Amutorch XT45 RC90

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Very much looking forward to this one. I like that the name has ‘torch’ in it. I’m not against using the word ‘flashlight’, but here in Britain we have always called them torches. However I accept this is completely minor in the grand scheme of things.

What interests me more is the LED. It isn’t one I’m familiar with, it has a round dye instead of a square one that you’d find in most other torches.

Firing it up the tint initially looks to be very nice with some incredible throw for the sized light. Very keen to get this one on the test equipment and see what it is all about!

Package quality.

The XT45 comes well packed in a sturdy brown box labeled up as Amutorch. And inside there is foam to ensure the light is safe and well protected.

You don’t get a lot of info with the light, there are no instructions included and no hint at what the LED is inside the torch. A spare O-ring is provided as is a rubber anti-roll ring. Although if I’m being honest I’d rather they left the latter out. Being equipped with a side switch there is no need to adopt the cigar hold to allow access to the switch. The anti-roll ring also doesn’t fit very well and worse of all, doesn’t make contact with the surface when you place the light down, so has no impact on preventing your light rolling away from you.

The XT45 was supplied with a Molicel 21700 flat top INR battery.

• O-ring
• Anti-roll ring
• 21700 battery

I like the size of the XT45, it is what I’d describe as an ideal coat pocket sized light. i.e. it is small enough to be carried many places so long as you have something to put it in.

It also packs a punch in terms of performance, making it quite a versatile light. But ultimately it will be most at home over long distances and outside uses. Walking, farming, camping would all be ideal for a light such as this.

Build quality is probably the biggest area the XT45 is lacking in. Not there is anything fundamentally wrong with it. But the threads feel stiff, noisy and gritty. The side switch is a bit mushy and the anodising isn’t as smooth as many others.

The machining also isn’t as refined as you find on many other lights with a relatively sharp/rough edge being present in the number of places, but especially on the stainless steel bezel. None of this makes it a bad light, but it does detract from its tactile feel.

The bezel also seems to be glued into position as I was unable to remove it using sensible amounts of force.

It is also worth noting, the official Amutorch website does list the XT45, but with a different LED and the performance specs and User Interface do not match the model under test today in this review.

The LED is easily the most interesting thing about this light. Amutorch provides no information on what the LED make, model or tint are. It has a round dye unlike most LEDs on the market which are square, it is also domeless and quite large.

We also have a nice smooth relatively large reflector, which when combined with this LED offers some serious throw from such a small package. The beam profile is good too with a reasonably sized hotspot and I quite like the tint as well, making for a pleasant and easy to use torch out across the fields.

It is supposed to be a RC90? LED with a CCT of 4500K

Measurements:

• CCT: 4134K
• CRI Ra: 62.7
• DUV: 0.0076

Dimensions: 

Amutorch XT45 RC90	Millimeters	Inches
Length	130 mm	5.12 in
Head diameter	45 mm	1.77 in
Body diameter	26 mm	1.02 in

Dimensions are rounded to the nearest millimeter, and to the nearest tenth of an Inch.

Weight: 

Amutorch XT45 RC90	Weight in grams	Weight in oz
Without battery:	168 g	5.93 oz
With battery	234 g	8.25 oz

Weight is rounded to the nearest gram, and to the nearest tenth of an Oz.

Flashlight size comparison with its competition:

Group 1: Astrolux EA01, Amutorch XT45 RC90, Noctigon DM11

Group 2: Astrolux EA01, Noctigon DM11, Amutorch XT45 RC90, 4Sevens Maelstrom MMU

Group 3: 4Sevens Maelstrom MMU, Amutorch XT45 RC90

The UI is another area where the Amutorch loses some ground to the competition. The XT45 essentially has two different UI’s, but they don’t really work very well together.

The first UI is a fairly regular click for on, click to scroll and long click for off. Even giving you mode memory and a double click for instant Turbo access.

This normal click mode is perfectly usable and easy to remember. The only real negative comment is that Low is still extremely high output. I would also prefer no mode memory myself.

The other UI sits alongside the click style UI. If you click and hold from off you now have a ramping mode. This UI seems to be massively under-developed and doesn’t work correctly. When the light activates it does so with a pulse like flash. You then end up in one of the lowest moonlights I’ve ever seen. In total darkness it only has a range of 1-2 inches max. A shame that you get the pre-flash when you activate the light.

