Jetbeam M2S WP-RX

Jetbeam M2S WP-RX review

Jetbeam M2S WP-RX Specifications

Brand / Model	Jetbeam M2S WP-RX
LEP	WP-RX
Lumens	480
Beam intensity	880,000 cd
Battery config.	1*21700
Material	Aluminum
Modes	2
Blinkies	–
Reflector	–
Waterproof	IPX8
Review date	July 2020

Introduction:

My first Jetbeam LEP flashlight overperformed by 1 million candelas. Yes, 1Mcd higher than its specs. So I went ahead and bought the Jetbeam M2S in the hope it would even outperform its 800Kcd claim.

The M2S is in competition with the Fenix TK30, Nextorch T7L, and Acebeam W10 gen2. Let’s dive into the details to see if it really performs as advertised, or even better!

What you’ll get:

I bought the light at Banggood and the Banggood packaging was pretty poorly, just a black bag around the nice Jetbeam case. The case is yellow instead of the black case I was expecting. Little surprise. Also, the inside padding looks better than the M1X’s.

• Nice strong case
• The Jetbeam M2S WP RX flashlight
• QC pass certificate
• 2 Spare O-rings
• Micro USB cable
• 21700 battery 5100mAh with Micro USB port
• Lanyard
• Manual written in Chinese and printed poorly on normal copy paper.

The second image below shows the correct color of the carry case.

Handling of the light

With a length just over 6 inches, it doesn’t feel like you are holding an 880Kcd flashlight. The design is pretty rough with many flat surfaces and knurling, but that does help with your grip. A pocket clip is attached to the light, so you can carry it on the outside or inside of a pocket.

In case you don’t like to use the pocket clip, you can also use the lanyard they included. I actually never use lanyards, to mine stay in pristine condition life-long. And if you don’t like to carry it, either way, you can just store it in the yellow carry case. You shouldn’t try to put it on your beside like a candle, because it can’t tailstand.

The M2S has only 1 switch, at the tail. It’s a forward clicky switch so it can be used as a momentary-on. The problem is that you will be switching between High and Low each time you hit that switch.

Build Quality, knurling, threads, and anodization

I usually refer to Jetbeam as a manufacturer with the nicest machine and anodization. The TH20 I reviewed in the past was a prime example of that. But when I reviewed the Jetbeam M1X, I noticed a different kind of machining/knurling. I’m not 100% sure if that is just because of this special lineup. Although, it looks professional and great, it’s just not the top of the cream I was expecting from Jetbeam. The M2S is the same.

Another funny observation is the printing. Again, please check the pictures to see what I mean. It would have been nice to give a little more attention to details.

The body and tailcap have some great knurling. The tailcap fits tighter than the body to the head. When you try to unscrew the tailcap, you are more likely to unscrew the body from the head, which is kind of funny. The front of the battery tube has no anodization, the backside has. If you are afraid of accidentally activating the light, you can simply unscrew the tailcap to break the loop.

Anodization across the light looks good, without blemishes or damages. I noticed that I can actually unscrew the bezel, which is a little unusual with this type of light.

LEP, Lens, Bezel, and Reflector

The first thing I realized is that the bezel can be unscrewed. There is no glue or anything. Especially with LEP flashlights I have not encountered that yet. They are usually glued so people can’t open it up and damage anything.

The bezel has slightly crenulated. And although I personally like flat bezels because of how they look, I do like crenulated bezels. Especially for the reason that you can see if the light is turned on when it stands with the head on a flat surface.

I can’t say much else, but look at the pictures to see it for yourself.

The black triangle-shaped thing in the middle is attached to the glass looks like. Probably with some glue.

Dimensions:

• Length: 155 mm ( 6.1 ”)
• Head diameter:  35 mm ( 1.37 ”)
• Body diameter narrowest point: 24.2 mm ( 0.93 ”)

Weight: 

• Empty: 234.4 g (  8.27 oz)
• With battery:  307.9 g ( 10.86 oz)

LEP Flashlights

Size compared to other LEP flashlights

From left to right: Acebeam W30, Weltool W4, Jetbeam RRT M1X raptor, Jetbeam M1X wp-rx, No-brand 26650 LEP, Nextorch T10L, Jetbeam RRT M2S Raptor, Jetbeam M2S WP-RX, Weltool W3 PRO, Fenix TK30, Nextorch T7L, Acebeam W10 gen2.

Driver & User Interface:

The M2S has an extremely easy UI. High and Low.

Each time you change modes it’s just high and low. No hidden modes or any blinkies.

Available modes:

• High – Low

From OFF:

• Half-press: Momentary On
• Full single-click: last used mode (light needs to be turned off longer than 1 second)

From ON:

• Full single-click: Off

Mode memory:

• Yes, within 1 second after turning off, memory activates.

Blinky modes menu:

• None

Low battery warning:

• No, the light will shut off directly
• Not sure if its the flashlight or the battery that shuts off.

