Fenix TK22 TAC

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Fenix TK22 Tac specifications

Brand/model	Fenix TK22 TAC
LED	Luminus SFT70
Max. Lumens	2800 lm
Max. Beam intensity / distance	74,000 cd
Battery config.	1*21700
Onboard charging	No, but battery has USB-C charging
Modes	5
Blinkies	Strobe
Reflector	Smooth
Waterproof	IP68
Review date	August 2022

Fenix has a large line-up of tactical flashlights, and each year, they add several new ones. Today, I am reviewing the TK22 Tac, which almost looks like an upgrade of the Fenix Tk22 v2.0 I reviewed back in 2019.

But if you know Fenix, they have several use cases in mind even within a specific lineup. You can see that happening with the PD35, and PD35 Tac, PD36R, and the PD36 Tac. And now we have the TK22, and TK22 Tac. So I don’t see this as a direct successor but as an additional light in the TK22 lineup. And truth needs to be said, this is considered a real tactical flashlight, unlike all the crappy flashlights found on eBay or Amazon, that use the name Tactical to sound fancy.

Fenix is a pretty popular brand, even among non-flashoholics. They can be brought in many countries (if not all) around the world, so you should be able to get one at your local dealer.

Package quality.

The Tk22 Tac arrived in a pretty standard, retail-friendly package, with an orange hangtag. And this is what you can expect to get:

• The flashlight: Fenix TK22 Tac
• Holster
• Pocket clip (pre-attached)
• 21700 battery with USB-C port
• USB-C charging cable
• O-ring
• Papers: warranty card, manual, flyer

Fenix isn’t some kind of static company, adding an upgraded flashlight because there is a new LED on the market. No, they also try out new features, like the toggle/push switch used on the TK22 TAC. I first encountered this type on the TK11 TAC and quite like the idea. You can single-handedly use the flashlight, so that’s a big pro. It’s relatively easy to toggle between Tactical mode, and Duty mode with just a turn on the knob.

The main push-button switch isn’t your average clicky switch, but a 2 stage switch that doesn’t have a click sound. You can feel some resistance about halfway through the push, and if you press through that resistance, the light is turned on constantly.

Fenix calls it a military and duty flashlight, and the user interface fits that exactly.

The body has the typical Fenix reeding (and not the traditional knurling found with other brands), while the head has no texture/knurling except for some small flat parts. These flat parts help to keep the light from rolling off a table. And if these flat parts don’t help, the removable pocket clip will surely do. This makes the light relatively grippy without having any sharp edges or machining.

You can clip the TK22 TAC to your pockets with the attached clip, but you can also use the included holster if that’s more of your thing. Unfortunately, there is no lanyard included, but the pocket clip has a small hole that you can use to attach a lanyard to if you prefer that way of carrying.

Fenix has been in business in business long enough to know that quality matters. And the TK22 TAC is built very well, just like all other tactical Fenix lights we reviewed.

Threads on the tail side came lightly lubricated, and work very smoothly. And that’s the only thing (besides the pocket clip) that is removable because everything is glued. That has its pros and cons, but from a large business’ perspective totally understandable. These are not built for flashlight nerds like us, flashoholics, to open up and play with, but rather for professionals that need to work with them on a daily basis and count on them.

I admit that I’m not a big fan of their anodization, because although made of high quality, doesn’t look as good as other brands (Jetbeam for example).

If you’re on the look for a high quality flashlight that you can count on, I would stop reading Amazon reviews, and eBay listings. Unless you know the brands/flashlights for sale, most of them that are called tactical, aren’t really tactical. And although Fenix flashlights aren’t particularly cheap, you can definitely count on them.

And if they somehow break, you are probably covered by their Warranty policy.

Warranty? If you buy them from Fenix Lighting US:

Fenix Lighting US, guarantees all Fenix products purchased from retailers to be made of first-class materials and therefore provides a lifetime warranty against any defects in material and workmanship. Excluded from warranty coverage is any damage to the exterior deemed reasonable wear and tear such as scratches and/or fading of color. In addition, the warranty does not apply to damage caused by abnormal or unreasonable use of any of the components. This includes use of unapproved batteries in Fenix products.

This warranty is in place of all other warranties, including warranty of fitness for a particular purpose and warranty of merchantability and excludes any liability for incidental or consequential damages. If your Fenix product has a manufacturer’s defect covered by our warranty, we will either repair or replace it, at our option, without charge. Most damaged Fenix products not covered by the warranty can still be repaired. If repair costs and handling charges apply, you will be notified prior to any service. All warranty repairs or replacements are at the sole discretion of the Fenix Lighting US Authorized Repair Center and we reserve the right to refuse a request.

