate, even).
What’s Included
- Thrunite TC15 Flashlight
- Thrunite protected 18650 (not shown)
- Charge cable
- Lanyard
- Spare o-rings (2)
- Spare switch rubber
- Spare charge port covers (2)
- Pocket clip
- Nylon pouch
- Manual and paperwork
Package and Manual
The light ships in the Thrunite standard slip-fit box, with foam inside.
Build Quality and Disassembly
This light feels very good in-hand, with quality anodizing, and an interesting grip pattern on the cell tube.
It’s maybe not an extremely interesting light, but the grip is sufficient, and it doesn’t try to pull off any ‘tactical’ etc branding. It’s just a good, solid performer.
The cell tube separates fully from the head and tail. It’s also reversible.
The tailcap doesn’t have a magnet, and has a spring that is fairly soft. The head doesn’t have a spring at all; just brass contact points.
The threads on the cell tube are square cut and thick, and anodized. This allows easily mechanical lockout.
Size and Comps
- Dimensions: 122.5mm (length) x 27mm (body diameter) x 24mm (head diameter).
- Weight: 71g (excluding battery)
This is not a short light. Diameter is normal for a tube light (maybe even a little thick) but then, the TC15 does add charging, and a side switch. That said, I’d like to see this light be a little shorter.
Retention and Carry
Thrunite includes a nylon pouch with a plastic D-ring. The pouch has stretchy sides and accepts the light bezel up or down.
There’s also a lanyard included, which will primarily attach on the tailcap. There’s a (small but unusually generously sized) hole on the end for attachment. The pocket clip also has the appropriate holes, but I don’t like to trust friction clips for this task.
The pocket clip fits only one end of the cell tube, but the cell tube is reversible.
The clip just barely carries deep enough for me with the bezel down, and not even close to deep enough in bezel up orientation. The clip attaches quite snugly though.
Power and Runtime
A single 18650 powers the TC15. Thrunite fortunately includes a very high quality protected button top cell. The light will work with unprotected flat tops, but the cell tube is so long and there ends up being so much extra space, that the cell can bounce around a little in there. Couple that with the soft spring and no spring on the head; I’d just stick with the included cell generally.
In any case, the included cell is quite capable of powering this Cree XHP35 HD. The peak output (initial turn on) on Turbo is around 2700 lumens (!!!), and begins to drift downward for around a minute. I measure the 30 second output at around 2400 lumens, which is above the claim. The light then begins a quick descent to the just below the High output, where it stays in a very regulated state until an abrupt shutoff due to LVP. It’s a 12V emitter, so the boost circuit probably can’t boost the cell to the required Vf much below 3V anyway.
A runtime on High looks equally stable, but also lasts much longer because there’s not massive hit from the 6.5A turbo. Shutoff is similar though, stopping abruptly at 2.95V.
Here’s the included cell. It’s a protected button top, with a Thrunite branded wrapper.
But the Thrunite wrapper is a little transparent…. in the photo below, it’s possible to make out the “30Q” text on the original (flat top, unprotected) cell’s wrapper. That’s a good choice – 30Q’s are great cells!
The TC15 also has built in charging. This is possible using micro-USB (and a USB to micro-USB cable is included.) The charge port is in the head of the light, opposite the switch.
Charging is respectable, at around 1A (on average?) during the CC phase (measured at the USB). The charge process takes around 200 minutes.
The indicating switch displays charge information, too.
During charging, the indicator is RED
After being fully charged, the indicator will be BLUE
When indicator flashes purple, it means abnormal charging
Only firefly and low mode is available during charging.
The light has LVP, and the indicating switch has some indicating functions, as follows:
- Battery capacity: >20%, Blue light will be ON.
- Battery capacity: 10%-20%, Red light will be ON.
- Battery capacity: <10%, Red light will flash and remind to charge the battery immediately.
- After being fully charged, Blue light will be ON.
- Note: the battery capacity indicator will not work at Firefly mode, or when the battery capacity is 0%.
User Interface and Operation
Thrunite’s standard metal side e-switch graces the TC15. It’s well documented that I really like this switch, and fortunately for me, Thrunite uses it often.
Here’s a UI table! The UI is exactly the same as on many other Thrunites with this switch, including the TN42!
| State | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Hold | Firefly |
| Off | Click | On (Mode Memory except Turbo/Firefly/Strobe) |
| Any | Double click | Turbo |
| Turbo | Double click | Strobe |
| On | Hold | Mode cycle (LMH)* |
| On | Click | Off |
* There’s a mode cycle that’s hard to explain in table form. When the light is on, the only way to get to High is to cycle from low. If you turn the light on to Medium, and hold the switch to advance, the advance is to Low first, then Medium then High. In fact any time you’re in medium, and you release the switch, the next advance upon holding the switch, will be low, whereby you need to cycle through low and medium to get to high. I found this to be quite cumbersome.
I like that the UI is reused from light to light. If you’re a brand loyal type person, it’s nice to know that you can get the same UI on different type lights, and always know exactly how to do what you want to do, without memorizing a bunch of different UIs!!
Modes and Currents
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens | Tailcap Amps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turbo | 2300/820 | 2m/83m | 2338 | 6.50 |
| High | 1050 | 90m | 1147 | 1.68 |
| Medium | 250 | 6.5h | 272 | 0.29 |
| Low | 25 | 68h | 33 | 0.02 |
| Firefly | 1 | 41.5d | – | – |
LED and Beam
The emitter of choice here is a Cree XHP35 HD, in CW. (A NW version may be available at some point, or now, even, but is currently listed as out of stock.) The reflector is very smooth, and deep.
XHP35 HD is probably an excellent choice for a light intended to produce 2300 lumens. Typically CW lights put out a little bit more lumens too, so again, probably a good choice.
I personally would love to see the NW version.
Tint vs BLF-348 (Killzone 219b version)
Random Comparisons and Competitive Options….
Here’s a relevantly filtered page on parametrek.com. There just aren’t a ton of comparable tube lights with this emitter and this feature set. And what is available is more of a tactical feature set, which this light is (thankfully) not. so for a non-tactical light with this feature set, the TC15 is a great choice! At a very reasonable price, too.
Conclusion
What I like
- Output hits specification
- Throw hits specification
- Built quality is good
- Complete package light (literally everything you need including cell and charging!)
- Side switch only (separating itself from the tactical crowd of lights)
What I don’t like
- CW (NW maybe available, or maybe not?)
- Light is overall too long. (I’d trade some reflector depth for a shorter light. And such a long battery compartment, too).
- Pocket clip isn’t deep enough for me.
Up Next
I have cell reviews. I have charger reviews. I even have another Fun Fund Friday in the works!!
Notes
- This light was provided by Thrunite for review. I was not paid to write this review.
- This content originally appeared at zeroair.org. 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. It’s possible to subscribe and get notifications when the sheet is edited!!
1 thought on “Thrunite TC15 Flashlight Review”