Xtar D26 1600

[stuartv]

@stuartv can you share a picture of the new light with the updated spring and as a comparison one of your old light?

This is my old (bad) one:




This is my new (good) one:

 

[stuartv]

After quite lengthy delays and a lost shipment, I finally got my D26 1600 yesterday. I charged the battery, left it in there during the night and checked it with my Xtar Dragon, it was at 73%. So I fear that I have one of the old, defective lights.

@stuartv can you share a picture of the new light with the updated spring and as a comparison one of your old light? I attached a picture of mine. On the red head portion, there is a date visible and on mine it's 2018-11-27 which I take to be the manufacturing date.

I guess I'll have to reach out to them as well.

Yours look identical to my new one.

Are you SURE your battery is good? Make sure it's fully charged and then let it sit overnight NOT in a light and check it? Is it possible it's just got a high self-discharge rate?

 

[Anthony A.]

Looks like the old spring has a square ring on the bottom.

 

[qubus]

Where did you order yours ftom?

I ordered mine from Aliexpress. I ordered it already back in November after the initial, good reviews.

Wait couple of years for old version to sell out?
OK, not much of a joke, but why all the hype? I have "old" version of D26 and I'm quite happy. I understand there are some improvements in new D26, but are they worth the risk?

For me personally: Until now I only had 2 cheapo 9$ 1000lm plastic lights which actually did a very good job for now. But I was looking for something stronger for day-time use. This seemed to have a good balance of output, size and price.

Yours look identical to my new one.

Are you SURE your battery is good? Make sure it's fully charged and then let it sit overnight NOT in a light and check it? Is it possible it's just got a high self-discharge rate?

Thank you for the pictures. It does seem like I have the new one and I do have to correct my initial finding. I left the battery in since I got it and it did not drop any further. It's still at 73%. Maybe the charger did not charge it fully the first time around. I'll test the battery itself. Glad to know and have that confirmation.

@stuartv mentioned that the lock mechanism is different. I can confirm, it takes a long press (about 3 seconds) to lock and unlock the light. Personally, I would have preferred the multiple presses as the button can be pressed long easily by accident (e.g. in a bag). Xtar seems to have updated that on their website as well.

Other observations:
- I was a bit surprised that it's so concentrated. It has a pretty wide general area but e.g. at a distance of about 4 meters the center where most of the light is concentrated is about a foot (30-40cm). Without much comparison, I would call that quite concentrated. The beam can be described to have about 3 areas. Roughly estimated the overall beam is about those 55° they advertise, then there is a brighter area with about a third of that radius, so 15-20° and then the brightest area in the center which is about 1/5th of the second area's radius, so roughly 3-4°.
- The light gets quite warm/hot if not submerged.
- It seems to be quite a solid build. Feels good in the hand.

I'm looking forward to taking it on the first dive, unfortunately it will still take a while.

 

[admikar]

For me personally: Until now I only had 2 cheapo 9$ 1000lm plastic lights which actually did a very good job for now. But I was looking for something stronger for day-time use. This seemed to have a good balance of output, size and price.

I got that, but what I asked about is hype of new over the old D26.

 

[Anthony A.]

The new one is said to be more powerful. Stuartv said its quite a bit brighter hence why many here are interested in it.

 

[admikar]

Right now, I find my old D26 bright enough. Sometimes too bright. If it breaks or I loose it, I would probably go for new version.

 

[stuartv]

I got that, but what I asked about is hype of new over the old D26.

I have both. The new one is nominally 1600 lumens vs 1000 (on Turbo mode, of course). The new one has a tighter beam.

With it being brighter AND having a tighter beam, I think it will be noticeably better for signaling in marginal conditions. In other words, I think the beam on the new one will penetrate better over a distance.

The new one has a different mechanism for locking the light against accidentally turning it on. When the new one unlocked by 3 button presses, I liked it better than the old one with the quarter turn physical lock. Now that the latest version seems to be 1 long press to unlock it, I'm pretty ambivalent regarding the 2. I have found the quarter turn physical lock can be a little sticky sometimes and hard to unlock the light with gloves on. But, on the plus side, I never turn the old one on by accident.

 

[wKkaY]

I prefer the old locking turn mechanism actually. It's a physical locking ring so it's more intuitive. Under pressure (cave course lol) I've had trouble timing my 3 button presses and switching on the 1600 quickly.

 

[Manatee Diver]

The new one has a different mechanism for locking the light against accidentally turning it on. When the new one unlocked by 3 button presses, I liked it better than the old one with the quarter turn physical lock. Now that the latest version seems to be 1 long press to unlock it, I'm pretty ambivalent regarding the 2. I have found the quarter turn physical lock can be a little sticky sometimes and hard to unlock the light with gloves on. But, on the plus side, I never turn the old one on by accident.

One long press sounds like a step backward. I like the old style on the 1100, but I can deal with three quick presses, because my webbing straps are unlikely to do it just right. OTOH one long press is something that random gear it might get caught under can do.