Aurabuy Cree Q5 and Q5 Tactical review

As many of you may know, I have been bitten by the flashlight bug!!!! I am going to be buying and reviewing many flashlights over the next few months and these are the first two I bought.

Service
First off let me say that Aurabuy has fantastic service as far as im concerned. I sent a few questions about these products to aurabuy via contact us and they emailed me back within 24 hours (except weekends obviously)!!!! From a foreign company, that is amazing! Plus it wasnt horrible broken English either, I could actually fully understand what was being said!

Both lights came packaged in a water resistant envelope and were heavily bubble wrapped inside.



Package took 9 days to arrive via Singapore post (surprised especially since ive heard Singapore post was slow). Both lights arrived in perfect condition as well

Cree Q5 Tactical
Ill start off with the light we are least familiar with, Cree Q5 Tactical (Cree-Q5 LED 3-Mode 350 Lumens Tactical Flashlight Torch (1x18650) - Free Shipping). I purchased this solely on attraction to appearance and hopes that it could be modified into a laser

Specs from the site:
Features:
Built-in high power CREE LED emitter
One battery last about 2 hours
3-Mode: High > Low > Strobe
Output up to 900-1100mA 350 Lumens
High brightness, low power consumption
Waterproof and skid-proof, exquisite workmanship
Durable aluminum reflector cup, resin lens
Perfect for outdoor activities like hiking, camping, caving, hunting etc

Specifications:
Brand/Model: 002
Emitter Brand/Type: Cree
Emitter BIN: Q5
Working Voltage: 3.7-4.2V
LED Life: 100,000 hours
Intensity: 900-1100mA 350 lumens
Material: Plastic Reflector Cup + Plastic Lens
Power: 1*18650 battery (not included)
Dimension: 167*37*37mm
Weight: 158g


Package Contents:
1 x LED flashlight
1 x Strap

I used a 2200mAh Sanyo 18650 for this review and it fit perfectly. I dont own any protected cells yet but there is a good 5mm of room left so protected cells should fit no problem. The reflector and lens are plastic, which isnt preferable IMO but for the price its more than fine. The reflector is smooth, which i really like over the OP reflector. LED is perfectly centered which is great! Keep in mind this is a Q5 LED so its not as bright as the XM-L version but it is still plenty bright. The hot spot is more rectangular than round due to being a Q5 LED but at a distance it looks round to me. Light has three modes; High-Low-Strobe. Seems to be next mode memory so if it gets turned off in strobe, it will come back on in High. Overall the light is very impressive for being a Q5 LED. This is my first Q5 light and I was expecting it to be under-par since ive head bad things about the Q5 but those people must just be spoiled with XM-L's or cracked out on something :na:

Pictures:





Its 151mm from inside the assault crown to the tail cap (need to get longer calipers )




17mm pill = easy laser modification


Now for what I think is the coolest part of this light, Beam Profile

High


Low




Overall thoughts
This light is very impressive for the cost, $16.33 before discounts. The finish of the light is great, no chips or marks on the anodizing. Very sturdy feel and the assault crown is semi-sharp so it actually can do some damage, if need be Can tail stand and nose stand (nose stand gives a cool beam profile as well). I recommend buying this light for either use as a flashlight or to mod into a laser. If you mod it into a laser, it will be unique looking laser! No visible PMW is also a huge plus if you keep it a flashlight


Now for a host that we are familiar with

Cree Q5 AKA blue ice as called here by builders (3-Mode 310 Lumens Cree Q5 LED Flashlight Torch (1x18650) Blue - Free Shipping)

ApexProxy uses this host for his laser builds and was first used by yobresal. That right there tells you that this host can easily be swapped into a laser. The reason i bought this light is since its advertised as water proof (will test that later ). I know many people look for water proof lasers so figured if this host is truly waterproof then turning it into a waterproof laser would be easier than your average host.

