Acebeam T36 4000K Tactical Flashlight Review

Acebeam is offering a 4000K version of the T36 dual-switch tactical flashlight with a CREE XHP35 HI! This incredible light just got better.

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Official Specs and Features

Here’s a link to the Acebeam T36 4000K tactical flashlight product page.

Versions

There are a couple of emitter options: 6500K, and 4000K (seen here). There are no body options.

Price

The Acebeam T36 4000K tactical flashlight is selling for $109 at KillzoneFlashlights.com.

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Short Review

This is a fantastic light – 4000K XHP35 HI is becoming one of my favorites. The whole package from Acebeam here is great, too. All in all, a capable, pleasant package.

Long Review

The Big Table

Acebeam T36 4000K tactical flashlight
Emitter:	Cree XHP35 HI (4000K)
Price in USD at publication time:	$109.00 at killzoneflashlights.com
Cell:	1×21700 (included)
Turbo Runtime Graph	High Runtime Graph
LVP?	Yes
Switch Type:	Both
Quiescent Current (mA):	?
On-Board Charging?	Yes
Charge Port Type:	USB-C
Charge Graph
Power off Charge Port
Claimed Lumens (lm)	2000
Measured Lumens (at 30s)	1594 (79.7% of claim)^
Candela per Lumen	13
Claimed Throw (m)	303
Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s)	693lux @ 5.585m = 21616cd
Throw (Calculated) (m)	294.0 (97% of claim)^
All my Acebeam reviews!

^ Measurement disclaimer: Testing flashlights is my hobby. I use hobbyist-level equipment for testing, including some I made myself. Try not to get buried in the details of manufacturer specifications versus measurements recorded here; A certain amount of difference (say, 10 or 15%) is perfectly reasonable.

What’s Included

• Acebeam T36 4000K tactical flashlight
• Acebeam 5100mAh 21700 cell
• Charge cable (USB to USB-C) (which I managed to not picture here, somehow)
• Lanyard
• Nylon pouch
• Adapter tube (21700 to 18650)
• Spare o-rings (3)
• Spare clicky cover
• Manual and papers

Package and Manual

Build Quality and Disassembly

Just like the other two fairly similar Acebeams I reviewed (the L16 and EC65), the T36 is very well-built. And, of course, just like the T36 in 6500K that I reviewed almost 2 years ago.

One of the main things you might notice is that silver strike bezel. It’s easily removable, and reversible, and really a neat little attachment! The second thing you might notice is that the tailcap is quite thick! Has to do with all the electronics allowing charging, but yeah, in use it’s noticeably thicker.

Below is a “top-down” view.

The head has nice deep cooling fins.

That tactical ring is very easy to remove. The threads are even very short.

Unfortunately, the bezel can’t be removed seamlessly – it’ll come off completely, but you’re left with some fairly fine threads exposed. The lens or reflector will not fall out, however.

Here’s the bezel reversed. It doesn’t screw down all that far, but this setup makes for an interesting display when placed on its head, and on.

Threads in the tailcap end are very smooth, square-cut, anodized, and longish. 

Both the head and tail have thick, beefy springs, which you’d expect on a tactical flashlight.

There’s a bunch of stuff going on in the electronics since this is a charging light. Both the tail and head have big beefy springs, but also little finger connectors, which allow charging.

Size and Comps

Size: 145mm (Length) x 30mm (Head Dia.) x 25.4mm (Body Dia.)
Weight: 113g without battery

If the flashlight will headstand, I’ll show it here (usually the third photo). If the flashlight will tailstand, I’ll show that here, too (usually in the fourth photo).

Here’s the test light with the venerable Convoy S2+. Mine’s a custom “baked” edition Nichia 219b triple. A very nice 18650 light.

And here’s the light beside my custom engraved TorchLAB BOSS 35, an 18350 light. I reviewed the aluminum version of that light in both 35 and 70 formats.

Retention and Carry

Included and attached from the factory is a friction-fit pocket (or belt) clip. It’s very snug.

Clip hug!

And finally, the lanyard attachment point, which is on the tactical ring. The tactical ring does come off and is not threaded.

Included is a nylon pouch, which this tube light will easily fit into bezel up or down.