This output is also a mode memory, if you change brightness via the ramping mode it will remember it when you long press on again. So in effect you can ‘save’ two output modes to turn on with. I have been leaving it on the moon output, so as to not accidentally blind myself, as once turned on, you are locked into that UI type until you turn it off. The real problem is the ramping speed, I have never seen anything like it before. It will ramp from this sub-lumen output to a very high lumen output in less than a second. Ramping down is still a speedy affair, but maybe a little slower. Essentially your brain and fingers will not be able to react fast enough to select an output. I suspect the ramping is following the click UI outputs, so only has 3 steps, plus the moonlight.

While the ramping UI can be completely ignored most of the time, you do feel it would have made a better product if they had just left it out.

Available modes: 

• 4 (L-M-H-T)

Available blinky modes:

• Yes

From OFF:

• Press and hold: (ramping UI, see above comments)
• Single click:  Last mode memory from click UI
• Double click:  Turbo
• 3 fast clicks: Strobe

From ON:

• Press and hold: Off or ramping UI if you did a long press to activate
• 1 click:  Advance mode (L-M-H)
• Double click: Turbo
• 3 fast clicks: Strobe

Mode memory:

• Yes

Shortcuts:

• To Low: No
• To Turbo: Yes
• To Strobe: Yes

Low voltage warning:

• Not claimed

Strobe/blinkies

• Stobe

Lock-out mode: 

• Only physical via tailcap

PWM

• None that I could detect

The XT45 does not support onboard charging, so you will need another way to charge your batteries up. The only battery supported is a 21700, either flat or button top. The XT45 didn’t seem to be battery fussy. High drain batteries will give you higher outputs and beam distance.

Lumen measurements

How Lumens are Measured: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards How Lumens are Measured: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards: The ANSI FL1 standards specify that output in lumens should be measured 30 seconds after turning on, as this is the standardized time for measuring brightness according to the industry standard. This is why we focus on this part in our measurements.

The biggest take-way you should have from the performance is the combination of the tint, throw & lumen output. It feels crazy to claim over 2000 lumens as not being a lumen monster these days. But in 2023 many lights, including other versions of the XT45 make way more lumens. The impressive thing here is the amount of lumens given the incredible throw for a torch of this size. And the fact that the tint is also very nice.

Mode	Amps at start	Specs	Lumens @turn on	Lumens @30 sec	Lumens @10 minutes
Moon	< 0.00	?	<1	<1	<1
Low	0.49	?	170	170	170
Med	1.01	?	327	327	325
High	3.52	?	794	789	748
Turbo	9.28	?	2092	1792	875

Parasitic drain:

• x µA/mA 

Amutorch XT45 RC90 Battery Life: Runtime graphs

How Runtimes are Measured: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards About ANSI FL1 runtime standards: The runtime is measured until the light drops to 10% of its initial output (30 seconds after turning on). This does not mean that the flashlight is not usable anymore. The last column shows how long the light actually works till it shuts off. If there is a + symbol, it means that the test was stopped at that particular point, but the light was actually still running. This happens on certain occasions, with certain drivers, firmware, or batteries.

Mode	Specified runtime	Measured runtime ANSI	Time till shut off
Med	?	3h 27min	3h 27min
High	?	1h 11min	1h 11min
Turbo	?	1h 10min	1h 10min

Peak beam intensity and beam distance measurements

Measured 30 seconds after turn on

About Peak beam intensity: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards About peak beam intensity The calculated value of distance in meters at which the flashlight produces a light intensity of 0.25 lux. (0.25 lux is about the brightness of a full moon shining on an object). This means that the intensity has decreased so much, it becomes difficult to see darker objects, or objects that don’t reflect light. The columns ‘Meters’ and ‘Yards’ use rounded numbers.

Mode	Specs	Candela measured	Meters	Yards
Low	?	10,388	204	223
Medium	?	22,877	303	331
High	?	56,472	475	520
Turbo	?	127,959 cd	715	782

Camera settings and distance: Camera settings and distance: Canon EOS 200D – Canon 18-55mm EFS IS – 2”/F6.3/ISO 400/WB 5200k “Daylight”

Beamshots at 100 metres distance.

Beamshots of the following flashlights compared:

• Amutorch XT45 RC90
• SOFIRN SP60 (Turbo)
• Astrolux EA01 (Turbo)
• 4Sevens Maelstrom MMU (High)
• Lumintop AD01 (Turbo)

Disclaimer: This flashlight was sent to me for review at no cost by Nealsgadgets. I have not been paid to review, nor have I been holding back on problems or defects.