Specs from the site:


Features:
Built-in high power CREE LED emitter, low power consumption
Waterproof and skid-proof, exquisite workmanship
One battery last about 2 hours
3-Mode: High > Low > Strobe
Intensity: 900-1100mA 310 Lumens
Long LED life up to 100,000 hours
Durable aluminum reflector cup, glass lens
Perfect for outdoor activities like hiking, camping, caving, hunting etc

Specifications:
Emitter Brand/Type: Cree
Emitter BIN: Q5
Working Voltage: 3.7-4.2V
LED Life: 100,000 hours
Intensity: 900-1100mA 310 lumens
Light Range: 60m underwater/ 150 on the ground
Material: Aluminum Reflector Cup + Glass Lens
Power: 1*18650 battery (not included)
Color: Blue
Dimension: 120*35*35mm
Weight: 83g

Package Contents:
1 x LED flashlight
1 x Strap

Again i tested this light with a 2200mAh Sanyo but this light appears to have slightly less room in it, however it still looks as if a protected cell will fit but might be tight. The flashlight without a battery is surprisingly light, almost as if nothing is there. There is indeed an aluminum reflector and glass lens but the lens does not appear to be AR coated. not a huge deal especially if you are turning it into a laser. Again, pleased that the emitter looks to be perfectly centered and it shows by not having any odd bat wings in the beam profile. The finish of this light is nice minus two small blemishes, the tail cap area on the edges and one small spot in the middle of the host (see pictures). it just looks like the host wasnt prepped well before the blue finish was added. Most of the other Q5 Blue hosts ive seen have not had this problem so this doesnt concern me at all. surprisingly this light doesnt have any noticeable PMW!!!! Super surprised but very happy at the same time.

Pictures:







Think my calipers were slightly off since its the same size as the Q5 tactical pill (calipers reset from rest of measurements though)






Some of the water proofing


Both sides have double o-rings


Blemishes around the outside (not a big deal since they'd get like that from tail stands anyways)


The odd mark





Overall:
Again another nice Q5 light. This has been proven to be a strong laser host by many members. If it turns out to be waterproof then aurabuy is the place to get it from! The price is great at $11.08 before discounts or $8.95 (not waterproof host)

The water proof test is coming so sit tight. Fingers crossed everything goes well

Side note: Aurabuy has this big promotion event going on right now and im going to be buying stuff for myself in the next wave. Basically you can nominate any item on their site to be "promoted" at a discount. its normally tablets and phone battery cases but next week the top item is "beats" styled headphones for like $17. Im going to be getting a pair and testing them out but thought id give my review readers a heads up so you can vote for items you want to buy at a discount

Reserved for updates:

Dont think you guys will believe this but 5 minutes under water and it still works!!!! Will test again tonight to see if it has slow water damage but im very impressed!

Control (1 minute under water w/o battery to check for "leaks" since i didnt want to kill a battery)


5 Minute under water test (photos at submerge, 2-3 minute and 5 minute right before pulling it out)






Absolutely impressed!!!!

More updates:

Reflector is held in place by a retaining ring.




This has a solid pill and not a cheap hollow pill. Pill is adjustable so if you replace the lens glass with a thinner piece then the pill can screw in and out to adjust for the thickness difference

DISCOUNT TIME

Sorry for the double post but wanted to let you know that Aurabuy has just lowered these lights by 8%!!!! Blue Q5 is now $10.19 and the Q5 Tactical is now $15.02!!! Always good to get a discount Also updated the post above with more of my findings.

Please let me know what you guys think :beer:

Thanks for the flashlight review
You can build both flashlights into a laser. Here is my version,

Blord, I KNEW i saw that host as a laser somewhere and wasnt dreaming it! Where did you get the heat sink from and if you remember, roughly how much?

It does make for a sweet looking laser if i do say so myself :beer:

Ask Eud for the sink. He should have the dimension of the heatsink but he won't do the tapered focus adapter. According to him that was a PITA work.

Did you use the pill in the flashlight or find something else to fit in it? This light wont be turned into a laser by me but maybe the winner of my giveaway will like to do so

EDIT: BTW you were entered in it via a nomination so if you want to enter for the other prize as well then check it out in the general section

The cree Q5's a nice little torch, had a couple of them but turning them into lasers wouldn't mind one for a torch, they do feel solid tho, will hold out in case i win

Need to be nominated to win these Hopefully someone nominates you within the next few days. its only day two of the giveaway and no one has posted today but im not going to bump the thread. if people want to win they need to find the thread themselves

ahh, i see :undecided:

like i said, still have a chance as long as you've helped someone out in the past and they remember it, they can nominate you

I've been helping the noobs a fair bit lately so maybe they'res a chance