Power and Runtime

Primarily the T36 will be powered by the included 5100mAh 21700 liion cell. Also included to allow some versatility is an adapter to allow 18650 cells.

The springs on both ends inside should mean that any cell type will work fine.

The cell is installed the normal way – positive terminal toward the head.

Here’s a runtime on Turbo. The stepdown is fairly quick, and possibly temperature-based. The light steps down dramatically, to around 700 lumens.

I tested three other modes (all but the lowest mode!). Each displays a main emitter flash when cell voltage is low. Output is very stable on all modes.

At the end of the runtimes, the light’s main emitter flickers on and off, and the light shuts off with a cell voltage of around 2.9. That’s fairly good behavior, and certainly good for the cell. (Less good if you’re in a tactical situation and must have light, though.)

Charging

The T36 has onboard charging, via a nicely covered USB-C port. A cable is included, as seen below.

The charge port is on the head and covered by a press-in rubber boot.

The charge port is opposite the e-switch in the head. Just near the e-switch is a status indicator, that seems to indicate nothing more than charge status. If the light is charging, the indicator is red. If the charge is finished and the light is connected to power, the indicator is green. Unfortunately, this seems to be all the indicator does!!

Modes and Currents

These output claims are almost certainly for the 6500K version. Acebeam has a (bad?) habit of not speccing the neutral versions of their lights.

Mode	Mode Claimed Output (lm)	Claimed Runtime	Measured Lumens	Tailcap Amps
Turbo	2000/800	1.5m/2.5h	1594	8.60
High	1350/650	10m/3h	855	2.67
Med	500	5h	271	0.66
Low	200	12h	99	0.28
Ultra Low	2	28d	~	0.13

Pulse Width Modulation

There is no PWM to be seen here.

Here you can see a “baseline” – a chart with almost no light hitting the sensor.

Then there’s the Ultrafire WF-602C flashlight, which has some of the worst PWM I’ve seen. It’s so bad that I used a post about it to explain PWM! Here are multiple timescales (10ms, 5ms, 2ms, 1ms, 0.5ms, 0.2ms) to make comparing this “worst” PWM light to the test light easier. That post also explains why I didn’t test the WF-602C at the usual 50us scale.

User Interface and Operation

There are two switches on the T36.

First is a mechanical switch on the tail cap, just like on the L16.

There’s a metal switch like is on the EC65, in the center of the head. It’s a very flush button, and very positively clicky (but not loud). I like this switch a lot.

Here’s a UI table!

State	Action	Result
Off	Click Side Switch (SS)	On (Mode Memory)
Any	Click Tail Switch (TS) (Even during Lockout)	Turbo (Steady) (and precludes Side Switch use)
Any	Tap TS (Even during Lockout)	Momentary Turbo
On	Double Click SS	Turbo
On (Non strobe)	Hold SS	Mode advance (LMH)
Any	Triple Click SS	Strobe
Strobe	Click SS	Off
Strobe	Hold SS	Low
Off	Hold SS	Firefly
Off	Hold SS >3s	Lockout (Signified by two flashes of Moonlight)
Lockout	Hold SS <3s	Unlock to Moonlight (one flash of Moonlight, then steady Moonlight)

LED and Beam

Acebeam has a Cree XHP35 HI in the T36. In this case, it’s a 4000K CCT emitter, and that’s very much what I’d recommend you buy. The reflector is small and fairly shallow.

These beamshots are always with the following settings: f8, ISO100, 0.3s shutter, and manual 5000K exposure. These photos are taken at floor level and the beam hits the ceiling around 9 feet away.

Tint vs BLF-348 (KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b version) (affiliate link)

I keep the test flashlight on the left, and the BLF-348 reference flashlight on the right.

I compare everything to the KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b BLF-348 because it’s inexpensive and has the best tint!

Conclusion

What I like

• Great full-package setup
• Build quality is great
• Good user interface
• The 4000K emitter is wonderful
• USB-C charging! (with a very snug charge cover)

What I don’t like

• Indicator near e-switch is definitely underutilized

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Notes

• This light was provided by KillzoneFlashlights.com for review. I was not paid to write this review.
• This content originally appeared at zeroair.org.  Please visit there for the best experience!
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