Lock-out mode:

• No, just unscrew the tailcap a half turn.

PWM:

• Not visible.

Firmware / UI Conclusion:

The UI is extremely simple and straightforward. It has only 2 modes.

Batteries and charging:

In mine, it has a 5100mAh 21700 Jetbeam battery installed. It has a code name: JR51. In older pictures and reviews, even within the product description from sellers, it includes a different color carry case and a different color battery.

I’m not sure if just the case and battery are ‘upgraded’ or if the flashlight itself also was upgraded.

Anyways, the battery charges very slowly. At only 0.7-0.8Amps. This means it takes about 7+ hours to charge. The problem is the battery’s length. If this dude was shorter you could simply drop it in your favorite 21700 charger and charge the battery in a matter of 2-3 hours. This is a problem in my opinion.

On the positive side I can note that the M2S also accepts flat top, unprotected batteries. The battery has a small indicator LED to show whether the battery is charging (red) or fully charged (green).

Performance:

This is the section everybody was waiting for. Does it really do 800Kcd? And does it really do 480lumens?

Lumen measurements:

All output numbers are relative to my homemade Integrating Sphere. It is set up with an Extech SDL400 Lux Meter for measurements including a Kenko PRO1D ND-16 filter. The base measurement is done with a Convoy S2+ that has been tested at 137 lumens.

All of my readings were taken from a fully-charged Samsung 40T and the included Jetbeam 5100mAh 21700 JR51.

Amps were measured with a Fluke 77III, at the tailcap, and with the original Jetbeam JR51 battery. Lumens were also measured with the Samsung 40T

Mode	Amps	Specs	with Samsung 40T	with Jetbeam JR51
high	3.2 A	480 Lm	354 Lm	350 Lm
low	0.47 A	45 Lm	45.85 Lm	42.54 Lm

354 lumens is very low compared to the claimed 480 lumens. That is quite a difference, to be honest. Jetbeam is pulling some strange numbers. Except for the low mode maybe.

Runtime:

The runtime test was done with the 50cm integrating sphere, including the Kenko Pro1D ND-16 filter and Extech SDL400 data logging Lux Meter.

We are looking at the total runtime of High and Low.
High has a total runtime of 3 hours and 20 minutes, at that point the light shuts off abruptly. When you are using the light in the High mode, you will notice a decrease in output, but it goes really fast . In Low you kind of stand in the dark all the sudden.

Low has a total of 8 hours and 53 minutes. Lumen output is roughly 35 lumens throughout the whole runtime. It’s very stable.

Here is a graph of the first 10 minutes. High runs for about 3 minutes before it drops to just below 200 lumens.

Throw measurement:

Measurements were taken both indoors and outdoors with a professional Hagner E4-X Lux Meter. 

Here are the measurements at 20 meters outdoors. These are more trustable than the 5 or even at 10 meters. 

• High: Outdoors (20m): 345,200 cd = 1175 meters / 1285 yards
• Low: Outdoors (20m): 51,600 cd = 454 meters / 497 yards

I measured throw at 20 meters and the numbers are different again. I will trust these more. I deleted the 5 and 10 meters for that matter. Also, the comparison graph below is now a little different.

Jetbeam’s specs on the box as well as in the manual are completely off. On the box it says 800kcd. Which is total BS. In the manual, it says 250,000 cd which is also total BS. Why does Jetbeam deceive potential buyers so much?

Indoors it’s too difficult to measure. It’s difficult to find the sweet spot. The Hagner has no Max record function, so that is a pity. The farther away the more consistent the readings are.

However, all these negative numbers, Jetbeam is still performing very well when it comes to throw throughout the entire runtime! Below is a picture compared with the Nextorch T7L (with 18650 battery, less capacity than 21700) and the Fenix TK30.

Beamshots

For the following beamshots, I used a Canon EOS 5D Mk2 and a 100mm lens. manual settings: ISO1600, .5sec , F4, 5000K

The first tower is 650 meters / 710 yards away, the second tower is about 450 meters / 492 yards away.

Disclaimer: This flashlight was bought with my own money. I have not been paid to review, nor have I been holding back on problems or defects.

Overall conclusion

Pros:

1. Throws 1200+ meters
2. Parts are not glued down: great for modders
3. No visible PWM
4. Long runtime

Cons

1. Specs are very exaggerated and deceiving, but still performs very well
2. Specs on box and in manual are different

Rating: 4 stars ★★★★

During the test I was kind of angry that Jetbeam is so misleading with the numbers. Especially the ones on the carry case. Plus, the specs in the manual are also bogus. But when I forget about those annoying and misleading information and simply focus on the performance, we come to a different conclusion. In terms of throw, especially considering the full runtime, it’s outperforming the Fenix TK30 and Nextorch T7L. If they had shown the same candela numbers on their case, I would have given them 5 stars by underperforming. But since they use misleading numbers, but still have a great performing product, I’m giving it 4 stars.