While some bigger brands ignore sharing the name of type of LED, Fenix doesn’t. They openly admit the type of LED used in this model, namely the Luminus SFT70. This particular one is a cool white version.

The SFT70 is a 6V / 12V LED, so they need to boost the voltage in order to power it up.

The LED sits in a deep and smooth reflector, protected by a glass lens with AR coating. The bezel has some kind of crenulation, but they aren’t sharp or anything.

I used the Opple Light Master III to measure the LED’s characteristics. I measured them in Low and in Turbo. Low mode at a distance of about 70cm, and Turbo from about 2 meters. Remember that these are not exact numbers, and should be taken as an ‘average’.

Low mode:

• CCT: 5651K
• CRI Ra: 64.2

Turbo mode

CCT: 6324K
CRI Ra: 70.2

It’s a little strange to see a difference of the Ra measurement, because 64 and 70 is quite a difference, but it’s enough to tell these are not high CRI emitters.

The beam isn’t very pretty to look at, and that’s not the reason for buying this flashlight anyway. Because of the smooth reflector, and the type of LED, you can see some artefects in the beam.

Dimensions: 

Fenix TK22 TAC dimensions	Millimeters	Inches
Length	154 mm	6.06
Head diameter	40.1mm	1.58 “
Body diameter	26mm	1.023″

Weight: 

Fenix TK22 TAC weight	Weight in grams	Weight in Oz.
Without battery:	155.3 grams	5.49 oz
With battery	227.9 grams	8.04 oz.

Tactical Flashlight comparison

Size compared to other great tactical flashlights with a little larger heads: Armytek Predator PRO, Nitecore MH25S, Fenix TK22, Fenix TK22 TAC, Olight Warrior X3

Group 2: from left to right: Armytek Predator PRO, Nitecore MH25S, Fenix TK22, Fenix TK22 TAC, Olight Warrior X3, Olight Warrior 3S, and Fenix PD36R

Group 3: Fenix TK22 v2 vs Fenix TK22 TAC

The light features a rotary switch and a traditional push button switch. The rotary switch has 3 positions: Tactical Mode, Lockout, and Duty Mode. Duty Mode has 4 modes (plus a hidden Strobe), and Tactical Mode has a single Turbo mode, with the a hidden strobe activated by pressing and holding the button for more than 1 second. 

The middle setting on the rotary switch is the lockout. If you lightly tap the switch, it works in momentary mode, but a firmer press activates continuous mode.

Modes:

DUTY MODE:

• Eco, Low, Medium, High.

TACTICAL MODE:

• Turbo, Strobe.

From OFF (Duty Mode):

• Press half and hold (1st stage): Momentary On in whatever mode it is
• Half pressing: change modes
• Full press/click (2nd stage): activates Eco, Low, Medium, or High
• Double click: N/A

From OFF (Tactical Mode):

• Press half and hold (1st stage): Momentary on
• Full press/click (2nd stage) short: Turbo
• Full press (2nd stage) long: strobe

From ON (Duty Mode):

• Tapping: change modes: Eco, Low, Medium, and High
• Press and hold for 1 sec+: Activates strobe

From ON (Tactical Mode):

• Press half and hold (1st stage): Momentary Turbo.
• Single full click (short): Turbo
• Single full click (long): Strobe

Mode memory:

• Yes, it has mode memory

Low voltage warning:

• Yes. The output will drop to a preset level until it reaches Eco Mode where the light blinks 3 times every 5 minutes until the light turns off. Please note that this only works when using Fenix-branded batteries!

Strobe/blinkies

• Yes, both accessible in Tactical and Duty menu

Lock-out mode: 

• Turn the rotary selector to Lockout Mode or unscrew the tailcap ⅛ turn to lock out.

PWM

• Yes. But not really visible

Fenix included an ARB-L21-5000U battery. This is a 21700 type USB-C rechargeable battery. This means that it’s too long for 99% of the battery chargers on the market, but the good thing is that you don’t need one, because you can use the built-in charger. Fenix added a USB-C charging cable in the package..

It also has protection to prevent short circuits or overcharging / over-discharging.

The nipple on the positive side of the battery has a little hole in the center. You can see a tiny red light inside the hole while charging, which turns blue when it’s fully charged.

The charge speed I measured went up to about 1.4A, but it starts and finishes at a lower charge current.

18650 batteries won’t fit without a proper adapter. They will rattle and not make contact, and unprotected, flat top 21700 batteries do not fit!!!

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 255 lumens.

Tested with a Fenix 21700 ARB-L21-5000U

Mode	Specs	Lumens at turn on	Lumens @ 30 sec	Lumens @ 10min
Eco	30	32 lm	34	–
Low	150	157 lm	156	149
Medium	350	365 lm	364	360
High	1000	995 lm	990	954
Turbo (Tactical)	2800	2742 lm	2234 lm	786 lm
Turbo at 3.8V		1936 lm

I also tested to see if the light will run in Turbo mode, when the battery is down to 3.8V, and it worked.

