Review: Sky Ray King 3xXM-L 4x18650 from Aurabuy

Overview:

Battery: 4 x 18650 in parallel
Switch: Electronic
Modes: 2+1: High, Low + hidden strobe
LED Type: 3 x XM-L (Neutral White)
Lens: Regular Glass
Tailstands: Yes
Waterproof: IPX-7
From/Price: Aurabuy.com $48.99


Pros:
+Good budget multi-emitter light
+Feels solid during use
+Hidden strobe
+4x18650 gives plenty of runtime
+Very bright
+Unscrew body for lock-out

Cons:
-Very loud low mode PWM
-Very distracting low frequency PWM
-Parasitic circuit drain (1.5mA)



Kevin at Aurabuy.com decided to send me the light as a review of both the light itself and the service.



The DHL shipping was extremely fast; the package was picked up on Sunday, arrived at Korea on Monday, and was attempted to be delivered on Tuesday but I was out so I got it Wednesday.

I had a few days to play around with the light, even EDC'ing it for a while to check it out.

Here's the package that I received:



As you could see, it was opened by the customs department...





Unboxing:









The light itself came in a clean white box, suitable for a gift:







The light came with a Chinese manual, spare o-ring, and a lanyard strap:





Some pictures:








The three emitters:




The rear end:





More shots:







The light has a hidden strobe feature that can be activated when the switch is pressed for three seconds when the light is on, both on high and low mode. (6-8Hz)

Opened up:





Tailcap Current measurements:

4.2V: 5.35A

4.0V: 4.89A

3.6V: 3.20A

Not too regulated, but I like the high currents going into the 3xXM-X's.



The 4x18650 battery holder:





Some more pics:













The three emitters again, perfectly centered:



Certainly a managable size, here's the SRK among my collection:



TrustFire X6 HD2010 Sky Ray King 2.3W Laser WF-606A C11 WF-008 C3

(Sorry about the white balance.)

Overall, this is a really solid light, and as this is the first multi-emitter light for me, it easily blows away my HD2010 and Crelant 7G9 (Well, maybe not in terms of throw).



I'll add more wallshots and beamshots while I fix my 7G9 up for comparison.



Thanks for looking and please feel free to post any questions.

Cheers!

Re: Sky Ray King 3xXM-L 4x18650 from Aurabuy

Thanks for the review. The King is surely a lumen beast.
A lot of talk is going about the driver. There are fake King in the shops with a different driver. Can you tell us if this King is real or fake ?

Re: Sky Ray King 3xXM-L 4x18650 from Aurabuy

Thanks for pointing that out.

I concluded that mine is genuine, after comparing it with these pictures from this post: Skyray King (3xXML, 4x18650 Fatty) | BudgetLightForum.com

The 1st is genuine, while the 2nd one is fake.









Cheers!

Re: Sky Ray King 3xXM-L 4x18650 from Aurabuy

Nice review. However, you missed the 7G9 in the photo of your collection...

Hurry up with the beam shots! +1 :beer:

Thanks, I uh.... killed my 7G9 during a feeble attempt to swap out the driver.

I burned the LED and am trying to unscrew the bezel, which is glued shut.

This post shows how hard it is to access the emitter:
Opening up a Crelant 7G9 to access the emitter area | BudgetLightForum.com

Cheers!

Noooooooo! :tinfoil:

Edit: Just had a look at that post and it looks like it was really glued on there. The 7G5CS and 3CS both unscrew and come apart really easily. There is no glue anywhere? :thinking:

Sigh :undecided:

Oh well at least you didnt pay for it and you still have a nice host... :beer:

That's very true, but I just can't get the darn thing open.

Seems like Crelant used some good epoxy to seal the threads shut!

They use locktite glue like in the ThruNite flashlights. Luckily with these straps you can make them open without damage to the tube.

That's a good idea blord!

Thanks for the tip.

I've tried strap wrenches but apparently the Loctite's too strong.

I torched it about 8 times to loosen the epoxy and I'll try out the strap wrench again.

Nice review!

The parasitic drain, and the lack of a proper "medium" mode are the only things I really don't like about the King, if it also had a secondary tail switch, would be near perfect. It's an incredible light for the price though.

Second brightest in my collection. I have a gold one, and a black one coming from fasttech.

ryansoh3 said:

Thanks for the tip.

I've tried strap wrenches but apparently the Loctite's too strong.

I torched it about 8 times to loosen the epoxy and I'll try out the strap wrench again.

Click to expand...

I think the parts need to be hot while you are wrenching them apart. Looks kinda like red loctite. There's an o-ring in the way, so I doubt the solvent method would work.
http://www.loctiteproducts.com/tds/T_LKR_RED_tds.pdf

For disassembly, heat parts up to 482°F (250°C) and separate parts while hot

Click to expand...

BShanahan14rulz said:

I think the parts need to be hot while you are wrenching them apart. Looks kinda like red loctite. There's an o-ring in the way, so I doubt the solvent method would work.
http://www.loctiteproducts.com/tds/T_LKR_RED_tds.pdf

Click to expand...

Interesting, I'll give that a try. Hopefully I don't burn myself.

On a side note, just a warning about Sky Ray Kings from FastTech as they might not be the genuine one and may consequently under perform.

Check out this post here: Fasttech Sky Ray king $42 Fake? | BudgetLightForum.com

Cheers!

Edit: Any tips on getting a good grip on the hot bezel without burning myself?

I did see that fasttech sold it and kinda figured it would be a fake. By the way thanks for turning me onto that site I've been spending to much money on flashlights, electronics, ect... my girlfriend is starting to worry about my spending. Lol