【New Product】XTAR D26 2500 Dive Light

[XTAR]

Exciting news! We released a new dive light - XTAR D26 2500.

Features:

• Great brightness, maximum 2500 lumens output
• 2 hours runtime, powered by 2x 26650 batteries in long type of D26 2500
• Four levels of brightness: Turbo (2500lm), High (1400lm), Mid (700lm) and Low (30lm)
• CREE XHP50.2 LED, color temperature 6000k, beam throw 320m
• Magnetic press switch & lock function
• Power indicator to show the battery status
• Underwater 100m waterproof
• Class III hard coat anodized finish, corrosion resistance
• Reverse polarity protection
• Smart temperature control

More detailed information at official website: XTAR D26 2500 diving flashlight .

What do you think of it? Comment below.

 

[D_Fresh]

Wow. I have a D26 Whale and it is, so far, a great light. I like the extra burn time of the 26650 battery, lasts me nearly 4 dives on a single battery (for daytime). But two 26650's? That's got to be a heavy light....

I understand the situation... Available wH to Output over time. And I'm sure this light can deliver. But at what point does weight and form-factor outweigh the Output-over-Time equation?

Personally, I would be interested in putting a light like this through its paces, but I'm not sure it would be on my short-list as a consumer.... (For what it's worth, I'm a tropical diver, where light actually can penetrate quite far as compared to more murky cold water.)

 

[rob.mwpropane]

They make 2 versions, short and long. I'd be really interested in the short version. The long looks too big and bulky for anything I'll ever do underwater.

I have a D26 1100 and 1600 and I really like both. This looks to be better and thank GOD they went back to the manual locking mechanism. The push to lock / unlock on my 1600 ALWAYS comes on in my bag.

Edit: the only thing I'm not liking so far (which isn't huge) is that the connection point on the back is only one, where as the 1100 and 1600 you basically connected to the whole "hilt" of the light. Not a deal breaker, but the other way "looks" more robust than this...

 

[stuartv]

What is the beam angle? If that's no good, the rest doesn't matter (to me).

The Long is good for 2.2 hours, and the Short, with literally half the battery capacity, is good for 1.66 hours? Half the battery, but lasts 75% of the time? Something doesn't pass the sniff test there.

I like the hole on the tail. Put a small split ring through it and then tie a bolt snap to that. Or put 2 small zipties through the hole and a bolt snap.

All that said, I am not convinced that 2500 lumens from a cordless light is really all that useful. As Rob said, I would only be interested in the short version. If it's my main light on a dive, I want it in a light sock (i.e. soft Goodman) on the back of my hand. The Long version would be too long for that.

And if it's not my main light, then I wouldn't need the extra burn time of the Long version, since I would only be using it if my main light died, at which point the dive is over and I'm heading out/up.

So, if I buy one, it would be the Short version. And with only 1 x 26650 battery, the burn time at 2500 lumens is, well, not going to be THAT long. I'll be pretty surprised to see one actually get 1.66 hours (1:40) - unless it steps the brightness down pretty aggressively as the battery runs down.

Finally, the difference in brightness between the current Whale (1100 lumens claimed) and the D26 1600 (1600 lumens claimed) really is not very much. I suspect the 2500 will not really seem THAT much brighter, either.

Bottom line for me: If the beam angle is good, and I were buying a new cordless light, I would probably buy this 2500 Short. Run on Medium (1400 lumens claimed), it should be brighter than the 1100, by a tiny amount. And, because of the way LED power efficiency works, it should burn for longer than the D26 Whale on High.

With LED emitters, from what I know (I am NOT an expert), the power consumption curve is not linear. When you double the brightness, you more than double the power consumed. The XM-L2 (Whale) and the XHP50.2 have similar efficiency at max output. My suspicion is that that means when you throttle the XHP50.2 back to half its rated output, its efficiency will be a decent bit higher than the XM-L2's efficiency at max (i.e. around the same amount of lumens output).


If any of you find a place with a decent price to order one of these (a 2500 Short - just the light, with no extras), please post a link. I'd probably order one, just to have/try, since I already have 2 x Whale and 2 x 1600.

 

[XTAR]

What is the beam angle? If that's no good, the rest doesn't matter (to me).