Fenix TK22 TAC Battery life and runtime graphs

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

Mode	Specified runtime	Measured runtime (ANSI FL1)	Time till shut off
Eco	49h30min	not tested	not tested
Low	18h30min	29h56min	30h10min+
Med	8h10min	8h21min	11h21min
High	4h	3h00min	6h27min+
Turbo*	3h	2h42min	7h45min

*I let Turbo run till it turned off. After the ANSI FL1 runtime (at 2h42min, the light dropped to 135 lumens and stayed there for quite some time. At that point it’s wise to change batteries. BTW Turbo mode is only available in the Tactical mode group.

The runtimes don’t really match up with the specs. Turbo and High are running shorter than the offical ANSI FL1 runtime specs, while Medium and especially Low run much longer than specs. But they kept running for many more hours, as you can see in the last column. Very good performance.

ANSI FL1 standards: The runtime is measured until the light drops to 10% of its initial output (30 seconds after turn 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 kept running. This happens on certain occasions, with certain drivers, firmware, or batteries.

Peak beam intensity and beam distance measurements

Measurements were taken indoors with a Hagner E4-X Lux Meter, at 5 meters, 30 seconds after turn on.

Mode	Specs	Candela measured	in meters	Distance in yards
Eco	760	1,025	64	70
Low	3,560	3,975	126	138
Med	8,850	11,425	214	234
High	24,800	31,000	352	385
Turbo	74,000 cd	72,250 cd	538 meters	588 yards
Turbo (at turn on)	74,000	89,250	597	653

My measurements were higher for all modes, except Turbo. Turbo (after 30 seconds) was just below spec.

Extra info: Peak beam distance according to ANSI FL1 standards: The calculated value of distance in meters and yards at which the flashlight produce a light intensity of 0.25 lux. (0.25 lux is about the brightness of a full moon shining on an object).

21700 tactical flashlight comparison

Single 21700 tactical flashlights measured: These numbers are NOT from the specifications but measured by our team.

Flashlight	Battery	Max Output (lm)	@30sec (lm)	Candela (cd)	Distance (m)
Acebeam L18	Acebeam IMR21700NP-510A	1249	1051	215,500	928
Acebeam L19	Acebeam IMR21700NP-510A	1378	1242	430,300	1312
Acebeam L35	Acebeam 5100 mAh	6189	5609	57,000	477
Cyanksy P25	Cyansky 5000	4236	3300	11,275	212
Fenix PD36 Tac	Fenix ARB-L21-5000U	2590	2079	18,675	273
Fenix TK16 v2	Fenix ARB-L21-5000U	2657	2222	40,900	404
Fenix TK22 TAC	Fenix ARB-L21-5000U	2742	2234	72,250	538
Fenix TK22 v2	Fenix ARB-L21	1622	1592	53,000	460
NEXTORCH TA30C Max	Nextorch 5000mAh	2822	2810	41,750	409
Nitecore MH12S	Nitecore NL2150	1770	–	30,400	349
Nitecore MH25S	Nitecore NL2150	1979	1850	68,400	523
Nitecore P10iX	Nitecore NL2150HPi	4223	566	8,700	187
Nitecore P20i	Nitecore NL2140i	1690	–	36,000	379
Nitecore P20i UV	Nitecore NL2140i	1785	1699	29,400	343
Nitecore P20iX	Nitecore NL2150HPi	4119	1342	16,000	253
Olight Warrior 3	Olight ORB-217C50	2598	2428	25,500	319
Olight Warrior M2R PRO	Olight ORB-217C50	2088	1985	28,000	335
Olight Odin	Olight ORB-217C50	1999	1884	25,750	321
Olight Warrior X Pro	Olight ORB-217C50	–	2334	101,000	636

Interactive runtime graphs

Below are interactive comparison graphs for a selection of these tactical lights. Hover your mouse to see more details. If you use a mobile device, rotate your phone horizontally.

In the following graph, we zoomed in to show the differences better. It shows a better picture of these lights within the first 10 minutes after turn on.

For the following beamshots I used a Canon EOS 5D Mk2 and a 50mm lens. manual settings: ISO1600, 1/4sec , F4, 5000K

The shed is about 65 meters / 71 yards distant, and the reflective fence over 200 meters.

And the following comparisons you can make (these are right after turn on)

• Fenix TK22 TAC vs Olight Warrior 3
• Fenix TK22 TAC vs Olight Warrior X3
• Fenix TK22 TAC vs Nitecore MH25s

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