The Long is good for 2.2 hours, and the Short, with literally half the battery capacity, is good for 1.66 hours? Half the battery, but lasts 75% of the time? Something doesn't pass the sniff test there.

I like the hole on the tail. Put a small split ring through it and then tie a bolt snap to that. Or put 2 small zipties through the hole and a bolt snap.

All that said, I am not convinced that 2500 lumens from a cordless light is really all that useful. As Rob said, I would only be interested in the short version. If it's my main light on a dive, I want it in a light sock (i.e. soft Goodman) on the back of my hand. The Long version would be too long for that.

And if it's not my main light, then I wouldn't need the extra burn time of the Long version, since I would only be using it if my main light died, at which point the dive is over and I'm heading out/up.

So, if I buy one, it would be the Short version. And with only 1 x 26650 battery, the burn time at 2500 lumens is, well, not going to be THAT long. I'll be pretty surprised to see one actually get 1.66 hours (1:40) - unless it steps the brightness down pretty aggressively as the battery runs down.

Finally, the difference in brightness between the current Whale (1100 lumens claimed) and the D26 1600 (1600 lumens claimed) really is not very much. I suspect the 2500 will not really seem THAT much brighter, either.

Bottom line for me: If the beam angle is good, and I were buying a new cordless light, I would probably buy this 2500 Short. Run on Medium (1400 lumens claimed), it should be brighter than the 1100, by a tiny amount. And, because of the way LED power efficiency works, it should burn for longer than the D26 Whale on High.

With LED emitters, from what I know (I am NOT an expert), the power consumption curve is not linear. When you double the brightness, you more than double the power consumed. The XM-L2 (Whale) and the XHP50.2 have similar efficiency at max output. My suspicion is that that means when you throttle the XHP50.2 back to half its rated output, its efficiency will be a decent bit higher than the XM-L2's efficiency at max (i.e. around the same amount of lumens output).


If any of you find a place with a decent price to order one of these (a 2500 Short - just the light, with no extras), please post a link. I'd probably order one, just to have/try, since I already have 2 x Whale and 2 x 1600.

Thanks for your kind comments @stuartv. The beam angle of D26 2500 is 80°. And there is the product link for you on Aliexpress: XTAR D26 2500

 

[XTAR]

Specification of D26 2500:

 

[XTAR]

What's in the box of D26 2500:

 

[stuartv]

Thanks for your kind comments @stuartv. The beam angle of D26 2500 is 80°. And there is the product link for you on Aliexpress: XTAR D26 2500

Thank you.

But, surely the angle of 80 degrees is the angle of the beam including the spill?

What is the beam angle of the hot spot? I think the beam angle of the D26 Whale is approximately 8 degrees. I would expect the D26 2500 to be at least close to that.

 

[scubadiver888]

I liked my D26 Whale (1100 lumens). I've recommended it to others and they really like it. When the D26 1600 came out, I got one and was sadly disappointed.

The light I purchased would run for 3 minutes then tell me the battery was dead. I'd take the battery out and check it only to find the battery was fine. I could even put the same battery in the D26 Whale and it would run for hours. I talked to a woman at XTAR but just got a lot of run around and occasionally ignored.

It wasn't until I started talking to @stuartv on here that I found out he was also having problems and THEN someone from XTAR actually tried to help me. At one point they shipped me a sleeve so I could not use a 26650 battery in the light. Only the 18650 battery would fit. This solved the 3 minute problem but now the lumens and burn time were greatly reduced. After weeks of dealing with someone on here XTAR finally agreed to ship me a new light.

The new light wasn't much brighter than the original D26 Whale. So I just use my D26 Whale and a Hollis dive light as a backup. The D26 1600 is in a storage box somewhere.

Bottom line, I'm in no rush to buy a D26 2500 and still won't recommend a D26 1600 to anyone.

 

[XTAR]

Thank you.

But, surely the angle of 80 degrees is the angle of the beam including the spill?

What is the beam angle of the hot spot? I think the beam angle of the D26 Whale is approximately 8 degrees. I would expect the D26 2500 to be at least close to that.

Yes! And for D26 2500, the beam angle of the hot spot is 8 degree.